The modern contact center often includes updated technology, multiple communication channels, and well-trained employees.
Management spends a good deal of resources optimizing these assets to increase conversions and overall sales. Despite the latest and greatest advances in contact center functionality, however, an overwhelming majority of contact centers still make a critical mistake that prevent them from generating even higher conversions and overall sales.
These contact centers use agent performance metrics to measure quantity of calls (or texts, email, chats) instead of the quality of customer interactions.
Customers place high value on good customer service, and the best way to gauge whether or not agents are offering that superior service is to measure problem resolution instead of mere interaction numbers. Contact center management should implement strategies to improve problem resolution, and then measure accordingly.
Agent Empowerment
The first strategy management should implement to improve problem resolution is agent empowerment. Agents should have access to all customer data and interaction history as soon as a customer calls, emails, chats or texts. The right contact center software makes this information readily available so an agent does not have to waste time searching while the customer becomes frustrated waiting. Agents who are able to resolve problems within the first call, text, chat, or email should be rewarded and other agents should be incentivized to strive for first contact resolution.
Self-Service Customer Options
Contact center management should also implement self-service options that allow customers to answer a few simple questions before speaking or communicating with an agent. When the customer does interact with an agent, the agent will know the customer’s issue and be able to solve the problem quickly. The right contact center software can help management effectively implement self-service options.
Assess Agent Skills
Contact center management should also assess agent skills and use predictive analytics routing technology to route customers to the correct agent to handle the customer’s issue. Different agents have different strengths, and allowing a customer to communicate with the agent best equipped to assist reduces agent transfers and increases customer satisfaction.
Measure Quality Not Quantity
Instead of measuring how many interactions agents handle, management should instead focus on and measure how effectively agents handle those interactions and customer satisfaction. If customers are left on hold too long, or left waiting for online responses, they are likely to abandon the interaction and contact a competitor. Real-time Performance Dashboards can help management gauge how effectively agents are able to quickly help customers on first contact, and make any necessary adjustments to employee empowerment, self-service options and contact routing.
By measuring how effectively agents are assisting customers instead of just how many customers agents assist, customer satisfaction will improve and customer loyalty will increase, leading to high conversions and better business overall.
