If a company wants to be successful today, it must be focused on providing an excellent customer experience. At every point throughout the customer journey, the customer must have a favorable impression of the company. If they don’t, there’s a good chance that they’ll look elsewhere for the products or services they need, in addition to warning others of their negative experience. Customers hold all of the power today, and they know it.
Luckily, today’s businesses have access to vast amounts of customer data that provides key insights into customer behavior, wants, and needs. One important source of customer data today is the call center. Call center agents speak directly with potential and existing customers on a daily basis. These conversations hold a wealth of information that, if properly analyzed, can be turned into actionable business insights. To truly capture the voice of the customer, it’s necessary for call centers to invest in modern call center technology, including speech analytics. Speech analytics takes call center recording technology to the next level, extracting key information from all calls, not just a small sample size.
Speech analytics software provides data that can improve the customer experience in many ways, including the following:
Enhanced agent performance
The telephone remains the most popular method of contacting a business because customers prefer a connection with a live, human being when they have a question or concern. While agents must be trained across communication channels, how they perform during a phone conversation is the top performance priority. Speech analytics software allows call center managers to pull data from calls to ensure that agents are not only in compliance, but also performing at a high level and keeping callers happy. Managers will uncover trends to see what’s working and what’s not working and they can optimize agent protocol to improve performance. This data can be used not only for future trainings, but to improve agent efficiency in the short-term.
Personalization of offers
When a call center utilizes speech analytics technology, managers are able to notice trends. For example, customers who call about a certain product or service may benefit from having a complementary product or service. When certain keyword phrases are used throughout a conversation, it allows agents to offer personalized service and mention potential offers that are relevant to that individual. Customers don’t want to feel like just a number. When the conversation is geared towards what a certain individual is interested in, they will be more receptive.
Better marketing and promotional efforts
Marketing and promotional efforts must really resonate with customers in order to be effective today. The data pulled from speech analytics technology helps the marketing department determine what campaigns are working and which ones may need to be re-visited. Even at the top of the sales funnel, marketing efforts play a role in the overall customer experience. That first touchpoint must evoke positive feelings and interest in the company in order for a prospective customer or client to move forward.
