Often when you think about a call center, negative thoughts may come to mind, and often the stories we hear of poor customer experiences is due to an interaction they’ve had with a call center agent. Coming to mind right now is the example that gained national attention last year when a journalist attempted to cancel their cable service and was thwarted every step of the way, until they had to ask to speak with the call agent’s supervisor. Scenarios like this is what sets the stereotype that call center agents are uninformed, and not really invested in their job or the company they’re working for. We jump to all sorts of conclusions that those who work in call centers did not succeed at a previous job, or they’re working there because they are desperate for a job or are just looking to pick up some extra money. Overall, it’s safe to say that call centers employees simply do not get the same respect as other departments and positions, and are often undervalue and/or ignored.
But people need to rethink this viewpoint, because the truth is that call centers are far more important than they realize, and most call center agents take great pride in their work. As it is often the very first interaction customers will have with a business, interactions with a call center can determine whether someone will become a loyal customer, or whether they will go to a business’s competitor. So businesses need to be sure their call centers are operating at peak levels.
Here are just a couple of aspects any business should focus on in their call center to ensure excellence.
Gauge Agent Morale with Automated Quality Monitoring
Call center agents are the ones on the front lines every day, doing their best to make sure each call ends with a satisfied customer. And most agents take pride in their work (or at least, they want to). If their morale is low, it can often come across in their performance, which can have a detrimental effect on their customer interactions. But call center supervisors and managers can help keep morale high in various ways. For instance, utilizing call monitoring tools such as speech analytics to identify not only where agents might need improving (and provide the right training), but also to recognize where their strengths and their talents lie. By having a steady knowledge of their agents’ performances, call center supervisors are able to more consistently recognize and praise their efforts, even giving some agents the chance to move into roles that best match their abilities. As a result, agents feel their talents and efforts are valued, leading to higher confidence and better performances, which leads to happier customers.
A speech analytics solution will index and categorize 100% of a business’ customer-agent interactions based on search phrases, transforming the unstructured, unleveraged data contained within conversations into actionable business intelligence so they can improve agent performance and positively impact the customer experience.
Monitor First Call Resolution with Speech Analytics
Another area in which call centers strive for excellence is in their First Call Resolution (FCR) rates. A recent survey showed most managers view FCR as the most important factor by which to measure a call center’s success, since the call centers with the highest customer service rates have an FCR rate of 86% [1]. After all, people who contact a call center have often exhausted all their other options, and are now looking for someone to give them knowledgeable, efficient assistance. Therefore, call center agents must have access to the right information to solve problems thoroughly and effectively. If they do not, they may provide an inadequate solution, leading to repeat calls on the part of the customer. Speech analytics can help with this by scanning all phone conversations for specific words and phrases to help unveil patterns and trends to determine why issues may not be solved the first time around. Then, they can use this data to formulate strategies that will help agents be able to handle these situations in a far more successful manner, raising both the call center’s FCR rates and its customer satisfaction rates
How Speech Analytics Can Help
Companies of all size use speech analytics to help them improve performance and the customer experience across many departments, as well as in the contact center. Speech analytics can help your business:
- Gain visibility into the voice of your customers
- Monitor agent script and regulatory compliance
- Enhance workforce training
- Manage quality monitoring
- Analyze and improve business processes
- Discover revenue opportunities
With the customer experience being so important in the business world these days, the call center and its agents are extremely crucial to a company, making sure customers are happy. Be sure you are supporting your contact center by providing the right tools and training to ensure maximum impact and success.
Learn more about CallFinder in this short video and visit our Case Studies area to see how other businesses are using our technology to achieve improved business performance.
Sources:
[1] https://www.pcipal.com/us/knowledge-centre/guides/can-contact-centres-improve-first-contact-resolution-fcr/
