Even as new technologies flood the business world, the call center is far from an outdated facet of customer service. In fact, it’s still a go-to resource for consumers seeking support, research and other forms of brand interaction. That’s why so many organizations continue to invest in their call centers, and view these programs as central components to their overarching customer experience.
While the importance of a call center may be clear to most business leaders, however, these companies may not know how to best invest in their programs. Smart spending becomes especially difficult since modern operations are so complex and include various channels. With so many options, decision-making is an even greater challenge.
“Identify which call center investments deserve priority.”
With call recording software offering insights into the strengths and weaknesses of their operations, call center managers can identify exactly which investments to prioritize and how to ensure continuous improvement over the long run. Here are a few ways in which recording technology empowers decision-makers to invest wisely in their call centers.
Focus on satisfaction
When looking to improve the customer experience, it’s best to go straight to the source to see how customers are interacting with agents and how satisfied they are with service. Call recording tells managers exactly what needs to be done to improve caller satisfaction, whether its through investment in metrics systems, feedback forms or call accounting platforms that create detailed reports of interactions.
“By maintaining a database of call recordings, you can compare how your team communicates with customers today vs. how you communicated with them, say, six months ago,” explained MightyCall blogger Abijah Christos. “The differences can show where you’ve improved and where you still need work as well as how your business is growing in the right direction – which can be extremely motivating.”
Listening closely to the voice of the customer also fuels cross-departmental collaboration in areas such as product research and development. call center leaders often find value in these candid pieces of consumer feedback, and choose to invest in more organized methods of reporting that can easily be shared across the enterprise to help achieve big-picture business goals.
Pinpoint training needs
A significant part of a call center leader’s job description is to train the workforce on best practices for interacting with consumers, and this is an ongoing process regardless of the talent of the agents in question. Still, decision-makers need to know where their representatives are struggling in order to properly coordinate an effective set of training protocols. Call recording is a reliable way to gauge the shortcomings of the workforce and create training programs that target these exact demands.
With tight budgets, call center managers need to make informed investments to improve their operations.For example, agents may display excellent communication skills on the phone, but when it comes to transferring calls to a more qualified representative, the interaction could deteriorate and leave consumers dissatisfied with the overall experience. In this scenario, managers could identify this weak point and develop a training solution that teaches agents how to more fluidly handle these transitional stages.
Combat risk factors
Every aspect of a business incurs some form of risk, including the call center. Whether its divergence from compliance standards or a disgruntled consumer creating bad press for a brand, these risk factors need to be understood and addressed in a systematic manner. This is another area in which call recording technology can benefit managers in their efforts to make intelligent investments in their call centers.
Ultimately, call recording helps decision-makers to become more accountable for what happens in customer interactions, allowing them to boost caller satisfaction, train agents effectively and fight risk to the best of their abilities.
