
Feedback in a contact center is not just words from customers—it is a valuable resource that defines service quality and brand trust. This is especially important for call center outsourcing, as agents essentially become the “face” of the company that has entrusted them with customer interactions. Positive feedback helps strengthen a company’s reputation, while negative feedback identifies weak points and improves processes. In this article, we will explore how to properly collect and analyze feedback, respond effectively to criticism, and turn customer input into a tool for business growth.
Negative Feedback in a Contact Center: Why Is It Valuable?
The industry, the kind of product or service, the consumer culture in a particular area, and other variables can all affect the customer feedback that contact centers receive. Customers are more likely to submit complaints or unfavorable reviews than to share positive ones, though. This is due to the fact that customers are more likely to write reviews after having a bad experience than a good one. More than 60% of customers who have had a bad experience write a review, whereas just 45% of customers who have had a good experience do so, according a study conducted by search marketing software supplier BrightLocal.
Benefits of Negative Feedback for a Contact Center
Negative feedback, while unpleasant, can be a valuable source of information and help your business improve. Here are some advantages you can gain from negative reviews:
Identifying Weak Points
Negative feedback often highlights specific issues within your contact center, such as long wait times, unqualified agents, product or service issues, and more. By analyzing these reviews, you can pinpoint weaknesses and take action to address them.
Opportunity to Correct Mistakes
A negative review is a chance to fix an error and retain a customer. If you respond promptly and professionally, you not only resolve the issue for that particular customer but also demonstrate your customer-centric approach to potential clients.
Building Trust
Transparent handling of negative feedback strengthens your reputation and fosters trust among existing customers while attracting new ones.
Preventing Recurrence of Issues
By analyzing negative feedback, you can implement changes that prevent similar problems from occurring in the future.
Types of Feedback in Contact Centers
The customer feedback in contact centers can be divided into three main types:
Direct Feedback
These are comments that customers provide during interactions with contact center agents or through official feedback channels such as email, chat, or social media. This type of feedback is the most valuable, as it contains specific details about the customer’s experience and expectations. The advantages of direct feedback include clarity of assessment, specificity of data, and ease of analysis, as customers explicitly share their impressions.
Indirect Feedback
This type of feedback is expressed through customer behavior and mentions of the company on external platforms such as forums, social media, and review websites. Indirect feedback often provides deeper insights into customer sentiment, as it is not always confined to official communication channels.
Indirect feedback can be identified through behavioral or contextual analysis, for example:
- The tone of a customer’s conversation during a call (frustration vs. satisfaction).
- The frequency of customer inquiries about the same issue.
- Service cancellations or subscription terminations.
The advantage of indirect feedback is that its analysis helps identify hidden problems and enables proactive service improvements.
Feedback Through Automated Systems
This type of feedback is collected using specialized tools or software, such as:
- Outbound IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems.
- Chatbots that prompt customers to rate their experience.
- Text analysis systems (e.g., sentiment analysis) to assess the emotional tone of emails or chat messages.
These tools allow companies to gather large volumes of customer satisfaction data and detect trends in inquiries, enabling a rapid response to emerging issues. The key benefits of automated feedback collection include fast and large-scale data gathering and seamless integration with CRM systems for further analysis.
Methods of Collecting Feedback Through a Contact Center
Gathering feedback via an outsourced contact center is an effective way to quickly obtain valuable insights into the customer experience, identify weaknesses, and improve service. With modern technologies and various data collection methods, companies can not only respond to complaints but also enhance the customer journey.
Surveys
Different survey formats allow companies to collect customer feedback in a way that is most convenient for them. These can include Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI), IVR-based automated calls, automatic chat surveys immediately after an interaction, or email surveys. Such methods help assess customer satisfaction levels and enable prompt responses to their concerns.
Service Quality Evaluation Systems
Immediately after a conversation, customers can rate the service quality of an agent through voice or text-based evaluations in an IVR system. This provides real-time feedback and helps identify agents who may need additional training or support.
Inquiry Analysis and Speech Analytics
Speech recognition and call transcription technologies allow for the analysis of call and chat content, helping to detect trends in customer inquiries. This enables companies to identify the most common issues, optimize processes, and prevent recurring complaints.
Social Media and Online Platforms
Monitoring and analyzing customer feedback posted on social media and review sites helps track brand reputation. Outsourcing social media support allows companies to respond promptly to negative comments, address customer inquiries, and shape a positive brand image.
How to Respond to Negative Feedback in a Contact Center?
Negative feedback in a contact center requires a swift response. The faster a company addresses a complaint, the higher the chances of preventing conflict escalation and maintaining customer trust. It is crucial not only to respond promptly but also to ensure that the customer feels heard and valued. The most effective strategies for handling negative feedback include:
Empathetic Service
When it comes to handling unhappy consumers, active listening and empathy are essential. Agents should show that they understand the customer’s frustration in addition to acknowledging the complaint. Expressions such as “I can appreciate how frustrating this situation must have been for you” can diffuse tension and create a positive environment for discussion.
You may be interested: How to Improve Contact Center Services Through Empathetic Communication?
Personalization
A personalized approach makes responses to feedback more effective. Addressing the customer by name, referencing their previous interactions with the company, and offering a solution tailored to their specific situation help build trust. Generic, impersonal responses can worsen the situation rather than resolve it.
Acknowledging Mistakes and Offering Solutions
Recognizing mistakes and providing a concrete solution are key to handling negative feedback effectively. If a company takes responsibility and offers a real resolution—such as a discount, compensation, or a service redo—it demonstrates respect for the customer and fosters loyalty.
How to Make Customer Feedback in a Contact Center an Effective Growth Tool?
The key question many businesses ask is: how can they maximize the benefits of collecting and analyzing feedback in a contact center? Let’s explore how contact centers can use customer reviews and feedback to bring maximum value to the business, along with real-life success cases from major companies.
Feedback Analysis: Identifying Trends and Problem Areas
The first step in effectively utilizing feedback is systematic analysis. Modern tools such as text mining and sentiment analysis help detect key trends and pinpoint problem areas.
For example, Amazon actively uses an automated system in its contact center to collect and classify feedback, identifying issues with delivery or product quality. Based on these insights, they adjust logistics processes and collaborate with suppliers to prevent recurring problems.
Feedback as a Tool for CX Improvement
Customer feedback is the best indicator of what needs to be improved in service processes. If customers frequently complain about difficulties in resolving their issues or about agents’ lack of competence, this signals a need to optimize scripts, update FAQs, or conduct additional staff training. Feedback analysis also helps enhance self-service processes, refine IVR voice menus, and improve chatbots.
One leading bank, after analyzing negative feedback, discovered that customers’ primary complaint was long wait times on calls. By optimizing its automatic call distribution (ACD) system and training agents to work more efficiently with scripts, the bank reduced average wait times by 40% and increased its Net Promoter Score (NPS) by 15 points.
Business Growth: Generating Ideas for New Products and Services
Customers don’t just complain—they also indicate what they need. Contact center feedback analysis helps businesses identify unmet demands and develop new products or improve existing ones. If many customers inquire about a specific feature or express dissatisfaction with its absence, this is a clear signal for change.
Netflix actively uses user feedback to develop new features. For example, the idea for the “auto-play next episode” function was originally suggested by customers. To generate new development ideas and improve existing products, businesses should analyze customer suggestions, use feedback to refine current offerings, and create focus groups with customers who have left positive reviews to test new concepts.
Demonstrating Customer-Centricity
Customer feedback should not only serve as an internal analytics tool but also as public proof of a company’s commitment to its customers. If a business genuinely implements changes based on feedback, it should communicate this. Regular updates on service improvements—shared via the website, social media, or email newsletters—boost trust and strengthen customer loyalty.
One international airline followed this approach after analyzing contact center feedback. Customers were frustrated with the complicated ticket refund process. In response, the company simplified the procedure by enabling self-service cancellations via its mobile app. At the same time, they publicly announced these changes on social media, emphasizing that the update was introduced based on customer requests. This not only reduced contact center workload by 10% but also positively impacted the brand’s reputation.
Advantages of Global Bilgi Contact Center in Feedback Receiving and Feedback Processing
Global Bilgi is one of the recognized leaders in the Ukrainian call center and contact center outsourcing market, providing effective customer feedback management for businesses. As part of the international telecommunications group DVL-Telecom, the company ensures process transparency, compliance with international business standards, and high-quality service. This allows Global Bilgi’s clients to receive not only professional service but also a reliable partner that adheres to the best global practices.
Experience and Continuous Training
With over 16 years of experience in outsourcing solutions for contact centers, Global Bilgi effectively manages feedback and helps clients enhance their customer experience. Agents undergo continuous training, improving their skills in handling negative feedback, empathetic communication, and personalizing customer interactions. As a result, customers receive more than just answers to their inquiries—they get real solutions to their problems.
Technologies for Collecting and Processing Feedback
Global Bilgi’s technological capabilities enable the efficient processing of large volumes of feedback through its proprietary cloud contact center platform. This platform includes an inbound and outbound IVR system, autodialer software, and an email processing service, optimizing agents’ workload and minimizing response times to customer inquiries.
Additionally, the company has extensive experience in industries where quality service and customer feedback are critically important, such as consumer goods, logistics, automotive, hospitality, and airlines. For example, outsourcing a contact center for delivery services allows businesses to promptly respond to customer inquiries regarding parcel tracking, order modifications, or service quality assessments.
Partnership for Business Growth
Global Bilgi builds partnerships with each client, helping not only to resolve current inquiries but also to optimize service processes, enhance customer loyalty, and drive business growth. A long-term collaboration approach and commitment to improving customer experience make the company an ideal partner for those looking to efficiently manage feedback and turn it into growth opportunities!
Customer Feedback in Contact Centers: Key Takeaways
Proper analysis and handling of feedback in a contact center can lead to not only improved customer experience but also real financial benefits. When used strategically, customer feedback becomes a powerful tool for business growth, customer loyalty enhancement, and competitive advantage. Feedback is an invaluable source of insights, helping businesses adapt their products, refine services, and build long-term relationships with customers.
Working with negative feedback is especially important, as it provides the most accurate insights into service weaknesses. Quick response, empathy, a personalized approach, and a willingness to correct mistakes not only reduce customer dissatisfaction but also turn them into brand advocates. A well-thought-out negative feedback strategy improves the company’s reputation and strengthens customer trust.
If you’re looking to maximize the value of customer feedback and enhance Customer Experience, the Global Bilgi team is ready to be your trusted partner. With years of experience, advanced technologies, and a personalized approach, we will help you efficiently collect, analyze, and utilize feedback to grow your business.
Contact Global Bilgi and transform customer feedback into your competitive advantage!