8 mins read
Customers are the priority for every business. Therefore, call centers—the first point of contact between your company and consumers—are an integral part of business operations.
Increased productivity and reduced operational costs in the contact center depend on the work efficiency of representatives. However, it is only natural for agents to make mistakes sometimes that may negatively impact customer experiences.
The question that arises then is: how can you maintain an efficient call center? The answer is quite simple. The key lies in reviewing internal processes regularly, checking on redundant procedures, and updating workflows for improvement.
Additionally, keep track of the average call handling times, and strive to improve the rate of first call resolution.
Let us explore some ways to improve the operational efficiency of call centers in more detail.
1. Use a cloud-hosted solution
Call center kiosks are crucial touchpoints. You need to be prepared to face any sudden changes in call traffic.
Therefore, a cloud-hosted solution is the way to go—it does not depend on expensive or heavy equipment, and can be easily scaled up or down. This allows undisrupted workflows even during times of unexpected demand.
Additionally, a cloud solution has data recovery and backup capabilities that aid in business continuity.
2. Provide self-service options
Customers reach out to you for information about your products and services. However, there are times when agents aren’t available or there is a long queue. You can avoid unhappy customers by installing a high-end Interactive Voice Response (IVR) service.
This system enables the customers to navigate service menus using their phone keypads. Therefore, callers can resolve basic queries on their own, without agent intervention.
This way, both your agents and customers save valuable time. The instant access to vital information results in quick and satisfying customer experiences.
3. Train your staff continuously
Live monitoring, training, and mitigating risks are important call center processes. Consider this: one of your agents makes a noticeable mistake that impacts sales. If you get around to discussing the performance in a later review stage, errors can pile up and result in low efficiency.
Instead, if the supervisor is provided with call monitoring and recording tools, they can interfere at the right time and offer the required help. This will help identify and rectify bottlenecks in operational workflows promptly. Moreover, new recruits can use these call recordings in their training process to obtain a first-hand experience of the work at hand.
4. Implement a skill-based routing system
This simple step will not only save your agents’ time but also boost the rate of first call resolution. For example, let’s say a customer is facing technical issues in accessing their account. It doesn’t make sense for them to be connected to the accounts department accidentally!
You can tackle this issue by incorporating an efficient skill-based routing system. This technology can identify customer needs by analysing their key inputs and forward the call to the appropriate department.
5. Integrate your applications
A study by Aberdeen, the marketing company, revealed that 87% of firms struggle to manage customer conversations in a data-driven manner.
Well-informed agents can resolve queries swiftly and efficiently, thereby reducing the rate of repeated calls and leading to higher customer satisfaction levels.
All of this is achievable if you integrate your system with a powerful CRM tool. It will allow your agents to access customer data with a single click on the user-friendly portal.
Furthermore, incorporate internal messaging tools to enhance team collaboration and allow instant supervisor guidance. With improved communications, your staff will be able to receive clarifications quicker and speed up the operations.
6. Provide a call back service
Avoid long call queues and keep customers informed of the average waiting time. They can then decide to either wait on the call or request a call back.
This service assures your customer that their query has not gone unnoticed, and you can guarantee assistance.
7. Take feedback from your staff
Your agents will be the first to identify a broken process or an operational glitch since they are the ones in the frontline.
Therefore, it’s beneficial to establish an effective feedback mechanism to gather inputs and suggestions from employees. These insights will not only improve efficiency but also boost agent morale and motivation.
Conclusion
If your call center is to move like a well-oiled machine, all its parts have to be seamlessly integrated. You should ensure that every aspect of your ecosystem is monitored diligently to overcome operational discontinuity. Hopefully, this article has enlightened you about the various ways you can boost operational efficiency in your call center.
Do you want to improve your call center efficiency? Give Acefone a chance and call our sales team at 1888-859-0450 today.
