Call Center Management Featured Article
You Won't Believe What Call Center Management is Most Thankful For
For most of us, the coming holiday is a reminder of all the things for which we should be thankful, while preparing to travel, bake and gather with family. Whether you like the traditional football game, the pie or just the coming together, the idea is relaxation and fun. If you’re in call center management, however, you may have a different take on this holiday season.
Thanksgiving is likely celebrated at a different time for those who need to be on the phones. We’re quick to blame retailers for opening their doors on turkey day, but the reality is that without customers wanting to shop, the doors wouldn’t be open. Yes, the retailers can ignore the demand, but if your largest competitor is responding with special Thanksgiving hours, how can you afford not to do the same?
Therefore, call center management is bracing for a busy time of year. The schedules have been made, the training complete and the onslaught of customers primed for interactions. One of the best things the call center can do in anticipation of the excitement is to make an investment in speech analytics. As highlighted in a recent blog by Monet Software (News - Alert), it delivers critical business intelligence that can boost agent performance and the overall customer experience.
It wasn’t that long ago that call center management had to study siloed data sets in order to understand calling patterns and make informed decisions. Today, this information is captured immediately and clear assessments made in just minutes. Speech analytics can generate automated alerts triggered by voice data and managers can react to their outcome. It also allows the call center to demonstrate how the organization is meeting established criteria by keeping credit card information safe.
At the same time, speech analytics can deliver added customer service benefits that can impact training and efficiency overall. For instance, managers can easily explore what was said, how it was said, who said it and the customer’s overall reaction. This method makes it easier to determine what call center policies and procedures may need to be changed.
One example is that of a public utility in Las Vegas, Nevada. The utility used speech analytics to deliver insights on delinquent customers, allowing them to generate the necessary data to determine when and how customers should be notified. This approach resulted in a more effective campaign with more customers paying their bills and a savings of $3.6 million as less effort was needed to pursue delinquent accounts.
The point is, speech analytics can do a lot to benefit call center management. Those ignoring the potential are likely spending too much time on broken processes and not enough on meeting customer satisfaction expectations.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi