How To Improve Your Call Center Customer Experience Strategy

Delivering better customer experiences (CX) is a hot topic that has become increasingly critical for forward-thinking call centers. Contact center leaders realize the time has come to deliver real measurable value to the business.

To deliver this value, a CX initiative must be selected that can immediately demonstrate ROI. This initiative must be directly related to a KPI that is linked to revenue or inefficiency within the organization.

For example, initiatives related to customer satisfaction / retention that demonstrate a clear impact on retention rates, or self-service initiatives that drive a reduction in operating costs, or customer engagement / journey initiatives that correlate with an increase about the sales.

However, in addition to short-term ROI, improving the call center’s customer experience strategy also requires careful long-term consideration. To achieve both short-term and long-term benefits, three elements must be aligned: business objectives, infrastructure and technologies.

Once aligned, contact center leaders must set priorities and make smart decisions to show short-term ROI, while building a strong foundation toward greater long-term impact as key technologies mature.

How To Improve Your Call Center Customer Experience Strategy

1) Aligning Business Objectives With Contact Center Performance

Over the past five years, a number of key business trends have emerged that have been steadily gaining ground. Call center leaders can study these trends and find within each one a customer experience strategy that delivers a proven ROI to the business.

2) Offering Personalized Experiences

Consumer expectations have changed over the last decade. They are no longer satisfied with mass content delivery; they also expect to receive highly personalized messages that meet their individual interests. They are willing to sacrifice their privacy by sharing their data in exchange for these experiences. 

3) Providing An Omnichannel Experience

Many of today’s businesses recognize that customers want to communicate with a business from anywhere, anytime, and from any device and platform (web, voice, chat, messaging, social media, video, and email), and therefore, support multiple channels to gain customer engagement.

4) Promoting Self-Service

Self-service is emerging as the key to the modern CX. At best, it is preferred by users and profitable for the business. While we are a long way from delivering automated human-like interactive experiences, with recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR), self-service can more easily understand the customer’s problem and determine the path to resolution, which enables customers to address the issue themselves without further delay.

5) Implementing Cloud Infrastructures: Accelerated Digital Transformation

Contact center leaders have now embraced the need for integrated cloud-based platforms that adequately connect consumers, the business, and their representatives. As part of the journey towards complete digital transformation, these platforms store, share and process the constant stream of data transmission through the call center. This effort is focused in two main directions:

• Data Integration And Administration Flow

Collecting and analyzing massive amounts of customer and business data provides call center leaders with user insights and a foundation for future automation. Having a 360-degree image of a customer drives better decision making, personalized CX, and ultimately more satisfied customers.

• Excellent digital customer journey

A robust cloud-based infrastructure is required to provide a seamless journey from first contact with a business to final resolution (customer service), ensuring that the customer has continuous access to the organization.

Businesses must ensure smooth transitions and handoffs from one channel to another throughout the customer lifecycle. Failing to meet users’ digital travel expectations when they need support and assistance can lead directly to your competitors.

6) Fostering Data Analytics, AI And Augmented Reality Solutions

As call centers move beyond standard ticketing, CRM and IVR systems, three major fields of technology have emerged at the forefront of proven, results-based innovation.

a) Data Analysis

There is a range of data-driven tools to ensure that call center operations are running at peak performance. They analyze large amounts of data related to consumer interaction, workforce management, and operations.

To find the solution that offers value to the organization, it is convenient to know the problems or weaknesses that exist. Once connected to your digital data, the right analytics solution will provide clear information on the changes and fixes that need to be implemented to improve and drive ROI.

Data analysis also helps manage resources and improve performance by isolating the cause of failure and success.

b) Artificial Intelligence (AI) And Machine Learning

AI is defined as the ability of a machine to perform the cognitive functions typically associated with the human mind. It builds on the data collected and the information provided during the analysis, and puts it to work.

Some solutions based on Artificial Intelligence are showing clear benefits. For example, an AI-powered chatbot might collect customer data and assign the case to the most appropriate agent. Likewise, Artificial Intelligence helps agents to recommend the best actions based on the information sent by consumers.

c) Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented reality is an interactive technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on the user’s view of the real world. In today’s fast becoming hyper-visual digital world, AR is emerging as a crucial communication method, offering greater engagement and efficiency.

Augmented reality allows users to experiment and “try” products before purchasing. It also enables company representatives to visually signal consumers to desired action, resulting in quick and efficient problem resolution.

These AR applications have been shown to have a positive impact on both sales and service. For example, “try before you buy” has increased sales in the cosmetics industry, and RA-driven customer support has reduced technician (truck) shipments and product returns without encountering failures.

In conclusion, when taking a holistic view of CX going forward, there must be three drivers to ensure that the call center customer experience strategy is poised to deliver real value. Business goals such as personalization, omnichannel experiences, and self-service tools need to be aligned with your CX strategy.

The infrastructure must be strengthened to support your digital transformation, including data integration and the digital customer journey. Investments in next-generation technologies such as data analytics, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, and augmented reality should be a priority to capitalize on captured customer data. With these three elements, companies will be well equipped to meet customer and business driven demands for CX excellence.