Performance parameters have changed over the past few years and have changed even more during the pandemic phase. Simply put, call center productivity is the optimal use of time and resources to achieve desired results.
What is this desired goal for contact centers? Meaningful and effective conversations with clients. Customer satisfaction has become much more important than prices and products with advances in technology and the wide range of choices available to them.
A good customer experience is inextricably linked to agent satisfaction. Call center productivity cannot be sustained by having agents work to the brink of exhaustion. If we consider reducing call processing time and reducing unnecessary costs as a means of improving productivity, then there is an easier way. Here is a list of tools and techniques to help you get better.
1. Channel integration
Imagine that an agent has to switch between five different screens at the same time to solve one client request. This will definitely impact productivity and, ultimately, the customer experience. In the world of integrations, still struggling with screen switching is like reinventing the wheel when you can fly a plane.
Integration has a direct impact on agent performance. This allows the agent to trace the paths of clients through multiple touchpoints. Integrated contact centers provide efficiency, productivity, and improved customer experience.
2. Use analytics to reduce the load on agents
Call content is just as important when it comes to improving call center or agent productivity. Call content analysis is important for understanding what type of calls your organization is receiving. Depending on the intent of the call, they can be redirected to a visual IVR, a bot, or an agent.
For instance, Cisco Salesforce CTI connectors assist with skill-based call routing to connect consumers to the appropriate agent without making them wait a long time in line. This serves two purposes:
- maintaining call quality;
- improving call resolution speed.
In the long run, this can reduce call flow for agents and help them improve the quality of the calls they handle.
3. Stimulate agent performance
Many people believe that salary is the main incentive for agents to perform better. One way to celebrate their work is to reward them not only for achieving a goal but also for equipping them with advanced tools to unlock their potential.
Contact centers can find a balance between short-term (point reward) and long-term incentives (based on track record and KPIs). Contact centers must listen to their customers and understand their needs, such as a seamless customer journey for better customer service, and take steps to help them with their work.
An engaging and healthy work atmosphere is the main inducement.
4. AI deployment for intuitive control
Agile technologies can be especially important for improving the productivity of agents.
- First, by automating manual tasks, agents can more effectively address customer requests. This significantly reduces time-consuming and error-prone processes.
- Second, the intuitive advantage offered by assistive AI tools such as chatbots feeds agents with information to enable them to sell better. They help you collect input and perform predefined functions based on a customized business process.
This automated flow assists agents in helping customers in an optimized way, which reduces problem resolution time.
Thus, AI assistance not only makes the workload of agents more manageable but also lowers the average cost of contact by speeding up customer interactions, resulting in a faster solution.
Final thoughts
The performance of contact centers is based on technical and human intervention. The introduction of technology should not exclude the “human” element from work and should not be ignored in today’s competitive world.