2022 was a transformative year for the contact center. In the last 12 months, we’ve seen many changes, from the increasing demand for AI and automation to the rise of new communication channels. As January and the new year draws closer, business leaders and contact center managers now have a unique opportunity to assess the past year and start planning for 2023.
The new year is an incredible time to start setting new goals or “resolutions” for the contact center environment. These targets will help to guide you and your team towards improved efficiency, productivity, and higher customer satisfaction levels for the years ahead.
So, what resolutions should you be setting this year?
Resolution #1: Improve Your Contact Center Metrics
Data is one of the most important tools any contact center has. In an era of rising customer expectations and trends like proactive service and hyper-personalization, it’s more important than ever to ensure you’re constantly collecting and evaluating the correct information.
While most contact center leaders know they should monitor data, they sometimes need assistance in determining which metrics will generate the best results. This year, it may be time to go beyond the basics of average call handling time and the number of calls waiting to take a closer look at things like abandoned call rates, customer satisfaction levels, and NPS scores.
The right contact center wallboards and dashboards will even allow you to share different data with different team members depending on their goals and individual roles. This ensures you can give every employee the insights they need to delight customers.
Resolution #2: Enhance Employee Engagement
Over the last year, countless contact centers have been affected by trends like the Great Resignation, which has contributed to rapid turnover among specialist staff. As a result, companies are forced to think more carefully about how they engage and delight their team with straightforward, convenient, and exciting work experiences.
Remember, higher employee satisfaction can lead to greater profitability, an average of 41% reduction in absenteeism, 59% lower turnover, and greater staff loyalty. Think about how you can give your staff a better workplace experience, with options to work remotely using cloud-based technology. Consider new ways to engage your team through gamified wallboards and leader boards encouraging employees to do their best in every call.
Introducing a suitable collection of collaboration and communication tools will also strengthen your teams’ overall experience by making their day-to-day workflow more streamlined.
Resolution #3: Boost the Efficiency of Calls and Operations
Efficiency has always been an important ingredient in a successful contact center. As customer demands continue to evolve and agents are left dealing with queries and requests across multiple channels, it’s more important than ever to ensure your ecosystem is cohesive and aligned.
Implementing new technologies into the contact center can be a fantastic way to make staff more efficient, while simultaneously improving customer experience. For instance, integrating CRM systems into the contact center makes it easier for employees to quickly leverage the information they need to personalize service to a specific client.
Adding call-back functionality to your contact center allows customers to choose to have an agent connect with them when they become available, so you can reduce the risk of overwhelmed and stressed employees. You can leverage intelligent call routing capabilities to ensure the right calls reach the correct agents every time.
Resolution #4: Help Staff Evolve with Training
Training and advancing the contact center staff will become increasingly important in 2023 as customer demands change. Over the last couple of years, the contact center has become more complex, with more channels and tools for agents to manage. In the future, the prevalence of self-service tools, automation, and AI will make training even more essential.
Dashboards and wallboards that track employee performance data historically and in real-time should give contact center managers a clear idea of which employees need the most support and training. These solutions will also make it easier to understand which types of training should be prioritized in the contact center from now on.
Some businesses can even use real-time metrics combined with whisper technologies into the contact center, allowing supervisors to offer guidance during customer interactions.
Resolution #5: Keep Evolving and Growing
Finally, in today’s ever-evolving CX landscape, companies need to be ready to adapt and transform consistently. With access to the right metrics and insights, businesses should constantly search for ways to improve employee and customer satisfaction and generate loyalty.
The brands who stay ahead of the competition in the CX space during the years ahead will have the most comprehensive strategy for understanding their customers and their staff’s day-to-day journeys, processes, and needs.
Reach out to Geomant today to find out how to start implementing the tools you need to achieve your contact center New Year resolutions in 2023.
