How to Optimize Customer Experience Technology in Contact Centers

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    • Customer Experience Technology View of your Call Center

    By 2022 the global cloud based contact center market is growing from USD 6.8Bn in 2017 to 20.93Bn in 2022. This makes for CAGR of 25.2%. If you do not get on this journey, you risk falling behind and becoming irrelevant in less than five years. That means, it is time to start investing in customer experience technology.

    Why invest in call center customer experience technology?

    Investing in call centers enables you to manage customer experience through the management of your people.

    So, what happens when you choose not to invest in contact center technology? I worked for a brand that did not have call recording available.

    Part of the compliance risks that come with this “saving” meant that I, as a Senior leader, was completely inadequate at managing my own call center operation agents. I knew there was an agent who did not treat our customers well. Although there were witnesses who heard the unacceptable conversations take place, because there was no recording, I could not have a proper performance management with my employee. I couldn’t prove what was happening! The customer experience of callers is directly impacted by your decision to invest in call center technology.

    The summary of Ricochet 360 gives a pretty comprehensive picture of why you should ensure you have a call recording feature in your organization.

    Recording calls is not enough

    At another brand, we had call recording. But for years, we kept deprioritizing text analytics as a capability. Every year the fourth quarter would come and budget cuts would be needed. Text analytics was the first thing on the chopping board. World class contact centers invest in call center analytics and utilize them to actively manage the quality of their service.

    In my case, our company needed text analytics to provide insight into the most common reason for calls. This piece of insight was fundamental for my self-service customer experience work. The team needed to know what was the right problem to solve with the new self service technology. When I asked the call center for the number one reason for calls, I was told I needed to wait months to get the response! Months!

    In order to answer my question, the call center was going to assign a person to listen and note the reason for each call manually. Although we had the recording available, we did not have a contemporary group that could be a real partner in strategic programs.

    Investments in Customer Experience Technology

    Four months ago I called Empower Retirement to move my balance out of my JetBlue account to my IRA. The check came with a charge of $25 for Express Mail. I called them to say I did not request express mail. And I asked them to investigate my call. The agent said that they can do this in 2 business days.

    What does that tell us? First, that Empower Retirement implemented call recording. And second, that they have text analytics. I received my credit check in the mail last week.

    Technology delivers exceptional customer experience when it is designed and used properly. Do not save money on fundamental systems with no immediately apparent ROI. Some of these technologies today are just the cost of doing business. You would look ridiculous and lose the respect of the consumer if you end up missing a capability that, in the eye of the consumer, is a given.

    And thank you Empower Retirement for using several call center technologies well so we can prove that it can be done properly!

    Questions about how to make customer experience technology work for your contact centers? Reach out to us!

    Liliana Petrova, CCXP

    Published on 08/28/2019

    Liliana Petrova, CCXP

    Liliana Petrova CCXP pioneered a new customer-centric culture that energized more than 15,000 JetBlue employees. Future Travel Experience & Popular Science awarded her for her  JFK Lobby redesign & facial recognition program. Committed to creating seamless experiences for customers and greater value for brands, she founded The Petrova Experience, an international customer experience consulting firm that helps brands improve CX. To elevate the industry, she launched a membership program to help CX professionals grow their careers. Ms Petrova lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.
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