In today’s multi-channel contact center, new technologies create new customer satisfaction issues and expectations, especially if agents are not cross-trained to handle multiple contact methods. Contact center managers and agents need to understand the trends that are affecting client communications, in order to be able to offer the best customer experience

Best Practices in Knowledge Management

Organizations are moving toward better and more effective self-service systems during 2015. In 2013, Zendesk stated that 72 percent of customers were going online to serve themselves; however, only 52 percent were finding the information they needed. This year, expect companies to adopt best practices in knowledge management so that information is easier to find and utilize for greater service efficiencies.

Faster answers lead to happier customers. A properly scripted menu leads customers to the answers they need, provides them with the opportunity to navigate to a live agent, and decreases the overall call volume that reaches the contact center. A good customer service experience was attributed to a quick resolution of their problems by 69 percent of customers surveyed.

It’s up to you to stay on top of the latest changes in technology and trends in customer contact. Your customers are just as busy as you are, and they may not always have the time to call you for answers to simple questions. Instead of leaving your customers with unanswered questions or requiring them to call you for every query they have, consider improving your business’s self-help resources by having a clearly visible FAQ section on your website that contains basic information as well as more in-depth help. Compile the questions you get most often and save your customer service team time by posting the answers in a place that’s easy for customers to get to.

Effective knowledge management plays a critical role when it comes to addressing customer queries online. It includes near-real-time knowledge-base updates from the contact center. Look for more organizations to take this approach in 2015.

Staffing for multichannel support

Interactivity of websites and other contact methods are being used more and more, and the necessity for timeliness of response is growing right along with this trend. Consumer preferences validate the use of multi-channel technology. When a call does reach the contact center, a consistent and reliable customer service team is essential to a positive customer experience. Agents are getting the tougher contacts who are looking for them to be problem solvers. Contact center managers must consider how adoption of multi-channel technology affects what staff members are trained to do.

A Forrsights 2013 survey shows that, in general, a 50-seat or larger contact center’s approach to having agents serve customers through multiple channels is (see graph below):

  • 30% All of our agents support multiple channels (e.g., voice, chat, email)
  • 52% Most of our agents support multiple channels, but some are specialists (e.g., social media)
  • 13% Most or all of our agents are specialists and support only a single channel
  • 3% Does not apply – our contact center only has one mode of communication (e.g., voice) Don’t know

When a contact center is smaller, it’s assumed that cross-training is even more necessary. Also, more discernment regarding whether to cross-train or specialize is needed for social media exchanges, which can require very different skills, such as writing vs. talking.

Management Staffing Decisions

Some important considerations for contact center managers include:

  • Occupancy: the ability to forecast traffic and shift agents to different positions at certain times of the day, in order to meet service levels
  • Leveraging service level differences: real time (voice, web chat) vs. near real time (email, social media) and identifying social interactions that are “trending” hour by hour
  • Shifting responsibilities: Variation of agent work can drive retention
  • Regulatory and compliance considerations: some forms of communication require specialization in order to comply, especially when written / text based communications are used
  • Staffing and training guidelines in writing: agents need compliance training for certain types of responses, and to ensure compliance, internal guidelines and staffing procedures must be in writing

Equipping Agents to Deliver Social Media Support

While voice remains the primary touch point for many organizations, most are increasingly relying on the contact centers to manage other contact channels such as social media. The key to success here is making sure agents have the tools in place and the training to resolve issues quickly. (See Pooling Strategies for Call Center Agent Cross-Training)

Cross-training Agents to Enable More Flexible Call Center Scheduling

Although some companies prefer to train agents to handle specific channels, many are learning that it pays to cross-train to handle all channels. By doing so, they gain greater flexibility in scheduling. When this approach is combined with an advanced workforce management system, managers can more easily achieve operational efficiency. They don’t have to build teams that are precisely tailored for each shift. Greater labor efficiencies can be realized, while service levels are increased. (See Cross-Training Agents.)