Customers have more options today than ever, and they can instantly find out about better options if they feel their needs aren’t being met. Great customer service has never been so important, and your customer support center is one of the most crucial pieces of this puzzle. Your call center agents need to be friendly and willing to go the extra mile for the customer, but you’ll also need to keep up to date with the best technology to offer a truly stand-out experience.
Consider why customers typically contact your support center. It’s generally because they’re having issues with a product or they need answers they can’t find elsewhere. They’re likely frustrated before they even call in. Your call center agents have the opportunity to turn a frustrating experience into a good one. Consider that 54% of customers have higher expectations of customer service than they did just one year ago. Also, consider that 95% of customers share bad customer service experiences with others, and 87% share their good experiences. This should be more than enough to convince you of the importance of offering a positive experience. Here are some ways a modern call center solution can help you do that.
Intelligent Omni-Channel Routing
Every sales call center can use a smart call routing solution. This kind of channel routing sends customers to the most qualified agent available for the call rather than just the next agent available in line. This gives your customers the best chance at getting the answers they need on their first try and speeds call resolutions overall.
Even better, a true omnichannel solution lets your customers contact your agent through their preferred method which could include voice calls, email, video chat, a company app, and more. Additionally, customers can seamlessly switch between communication methods any time they like while staying connected to the same agent. This ensures that each customer has a highly personalized experience, which is integral to making them feel like they matter to your company.
Agent Empowerment
Smart call center solutions aren’t just great for your customers; they also help out your agents. It’s a long-held belief that happy employees create happy customers, and it’s also accepted that call centers generally have high turnover rates. This clearly doesn’t speak well of employee satisfaction, and that could be hurting your customer relations too. There are some strategies for agent retention you can follow, but subpar technology is often among the biggest complaints about call center agents.
With a smart solution and a unified agent desktop, your agents can have easy access to all their tools and monitor incoming calls as well as keep up with calls in progress. This means that even if a customer has to be transferred to another agent, the new agent can come in with the full context of the situation. This saves customers from having to repeat themselves and reduces frustration, which makes for a more positive experience all around. With the right tools, your agents will be more productive and easier to manage.
Customer Relationship Management
With integrated customer relationship management (CRM) software, your agents have easy access to customer data. Information about repeat customers can be used to streamline their experience, and you can even set your router to send priority customers to specific agents. This can be useful for returning customers who like dealing with a certain agent or for new customers to get the best help.
For example, if you ran an enclosed auto transport business, you could train some agents specifically on walking through your services with new customers and have unfamiliar callers sent to them. For known callers who you have a positive relationship with, you could have them sent to an agent who can expedite their order. You can customize your customer journey the way you see fit and easily check customer data to tweak your approach.