Keys for a Successful Contact Centre Transformation
Contact centre transformation is no longer a cost reduction exercise — it’s an imperative customer strategy effort to drive revenue and scale the business.
Due to COVID-19 and shifts in market awareness, organizations are starting to acknowledge the contact centre as the new front door of the business. It’s the place where customer loyalty exists, grows, or completely fails.
There are three focus areas for each contact centre transformation: customers, agents, and the organization itself. Thinking through these three areas is the key to a successful contact centre transformation.
“Hi and welcome to the contact centre of the past. How can I help you today?”
Contact centres will predict your intentions when you call. While smart routing is already available in the industry it’s not the same as having an expert or someone who understands your needs available almost instantly.
It is important to proactively engage with your customers. Everyone wants to feel important. They want to feel like an organisation knows them and is even able to predict their future demands. For example, imagine if organisations were able to welcome customers with the reason that they were calling before they even opened their mouths.
“Sorry, can you please repeat that?”
In this day and age where unreliable voice-activated IVRs (Interactive Voice Response) are used throughout contact centre experiences, customers aren’t coming to an agent first. We’ve all experienced what it’s like to be stuck in a loop where the conversation isn’t going anywhere because you’re not understood. Let’s be honest, we don’t blame anyone for wanting to shout at that automated voice.
This is changing as AI-powered bots are replacing voice-activated IVRs and can be continuously trained to improve their understanding of natural language. The days of screaming into the phone are finally a thing of the past.
”I’m about to go through a tunnel and might lose signal.”
Customers want to have options when it comes to how they interact with organisations. While not entirely new, omnichannel experiences are growing in importance. Where customers used to have to listen to an organization’s long, automated messages, they now can interact and have their needs met much more quickly through social media, SMS, and live chat.
For organisations, this provides the opportunity to create seamless and consistent interactions across all channels, as well as shift the dynamic needed for agents. There are hybrid options of both voice and chat agents, as well as the growing possibility of agents being able to pick the channel that best aligns with their skill sets. Creating these new, dynamic teams enables organisations to choose the best solution for them in addition to supporting the agents themselves.
“Your call is important to us. Your current wait time is two hours and 36 minutes.”
We’ve all heard this one. There’s nothing quite like being told you’re an important customer with a ridiculous wait time while being bombarded by “upbeat” music in the meantime.
Brand loyalty for customers is changing. People want the best possible service, no matter what product or service they’re purchasing.
Self-service is playing a key part in this, with convenience as a key factor. Being able to self-solve in the moment with a quick Google search is the first step for most customers, with the contact centre often being the last resort. Knowledge is now at the fingertips of customers — something that used to only be available to agents or organisations is now showcased through bots, FAQs, and social forums.
In previous years, forums were used regularly for sharing feedback and ideas. Today, organisations are creating these forums on their own websites By doing this, they not only gain some control of the narrative, but also ensure the right suggestions are available. Organisations should see this as an opportunity to receive informal feedback that helps them iterate and improve.
“Welcome to 2022. Can you please confirm your name?”
Today, agents no longer need to be tied to an office or location. Depending on security, they might need to stay within their company’s home country, but most tasks can be accomplished remotely..
Agents are the ambassadors of your business. They need to feel human to customers and be treated human by their employers. We all understand what a long work day feels like, which is why it’s important to provide agents with the right tools and skills that support the need for positive interactions. Agents can now have all knowledge needed available. Designing the right knowledge architecture is key in creating quicker and more effective solutions.
Workforce management is ever-changing in this environment. Whether an agent is in the office or at home, they can receive the same support and guidance from their supervisor. They also have the same access to digital tools, meaning they can be contacted for support, utilize eavesdropping technologies for quality control, and use live dashboarding to track activities and status.
”This company is absolute rubbish. I will never recommend them again!”
Today, with the advent of social media, customers tend to take their grievances into the public space. It isn’t uncommon to see customers tweeting their negative experiences, which are immediately publicly visible. Organizations can nip this in the bud by proactively monitoring public spaces and actively responding to them. This moves the conversation from a public space to a private space while still showing customers — both potential and existing — that the business takes negative feedback seriously.
“Thank you, I hope you have a wonderful day!”
When it comes to the future of contact centres, there are many things to be excited about, from the ever-shifting technology landscape to the new demands from customers and agents that represent organisations in a new way. We should be excited about the possibilities that a contact centre transformation can offer. Thinking through these changes, it’s important to take the next steps with your eyes wide open and mind ready to grow.
Slalom is a global consulting firm focused on strategy, technology, and business transformation. Learn more and reach out today.
