With the ultimate goal of ensuring customer happiness (and their repeat business), the root of call center success rests in agent productivity. The more productive an agent, the better he or she is able to service customers and enhance business operations. One way to do this is with efficient call routing.
Routing can exponentially improve a call center’s overall performance, from the agent level all the way up to the management’s ability to evaluate their staff. When done efficiently, routing shortens connection time and strengthens agent-customer matching, which leads to happy customers. And if the customer is happy, the call center has done its job.
Keeping this in mind, there are a few different ways call centers can use routing to improve efficiency and produce more satisfied customers.
1. Skill-Based Routing
Skill-based routing is designed to direct callers to agents who are best suited to answer their questions. The agents are routed based on their level of experience within a given topic. Callers are directed to the agent best equipped to resolve their problem quickly. Let’s face it – in today’s busy, fast-paced society, the last thing a caller wants to do is wait on hold while an agent with little knowledge of their concern searches for the right answer. Customers want answers as quickly as possible – get in and get out, so to speak.
2. Geographical Routing
Geographical routing is meant for larger enterprises that span across a large region, such as the good ol’ US of A. Say, for example, there are four call centers spread across the country, one in each corner of the map. If the call center in the southwest goes down due to a power outage, all callers to that center would be re-routed to another call center with agents prepared to field the influx of questions. This form of routing is effective because all calls are answered, no matter the circumstances.
3. Load-Balancing Routing
Load-balancing routing is meant to accommodate call centers when they are inundated with call requests. Rather than have the caller wait to be assisted, calls will be routed to another call center with available agents at that time. This form of routing reduces wait-times, call duration, and ultimately results in improved customer satisfaction. It’s really a win-win situation for the agent and the end caller: overflowing calls won’t overwhelm the agent and the caller’s needs are met in a timely manner.
It’s safe to say that routing is a critical component to overall call center efficiency. Wait times are drastically lowered, frustration levels are reduced to a minimum, and essentially, the callers and agents have a more pleasant interaction. Routing is a critical call center practice that has proven to be truly beneficial for all parties.
