The demands placed on customer service teams and contact centers today are higher than ever before. Organizations want contact centers that can scale quickly to meet customer demand, and they want agents that deliver highly personalized customer support. Doing that means giving reps the ability to access multiple applications like customer service and CRM applications simultaneously. Customers also expect access to customer service channels in multiple languages and through always-on options like phone, chat, email, social media, and text.
The risk of failing to deliver superior customer support is also higher than ever. Consider this: a report by leading marketing and analytics firm Kissmetrics tells us that, on average, 9.5 minutes are spent trying to reach a human when trapped in an automated phone system. That single, poor experience doesn’t make customers feel valued. Even more, 71% of consumers have ended their relationship with a company due to poor customer service (Source: Kissmetrics). In all, that means the stakes are extremely high when it comes to the contact center.
Faced with this reality, smart organizations are considering a new way to approach contact center management. Cloud contact centers are making it easier to detangle the complexity, cost and high risk of traditional contact centers. When done right, cloud-based contact center services help to deliver greater business continuity and better insight by unifying multiple call center locations and remote agents. This unified approach also delivers sharper customer insight and tighter control over operations. When considering alternatives to stale customer service and contact center solutions, keep these features in mind:
- Improved scalability to manage high call volume- whether your busy time of year is spring, summer, fall, the holidays, or anytime special promotions are offered, increase call volume can be tricky to manage. With a cloud-based contact center, a business can be ready for a high volume of calls and customer interactions immediately, in near real time.
- Cost savings with a pay-for-what-you-use service model- further, working with a cloud contact center provider makes ‘instant-on” capabilities a reality. This makes it extremely simple and cost-effective to add new agents and line capacity quickly, while also allowing agents the flexibility to work remotely. Using cloud contact software, organizations can scale up staff to meet demand with the push of a button. Resources are also optimized because businesses only pay for the agents and lines they use, making bloated staffing costs a thing of the past.
- Greater efficiency- With an integrated contact center platform, managers can better utilize customer service resources and ensure more high-quality customer engagements. Supervisors can gain greater visibility by drilling down into very specific metrics, like calls and email volumes. With corresponding reports, users can make smarter decisions about switching agents to inbound/outbound calls based on need, forecasts, and business rules. A clearer picture of the contact center increases productivity, agent engagement, and margins.
- Improved customer service and greater understanding of the customer- for organizations to remain competitive, they must commit to elevating their relationship with customers. This includes responding quickly to questions, treating them as individuals, understanding their purchasing patterns and managing individual interactions for quality and consistency. A cloud contact center approach empowers agents to deliver on these commitments and provide excellent service. It does this by improving their efficiency with access to multiple customer service applications through one platform. For example, by integrating CRM applications with cloud contact center software, agents can have more meaningful conversations with customers and avoid common frustrations of having callers repeat call histories or personal information.
In today’s competitive business landscape, premier customer service is a critical differentiator. By partnering with an experienced provider and ensuring personalized and engaging customer experiences, organizations can build a fiercely loyal customer base as well as secure new customers in engaging and innovative ways.