Have you ever bought an item and could not figure out the return process or how to use it? When such situations arise, it can be very helpful to have the option of getting on a call with a service agent who can quickly answer your queries or talk you through the process.
Most brands today provide the option of contacting them through multiple channels, like email, WhatsApp, or chatbots. They may also provide self-service channels to help customers find answers on their own. But according to Gartner, only 9% of customer service cases are resolved by self-service alone. The call centre still remains a relevant option for satisfactory customer case resolution.
But merely having a contact centre is not enough. It should be easily accessible, and support multi-channel integrations for an omnichannel experience; and the quality of service must exceed customer expectations for service to be a differentiator. For complex products or queries, customers may even expect help from an expert.
More importantly, interactions through call centres happen one-on-one, between actual people. Improving these interactions can significantly increase customer trust and satisfaction.
Finetune customer experiences by implementing call centre best practises
Equipping call centre staff with the right tools and information helps them deliver personalised customer support at scale. Here are some best practices to help improve the quality of service delivered through your call centre:
1. Improve data visibility
Service agents need full visibility into case details, like time and summary of the request, product or service in question, purchase history, past complaints, etc., to provide fast and accurate case resolution. A unified console can put a complete view of customer data and interactions at your agent's fingertips.
2. Make knowledge easily accessible
A readily available repository of product and service information, knowledge articles, guide videos, etc. helps service agents give advice or a solution for even the most complex queries, and swiftly.
3. Reduce manual tasks
Automating tasks like logging calls, updating query-resolution status, taking notes, etc., create accurate, complete records of service interaction while the agent focuses on the customer. It also increases service agent productivity and efficiency by eliminating manual updates and duplication of efforts.
4. Improve call management with integrated telephony
Consolidate data and access any information you need by integrating call telephony into your CRM. This also allows service agents to manage calls without switching between systems. Forwarding calls, putting customers on hold, or re-routing cases to different agents can be handled through an easy-to-use console on their computer screen.
5. Introduce multi-media assistance
Enable service agents and customers to easily switch to a video call, making it easier for customers to explain their issues with visuals. Service agents can then quickly identify the problem and guide the customer. This also enables the service agent to identify problems that the customer may not have noticed.
There are also technologies that can recognise text from images or documents through optical character recognition, helping agents identify the correct parts that need to be repaired or replaced.
6. Create a seamless switch between self-service and assisted channels
74% of service leaders believe that creating a seamless customer journey between self-service channels like a chatbot and an assisted channel like the call centre is essential to improving customer satisfaction. To ensure customer cases are resolved with ease and consistency, pre-filled information from self-service channels should be available to service agents right on their service consoles. So, when a chatbot routes a customer to a live agent, the latter is already equipped with the relevant info for a contextual conversation.
7. Use analytics data to improve service provider performance
To ensure customers are provided with the best service, service managers need to identify where gaps in the customer experience lie and continuously work towards bridging them. Using rich dashboards and analytics can help managers to monitor service performance and service KPIs, analyse what needs to be improved, and optimise performance.
Bag the gold for call-centre excellence with Service Cloud
Good customer service = happy customers.
Service Cloud is a complete service technology solution that offers unparalleled call centre features and functionalities. The Lightning Service Console is a unified dashboard that makes all the relevant information and tools readily available to the service agent, enabling cross-channel information sharing and contextual conversations at every touchpoint.
Automatic routing capabilities ensure that cases are directed towards the best-suited call centre agents, even from other channels. Telephony integration, voice transcription, and automatic call logging save time and effort by automating manual tasks.
With its in-built Artificial Intelligence (AI) engine, Einstein can suggest to service agents the next best actions to make decision-making easier. Einstein can also pull up relevant information like FAQs or product manuals that may help service agents solve queries faster.
Moreover, the analytics dashboard helps centralise KPIs, better understand customer behaviour, measure service agent productivity, and identify ways to continuously increase customer satisfaction.
