3 min
In 2018, contact centers will focus their strategies on improving the experience of the agents to, consequently, improve the customer experience. However, a new concept will be reinforced in these strategies during the next year: the reduction of “friction with the client”. Thus, 39% of the organizations will prioritize the “frictionless experience”. And although there is no universal priority, 9 key contact center priorities for 2018 can be concretely differentiated.
In this sense, CCW Digital has prepared the report “Top Contact Center Priorities for 2018”, surveying agents of customer service centers, marketing professionals, IT managers and operations professionals, among other senior positions, during the months of August, September and October 2017.
The group of respondents covered a wide range of organizations, including large, medium and small companies: 49% of the organizations surveyed generate more than 1 billion dollars in annual revenue; 72% have multiple contact center sites; and in 56% of the organizations surveyed, the contact centers had an average capacity of more than 50 agents.
9 Key priorities of contact centers for 2018
- The reduction of the responsibility of the client is placed as the main priority of customer experience for next year.
- Organizations not only marvel at the idea of chatbots: they are ready to implement technology. Taking advantage of automated interaction tools is the number 2 priority for 37% of contact centers.
- Other key priorities of the customer service centers include improving the voice of the customer’s strategy (34%), mapping the ‘customer journey’ (33%) and improving the agent’s experience (33%). As companies increasingly recognize that the customer’s main experience is a “trip,” they will want to understand what that trip means for customers. By identifying, analyzing and remedying these weaknesses, companies can create an easier and more valuable experience for their clients.
- Companies believe that tools and training play a crucial role in driving the agent’s experience. Coaching is the agent experience approach #1 for 2018.
- Improve compensation and the work community is also priorities of the agents’ experience.
- The “digital transformation” is rooted in customer service. Reduce customer effort; obtain customer information and respect the preferences of the chosen channel are the most popular reasons to adopt self-service channels (omnichannel).
- Coaching, training and quality control are the most urgent investment priorities in the empowerment of the workforce.
- The tools for measuring customer loyalty and satisfaction, customer experience management solutions and monitoring of social networks are the most urgent investment priorities in terms of customer relations.
- Voice solutions, email and live chat are the most urgent investment priorities oriented to channels.
Happy agents, happy customers
By improving the agent’s experience, companies will cultivate happy agents who, in turn, will produce satisfied and loyal customers. Not only to achieve happiness, but also to improve the experience of agents and increase their productivity. When their daily experiences are better, the agents perform better. They are also more likely to remain long-term in their workplace. These more productive and committed employees will deliver the optimal experience for the clients.
In this sense, a great learning program cultivates talented and committed agents. Therefore, a priority for 48% of companies is to improve training in the agents’ experience strategy in 2018. On the other hand, improving the quality of the base of their knowledge is the most important for 45% of organizations.
Other comparatively high-ranking initiatives include making systems easier to use (42%), making metrics more clear and more transparent (41%) and integrating channels (40%).
Collectively, companies believe that empowerment is the key to a great agent experience.
Digital transformation will continue to be essential for customer centricity
The “digital transformation” has been a central element of the strategy of contact with customers in the last decade, and will continue to be so in 2018. Companies will continue to expand their opportunities for web, social and mobile participation. They will also take advantage of technology, such as chatbots, to revolutionize the customer experience.
In conclusion, we will try to recognize that a great customer experience is the sum of many parts. Therefore, contact centers will follow all initiatives that allow a better understanding of what customers want, a group of agents capable of satisfying those demands, and systems and processes that allow these agents to function optimally and efficiently.
Subscribe
Ask for a demo