Wondering what your fellow contact center professionals were reading about in June? Take a look at our top 5 posts for the month—topics included insights on digital channels from a global industry study; the value that speech analytics brings to QM; online communities; the fundamentals of proper staffing; and effective upselling techniques.
Study Finds Digital Channels Lack “Human Touch”
Customers increasingly turn first to self-service to answer questions or solve problems. When they do, they value quick, easy access to relevant and accurate content so that they can find the information they need and get on with their lives. Yet providing customers with a low-effort self-service experience that meets their needs has been a challenge for many organizations.
Speech Analytics and Quality Monitoring
Speech analytics has received a lot of press in the past few years. Some centers have purchased it, and many more have it on their wish list. If you have not had the opportunity to observe it in action, you really must carve some time out of your schedule to do so. Even if it is has not yet made your radar, speech analytics offers a great view of what is possible with voice technology today. It is impressive, and it is powerful.
Tapping the Value of Customer Communities
Most early online communities were set up strictly for customers to help other customers, and companies generally took a hands-off approach to discussions that took place on those sites. “Companies have come to realize that customers are not threatened when employees show up—in fact, they expect you to show up,” says Joe Cothrel, chief community officer at Lithium Technologies, which provides social customer experience management software for the enterprise.
A Guide to Determining Staffing Needs
There are three foundational building blocks that need to be optimized to consistently deliver engaging customer experiences over the phone: people, processes and leadership. Our ongoing article series, “How to Deliver Engaging Customer Experiences,” published in Contact Center Pipeline magazine, covers each of these focus areas in detail. This guest post, a stand-alone from our series, will tackle how to calculate the number of agents needed to staff your call center.
7 Tips for Effective Upselling
You never want your customers saying, “I didn’t know you offered ___ product.” Instead, train your agents to spot upselling opportunities so your customers can choose from the full range of products and services. The following are seven tips to help your agents upsell more effectively. These ideas can be used during new-hire training or with veteran agents at team meetings.
