Before COVID-19, some contact centers across the nation and world were testing the waters of telecommuting. When the pandemic hit full-force, countless customer experience (CX) experts were quarantined, forcing a shift in their job environment. Suddenly, everyone was doing the carpet commute. Yet their core roles didn’t change. In fact, those roles became more important than ever as shoppers abandoned previous loyalties.
Indeed, CX has risen as an important differentiator for businesses trying to retain current clients and attract new ones. Buyers have shown that they’re becoming indifferent to the legacy brands they once loved. They’ve opened up to seeing the online retail world as a buffet, and they’re not shy about previously taste-testing dishes. And an unparalleled CX could mean the difference between keeping their interest or losing it to a tastier competitor.
Knowing how powerful CX is, companies everywhere are rethinking the makeup, processes, and culture of their contact centers. They’re also experimenting with ways to make working at home a natural fit for talented, devoted service staff members. Below are five ways small and large companies are preparing to woo and wow the pickiest consumers with out-of-this-world CX.
1. Contact centers are making omnichannel support a piece of cake.
Customers have their preferred channels. Some like text support, while others want to be contacted via social platforms. Others like to pick up the phone or arrange an impromptu video call with a live customer service representative. A few prefer hearing from helpful CX agents through email. Consequently, companies need to have a seamless way to encourage and supply live omnichannel support.
This is a tall order, but certainly not an impossible one. High-powered, cloud-based contact center as a service (CCaaS) providers can provide CX reps with access to customer information housed in one place. A few top CCaaS systems offer special features that give instant access to multiple channels. All CX employees have to do is drop down a menu to move across channels. And it all can happen during the same interaction, meeting the customer’s needs without friction.
2. Contact centers are empowering their employees to make snap decisions.
Remember the days of “Let me talk to a manager?” A remote contact center worker doesn’t have a manager standing in the wings. Rather, the worker would have to put a client on hold and pass them along, which can annoy consumers. Why should a customer with a legitimate concern have to bounce from CX employee to CX employee to get assistance? The workaround for this issue is to allow employees to problem-solve on the spot.
Workers who are given this kind of authority rarely overuse it. Rather, they feel empowered to think like an owner and make responsible choices on behalf of the consumer. In turn, the customer benefits from personalized interactions and solutions. And that could be all it takes to land a glowing review that will entice other browsers to become buyers.
3. Contact centers have increased their focus on customer information security.
In an office setting, a CX worker on the phone with a customer might jot down a credit card number. The card number can be inputted after the call ends, and the paper properly destroyed. In a home-based setting, having shopper information in the open poses a different level of security risk.
For this reason, companies that run remote contact centers are updating their protocols rigorously to inform and guide employee habits. Corporate leaders are also leaning heavily on internal IT and external security experts to advise them. All it takes is one breach to make headlines. Companies with telecommuting CX professionals know this. That’s why most are open to supplying workers with better home-based equipment. At the same time, they’re setting up encrypted logins to secure portals and constantly conducting training workshops.
4. Contact centers are revising employee performance analytics to generate new KPIs.
Should a remote employee who was told to make 100 outbound phone calls in the office have the same expectation? Every organization needs to answer that and related questions. Sometimes, CX employees can handle more customers when they’re not distracted by a workplace setting. Other times, they may need to shift their expectations to match limitations like slower residential Internet service or kids running around in the background.
Yes, companies need to work toward maximum efficiency. Nevertheless, managers of remote contact center personnel should plan to test CX processes and generate realistic performance parameters. Supervisors may even want to take a drive of the CX at-home software themselves to determine KPIs for team members. Ultimately, having measurable KPIs based on the realities of telecommuting should keep everyone on the same page. From there, getting everyone on a project management software program can keep people aware of who’s doing what.
5. Contact centers have begun sharing knowledge in real time.
Knowledge management and sharing become increasingly critical for companies whose CX employees are scattered around the community, country, or globe. That may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s not happening in most businesses. More than half of workers say they can’t find the knowledge they need efficiently or quickly.
How can businesses amp up their knowledge management and get it moving in a positive direction? In addition to adopting a CCaaS solution, executives should invest in a strong customer relationship management (CRM) system. Ideally the CCaaS and CRM will work together to keep all client knowledge in one easy-to-find location. From that point, department heads can emphasize the importance of inputting all client interactions into the system.
There’s no telling what will happen with the coronavirus pandemic, or how it will affect corporations in the coming months and years. But one thing’s clear: lots of contact center workers will be doing their jobs from home. Business leaders who lean into this shift will fare better than those that wish for a return to pre-coronavirus norms.
