In an increasingly competitive environment, call centres need solutions that enable them to optimise time, improve contactability and increase agent productivity.

In this context, the predictive dialler has become a key tool for customer service and sales teams seeking outstanding customer experiences (CX), more engaged agents and increased sales.

WHAT IS A PREDICTIVE DIALLER?

A predictive dialler for call centres is a system designed to make calls automatically, meaning agents no longer need to dial numbers or search for contacts the system does it for them.

The dialler calls multiple numbers simultaneously and, when a person answers, connects the call directly to an available agent. This prevents agents from wasting time on unanswered or failed calls.

This predictive dialler software anticipates agent availability and adjusts the dialling pace based on response volumes and the average length of conversations. The goal is simple: more productive calls, less wasted time and better results.

5 BENEFITS OF A PREDICTIVE DIALLER FOR A CALL CENTRE

1. IMPROVED AGENT EFFICIENCY

Predictive diallers free agents from repetitive tasks such as searching contact lists or dialling numbers manually. The system:

• Identifies the best times to call.
• Predicts when an active call will end.
• Automatically launches the next call.

In addition, it can be integrated with Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) systems, allowing incoming and outgoing calls to be balanced according to workload. This significantly reduces idle time and improves overall team productivity.

2. SMARTER, MORE EFFECTIVE LEAD MANAGEMENT

When connected to customer management software, predictive diallers make it possible to keep all customer information organised and up to date. The system knows the best time to call and avoids dialling unsuitable numbers, such as fax lines, voicemail boxes or contacts that should not be called.

All calls are also automatically logged in the CRM (Customer Relationship Management system). This makes follow-up easier and provides real-time metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to optimise sales and marketing actions.

3. SPEED UP SALES

Speaking to the right person at the right time is essential to closing a sale. A predictive dialler helps agents prioritise contacts with a higher likelihood of interest, avoiding unnecessary calls. Features such as:

• Call recording
• Automatic call-backs
• Task automation

Enable agents to focus on high-value conversations and close more deals in less time, significantly improving performance by up to 150%.

4. BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE SATISFACTION

Predictive diallers can boost customer satisfaction by contacting customers at the right time and with the clear aim of offering products and services that genuinely interest them. Reaching customers with relevant offers at optimal times increases loyalty.

5. OPTIMISE RESOURCES

In addition to boosting sales, predictive dialers indirectly help reduce costs. Operators can make more calls in less time by reducing the time they spend on manual tasks.

By integrating directly with the CRM, there is no need for additional hardware or complex integrations, making the system simpler, more efficient and more cost-effective.

HOW A PREDICTIVE DIALLER IMPROVES KEY CALL CENTRE KPIs

Implementing a predictive dialler not only streamlines processes but also has a direct impact on the most important performance indicators:

• Contact rate: increases by avoiding failed calls and invalid numbers.
• Agent productivity: agents handle more live conversations per hour.
• Average Handling Time (AHT): reduced through task automation.
• Abandonment rate: lowered by matching call volume to real agent availability.
• Outbound campaign ROI: higher return on investment by making better use of resources and reaching the right customers.

Thanks to this data-driven approach, the predictive dialler becomes a key tool for managing call centres more efficiently and with a strong results focus.

DISCOVER THE ENREACH OUTBOUND AUTO DIALLER

Boost your business with our cloud-based business telephony software: no installations, no hardware. All you need is a device with an internet connection to create and manage your marketing campaigns, measure their effectiveness in real time, track results and grow your business by up to 400%. You can also seamlessly connect branches, departments and team members.

ITS MODULES AND TOOLS INCLUDE:

• Smart diallers
• Customer information
• Dashboards and analytics
• Real-time management
• Call administration
• Appointment scheduling
• Advanced customer management
• Agent organisation

La entrada Top 5 benefits of a predictive dialer for a call center se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

If you’re starting a new business or looking to expand, you’ve come to the right place. The day you open the doors (figuratively or otherwise) to your business, you’ll need a new phone number.

Why do you need a business phone number?

It may come as a surprise in the face of email, SMS, WhatsApp and web chat, but the telephone is still the most common method of contact for businesses. So, it’s vital that you have one!

As well as being the most widely used contact channel, advanced phone systems allow you to:

• Enhance your brand image. When people dial your number, what do you want them to hear first? Probably not a ring tone. With advanced telephony, you can set up music and welcome messages to greet people at the other end of the line.
• Enhance your user experience. Among all the advanced features, you’ll probably love automatic call forwarding and integration with external programs such as CRMs to automatically update your database.
• Improve the customer or supplier experience. They’ll notice too, because one of the features of advanced systems is the ability to program automated assistants to handle calls outside of office hours.

Now that you know why you need a business phone, let’s get on with it! While getting a business phone number is relatively straightforward, there are a few things to consider.

How do I get a business phone number?

To get a business phone number, you need a telecommunications provider. We recommend that you look for providers who specialise in serving businesses. They will be best placed to guide you through the process.

As there are many providers, one way to narrow down the options is to focus on call quality and the features associated with the phone line.

Most businesses will need at least the following features: scheduling of out-of-office messages when the office is closed, welcome messages (as mentioned above) and voicemail to email, which allows you to receive transcribed voice messages to your email address.

In addition to these and many other features, we offer our phone lines with a basic virtual switchboard service, allowing you to efficiently manage calls, configure menu options, redirect calls to different departments and maintain total control over your company’s telephone communications.

If you need a phone number for customer service, we also have customer service software that allows you to manage calls, emails, SMS, WhatsApps and web chats from a single programme.

Once you’ve chosen your business telecoms provider, it’s important to understand the different types of numbers available to help you choose the one that’s right for you.

Types of business numbers

Broadly speaking, there are four main families of business numbers: geographical or local numbers, 900 or toll free numbers, 901 or shared costs numbers, and 902 numbers, which have no cost for you.

Here’s more information about each of them:

1) Geographical numbers

What they are: Geographical numbers are local numbers, both national and international.

Features: They allow you to have a local number from anywhere in the world without the need for a physical office in that country.

Advantages: They give callers a sense of proximity and trust as they recognise the area code of their region.

Disadvantages: They are an additional cost to your business.

2) 900 lines

What they are: 900 numbers are known as toll-free numbers for customers.

Features: They are mandatory for all basic service companies (water, electricity, gas, etc.) and most companies with customer service departments almost always use them.

Advantages: They give callers confidence that the call won’t cost them anything.

Disadvantages: We’re not aware of any disadvantages.

3) 901 Lines

What they are: These are national shared cost numbers, meaning that the caller and receiver share the cost of the call.

Features: They are accessible from all over Spain, which can be useful if your company has customers or branches in different regions.

Advantages: As they are cost shared, you can generate revenue from calls made by your customers or suppliers.

Disadvantages: Customers may find them expensive and avoid using them.

4) 902 lines

What they are: These are national numbers where the caller pays the full cost of the call.

Features: Like 901, they are accessible from all over Spain. However, the caller’s charges are much higher.

Advantages: You don’t pay a penny for the calls you make or receive.

Disadvantages: You can’t use them for customer service, and if you do, you have to provide another free alternative number, such as a 900.

How to choose the best phone number for your business

The following questions will help you choose from the many types of business phone numbers available:

What image do you want to project?

• Local and accessible company. If you want to convey an image of closeness and familiarity, geographical or local numbers are your allies.
• Large and accessible company. If you want to position yourself as a large but accessible company, 900 numbers are perfect.
• Large company with limited reachability. If you want to position yourself as a large company and limit the number of incoming calls, both 901 and 902 will do the trick.

It’s also possible to use a combination of numbers. For example, if you’re running a specific advertising campaign in a particular city, it’s worth having a geographical business number to get more calls.

What’s your budget?

Price is usually the deciding factor. Aim to invest in numbers that are useful to you and don’t spend a fortune on something you don’t need.

If you’re unsure about the business numbers you need, our team of experts are always on hand to help you choose the best option for your business. Contact them on 900 670 750 or use the chat below.

La entrada How to get a business phone number for your company se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

Artificial intelligence (AI) developed for customer service is not intended to replace agents, but to complement them. The emotional intelligence of agents combined with the automation provided by AI is the perfect combination to deliver a flawless customer experience (CX).

But its power does not end there. This technology also has a positive impact on the agent experience (AX), freeing them from managing simple enquiries and performing repetitive tasks where they do not add value.

Here are ten use cases that demonstrate the benefits of integrating AI to help agents be faster, more efficient and work on their continuous improvement.

1. INTENTIONAL QUALIFICATION

Bots are ready to ask an open-ended question like “How can I help you?”, interpret the customer’s response in the moment, and decidewhether to offer self-service (if within their capabilities) or transfer the conversation to the most qualified agent to handle the request.

As with IVR menus, you can use them to identify the user’s intention and intent and create transfer rules that take into account agent skills.

Unlike IVR, conversational and/or generative AI bots do not require you to configure the conversation diagram per channel and provide a better customer experience by understanding the customer’s query first.

2. USER IDENTIFICATION

Another task a bot can do before transferring the conversation to an agent is to identify the person it is talking to.

By querying the CRM, ERP or ticketing tool, it can search the database for the ID card, phone number or any other identifying information the user has provided.

This way, when the agent receives the call or chat, they can address the customer by name and quickly check their call/message history and customer record.

3. CONVERSATION SUMMARY WITH AI

When the customer indicates they want to speak to an agent, or the bot has determined it’s best to transfer the conversation to an operator, the agent receives the call or chat along with a summary of the previous conversation.

In addition to a transcript of the conversation and a record of all actions taken by the bot, the summary of the conversation identifies keywords and the customer’s sentiment.

With this information in advance, the agent can resolve the customer’s query more quickly and efficiently, because they know exactly what the customer needs, what the bot wasn’t able to provide, and what tone to use depending on the customer’s emotional state.

For example, if the bot has detected that a customer is angry because they have a problem with their phone line, the agent will know all this information before answering the call and will be much more effective in their verbal communication and problem solving.

4. RESOLVING COMMON QUERIES

According to a recent study we conducted, bots can handle up to 80% of simple queries in a contact centre.

Whether answering FAQs about a product or service, resolving a technical issue found in a user manual, resetting a password or recommending a credit line, bots free agents from these types of calls or messages, giving them more time to handle inquiries that require emotional intelligence or to assist those customers with special needs.

5. SENDING DOCUMENTS

In addition to resolving simple queries, bots can also provide self-service by sending documents to the customer, such as invoices, contracts, forms, etc.

Whether verbal or written, the bot can instantly deliver the document the customer needs through any platform.

For example, if a customer calls the call centre and asks for their latest electricity bill, the bot can send it via the customer’s preferred channel: WhatsApp, SMS or email.

6. TICKET GENERATION

As part of self-service, bots can also generate a ticket detailing the customer’s problem. By gathering all the relevant information from the conversation, they can create a new ticket, fill it in, and send the customer the incident tracking number.

Especially for queries that cannot be resolved in the first instance, bots can handle this part of the process, reducing human error and freeing agents from repetitive tasks.

7. INSTANT TRANSLATION

As well as being omnichannel, Artificial Intelligence is multilingual, meaning it speaks and understands all languages. This feature opens up a world of possibilities for contact centres, not only to better deal with requests that are not in our native language, but also to provide service in any language.

Whether it is a voice or chat conversation, we can ask the bot to transcribe the customer’s answers in the language we want, and also respond to the customer in their own language.

This functionality is ideal for when we have a spike in Spanish calls in the queue, as we can redirect these calls to agents with basic knowledge and have them assisted by the bot to help customers more smoothly and professionally.

8. KNOWLEDGE BASE

In addition to assisting during a call as a translator, the bot can also help agents when they have a question about a product/service or a clause in a contract.

If we share all our documentation with the AI: manuals, legal documents, blog posts, use cases, etc., we will end up with an internal ChatGPT that is knowledgeable about all our processes and products/services.

This will be the great ally of the agents, because if they don’t know how to answer a customer’s question, they can ask the internal AI Agent, and if it’s in the documentation we’ve provided, it can answer it.

This functionality not only avoids prolonging the conversation, but also allows any agent to provide support on a topic they are not an expert in.

9. ACW OPTIMISATION

The After Call Work (ACW), refers to all the tasks that agents must complete after each interaction before moving on to the next customer.

Artificial Intelligence can speed up this process by creating a real-time transcript of the conversation, analysing customer satisfaction by highlighting keywords that serve as typification, and linking this data to the details of the conversation.

The ability to automate AWC time as much as possible is essential to increasing agent efficiency.

10. AGENT EVALUATION

AI also has Speech Analytics capabilities, which means it can evaluate the performance of agents. This data helps contact centre managers to identify each agent’s areas for improvement and work on strengthening them.

We can train AI to generate a report after each interaction that includes: the ID number of the interaction, a title, a summary and, for example, an assessment of the agent’s presentation, friendliness and effectiveness.

This functionality contributes to the continuous improvement of agents and therefore to their speed.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As we have seen from these examples, AI provides automation across the entire customer service cycle: from the tasks that precede the interaction to the assistance it provides during and after the conversation.

Currently, there is no other technology that can optimise so many processes at once, taking into account both the customer and agent experience.

Want to meet the artificial intelligence that will revolutionise your customer service? Call us on +34 900 670 750 or fill in this form.

La entrada 10 examples of AI automation to help agents work faster se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

It’s not enough to have a power dialer – you need to set it up correctly to get the most out of it. Here are nine tips to maximise the success of your campaigns.

1. CONSIDER YOUR TEAM SIZE WHEN CHOOSING AN AUTO DIALER

While predictive dialers are designed to initiate multiple calls and ensure agents are always talking to someone, they’re not always the best option.

The two-second delay it takes for the system to connect with a lead can cause them to hang up if they don’t hear a voice immediately after answering.

In our experience, if you have a team of less than seven agents, we recommend using an auto dialer to avoid this delay affecting your results.

2. SEGMENT YOUR LEADS

Personalised marketing campaigns are the key to better results. Segmenting your contact base allows you to create tailored messages for each buyer persona.

For example, with the right dialer, you can filter out all men aged 20-35 who live in Madrid and speak English and assign them to a specific agent. This allows each agent to tailor their script and deliver a more direct and effective message.

3. PREVENT YOUR NUMBER FROM BEING MARKED AS SPAM TOO OFTEN

We can’t prevent a number from eventually being marked as spam, but we can extend its life by using a numbering pool.

With Outbound by Enreach, our auto dialer, you can register multiple numbers from the same region and enable random rotation in the campaign settings. This allows the system to choose which number to use for each call.

We also recommend uploading the Robinson list to the system; even if some contacts are active in a campaign, the power dialer will ensure that they are not called, thus complying with privacy regulations.

4. SYNCHRONISE YOUR PERSONAL CALENDAR WITH THE AUTO DIALER

It’s a simple feature, but it can save agents from scheduling meetings with leads at times when they may already have a personal appointment, such as a doctor’s visit.

While they can keep both calendars open at all times, our auto dialer allows them to synchronise their personal email (Gmail, Outlook or iCloud) within the system, giving them a clear view of all their daily commitments.

5. SEND EMAIL CAMPAIGNS FROM THE AUTO DIALER

If your telemarketing campaigns include sending emails to prospects, you’re probably using an external mailing tool.

To avoid investing in multiple licences and to automate emails based on call results, Outbound allows you to create personalised email templates that can be sent from the email address of your choice, whenever you decide.

6. UPDATE CRM DATA AFTER A CALL

Connecting your auto dialer to the CRM ensures that all call information is automatically logged in the customer’s profile.

This removes the need for agents to manually enter data, reducing errors and increasing productivity. It also allows you to compare data, for example, to see how many calls it takes to convert a lead.

7. KNOW YOUR AGENTS’ AVAILABILITY

As the head of your outbound call team, knowing how many agents are active allows you to allocate resourcesefficiently.

With the Activity Calendar feature of our outbound system, you can create custom statuses such as ‘training’, ‘lunch’ or ‘meeting’ to keep you informed of each team member’s status.

8. MAINTAIN A CHANGE LOG

The success of a power dialer depends on correct setup. When a user changes a key setting, it is useful to have a history of the changes.

Our outbound software allows you to check when changes were made and by whom. This is particularly valuable if there’s more than one team leader or supervisor, as it helps to manage accountability.

9. USE SHORTCUTS

The difference between using shortcuts and not using them can save you up to eight full working days a year.

With an auto dialer you can use shortcuts to start recording a conversation or pause a campaign after speaking to a lead, for example

EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS IN ENREACH OUTBOUND 

Our auto dialer has everything you need: two dialling types (automatic and progressive), scheduling, different levels of information access, lead segmentation, automated email and SMS sending, customisable templatecreation, real-time reporting and statistics, and much more.

Request a demo to discover how the right technology can be the key to improving your results, team coordinationand lead management.

DISCOVER THE KEY TO SUCCESS

La entrada 9 tips to get the most out of an auto dialer se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

AI in customer service has many facets, and one of them is using AI Agents to help team supervisors or managers train and support agents on a daily basis, whether they are new to the team or have been with it for years.

Keeping the department well trained will always help to improve their performance, as it is impossible to provide the best customer experience without the relevant knowledge, which can result in the user being put on hold to seek information.

Perhaps the most important aspect for the industry is improving agent engagement. It’s no secret that the contact centre faces a significant talent retention challenge, as the constant interaction with customers takes a lot of energy.

Therefore, providing agents with a tool that can instantly resolve all their queries is essential to avoid the stress and tension of not being able to address a customer’s concern, thereby contributing to their well-being.

4 USE CASES OF AI FOR AGENT TRAINING

1. AI AGENT AS AN INTERNAL KNOWLEDGE BASE

Imagine a ChatGPT for internal use, integrated into the call centre programme and ready to handle queries.

Both new agents and those handling queries outside their area of expertise can quickly access procedures,policies, product information or solutions to recurring problems during calls or messages.

This helps to broaden perspectives and share knowledge across the team, eliminating information silos.

2. AI AGENT AS A CUSTOMER INTERACTION SIMULATOR

In a completely private environment, a simulator can be programmed with a AI Agent to emulate customers, allowing agents to practice their responses.

The AI Agent can also evaluate agents, highlighting areas for improvement and acknowledging successes, thereby supporting their training process.

3. PROACTIVE INTERVENTION AI AGENT

Similar to copilots in search engines or CRMs, contact centre AI vendors are developing proactive AI Agents that suggest responses or provide tips during conversations.

These AI Agents can suggest next steps or offer solutions to problems.

By constantly analysing interactions and evaluating them against pre-defined parameters, they proactively offer suggestions that agents can choose to apply.

4. SPEECH ANALYTICS AS AI AGENTS

Supervisors or managers can now evaluate all agent conversations.

The bot can be programmed to send reports on conversations categorised as negative experiences, summarise interactions, rate aspects such as empathy and problem-solving skills, and provide full transcripts if required.

Reviews can generate objective ratings from the AI, helping to provide evidence and quickly identify training needs for each agent.

INTERESTED IN INTEGRATING A AI AGENT INTO YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM?

La entrada How to use an AI Agent to train call centre agents se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

Yes, artificial intelligence enhances our customers’ experience by providing immediate responses. In fact, 68% of consumers cite this as their favourite feature, according to Userlike.

“68% of consumers cite this as their favourite feature”.

Userlike

However, a good experience can turn into a nightmare if the chatbot isn’t programmed correctly.

Here are four mistakes we see on some websites and how to fix them.

1. POORLY STRUCTURED FAQS

With a conversational AI chatbot, we’re obliged to create a menu of options (similar to a written IVR menu) for users to select the most relevant question.

But what if there isn’t a suitable option, or worse still, there’s no place to ask an open-ended question? This hampers the customer experience.

The philosophy behind self-service is to automate customer service without sacrificing the quality of the agent-assisted experience.

If we don’t embrace this premise, we’ll create a bot that won’t benefit the user and will result in a flood of phone complaints.

SOLUTION 1: OFFER A VARIETY OF FAQS

Especially at the beginning, when you are unsure of which FAQs to offer, we recommend offering a range of options, from pricing and product information to job applications or demos. Once the bot is up and running, it is important to continually improve these FAQs.

Using the bot’s configuration panel, you can track how many queries each topic receives and replace those that have no queries within a month.

SOLUTION 2: IMPLEMENT A HYBRID CHATBOT

Another approach is to enable a hybrid chatbot that combines a conversational AI tree menu with open-ended, generative AI queries. This reduces user frustration when they can’t ask for what they want.

While generative AI can be creative and susceptible to trolling, it is important to limit it to specific knowledge bases and test it before activating it on our website.

This option is particularly attractive for contact centres, which can use open-ended questions to incorporate the most common ones into FAQs.

2. INABILITY TO SPEAK TO AN AGENT

Customers who contact a chatbot are generally looking for a quick, out-of-hours response. However, some may have more complex queries and prefer not to call.

“The customer is always right” is a mantra when dealing with the public. Even if phone channels are reserved for incidents, if a user contacts the chatbot with a serious problem, it is necessary to allow the chatbot to transfer the request to an agent.

TRAINING THE BOT PROPERLY

We train our generative AI to automatically transfer the chat to an agent if it doesn’t understand the nature of the query, without the customer explicitly requesting it.

Firstly, because with the new Spanish Customer Service Act, we must always offer human support as an alternative to chatbots, or face fines of up to £100,000.

And secondly, it significantly improves consumer readiness: according to Simplr, 80% of consumers are more likely to engage with a chatbot if they know the conversation will be transferred to an agent.

“80% of consumers are more likely to engage with a chatbot if they know the conversation will be transferred to an agent”.

Simplr

3. NOT ASKING FOR FEEDBACK

If we’ve recently activated the chatbot on our website, we’re missing a significant opportunity to measure customer satisfaction by not requesting feedback after each interaction.

The AI can analyse and identify user sentiment during conversations, and send us a rating for each one. However, it’s also beneficial to contrast the bot’s automated assessment with direct user feedback.

Consumers like to be heard, so while we can measure their sentiments independently, it is always valuable to involve them in the bot’s improvement process.

4. 4. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HALLUCINATIONS

AI hallucinations occur when the bot confidently gives a wrong answer because it thinks it is the right answer.The purpose of AI in customer service is to free agents from routine queries, not to give us headaches.

To avoid this, we recommend that knowledge bases are well structured. This means avoiding mixing concepts in the same article.

For example, if a document explains how to activate a service, don’t include the steps to deactivate it.

READY TO IMPLEMENT A CHATBOT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

La entrada 4 common chatbot implementation mistakes and how to avoid them se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

THE IMPACT OF AI

The day began with a welcome from our CEO, Alfred Nesweda, who highlighted the importance of artificial intelligence in the sector, noting that there are more and more AI solutions for the contact centre.

“Every week I discover a new company offering AI solutions for the contact centre.”

Alfred Nesweda

Alfred Nesweda, CEO of Enreach ES, welcomes attendees to the CX Brunch by Enreach.

This technology, which is now gaining significant momentum, could become a new business model and “new economy” in the future, as it is expected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the US economy by 2023, according to PwC.

SPANISH LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR AI

Our CEO then handed over to Daniel Vidal, a lawyer and legal director of Webpilots España, who began his presentation by explaining the nature of AI and its rapid development.

“The train is leaving, and those who don’t catch it now may not be able to get on at the next station.”

Daniel Vidal

After this metaphor, he moved on to the topic of AI regulation, making it clear that Spain is a global leader in the regulatory field, highlighting that a Royal Decree was issued as early as 2023 to oversee artificial intelligence on Spanish territory, long before the AI Act was approved at the European level last month.

Daniel Vidal, Legal Director of Webpilots España, during his presentation at Enreach’s CX Brunch.

Another piece of Spanish legislation that will regulate the use of AI in customer service is popularly known as the ‘3-Minute Law’, which, once passed, will, among other things, limit phone hold times to three minutes and prohibit the exclusive use of auto-attendants or conversational bots to assist consumers, among others.

As a result of users’ bad experiences when calling customer service and wanting to speak to an agent, or at least a more advanced bot that understands their queries, this bill is the perfect opportunity to adopt technological solutions that enable quality self-service while reducing waiting times to zero.

THE ROLE OF AI IN THE CONTACT CENTRE

The third and final presentation of the CX Brunch was a live demonstration of our virtual agent: EVA (Enreach Virtual Assistant).

Led by Marc Brunés, an AI specialist, and Jorge García, Product Director, they were able to demonstrate how our virtual assistant works and is configured through a user case.

Our AI solution for customer service was able to engage in a chat conversation with a fictional customer, recognise their problem, check the customer’s record in Salesforce, log the issue raised by the user and return the tracking number in a matter of seconds.

On the other side of the spectrum, Enreach’s virtual assistant is programmed to leave a note for the agent with the incident alert, the ticket and the history of the conversation it had with the customer.

On the left, Jorge García, Product Director, and on the right, Marc Brunés, AI Specialist, during the demonstration of Enreach AI.

EVA has been programmed to follow the steps that any other agent would take, but in a fully autonomous manner, freeing operators from tasks where they do not add value, and allowing them to focus on providing a more personalised and humanised service.

We have no doubt that consumers who still prefer human contact will appreciate being assisted by a person who takes the time to listen to them, while those looking for a quick solution will marvel at the efficiency and immediacy of the bot.

EAGER TO KNOW MORE?

Together with Webpilots España, we are preparing a whitepaper with the aim of sharing, free of charge, the main contents discussed during the two sessions of the CX Brunch.

Subscribe to the blog and you will be the first to receive our report on the latest trends in AI in the contact centre.

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La entrada Challenges of AI in customer service: Summary of the second CX Brunch se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

The easiest way to increase telemarketing conversions is to prioritise leads further down the conversion funnel, and the best way to do this is to automate the prioritisation of these leads directly from the autodialer.

The most advanced diallers on the market allow us to create a logic that is automatically and systematicallyapplied to build the contact list for a campaign.

Here are the essential prioritisations that any autodialer should have to maximise conversions:

1. PRIORITISATION BASED ON LEAD STATUS

The dialler should be able to prioritise leads based on their status. The main statuses to prioritise are:

1. Unsuccessfully contacted leads who call back.
2. Leads that we have scheduled for a call on the same day.
3. Unsuccessfully contacted leads.
4. Remaining leads on the list (sorted by priority and date of creation).

Following this priority order, the system allows us to work with leads we have already spoken to or tried to speakto before exploring new horizons.

2. PRIORITISATION BASED ON LEAD PRIORITY

When we create an Excel spreadsheet of leads, we can assign each lead a number from 1 to 10, for example, based on how confident we are that they will convert to a customer. The higher the number, the sooner the dialler will call them.

If there are two prospects that we have tried to call unsuccessfully, the autodialer will prioritise the one with the higher assigned score.

This ensures that we speak to the leads most likely to convert first, preventing them from cooling off.

3. PRIORITISATION BASED ON LEAD CREATION DATE

The last parameter the dialer needs to consider is the date the lead was uploaded to the system.

If we create 50 leads on Monday and 50 on Wednesday, the ones created on Monday will be called first (unless the previous two rules indicate otherwise).

This prevents prospects from cooling off and also ensures that we do not leave any old leads unreached.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The criteria agents use to process their prospect lists may not be the most appropriate. By making these adjustments, we ensure that we are following the best strategy to increase conversions.

By prioritising contact with leads we have already spoken to, calling those with the highest conversion potential first, and ensuring we leave no leads untouched, we can optimise the conversion funnel and acquire more customers.

The autodialer will generally follow this logic, but sales reps can always stop the autodialer if, for example, a new lead is acquired and immediate contact is required.

For repetitive tasks, it is best to rely on as much automation as possible to ensure better results and allow agents to focus on their pitch and listening to the person on the other end of the line.

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Contact our experts on +34 900 670 750 or chat with us to try the Outbound By Enreach autodialer.

La entrada How to prioritise leads with an autodialer to increase conversions se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

The forthcoming Customer Service Act will require companies providing customer service to implement a rating system to measure customer satisfaction.

CSAT surveys are ideal for this purpose. In addition to telling us what percentage of customers are satisfied, they can be conducted through any channel in a contact centre: phone, chat, WhatsApp, email, SMS, etc.

In this post, we’ll look at what they are, how to calculate the result and how to use them in a contact centre. Let’s dive in!

1. WHAT IS CSAT?

CSAT stands for Customer Satisfaction Score and it’s used to measure customer satisfaction.

This metric is used to understand how satisfied our customers are with a product, service or contact point, such as customer service.

CSAT scores are derived from short surveys that ask very specific questions, such as “How satisfied are you with the response to your inquiry? Customers provide a rating, which we then quantify.

The result of a CSAT survey, usually expressed as a percentage, shows the number of customers who are satisfied with a very specific process/action or product/service.

So there’s no better metric for identifying friction points in the customer experience and working on continuous improvement.

2. CSAT VS. NPS

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) are both metrics derived from feedback surveys conducted with our customers, but each serves a different purpose.

While CSAT measures satisfaction with a very specific aspect, NPS measures the willingness of customers to recommend our brand to others.

On the face of it, both measure customer satisfaction, because nobody recommends a brand they’re not happy with. However, the data we get from an NPS survey gives us information at a general level and doesn’t allow us to measure individual customer service experiences, as CSAT surveys do.

3. WHEN IS CSAT USED?

All companies that want to measure their customers’ experience should conduct CSAT surveys: there’s nothing better than listening to our customers to make improvements in any area of the business.

In fact, leading companies using agile methodologies are already integrating customer feedback into their workflows to build their product/service roadmaps. This allows them to develop specific features for customers and have a much more competitive end product.

Listening to our customers not only has a positive impact on customer satisfaction metrics, but also impacts the business with customer retention and sales strategies for loyalty.

Have you noticed that more and more companies are integrating the role of the CX manager? Welcome to the 21st century! Today, customer experience is critical; it’s a competitive advantage, and consumers value it even more than price and product/service quality.

4. HOW ARE CSAT SURVEYS CONDUCTED?

CSAT surveys usually consist of a single question, as their purpose is to assess satisfaction with a very specific aspect. If there is a second question, it’s usually to provide optional clarifying comments.

Applied to customer service, the question would be designed to assess, for example, the service received from an agent, the experience of contracting a service, or the time taken to resolve an incident.

As well as knowing what we’re going to ask, we also need to design the response format we’ll use. There are two methods: numerical or graphical ratings and the Likert scale.

4.1 NUMERICAL OR GRAPHICAL SCORES

There’s no hard and fast rule about the length of the rating scale, but it’s most common to give three, five or seven options, although sometimes it goes up to ten. Why? Because odd numbers help us draw a line between negative and positive ratings.

Remember that the results of CSAT surveys are usually calculated using only positive ratings.

EXAMPLE OF THREE GRAPHICAL OPTIONS

If we give three alternatives, the second option divides the negative (“terrible”) and positive (“excellent”) ratings.

This format is useful for a website or app, for example. When the customer accesses their account to view the ticket resolution, they can click or tap on one of the three options.

EXAMPLE OF FIVE GRAPHICAL OPTIONS

In the group of five, the dividing line is drawn at three, so that the fourth and fifth stars are considered positive ratings.

This format can be very interesting when asking for ratings via WhatsApp; the customer can send us the stars using emoticons.

EXAMPLE OF SEVEN NUMERICAL OPTIONS

Numerical ratings, although odd, also allow us to quickly see that five, six and seven are positive ratings.

This format is ideal for phone channels as it allows the customer to say or dial a number.

4.2 LIKERT SCALE

This method has five options:

• Very dissatisfied (1)
• Dissatisfied (2)
• Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied (3
• Satisfied (4)
• Very satisfied (5)

In this scale, if we are measuring only positive responses, we should add ‘satisfied’ and ‘very satisfied’.

The Likert scale can be used when conducting an online survey. When we send a link via email or SMS, customers can mark the option that best represents their experience.

5. HOW IS CSAT CALCULATED?

Whether the answer is a number, a symbol or a word, everything can be quantified. If you’ve used numbers, you already have a numerical value, but if you’ve used graphical elements or words as an answer, you’ll need to convert them into numbers.

Go back to the previous examples and notice that each word in the Likert scale and each graphic element has a number above it (if you have already noticed: congratulations!).

Once we have assigned values, we can calculate the CSAT score. Depending on the information we want to extract, we’ll use one of these formulae:

5.1 AVERAGE SCORE

This formula gives us an overall picture of the responses, so we’ll look at all the scores (not just the positive ones).

Let’s say we used a numerical scale from 1 to 7:

To calculate the total number of ratings, we’ll multiply each value by the number of people who responded to it.

(1 x 1) + (2 x 1) + (3 x 2) + (4 x 0) + (5 x 2) + (6 x 1) + (7 x 1) = 32

And to find the total number of votes, we add up the number of people.

(1 + 1 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 1 + 1) = 8

If we divide 32 by 8, we get a CSAT score of 4 out of 7.

Although the average is not usually expressed as a percentage, we can quickly calculate it by dividing 4 by 7 and multiplying the result by 100. We get 57.14%.

Note that this is the “average score”, not the percentage of satisfied customers.

5.2 PERCENTAGE OF SATISFACTION

If we just want to know how many customers are satisfied, we’ll use this formula:

Using the previous example:

This time we’ll only take into account positive ratings, so we’ll just add up the number of people who gave us a rating of more than 4.

(2 + 1 + 1) = 4

And the total number of people who responded to the survey remains the same, still 8.

So if we divide 4 by 8, the CSAT score is 50%.

If we want to calculate the percentage of negative ratings, we’ll use the previous formula, but only take into account the people who rated us below 4.

6. WHAT PERCENTAGE OF CSAT IS GOOD?

When we calculate the CSAT score for the first time, we don’t have a historical record of how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ we are doing.

As a guide, we can say that:

• Good: In general, a CSAT score of 80% or above is considered good. This means that at least 80% of customers surveyed are satisfied or very satisfied with the service we’ve provided.
• Neutral: A score between 70% and 79% could be considered neutral. This indicates that most customers are satisfied, but there is still room for improvement.
• Poor: A percentage below 70% would generally be considered poor. This indicates that a significant proportion of customers surveyed are dissatisfied with the service they’ve received and we need to make significant improvements to address their concerns and improve the customer experience.

7. WHAT DO WE DO IF WE HAVE A NEGATIVE CSAT SCORE?

As customer service managers, we need to identify what’s wrong and what we need to do to fix it.

Firstly, we’ll make a list of all the questions where we score below 70% and rank them from lowest to highest.

For example, if our worst score is 40% and the question is ‘What do you think of the speed of our customer service’, we need to take urgent action to respond to customers more quickly.

We can adjust queue parameters within the contact centre software and route agents more effectively, or implement chatbots and callbotsto speed up intent qualification, or even offer self-service and free up agents from simple enquiries.

In addition to addressing the direct aspects that cause delay, it would also be interesting to examine the indirect elements, such as the After Work Call (AWC) times for each agent.

If we find that agents are spending more time in AWC than on calls, it could mean that the ticketing system is very old or not integrated with the contact centre solution, meaning that the current system is slowing agents down.

Once we’ve identified all the areas for improvement, we need to prioritise those that remove the most friction to see an immediate change in our average and percentage CSAT scores.

8. HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE CSAT SYSTEM IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

Once the Customer Service Act comes into force, all companies offering customer service will have to implement CSAT surveys.

So now is the time to start conducting them from your contact centre software or your CRM.

Once we’ve decided which platform to use, we’ll make a list of where and when, i.e. through which channels and after which actions, we’ll ask your customers for feedback.

If we’re going to work on continuous improvement of CSAT surveys, it’s a good idea to use the Customer Feedback Loop methodology.

Customers will feel that their opinions don’t “fall on deaf ears”; they will feel heard and empowered.

Have more questions about implementing CSAT surveys in customer service? Contact our team of experts on +34 900 670 750 or fill out this form.

La entrada How to conduct CSAT surveys in customer service se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

With the approval of the Spanish Customer Service Bill, customer service organisations must be prepared to serve their customers in less than three minutes.

Hiring more agents and using advanced contact centre software will be essential to meet the upcoming regulations.

1. DISPLAY KEY WAITING TIME KPIS

You can’t manage what you can’t measure, including customer wait times. That’s why supervisors need to be able to check the percentage of calls answered in less than three minutes.

With a real-time control panel, they can see if there’s an overloaded queue, for example, or if an agent is taking too long to deal with a customer.

They can then make decisions and act immediately, whether it is adding more agents to a queue or entering the call to give instructions to the agent without the customer hearing them.

2. SPEED UP THE INTENT QUALIFICATION PROCESS

To reduce customer hold times, it’s necessary to streamline the process of identifying the reason for the call.

In the past, the only way to do this was through IVR menus, where we programmed a series of prompts to route the call depending on the number the customer pressed (DTMF) or the word spoken (ASR).

For several years now, call centres have been using open-ended questions. Instead of giving several options to choose from, they ask directly: “Please state the reason for your call”.

Call qualification can be done using an advanced IVR or a bot. Both systems can recognise keywords in a sentence and route the call to the most appropriate queue.

But remember! If you want a ‘human’ conversation before the call is routed to the queue, an advanced IVR won’t do.

3. ADDING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO SELF-SERVICE

Self-service is an effective tool for reducing customer waiting times by providing quick and automated responses to recurring and simple queries.

Without the need for supervision, callbots are able to speak, understand and respond like humans thanks to conversational and/or generative artificial intelligence (such as ChatGPT).

Although they require prior training to learn how to identify and resolve these types of queries, they can relieve agents of the need to: identify a customer, answer FAQs, read an instruction manual, manage a medical appointment, recommend a pension plan, etc.

4. CONFIGURING QUEUES USING ADVANCED METHODS

Of all the queue configurations available, there are three that are specifically designed to effectively manage customer waiting times: skill-based routing, queue prioritisation and maximum queue capacity.

4.1 ADVANCED ROUTING

Specifying the skills of the agents working in the contact centre is essential for routing calls more efficiently and thus reducing waiting times.

The programme you use to handle calls should allow you to specify the skills of each agent, from general knowledge to the most specific skills and even soft skills.

For example, we can have an agent with technical support skills, based in Barcelona, who specialises in fixing routers and also has empathy skills.

This agent will be assigned to the technical support queue with a maximum score (100 points), but will also be able to handle some calls from the customer service queue (20 points). They will be able to handle calls in Catalan (100 points), Spanish (100 points) and English (60 points), they will be able to resolve queries about the Internet (100 points), and they will also have knowledge of computers with the Windows operating system (80 points), in addition to being empathetic (100 points).

This system allows us to list all the operators’ skills and assign them a value from 0 to 100. They will therefore deal first with requests that require their strongest skills, and then those with lower scores (if the agents with the highest scores are busy).

4.2 QUEUE PRIORITISATION

Queue prioritisation is used to further refine routing and consists of assigning a value from 0 to 100 to the queues themselves.

For example, if we have three queues: one for customer service (50 points), one for technical support (100 points) and one for sales (20 points), we can tell the system which queue has the highest priority.

In this way, agents trained to receive technical support and customer service calls will deal with technical queries first.

This configuration is very useful if we find that the volume of calls is higher for one type of query. By prioritising them, we will deal with them before the rest.

4.3 QUEUE SIZE

Limiting the size of a queue can help us to prevent overflows, as we not only specify the number of calls that queue can handle, but also specify an alternative queue for when it fills up.

Following the previous example, if we create several technical support queues by language, we can make the Spanish queue only take up to 5 calls and use the Catalan queue as a backup, since it’s made up of agents who also speak that language.

5. CONFIGURE A BOT TO QUEUE YOUR CUSTOMERS

The definitive way to end phone queues is to have an artificial intelligence queue for your customers when they call the contact centre.

As soon as the customer enters the queue, the AI informs them that they can end the call and receive a callback when an agent is available.

Despite hanging up, the bot will continue to advance positions in the queue, and when it reaches the first position, it will automatically call the customer and the agent to connect them.

The main difference between this AI and a traditional callback is that when the customer calls back, the bot informs them of their current position without losing their turn.

6. ADDING ALTERNATIVE CHANNELS

Another way to meet the new customer service SLA is to reduce the volume of incoming calls by enabling digital channels, whether it’s WhatsApp or a chat on the website.

These channels do not have minimum attention times and can also be managed by chatbots. Just as AI can detect intent and intentionality in calls, it can also do so through written channels.

So, the process would be the same: present the user with a menu of query options, or an open-ended question.And once the bot understands the customer’s need, it can offer self-service or transfer the call to an agent.

The best thing about omnichannel contact centre software is that both the chatbot and the agents can seamlessly switch from a WhatsApp conversation to a phone call.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The technology available on the market today can help you serve all of your customers in less than three minutes.

Depending on the volume of calls your contact centre receives, you’ll need to assess whether you only need an advanced customer service programme, or if you need to add alternative channels and/or artificial intelligence.

Will your company’s customer service be affected by the new by the future law? Get in touch with our team of experts on +34 900 670 750 or chat to us. We’re here to help!

La entrada How contact centre software can help you manage customer waiting times se publicó primero en Enreach ES.