Hiring live agents to run your contact centers is no longer enough. The reality is that the business landscape has changed quite a bit. We are dealing with customers who have so many choices.
Thanks to the internet, restrictions on information access are no more. Brands are also competing to get a share of voice. They use the very same platforms customers use for targeting. The result is a more demanding customer who has very high expectations.
Expectations for quality goods and service, as well as exceptional customer experience. And, live agents at contact centers can bridge that need gap. But, they need the right tools to assist them.
A staggering 74% of customers may end up not buying based on the experience they get. Yet, they have no challenge paying onwards if the experience is great. Also, 90% of customers want omni-channel experiences that offer seamless service across platforms.
Our article explores some pertinent things to know about agent assist tools.
1. Provide Seamless Service Integration with an Omni-Channel Contact Center
As we hinted above, the internet opened up a world full of possibilities. Customers and brands can now interact on many different platforms.
It is up to the brand to ensure seamless integration of the channels. That is the key to ensuring a good customer experience. And that is the critical role played by omnichannel contact center software.
When shopping for the best contact center software, pay attention to factors like:
1. Inbuilt features like CRM, automatic call routing, and many dialing modes.
2. Integration with other third-party tools for higher call center efficiency.
3. Seamless switching from channel to channel without losing the conversation context.
4. Real-time analytics and reporting.
5. Data centralization on one dashboard.
6. Cloud capabilities for the contact center software.
7. Capacity to add extra digital platforms on the contact center tool, and more.
Remember, 90% of customers want seamless service integration across the channels. So, they could start their shopping on your website. And, even if they move to your social media platforms, they should be able to pick up from where they left off on your site.
The same applies to speaking with live agents. The customer should not have to repeat their issue. A simple look at the conversation history on the dashboard will let the agents know where to pick up.
2. Agent Assistance Tools Help with Task Automation
It would be hard to imagine a tech-free world. At least, this is the case for those who have grown up seeing its advantages.
And one of the biggest beneficiaries is task automation. Dependence on human labor does come with its challenges. Fatigue, errors, emotions, and more come into play. And those at the call centers are not exempt.
Answering calls from sometimes unhappy or angry customers can be stressful. 87% of live agents report high-stress levels.
The turnover rate for such jobs is as high as 40%. This is a far cry from the 22% average in other industries. An omni-channel contact center with the following built-in or additional features can take over some tasks.
1. A CRM allows for the centralization of customer information. The agent does not have to sift through spreadsheets looking for data.
2. Automatic call routing provides quick responses to calls. The call center worker does not have to deal with hundreds of calls.
3. Intelligent call routing assigns calls to people with specific query-related skills. Callers don’t face the frustration of moving from one department to the next in search of an expert.
4. Live chat and chatbots provide alternative real-time communication. It can take the stress off the call center agents.
5. Predictive dialers free agents from making mistakes when calling numbers. The AI technologies learn the numbers; all the agents need to do is type in a few initial numbers. Indeed, it pretty much works like predictive text on your smartphone.
6. Simple copy and paste functionalities remove time-consuming and error-prone typing.
For the call center teams, it means higher efficiency and, thus, productivity. Customers will have a better experience and quick resolution to their issues. The company can realize considerable savings in resource use. They can, for example, reduce the number of workers it hires at the contact center.
3. Better Quality Control with Agent Assist
Agent assist tools are excellent for quality control. Having a supervisor checking that people are doing what they should be is not enough. And, to be honest, neither is it practical.
An agent could be having a bad day and mistreat a customer. They may also decide to ignore calls or put them on hold for too long. Any contact center software you use must have real-time analytics and reporting.
The first step is to come up with quality control metrics. These could include:
- Call length.
- Hold length.
- The number of calls handled by each agent.
- Call conversions, etc.
From the data, you can generate critical insights. These include:
- Best performing agents.
- Areas in service provision that need improvements.
- Resource needs, and so much more.
Remember, agent assist tools should make the team’s work easier. But, they also provide great accountability tools. Take the example of call recording software. The agents will have a harder time letting their emotions interfere with work.
But, it should not come across that you aim to watch your employees. Indeed, the recordings can also provide fantastic references if there is ever a need.
A simple analysis of the scripts can shed light on crucial issues. They can show customer frustrations that could impact their experience with the brand.
Establishing quality control metrics will improve services. The data insights are critical for decision-making. They also assist in developing sound strategies for customer management.
Final Thoughts
Agents’ assist tools can transform customer service at your contact centers. The ability to automate tasks will increase efficiency and productivity. The company will also realize huge savings while improving customer care.
The best contact center software is the perfect solution for omni-channel marketing. It allows for seamless integration across the different channels. Customers get the same excellent service no matter which touchpoints they are using.
For the agents, it makes it easier to deliver. Quick references are available on one single dashboard. Cloud contact centers ensure remote access. That means an agent can help a customer from the comfort of their home.
