Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Call Center Scheduling Focused on Professionals, Not Mindless Drones
If offered the opportunity to work in the call center environment, too many in the crowd would consider it menial work, something that was settling instead of career-changing. The reality is the industry has come a long way in terms of technology, innovation and driving revenue and profit for the organization, but the public still perceives it as a role that requires little intellect, skill or experience.
A closer look at the professionals responsible for call center scheduling within the customer service environment may produce a different opinion. These individuals are trying to match the schedules of those with considerable experience, knowledge and skill to the forecasted volume. The customer expects the best when they contact the call center, and management wants efficiency and first call resolution.
You generally can’t produce that type of outcome if your agents are “mindless.”
This isn’t the only misconception about the call center, however. In a recent Fonolo (News - Alert) blog, four common misconceptions were examined and debunked. As this is one industry that continues to be misunderstood, let’s take a look at this list and gain a better understanding of the type of environment where call center scheduling is a key activity.
Contact Center – Don’t You Mean Cost Center?
This is a common misconception – especially among those in management within the organization. But when you consider that 52 percent of consumers have made more purchases from a company after a good customer service experience (according to Zendesk) and 87 percent of customers share happy experiences with others – the contact center has a lot to do with the bottom line. Both good and bad experiences can impact overall outcomes when it comes to the customer lifecycle, so it’s important to implement strategies that work.
The Live Agent Interaction is a Thing of the Past
It’s true that most of us are fixated on the millennial and their preferences when it comes to interacting with a company. But we also know that millennials don’t have much money, yet. And even when they do interact with self-service, they still hit the live interaction when they can’t find what they need. The customer base as a whole will switch to phone from the web to resolve an issue 57 percent of the time. Another 75 percent think that calling is the best way to get a quick response. These numbers alone point to the importance of the live call.
Humans Will Soon be a Thing of the Past in the Call Center
The industry has seen its fair share of coverage on the potential loss of jobs as bots take over the duties of the call center agent. While there’s always room for customer service self-help innovations, it doesn’t mean that humans will be out of the mix. Chatbots, for instance, add great value when appropriate, but they aren’t the end all to customer interactions. When support is needed, human interaction is still better.
Cost-Per-Call is All That Matters
While metrics are very important to call center management, the cost-per-call is only one of many metrics needed to be optimized to ensure the right level of performance. The customer experience has gained in importance and management is increasingly looking to those metrics that have the biggest impact on satisfaction.
Overall, the call center is an environment where a lot of moving parts have to work together to achieve the optimal outcome. That rarely means mundane work or a lack of intelligence to get the job done. Today, those responsible for call center scheduling are ensuring the collaboration of considerable talent and know-how to get the best outcomes.
Edited by Alicia Young