4 min
Customer satisfaction and CX metrics have always been key performance indicators (KPIs) for contact centers. But today, the customer experience is positioned as the most important metric for the entire organization. In fact, 9 out of 10 companies claim that they are competing primarily on the basis of customer experience.
However, although CX is now a high-level approach for most companies, the key to customer experience remains in the call center. The multichannel contact center contains all the main contact points of the users with the company and the brand. And as organizations in all sectors seek to offer an outstanding customer experience, call centers face increased pressure to improve CX and meet the growing expectations of users.
Why Focus On CX?
In a global market where users can shop at any company, anywhere, it is even harder to compete for organizations. Most users (78%) say they are less loyal to the brand than three years ago, according to Accenture. What maintains its loyalty has changed greatly: a Blackhawk Network study found that 94% of users say that an excellent customer experience is the main reason they remain loyal to a business or brand.
As a result, companies with a vision for the future are changing their thinking about user acquisition and loyalty. Instead of seeing these problems in terms of brand and price, they value them in the form of experience. A CCW Digital study found that more than half (52%) of senior managers around the world consider customer experience as the most important way to differentiate their brand.
How To Create Loyalty In Call Center Users?
The customer service center plays a fundamental role in the impact of the customer experience. Poor contact center experience quickly creates negative feelings towards an organization, which can affect loyalty and encourage users to complain or go to a competitor. So what is needed to build loyalty to call center users?
1) Focus On User Driven Innovation
New customer service technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chatbots, have great potential to improve the customer experience and help contact centers improve their results. But users don’t care about their final result, they only care about the innovations that benefit them. Thus, according to a Calabrio report on how technologies impact user loyalty, 48% of respondents said that innovation is important only if it improves customer service.
2) Provide A Human Connection
Some of the most shocking innovations driven by users in the call center are chatbots and other self-service options that offer them the help they need quickly. However, the phone still retains its supremacy. The ability to pick up the phone and talk to a person is not only efficient; it builds a good relationship. Eight out of 10 users believe that interacting with a human versus a chatbot or other digital self-service channel is a sign of good customer service. It is also essential for the credibility of a company.
Even with the rise of self-service and AI, users want to be able to talk to a human being:
- 74% are more loyal to a company if they can talk to an agent.
- 54% do not trust that their problem will be redirected correctly if there is no option to speak with an agent.
- 60% feel more heard when talking to a person in real time.
- 56% think their problem will really be resolved by contacting an agent.
- 53% believe that the problem will be resolved more quickly when talking to an agent.
3) Focus On The Team
Recognizing the importance of human connections with users in the contact center, the next natural approach is the human being on the other side of the line: the agent. When users communicate with the call center, they are likely to avoid self-service channels on purpose because they want the help of a person. To improve the customer experience, it is key to offer agents the right tools and training to be effective.
4) Ensure A Positive Impact On CX By Adding A New Channel To The Call Center
A digital self-service strategy is not just about adding channels; it’s about creating a perfect experience at every step. If that experience does not include highly trained and competent people who have the correct user information at their fingertips, companies will have difficulty providing the level of digital self-service they expect.
The new communication methods form new challenges, including the understanding of user behavior and feelings through text messages, email, live chat … For this reason, the various channels require different skill sets. This affects the hiring and training practices of companies to meet the needs of users.
Each interaction is different, and what can begin as an unimportant online application can quickly become a much more complex situation. To obtain the best possible result, call center agents must have the flexibility to move users through the channels as required by each situation, and not force them to repeat themselves in the process.
Today’s users expect a consistent experience across all channels, which means that call centers must measure quality assurance metrics not only for voice interactions, but also for chat, text and any other channel.
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