Why Customer Experience Is Important in Call Centers

Do call center agents know the relationship between customer experience (CX), revenue, customer retention, and overall business success? Maybe. What most of them don’t understand is the impact they can have on the success of a business and this is often not shared with them on a regular basis.

Too often, employees are asked to perform tasks in a certain way without properly explaining “why.” However, giving these explanations has been shown to improve compliance, so it’s worth taking the time to teach why customer experience matters.

Why Does Customer Experience (CX) Matter?

Customer experience focuses on the perception that a customer has about interactions with an organization. In fact, that experience could even be influenced by factors outside the business.

Brands today have more opportunities than ever to make a bad or good impression. Every email, social media post, sales experience, TV ad, press release, video, and customer service interaction shapes people’s opinions of a business. Even the results a customer receives from a search before interacting with an organization could influence that experience.

This represents a great opportunity for companies, as they can manage the different points of contact with the customer and offer exceptional experiences on a constant basis. But it is not easy to coordinate them all, and when brands are wrong, they can alienate customers.

4 Added Benefits when Agents Know the “Why”

Compliance is undoubtedly a significant benefit of explaining the “why” to employees, but it is not the only reason managers need to explain things. According to a Forbes article, companies and workers have a lot to gain when reasons are transparent and well communicated.

1) Increase Employee Confidence

Having longer conversations with agents about business strategy can make them feel more valued and more included in the overall business. For this reason, it is important to explain to agents how their performance impacts the CX and related business objectives. When an agent understands what is expected of him it can increase his confidence and motivate him.

2) Convey a Shared Vision

Explaining to employees the importance of their jobs and how their performance supports company goals can help ensure that agents are aligned with a shared vision. For example, communicating to agents that they are more than just problem solvers can help them rethink their roles. When they realize that they are actually relationship builders, they will be in a better position to help the organization meet its CX objectives.

3) Increase Productivity

Helping agents understand why the customer experience is important and achieving their commitment to the organizational vision can increase employee engagement. Realizing the “why” behind assigned tasks is key, especially when responsibilities are so vital to the success of a business. Engaged employees go the extra mile to help the organization meet its business goals, leading to higher productivity and therefore increased revenue.

4) Promote Critical Thinking and Innovation

Regularly explaining the “why” to employees opens channels of communication. When agents are no longer reluctant or apathetic to ask this question, a culture of critical thinking and innovation can be fostered. After all, many important inventions and scientific discoveries have been the result of people constantly wondering “why.” Wouldn’t it be powerful to harness the brainpower and creativity of the agent team?

When agents know why they are doing certain activities, they are more likely to do them consistently, with confidence and enthusiasm. This improves the chances of a business meeting its CX goals.

So who is responsible for the customer experience? Every employee is. The whole team has a vital role to play.

3 Call Center Tools to Help Agents Succeed

Gaining agent buy-in for your CX strategy is critical to successful execution. And to deliver a successful customer experience, agents need the right technical tools.

1) Unified Agent Desktop

A single interface that includes everything agents need to serve customers encompasses all the tools needed to deliver seamless omnichannel experiences; from contact and data management and CRM functionality, to agents customer dashboards, integrated real-time coaching and work schedules. All of this is possible with a flexible unified desktop.

But what is its impact on the CX? Accessing CRM information provides the history and context that agents need to personalize interactions based on customer understanding. Users must have the option of starting their query on the web or mobile, then go to a bot, then to an agent… and let the agents know what the customer has done, who they are and what they want. However, this is difficult to achieve without the proper agent tools. With the right unified desktop, switching multiple systems or searching for information does not distract agents, allowing them to focus more on the customer.

2) Real-Time Interaction Guide

Delivering exceptional experiences requires agents to have a good mix of technical and social skills. An interaction without empathy and sympathy can leave customers dissatisfied, even when their problems are competently resolved.

The real-time interaction guide analyzes each conversation as it happens. This tool leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to determine customer sentiment and then empowers agents in the moment, just when they need to adapt to deliver a satisfying customer experience. That happy customer will give you higher satisfaction scores and will of course remain your customer.

3) Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Competing on the basis of CX means that agent roles must change from repairmen to relationship builders. But they still need to do all the day-to-day tasks to solve customer problems, right? Not if RPA is implemented.

Robotic Process Automation can work in conjunction with agents to relieve them of the administrative burden. RPA can perform tasks such as changing addresses in multiple systems, activating new mobile phones, or opening new claims. Removing these tasks from agent responsibilities will help them make a successful transition to their new role.

Ready to Explain to Your Agents Why Customer Experience Matters?

In today’s experience economy, companies can’t leave the CX to chance. Companies must align all aspects of the business with the customer experience. For contact centers, this includes engaging agents by explaining why the customer experience is important and providing them with the technology they need to be successful.