Empowering Your Call Center Agents for Success

New tech is revolutionizing call centers as we speak. Chatbots are adding a whole new layer of convenience for general inquiries, reducing customer churn, and empowering frontline employees to dedicate their attention to meaningful challenges.

However, what’s often left unsaid is that such a rapid pace of change needs to be coupled with proper training programs that will make call center jobs enjoyable rather than generic and overwhelming.

Training Your Employees

Many businesses have established training programs for their call center agents. They start with onboarding and rely heavily on protocols and SOPs.

However, coaching for call center agents of the digital age requires a broader approach and should be backed up by a robust support system.

Since technology keeps evolving continually and realistically faster than the human mind can keep up, adjustments and continual learning have emerged as a priority.  

The rest of the success story is really about learning to use advanced the to the best of its capabilities. We’ll mention the latest trends below.

Contact Center Automation

Contact center automation is a standard. It may be used in many ways and applied to multiple fields, as follows:

•         Automating processes
•         Empowering employees
•         Connecting with customers
•         Driving continual improvement

Businesses should choose automation software that delivers unified RPA and conversational AI capabilities for the best results. This will help them to optimize processes and streamline procedures in no time, which is the chief benefit of the tool. 

New Tech and Some More New Tech

Deploying new tech is a great way to deal with repetitive manual tasks efficiently. Here are some ideas for a modern call center:

•         VoIP protocols: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a method for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet.
•         IVR systems: Interactive voice response (IVR) is a technology that allows humans to interact with a computer-operated phone system through the use of voice and DTMF tones input via a keypad.
•         ACD systems: An automated call distribution (ACD) system is a telephony device that answers and distributes incoming calls to a specific group of terminals or agents within an organization. If your customer support team is working remotely, it is crucial to keep the employees connected. Use any apps and tools you deem fit to establish this goal.

Conversational AI

Conversational AI is evolving rapidly and is already being deployed in call centers left and right. AI is changing processes in call centers faster than employees can register, so the first tip is to provide proper training.  

AI chatbots combine natural language processing (NLP), cloud, and machine learning at the very least to deliver customer service around the clock.

One important fact not to overlook is that customers are becoming increasingly “spoiled.” Instant gratification has emerged as a lasting trend, driven by digitalization and globalization.

Businesses that focus on intuitive customer care stand a fair chance of outmatching the competition.

What exactly is intuitive customer care?

It’s a set of processes rooted in a couple of essential goals, the most notable ones of which include:

•         Faster issue resolution
•         Personalized self-service
•         Humanized customer interactions (see below)
•         Lower rates of customer issues
•         Higher customer engagement scores
•         Extended customer lifetime value

Building Meaningful Customer Relationships

As always, crucial customer feedback should be considered where call centers are involved. Listening to what customers have to say is the easiest way to build a powerful team capable of tackling literally any issue.

Challenging established engagement strategies, which now rely heavily on digitalization, should be the starting point. The keyword here is “humanization.” People are now looking for empathy and meaningful interactions, so businesses need to look for an optimal blend.

Dealing With App Fatigue

On the other hand, app fatigue seems to be the biggest challenge for call centers. Customers (and people in general) are overwhelmed by the sheer number of new apps being forced down their throats.

The number of apps required to perform even the simplest of needs has contributed to the trend becoming counterproductive.

That’s why a balanced approach is critical. Call center agents should be trained in soft skills on top of problem-solving skills. Businesses should allocate the resources necessary to achieve this goal as their success relies on their ability to train their call center agents to be professional, motivated, and empathetic.

According to Forbes, 87% of customers prefer human interactions to AI chatbot interactions. This holds particularly true for cases when customers need to solve complex issues.

That’s why businesses should come up with balanced procedures, test various approaches, and rely on customer feedback for guidance.

Keep in mind that chatbots have been around for decades. With the development of AI, they have evolved as a multifunctional tool that is yet to be perfected; that’s why experimenting is reasonable. Look for a mixture where both call center agents and customers get to be at their best.