How Digital Transformation Will Help Call Centers Become Future-Ready

Modern customer demands soar sky-high! They need customized and quick support through every digital channel. Additionally, they want all channels to be connected well. So, call center innovation ideas to call for a unified 360-degree communication approach that simplifies customer engagement.

A successful call center uses digital tools to solve customer issues like call deflection, personalization, and automates repetitive tasks. Furthermore, using cloud-based tools also helps call centers analyze and act on customer data proactively. Call center managers must look at the bigger picture to improve the customer experience as much as they can. With this information, let's go through the most useful call center technology trends.

7 Emerging Call Center Technologies to Consider

1. Use Smart Routing and Omnichannel Orchestration

Through modern call routing technology, customers experience superior service that makes them loyal to the brand. They provide features like robust reporting and metrics tracking that eases KPI monitoring.

Contact center managers will also have better access to information like the types of calls a particular agent receives, the time taken to answer each call, and how they're routed. These features also extend to provide real-time speech analytics that enhances customer insights significantly.

Moreover, customers also receive customized, appropriate, and punctual responses. This customer-centric approach elevates the overall brand image and customer loyalty. Through an omnichannel approach, you ensure your customer doesn't have to repeat their query multiple times to get a resolution.

2. Automate Processes to Improve Efficiency

Through automation, aim to diminish the customer query volume from phone calls by using low-cost options like knowledge banks (or FAQs) and chatbots. Use Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems to collect common questions for the self-service knowledge bank. For backend processes, leverage automated tools to enhance productivity by reducing the resolution time for simple problems.

A leading UK media company cut down $3 million in operational costs by reducing handling times, solving customer problems in a single call, and diminishing call transfers. Also, to make the most out of your automation solutions, consider consolidating your data centers as well.

Through consolidation, you can reduce real estate and labor costs significantly. If your call centers don’t form a major part of your business, you can also consider if outsourcing is the right choice.

3. Invest in Artificial Intelligence to Modernize Call Centers

Modern call centers thrive on Artificial Intelligence (AI)! 54 percent of executives experienced greater productivity due to AI integration. While it may help all business areas, it can be the most important tool for call centers. These centers directly link your customers to your brand and represent your brand to clients.

Currently, most customers can buy your product even if they never interact with you. They only contact your agents when they face any issue. So, contacting your call center might be the first interaction for your clients. If this experience isn't a positive one, they're happy to switch brands that offer better service. 86 percent of shoppers can willingly pay a premium for great customer experience. So, use AI to power your contact centers today!

4. Handle Customer Complaints Proactively

40 to 80 percent of received calls are reactions to a recent event related to the business. Customers might pick the call facing a problem or seeking information from the business. Subsequently, the agent tries his/her best to solve the issue in the least time possible. Gone are the days when agents used to wonder why customers may call them that day. Through analytics, they can anticipate why most customers may call them and prepare a fruitful resolution in advance.

By analyzing questions, complaints, or call requests, contact centers can predict issues based on client personas. Contact centers can go one step further by forecasting issues and proactively reaching out to clients to solve them. This action helps build customer loyalty and establishes a trustworthy image that helps long-term business prospects.

5. Leverage Cloud Technology to Evolve Contact Centers

Currently, systems evolve at a higher rate, and it's difficult to keep track of them efficiently. So, shifting to the cloud seems like a cost-effective and upgrade-friendly option for businesses that want to keep up with the latest tech. Through cloud systems, customers get the best experience because it eliminates the need to go through the entire developmental cycle to use new features.

Additionally, cloud call centers save 27 percent of costs and face 35 percent less downtime than their peers. Moreover, machine learning and AI capabilities need a lot of computing resources that your clients may not have. Cloud solutions are perfect for the scalability, resilience, and flexibility businesses need.

6. Personalize Customer Experience

Each customer wants unique treatment and services from businesses. So, brands need to understand their personal preferences, likes, and dislikes to cater to each individual differently. An Accenture report states that 75 percent of buyers will buy from the brand that recognizes their name, remembers their previous purchases, and recommends products based on them.

In fact, they're willing to let organizations use their data to receive superior service in return. 58 percent of buyers are comfortable with businesses using their historical data because they believe it'll improve their overall experience. To leverage this data effectively, consider using customer relationship management (CRM) software. This system store analyzes and studies customer data based on prior interactions. This analysis helps business leaders craft personalized strategies to attract and retain customers.

7. Rethink Contact Centers as Strategic Resources

Traditionally, contact centers used to exist because businesses wanted to cut costs and consolidate operational aspects. By rethinking the call center's role, firms look at the customer perspective to improve the overall experience. This transformation shifts the focus from operational efficiency to customer service enhancement. Though this perspective shift is an old concept, many contact center managers will tell you that call centers still function as cost centers.

Conclusion

Modern call centers not only function as strategic resources but also act as brand representatives. So, businesses need to invest in their contact centers to take care of their customers effectively.

For organizations around the world, providing continued customer support after business hours or on public holidays is a critical requirement. Invensis Technologies is a specialist Call Center Support outsourcing Services company and can enable your organization to keep the communication lines with your customers' open 24/7/365.

Learn more about our services in detail – Call Center Services