New study points to critical importance of employee experience management to offset pressures facing call centres and agents due to COVID-19 pandemic.
New research released today by the Customer Service Professionals Network (“CSPN”) and customer experience management provider Medallia is highlighting the ripple effects of negative customer sentiment on agent satisfaction and productivity, and the need to carefully manage the agent/client experience — especially as call centres shift their operations to more hybrid working models. Medallia was joined by Microsoft and EY Canada as sponsors of the research.
“Over the past year, Canadian contact centres have been stretched like no other time in our history” says CSPN Partner, David Singh. “Agents are working remotely, facing unprecedented call-volumes, and peaks and valleys of customer issues.”
At the height of the pandemic, CSPN and Medallia surveyed more than 400 call centre leaders and agents across 14 industries, seeking to understand the key trends influencing how contact centres are navigating service within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to call centres and agents surveyed:
- Retention remains a challenge for contact centres. 37% of respondents report that the average agent turnover exceeds 25%, every year. Another 49.7% deal with turnover between 5-25%.
- The pandemic has been hard on customer service professionals who represent the backbone of the call centre. 47% of agents say that customer sentiment is the biggest impact or detractor on workplace culture.
- Remote or hybrid models seem to be here to stay for contact centres. Up to 50% of call centres expect 35% of agents to work remotely after the pandemic.
- Employee engagement programs, like recognition and more tailored coaching, can improve service delivery and reduce attrition rates. 33% of respondents cited the quality of the work environment as their top priority.
“At the end of the day, customers will be stickier and more loyal if they have an emotional, human connection with a brand. Frontline teams play a major role in that connection,” said Medallia Solutions Principal Rachel Lane. “With Medallia, organizations can empower their frontline team with real-time, agent-level feedback. They can also develop training programs specific to each individual or team to help increase both customer and agent engagement.”
Reporting Findings Webinar
David Singh, CSPN, and insight leaders Rachel Lane, Solution Principal Contact Center, Medallia Inc, Cassaundra Laundry, Product Marketing Manager, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, Microsoft Canada, and Mike Smith, Associate Partner, Advisory, EY Canada, will discuss key findings gathered from the survey and how strategies can be implemented into various organizations and work cultures during a virtual event.
Date: June 3, 2021
Time: 1PM – 1:45PM EST
Platform: WebEx
Methodology
Conducted by Customer Service Professionals Inc in partnership with Medallia, Microsoft, and EY Canada, the study surveyed 400 organizations across Canada at the height of the pandemic. The research looked to examine key trends impacting contact centre strategy, culture, people, operations and technology and included statistics on agent productivity and collaboration, enhancing customer experiences, critical skills for success, and key technology investments for the future.
About Medallia
Medallia is the pioneer and market leader in customer, employee, citizen and patient experience. The company’s award-winning SaaS platform, Medallia Experience Cloud, is becoming the experience system of record that makes all other applications customer and employee aware. The platform captures billions of experience signals across interactions including all voice, video, digital, IoT, social media and corporate messaging tools. Medallia uses proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to automatically reveal predictive insights that drive powerful business actions and outcomes. Medallia customers reduce churn, turn detractors into promoters and buyers, create in-the-moment cross-sell and up-sell opportunities and drive revenue-impacting business decisions, providing clear and potent returns on investment. For more information visit www.medallia.com.
