The current cost-of-living crisis combined with the usual stresses of managing a hybrid workforce and higher customer expectations put tremendous pressure on customer service organisations today. These widespread challenges are also holding many organisations back from delivering an exceptional customer experience (CX).
In fact, 83% of contact centre managers say ‘labour challenges have impacted the brand experience for their customers’, citing ‘agent stress/burnout’ and ‘operational difficulty of working remote/hybrid working’ as the biggest issues (both at 40%) followed closely behind by ‘high attrition/turnover’ (at 38%).
Flexible working practices and high customer expectations are here to stay and when budgets are tight, hiring more staff isn’t always a viable option. In these uncertain economic times, contact centres need to find new ways to achieve more and regret less.
Find new ways to nurture your staff – and the contact centre
Here are five top tips for getting started:
1. Uncover opportunities for quick wins
Many companies are undergoing a significant and often disruptive period of digital transformation that costs time and money – but it’s business as usual. At a time when 3 in 5 consumers say they would switch brands due to negative contact centre experiences, organisations simply can’t afford to ignore poor service experiences. Start by uncovering the biggest hurdles to CX in your organisation.
This is where an investment in analytics pays off for example. By quickly detecting customer frustrations and then alerting an agent or supervisor to call them back later in the day, you can reduce churn rate and turn a potentially negative customer experience into a positive brand moment. The beauty of analytics is that it helps seek out win-win opportunities, highlighting where to spend and where to make small changes that ultimately produce big gains in customer service.
2. Elevate functionality across key workflows
Combine data from Workforce Management (WFM) and Quality Management (QM) systems to provide an extra layer of value that optimises contact centre performance. A good example is using quality scores to impact schedules rather than create schedules based purely on agent skills. When it comes to agent skills, remember that how you make your customers feel is just as important as whether you solve their problems. Re-assess performance metrics and coaching techniques to guide agents in delivering fast, efficient service with empathy.
The latest Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) solutions automatically plan agent training to meet individual needs at a time to suit their new home-working lifestyles. The best WEM platforms also provide high levels of agent mobility, hybrid scheduling, and digital channel support to meet the needs of the modern contact centre.