The Right Tools for Next-Generation Customer Interaction
by Jane Hendricks on January 17th, 2012
Certain jobs require specific tools. For instance, if you see the cable guy coming and he doesn’t have his special bag of wire cutters, cable splitters, and signal testers, you’re probably not going to be watching your stories in HD tonight.
In the business world those tools are changing all the time. As new tools enter the consumer domain―for example, mobile devices and social media―the tools used by the business follow suit. This consumerization of IT is seen in the rapid adoption of the mobile devices, web-based communities, and even instant messaging within the walls of the enterprise.
The force that drives consumer adoption of new technology is a thirst for instant, real-time information and engagement. This anytime, anywhere access to information and people defines Consumer 2.0. As the tools that we use to connect to one another get smarter, our tolerance for slow, ineffective customer service, while already low, drops even further. As a consumer, I expect that if I am able to access competitive pricing and relevant suggestions for complimentary products while standing in line at a store, I will receive the same level of sophistication and intelligence when I have a question or issue.
The contact center has become the option that consumers tap only after all others have been exhausted—the last best hope for issue resolution. So after an individual has spent time on product pages, consumer forums, and the FAQ page of the company website, she is banking on the contact center to provide her with some information that she didn’t turn up on her exhaustive search and to be cognizant of what she has already reviewed.
This environment raises the bar for service agents and what they need to deliver to keep customers satisfied. That’s why some recent figures caught my eye.
Forrester released research findings on the adoption of customer service technologies in the contact center. According to analyst Kate Leggett:
“Our data shows that 55% of companies surveyed use knowledge management; 35% use real-time decisioning and another 40% are actively considering this technology; and, 34% use unified agent workspaces.”
While these numbers are moving in the right direction, they show that a large number of companies are sending their agents into the customer engagement space without the necessary tools. Some thoughts:
- Without knowledge management tools, agents don’t have the benefit of information generated by customer engagements. In practice, the result is multiple agents searching for the same answers to recurring questions—or worse, inconsistent answers to recurring questions—not exactly the model of productivity.
- Nearly two-thirds of companies aren’t using technology to route calls to the best agent based on expertise, performance, and other factors. When agent skills and customer needs are misaligned, you are gambling, and customer experience is the currency. In today’s environment, one negative interaction can irreparably damage the company-customer relationship, so why not lower those odds?
- Last, the majority of companies don’t give agents the benefit of a unified workspace or access to the same kind of tools they enjoy as consumers. Having to switch between screens, rely on phone calls and notes to pass information within their team, and use clunky interfaces not only increases handle times but severely reduces the likelihood of first-call resolution.
Over the past year, we’ve seen a growing number of companies awaken to the realization that effective customer engagement can deliver long-term benefits—happier consumers who spend more money on products and make recommendations to friends.
While the adoption of necessary functionality is lagging behind consumer expectations, the right technology can transform contact center operations. But there’s no time to waste.
Improving the way companies communicate internally and externally with their customers is an important objective for all organizations. This blog is focused on levaraging the collective knowledge withing Aspect.