Any type of large enterprise or organization knows the inherent value a virtual call center brings to their business.
These centers work a myriad of magic on an hourly basis — everything from handling your customers’ urgent needs to offering direct interaction for a caller with a more complex query that might not be easily solved with an automated solution.
However, not all customer service solutions are created equal. Today’s clients are no longer willing to put up with long wait times or a company that only offers one channel to get in touch through. To be successful, businesses need a high-quality call center service that is reliable, easy to navigate and able to keep up with ever-changing customer experience expectations.
So, if you’re looking into upgrading or implementing call center software, read on as we detail some important things to consider to make it a success.
Agent Metrics
Keep in mind that whatever agent is fielding calls, chatting through text or answering emails is usually the first point of contact between your business and a customer. So, while setting up your call center with powerful equipment and necessary staff is needed, it’s not always enough to bring you the customer service goals you want. For your call center service to be a success, your organization needs to be able to monitor its practices and performance. One way to do this is to use metrics to evaluate individual agent performance as well as key attributes of the entire customer service process.
Performance Monitoring Metrics to Measure
First-call resolution: When customers call a service center, they expect their issue to be handled on the first call. If your customer has to contact your business again to try and resolve their issue, customer retention rates are on the line. In fact, research shows a whopping 38 percent of customers will likely move on to another company if their issue isn’t solved after the first customer service call.
Service level and response time: Service level refers to the formula of “X percent of contacts answered in Y seconds,” and its outcome will depend on each company’s set targets. Response time also adheres to set targets and refers to the time it takes agents to complete or handle all customer inquiries. Both metrics are critical to helping sort out exactly how effective your call center is in your customer experience journey.
Implementing these metrics can help any organization guarantee effective performance monitoring and management of their call center, and ensure they achieve a high level of success which, of course, benefits your business as a whole.
Figure Out Functionality Needs
When it comes to deploying successful call center software, the functionality each product provides can vary a great deal. The first step is deciding what kind of features such as omnichannel or self-service automation you absolutely need to have, and which functions would be nice but not necessary. Once the non-negotiables have been set for functionality needs, research still needs to be conducted to ensure the compatibility of any company software into the call center platform.
The platforms that allow businesses to adopt applications modularly and as needed make it easier for companies to customize their customer service to their unique needs.
The biggest determination for your call center to be a success lies in understanding your customer base pain points, what they need to connect and which systems when in place will lead to an overall higher customer satisfaction score.
Because in the end, your customer satisfaction rate is the most comprehensive and direct way to tell if your center is providing the support your customer needs or not.
