Contact centres are at the front line of customer service but there are many challenges companies face when providing world-class services. So, what are the top challenges facing contact centres today? And what can be done to solve these issues?
There are a number of factors that have an impact on the way in which a call centre operates. However, recent changes to our day to day lives, in terms of restrictions/lockdowns, have led to job losses, isolation and a decline in employees’ mental health. The way companies operate is changing and the importance of implementing technology to assist with these changes can’t be argued. The use of such contact centre technologies has risen in recent years and firms are learning the positive impact of this through various means of adaptation.
Lack of technical integration and processes
In a usual contact centre technology setup, front and back systems typically aren’t connected to the same platform. This makes it challenging to gain deep insights from customer conversations, creating missed opportunities in identifying vulnerable customers, product feedback, agent performance and identifying trends.
Solution
Integrating a CRM will help a company’s workflow and improve all customer interactions across the business unit. It will provide visibility into a customer’s interaction internally and will help with issue management. Employees will be able to trace customers through their lifecycle to make the customer experience much smoother.
Overall, this will support a seamless omnichannel customer journey which will reduce operations costs and help to manage employee performance. Real-time automation also ensures that all touchpoints are fully compliant during an interaction with the customer. Contact centre technology can be more easily reviewed and audited to accommodate new regulatory requirements that may impact the company.
Staff motivation and retention
One major challenge when running a call centre is motivating staff. The repetitive nature of the role means that some staff are unable to stay engaged and are difficult to retain. Staff are often undertrained to deal with stressful situations but with little incentive to expand their skill set or provide a high level of customer service this can lead to a vicious circle. Roles in contact centres also tend to have high absenteeism, which can cost a company approximately $3,600 per year for every hourly employee, as well as impact your customer service and employee morale.
Solution
The use of technology such as NLP is easy to employ and can be immediately implemented which can provide businesses massive benefits as it provides team members with invaluable insights from customer data. Automation of processes such as gathering payment information or populating and updating CRM data will help streamline workflows and take pressure off agents so they can focus on more valuable activities. NLP can be used to shine a light on the areas agents have done well in and/or could improve on to develop a highly tailored training programme, giving your employees the best chance of success. Use online courses and involve your employees in learning how to work with contact centre technology to make processes more efficient and effective for the team.
It’s incredibly important that management ensures their employees are well taken care of and processes are in place to ensure continuous training and development. By demonstrating a positive atmosphere as well as encouraging feedback, will allow employees to feel more comfortable and more valued which will ensure they have the means to provide the best possible service to their customers.
Ability to flag important calls and customer vulnerabilities
Contact centre technology obtains vast amounts of customer data. The information obtained can be difficult to break down which makes it difficult to meet every customer demand.
This may mean there could be complaints and important information going unnoticed that need to be taken care of. Without the right tools, it can be very hard to uncover this information. Also, there may be certain issues that many customers face and it can be a challenge to identify certain trends if you are not specifically looking out for them.
On occasions when disputes arise between an agent and a customer, having transcripts of all conversations is crucial, as it allows for transparency and makes everyone feel supported.
Solution
Introducing speech analytics will ensure that every call is given a consistent level of care. This technology can pick up key phrases to reveal calls that may need to be followed up on to provide appropriate aftercare.
Another benefit of speech analytics is agents can learn more about customer preferences which lead to a more personalized experience, improving conversions and customer loyalty. As well as this, speech analytics can determine when an agent closes a sale or resolves an issue.
Reviewing customer conversations with technology helps to significantly improve customer satisfaction and creates a customer journey that puts people at the heart of their service.
Digitise for success
Undoubtedly, there are a number of challenges that call centres face but looking at the solutions provided above creates a strong foundation for your team. By introducing such technologies, you can learn how to better manage workload and improve your agents’ working environment to create a place that is more effective and efficient for both your staff and customers.
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