You make the dreaded phone call. You are placed on hold.
When the agent answers, he asks for your name and the last four numbers of your social security number. You state your problem; he transfers you to another department.
The next agent asks for your name and the last four numbers of your social security number. The agent places you on hold. Again. And transfers you. Again.
And so it begins. You’ve descended into phone hell. Who knows how long you’ll be there.
The call center has created three negative experiences that could be avoided.
1) Placed you on hold, extending your call time.
2) Transferred you too many times.
3) Asked you to repeat the same information.
The customer’s first point of contact should be with an agent who knows where to direct the caller. Scannable record history would end the repetition and excessive hold times.
Increase NPS Scores Using Automated Agent Guidance
In an alternate universe, agents are trained. They would know exactly where to send you and what to say. Dynamic scripting, or call center agent scripting, can help. This may be an actual verbal “script” or steps necessary to progress through the call.
You start to convert agent knowledge into best practices replicating your best agents. This can aid in onboarding. Your best agents are now available for handling more complex calls.
You want your customers to feel confident when dealing with you. If they feel frustrated or disillusioned, they’ll spread the word. And not in a good way. Dynamic scripting can help you avoid this and increase your NPS scores.
Intelligent Agent Guidance on the Rise
Quality customer service separates the average company from great companies. Think Nordstrom, Lillian Vernon, Allstate, DHL, Priceline. With the rise of social media, customer expectations have skyrocketed. Automation has given rise to intelligent agent guidance. Context to your customers’ pain points is now possible.
Today, anyone in your contact center can create scripts and publish them in real-time. You can shift the conversation on the spot using custom rules and built-in language translation. At last, natural-sounding agents! Anyone can create, edit, and change scripts without involving IT.
WEM Drives Customer Engagement
Modern call center scripting represents a great way to keep agents engaged. They can use their first-hand knowledge to improve scripts over time. Scripting software has even evolved to the point of understanding human sentiment. As we know, the customer journey is not linear.
Agent guidance in the 21st century is complex. From search to the web, to chatbot, to phone help, your agents need to pivot daily. With agent guidance, the next best action becomes automatic. You enable agents to focus on the customer and not the system. Empowering agents to respond to customers in a non-scripted way builds empathy and trust.
Empowered agents reward you with loyalty. Customers aren’t the only ones who feel anxious. Your agents are stressed too. Resolving an issue and reducing call time feels great.
And, automation is moving up in the ranks of workforce engagement. At least according to Gartner. Their 2020 Magic Quadrant for Workforce Engagement Management underscores the growing importance of process guidance and automation.
We’re on the cusp of transforming customer service using automation as the gateway. Customer engagement and agent empowerment is the only way out of our shared misery.
