It’s a common, daily struggle of business owners worldwide. For a very long time, delivering exceptional customer service to each and every client, as if they are the only client the business has, has been viewed as a lofty goal that comes with a price. Paying extra, special attention to each of your customers can put your business’ operational efficiency at risk, particularly if you have limited manpower and resources, because it quickly drains these limited resources. And because small and medium-sized businesses do have limited resources, their goal of creating positive and memorable customer experiences becomes much more difficult to attain.
But what if we told you there is a proven strategy that allows you to create positive customer experiences while maximizing your operational efficiency?
Research has shown that blended communication in the call center context is an effective method for increasing the quality of customer experiences you create for your clients while improving your operational efficiency. These three benefits show how a blended call center can give you the best of both worlds:
Shorter wait times. Creating positive customer experiences begins with knowing what your customers want and doing all you can to deliver that. If there is one thing customers hate, it’s waiting for their call to be answered by an agent! The shorter the waiting time, the more positive their experience becomes. The flexible set-up of a blended call center environment greatly reduces the wait times of calling customers on the other end of the line, by assigning the outbound agents to also take the incoming calls when there is call overflow. The result is reduced wait times, reduced abandoned calls, and happier customers!
Greater efficiency and productivity. Blended call centers utilize both inbound and outbound call center technology that improves the work efficiency of agents. Automatic call distribution software allows inbound agents to handle calls that match their skills. It also helps decrease wait times by automatically routing incoming calls to agents who are not handling calls at the moment. Predictive dialers, on the other hand, help outbound agents make outbound calls faster. All these efficiency improvements ultimately result in higher productivity levels for the agents and call center.
Higher agent engagement. The great thing about a blended call center environment is it breaks the monotony for the agents. Because agents in a blended call center are tasked to handle both inbound and outbound calls, they are given the opportunity to interact with different customers with greater variety of needs and concerns on a daily basis. In the course of their work, blended call center agents become more knowledgeable about different customer preferences, and develop skills that are important for both inbound and outbound calls. Since routine is minimized in a blended call center environment, agents become more engaged in their work, which may reduce agent turnover.
A blended call center set-up offers shorter wait times for your customers, greater efficiency for the call center, and higher productivity and engagement for the agents. All these three benefits work together to help you create positive customer experiences while boosting your business’ operational efficiency.
