Call Center Management Featured Article
Does Your Call Center Management Rely Too Heavily on Technology?
In the customer service world, it’s easy to see where technology plays a role. We like the ability to interact with the contact center through automation, completing transactions on our own schedule and avoiding the lengthy conversations that can come from talking with a live agent. But, when technology fails to satisfy the need, we want to talk to a person and that requires call center management.
A recent blog post by call center management solutions provider, Monet Software, explores the possibility of Artificial Intelligence taking over for the human touch. But is this how we should approach customer care? It’s easy to rely on technology to route calls, handle transactions and even push out information to the customer base. The key is to know where to draw the line between streamlined operations and personal customer care.
Sophisticated technology allows us to understand so much more about the customer without the involvement of the live agent. It also caters to the customer who prefers to take advantage of the self-service channels. A lack of such resources can lead to dissatisfaction among the customer base and even customer churn. At the same time, the auto attendant unable to actually transfer a call correctly can have the same effect.
The professionally trained agent is the ideal individual to step in where technology isn’t getting the job done. Basic transactions are fine through interactive voice response (IVR), but those who want to take it to the next level and add something to the transaction or ask a question that’s a little outside of the box need the ability to hit the right button to reach the skilled agent. The agent should be able to continue the experience for the customer and send them back to automation, if preferred.
For the higher value customer, automation is often not the answer to quality customer care. These individuals want personalized service, available immediately. They don’t want to operate within a set list of menu items. They want to feel as though their business is more valuable than any other and customized requests are easily met. Such demands cannot be met with automated systems.
To achieve the best of both worlds, call center management has to know when it’s appropriate to rely on technology and when it’s necessary to bring in the skilled agent. When the balance is expertly achieved, the desired outcome is realized and the customer continues on the path to loyalty.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi