Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Study Finds Social Media Provides Effective Call Center Damage Control
In its annual Call Center Satisfaction Index (CCSI), CFI Group, a customer satisfaction measurement technology and analytics firm, has found that more call centers are transforming into contact centers as they are incorporating Web, e-mail, and social media into customer service strategies.
For the past six years, CFI Group has surveyed users of customer service functions to analyze the factors that impact call center customer satisfaction. The 2012 survey of more than 2,300 participants found that "non-call" service methods like e-mail, Web self-service, chat and other online techniques make up over 30 percent of customer engagements.
"In our view we are now truly able to justify calling service centers 'contact centers' and not just call centers,” said Terry Redding , director of development and delivery for CFI Group, in a statement.
This survey revealed that both self-service and e-mail dominate the non-phone-call mix of contact channels, but social media is playing a key role. Specifically, social media is helping to improve customer satisfaction. “As the way we communicate with each other evolves, social media is becoming the dominant force in customer satisfaction,” the report stated.
The role of social media acts as a "damage control" mechanism instead of a first-line service channel. Customers who posted their experience with a contact center in social media and then received follow-up via social media concerning their experience rated their satisfaction with the experience 20 percent higher than those who received no follow-up. Additionally, consumers who ranked their likelihood to recommend the company increased by 15 percent.
"In part, this steady improvement can be attributed to the ongoing development and adoption of such innovative technologies as advanced call handling, call center scheduling, knowledge management and voice/text analytics," explained Redding.
Overall, the survey found that people shared their experience with others 47 percent of the time, up from 45 percent of the time in 2011. Of these people, 91 percent of them used social media in some form to do their sharing.
Moreover, the study addresses the practice of offshoring and its gradual decline. In fact, it shows that nine percent of call centers are offshoring, compared to its peak in 2008 at 15 percent. CFI Group found that while offshoring as a percentage is decreasing, satisfaction with offshore centers have grown 20 percent.
Redding added, "We suspect that as companies have come to realize the importance of the service function to their long-term success, they have raised their game in recruiting and retaining ever more competent managers and business people to oversee this function."
To read the full report to learn more about how to make your call center into a robust contact center, click here.
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Edited by Brooke Neuman