2020 is here, and businesses are determining which practices are most likely to improve operations and grow revenue. While there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for every company, it’s clear the main focus this year will be customer experience (CX). And for many businesses, CX begins in the contact center. Here are 5 of the most commonly cited trends expected to influence contact center operations in 2020 and beyond.
1. Social Media Presence Will Grow
Social media isn’t just posting funny memes and cute pictures of cats anymore; it has become an important tool for businesses, especially if they want to maintain a more modern image. And keeping active on social media is also important. Frequent updates can keep people aware of new products and services.
Additionally, many people are choosing to interact with companies by posting their questions and feedback on social media business pages. Marketing departments should make it a priority to pay attention to this activity and respond accordingly. Whether the company responds to the post directly or using feedback and comments to make operational improvements, always make sure the customer feels heard. Keeping a pulse on your social media activities ensures that your brand stays in front of consumers, and it is imperative to maintaining a positive online reputation.
2. More Companies Will Offer an Omnichannel Solution
Social media is a popular means of customer-business interaction, but it’s certainly not the only one. Customers can choose to contact businesses through phone, email, chat, text, and so many other options. This is why an exceptional omnichannel strategy is important. Most customers today expect a dependable experience when dealing with a company, and they expect it no matter which channel they use.
For instance, customers don’t want to repeat or enter the same information if they switch from email to phone, or chat. Therefore, businesses need to find a way to have this information flow seamlessly from one channel to another. Because customers do not tolerate erratic quality across channels, ensuring consistency is another key to delivering a positive customer experience.
3. AI Will Be Implemented in All Business Aspects
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already used more and more in contact centers to better serve customers. One way AI can be utilized is by automatically tagging and categorizing calls based on specific parameters. Then those calls are forwarded to agents who can best handle that particular situation based on said agents’ strengths and skill sets.
How can you determine which agents to choose? By using agent scorecards, a key component of speech analytics. AI can also be used to help customers quickly resolve simpler, more common issues through tools such as chatbots. Agents can devote more time to managing complex customer questions by using these tools, creating a better experience for the customer. AI tools are essential to contact center efficiency and customer satisfaction.
4. Customer Analytics Will Play a Larger Role
Customer data is more important than ever, opening whole new worlds of possibilities for companies. The best way to obtain this data is through a variety of speech analytics tools. By drawing information from agent-customer interactions, companies can easily improve the customer experience and business operations.
5. Efficiency Will Be Paramount
In order to provide a better experience for customers, it must be done quickly and efficiently. Speech analytics is far more efficient and accurate than basic call monitoring, and this technology allows companies to promptly make strategic business decisions based directly on the Voice of the Customer. Contact center analytics can be further enhanced with the use of tools, such as speech to text transcripts and sentiment analysis.
Managers can quickly scan and search 100% of customer interactions for certain key phrases that get to the heart of customer satisfaction. Sentiment analysis provides a visual glimpse into the overall emotion of the call, whether it was mostly positive or mostly negative. Every interaction in the contact center contains incredibly valuable information, and analytics can help access that information.
Investing in trends that focus more on the customer will allow businesses to gain a clearer vision of the best direction to steer their company. The tools and practices listed here can help businesses reach important goals, such as:
- Improving first call resolutions
- Reducing handle times
- Reducing both agent and customer churn
- Ensuring script compliance to avoid litigation or fines
- Creating better marketing strategies
- And much more…
Investing in the customer means investing in the future. If you want to learn how to invest in your company’s future with speech analytics, schedule a 15-minute live demo of CallFinder with one of our Expert Analysts today!
