Only the bravehearted manage call centers. Juggling budgets, service agents, and daily operations isn’t easy, but an efficient call center doesn’t have to be a pipe dream.
With a solid strategy, you can turn your call center into a well-oiled machine with knockout KPIs. Here are a few strategies that can help.
Monitor customer experience
Guess who the most important person in a call center is: the customer! In recent years, C-suite executives have prioritized customer experience over revenue.
So use customer surveys to gather and present feedback. Customer satisfaction, or CSAT is a score that shows how satisfied a customer is with a certain product, transaction, or company interaction.
Customer satisfaction surveys can be sent out after each call, after a customer issue is resolved, or even via SMS. Call centers can also customize survey questions to target areas they suspect frustrate callers.
Divide your customers
Some people in business view segmentation as an ugly word. Treating customers differently based on qualities or data rubs may seem unfair, but in reality, using metrics to divide consumers helps you match service to expectations. Not all consumers offer the same level of opportunity. Also, segmentation increases customer retention and helps obtain new members.
Analyzing information and grouping customers helps businesses determine which customers might be more receptive to certain product offerings. It’s also necessary for companies who complete a large number of outbound calls to establish customer segments. Each segment has its own priorities and staff to better serve their needs.
For example, a credit card call center might have a team dedicated to new credit card sign-ups. Best usage of call center resources means the company should use data and metrics to focus on likely prospects. Dividing customers into segments allows call centers to strategically tackle a large consumer base.
Put money into analytics
Agents are unable to monitor every call. That’s where call center analytics steps in, which are various tools companies can use to keep business running at peak performance. According to Deloitte’s “Global Contact Center Survey”, advanced analytics rank high on call center managers’ priorities. Analytics software monitors performance from the customer’s point of view, as well as the employee’s and business owner’s perspective.
Investing money into analytics software grows more important as customer engagement mediums shifts from voice call to social media and online chat. Cloud call center software increases efficiency, streamlines client communication, and improves agent productivity while giving customers a superior experience.
Effectively train agents
Analytics aren’t just used for communication and performance. Call center managers also use analytics to better improve staff. With increasingly complex subject matter, channel growth, and technology, call centers need quality talent. Focus on investing in talent improvement programs to develop agents’ skill sets.
Remember, agents are a call center’s soul and often the first people to interact with a customer. Investing money in hiring and training employees improves customer service and the company’s productivity.
Manage your average queue time
According to Microsoft’s 2017 State of Global Customer Service Report, 34 percent of US participants chose the inability to reach a real person for customer support as the most irritating aspect of the customer service experience. Even though social media and chatbots are gaining popularity, phone calls are still the most used customer service channel in the U.S. Therefore, it’s important for call centers to manage average wait time.
Effectively managing a customer contact center requires a multi-faceted approach. With quality software, talent, and best practices, you can elevate your call center to the next level.