Customer Service Improvement Strategies: 5 Plays to Make Your Contact Center Your Brand’s Mission Control Center

Providing excellent customer service should always be one of the top priorities of any contact center. Generally, customers are contacting a company to either make a complaint or resolve an issue. Being representatives of the brand, agents have the opportunity to showcase company values and demonstrate how important customers are by helping them with these issues.

When customers are happy with the service they've received then they are much more likely to continue to support the brand and continue purchasing their products or services. Research shows that 96% of people say that customer service plays a role in their choice of loyalty to a brand.

Ultimately the goal of any brand is to continue scaling their business, which requires access to customer support.

And contact centers are busy places. Just in 2020, 58% of customers reached out to a customer service representative in the past month. This shows that agents need to be prepared to handle any situation and the contact center needs to be well organized. Being proactive about making sure the contact center is delivering exceptional customer service means going the extra mile.

So here are 5 customer service improvement strategies.

1. Invest in data integration with a CRM that puts the customer at the center of everything you do

Improve your customer service team by using CRM platforms to help to ensure the delivery of quality service with every transaction. A CRM platform will combine systems so an agent only has to access one place for the information they need and can better communicate with both colleagues and customers.

LiveVox's unified CRM will help you sync information across systems and make sure the customer is the main focus at all times. One of the key benefits of this product is providing access to all previous transactions so agents can save time and personalize the customer experience. It also eliminates the need to go back and forth between screens.

CRM platforms are also accessible from multiple devices, such as desktops, laptops, and mobile phones for added convenience. Customers who can more quickly get answers to their questions will more likely establish a lifelong relationship with the brand.

2. Take advantage of artificial intelligence for workforce and omnichannel optimization

Artificial intelligence has been greatly developed over the years and it is a good way to enhance the customer experience. Chatbots are one of the latest AI technologies that contact centers have started to put into effect.

Chatbots can help cut down on customer service costs and deliver a more efficient system of answering basic questions. Once a chatbot can no longer answer questions a live agent can easily take over and help with more complicated issues.

Chatbots can offer 24/7 access, instant responses, and resolving complaints. It can also help reduce wait times, which always increases customer satisfaction.

According to Accenture, artificial intelligence is predicted to increase profitability for businesses by 38% by 2035. It looks like artificial intelligence is not only here to stay, but will increasingly be incorporated into every aspect of businesses.

3. Proactively collect customer feedback in an automated way

Receiving customer feedback is key to a successful customer service team, and therefore a profitable business. After all, 77% of customers have a more favorable view of brands that ask for and accept customer feedback. Creating a feedback strategy and following through on collecting data and implementing changes is an important factor in improving a contact center. Some of the different methods you can use to collect feedback are:

• Playback call recordings in training sessions
• Assemble focus groups of agents and customers
• Use speech analytics as a QM tool
• Keep an eye on third party review sites
• Monitor online communities like social channels
• Create customer feedback portals - a knowledge base is a great tool for this
• Send CSAT surveys

Don't just employ one method and consider that to be enough. Have multiple channels for customers to communicate their feedback. This gives more people the opportunity to contribute and provides you with more ideas on ways to elevate customer service across the board.

Unlock the voice of your customer with speech analytics.

4. Incorporate real-time customer feedback for ad hoc campaign updates

Having updated data and records for customers can make a difference in how well an agent comes across to customers. Many customers expect agents to know who they are, have access to information about their purchases, and much more when they contact a representative.

By having systems that provide information in real-time, agents do not have to waste time collecting that data. Information can also be shared between departments, like sales, marketing, and research and development, keeping everyone updated on what they need to know.

Real-time information can help in cases where customers might have to go between agents. For example, if an agent has to transfer a customer to someone else who might be able to help more. Or in the case that a call happens to get dropped and a customer tries to connect again and gets another representative. Ultimately it lowers stress for agents who might feel too much pressure to meet expectations to lower call times and relieve customer frustrations over having to answer questions rather than receiving answers.

5. Use AI to create omnichannel experiences that anticipate, not just satisfy, needs

The ultimate customer experience includes planning an omnichannel strategy. Streamlining all channels that customers interact with cuts down on response times and makes interactions easier on customers.

Companies that take initiative to personalize and improve customer experiences can see a 10-15% boost in sales conversion rates and an increase in employee engagement from 20-30%.

Businesses that incorporate an omnichannel experience create a conversation history that spans across every channel that the company uses. Customer data, like what is stored in their shopping carts, is included in what is shared between platforms. This allows for better conversations with agents because they can interact with customers on their preferred platform and quickly identify the customer.
Research also shows that 9 out of 10 consumers want omnichannel services. So companies should be looking towards this to boost their contact with customers and level of service.