A new Salesforce Customer Service Report highlights how contact center agents have become overburdened, spending "just 39 percent of their time servicing customers."
So, what are they doing with the rest of their time?
Salesforce surveyed over 5,500 service professionals across 30 countries, who revealed that the majority of their time was being taken up by tasks such as attending internal meetings, completing administrative duties, and manually logging case notes.
Moreover, the report revealed that agents were struggling to keep up with the "mounting pressure" of increased customer expectations.
Of those surveyed, 86 percent believe that customer expectations are getting higher, while 81 percent claim that customers expect more of a personal touch.
Indeed, decision-makers identified "keeping up with changing customer expectations" as the biggest service challenge that they were currently experiencing.
The below graphic shows the top five service priorities and challenges across all countries and industries included in the research.
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Salesforce: The Sixth Edition State of Service Report[/caption]
As you can see, there is an apparent disconnect between companies’ priorities and the reality of those agents working at the coalface.
While it is reassuring to see that organizations are prioritizing improving CX, agents clearly feel that they are not being given the adequate support and tools to achieve this.
Interestingly, two of the top five challenges concern financial pressures – supporting the trend of organizations "viewing service as a revenue driver instead of a cost center" outlined in the report.
This assertion is supported by the findings of the research, which revealed that 85 percent of service decision-makers believe that their teams are expected to up their revenue contribution this year.
Agents are expected to achieve this by upselling, cross-selling, and improving customer retention – adding a further burden to a workforce that is already struggling to keep up with customer demands.
So, with rising customer and company expectations, how do organizations plan on supporting their agents?
AI and Automation
Like Thelma and Louise, Penn and Teller, Mark and Jez, or Pie and Chips – AI and automation are fast becoming synonymous with one another.
As companies look to juggle rising customer expectations and increased agent burden, they are unsurprisingly looking to the famous customer service double act to solve their problems.
Salesforce: The Sixth Edition State of Service Report[/caption]
