Why Call Center Management Should Consider More Self-Service Options

The life of the live agent – is it on the extinction list? Some have speculated for years that call center management would have to implement better self-service technologies as consumers increasingly avoided the live agent in favor of handling things on their own. This works well for millennials accustomed to smartphone transactions, but Baby Boomers still tend to prefer the agent interaction.

On the other hand, if that agent isn’t a U.S.-based individual easy to interact with, even the Baby Boomer looks for the alternative. But the trend over the past few years has been to move the role of the agent back to the states, enabling direct connection with individuals who can help on the spot and speak with an American accent. That’s great for those customers who still prefer the live call; but the cost to maintain great live agents can take its toll.

In today’s competitive markets, it makes sense to develop strong agents who can take good care of customers – that is, high value customers. Those who contribute significantly to the company’s projected revenue dollars should get live support when they want it. For lower value customers, or those who prefer self-service anyway, there is definitely a powerful argument for making investments in quality self-service technologies.

Call center management solutions provider Monet Software (News - Alert) recently posted a blog on the topic, citing industry estimates that at least 40 percent of customer interaction should be handled without live assistance. When the technology is designed and implemented with the user in mind, it makes sense that an individual will want to handle interactions with just a few app page navigations rather than wait for the live agent.

Even for those customers who aren’t accustomed to doing everything digitally, there are ways to help motivate them to move towards these channels. For instance, the individual who has to wait 20 minutes in the calling queue to talk to someone in customer service may be willing to consider other alternatives. If that same individual is encouraged to post their issue on social media via Twitter (News - Alert), getting the instant response may help spur them to use this channel exclusively the next time.

The point is there are a number of benefits to self-service channels, both for the customer and the company. Customers gain 24x7 access to information and transaction capabilities and companies are able to invest more in their live agents as they are reserved for higher-level interactions. This lowers the overall cost of supporting the customer base, which can also help keep the end cost to the customer more competitive. As a result, everybody wins. 

Edited by Alicia Young