Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Streamlining the Customer Experience
While agents take a lot of the blame for poor customer service, the reality is that agents can only ever be as good as their tools, training and processes allow them to be. Many contact centers have been built over the years piece-by-piece, and some are never evaluated to determine how to maximize efficiently. The result can be a mish-mash of illogical, ineffective and repetitive processes.
Efficiency is a great thing to strive for, but before you can fix it, you need to determine where the bottlenecks are happening. Most problems and inefficiencies are caused by the need for agents to multitask, documenting their processes, problems and resolutions while at the same time communicating with customers. Often, agents are expected to use a half dozen or more applications. Under the circumstances, it’s easy for agents to miss or overlook steps while trying to make customers happy.
Streamline Your Operations
How many applications are agents using on their desktops? Five? Six? Ten? The more applications they need to toggle through, the longer each transaction takes, and the more opportunities are created for errors. Consider building a task force whose purpose is to consolidate applications into a single (if possible) desktop for agents to use. Talk to your solutions providers for help.
Improve Your Scheduling
Agents may be doing a mediocre job because schedules are inaccurate, and the contact center is frequently understaffed. Use a cloud-based call center scheduling solution to build more precise forecasts and agent schedules so your customer support is always optimally staffed based on both historical precedent and current events.
Consider Solutions with AI Features
Artificial intelligence has a big role to play in customer support today. It can scan data and determine the next best steps, it can automate repetitive tasks and it can locate the relevant information for resolution. Many of today’s contact center solutions, from call center scheduling to workforce management to self-service, are relying on AI to free up human agents to apply their skills where they’re needed the most. (Hint: it’s not responding to 1,000 texts a day that ask, “What are your hours?”)
Up Your Self-Service
Ask your agents what type of calls they take the most. Chances are good they’ll be questions and issues that really don’t require a human agent. To improve self-service utilization by your customers, ensure your IVR is modern, effective and designed in a way that maximizes outcomes for customers. Also keep your web site and social media pages updated, add a text messaging feature and consider implementing a “chat bot,” or an automated AI-based virtual assistant that can field common questions in a conversational way.
If your agents are finding your call center operations to be cumbersome, repetitive, awkward and thankless, just imagine what your customers are thinking.
Edited by Maurice Nagle