At the last roundtable hosted by CRMXchange, I had the pleasure of participating alongside several of my peers from Enkata, Intradiem and NICE to explore topics related to workforce optimization, focusing specifically on the issues facing front and back office managers such as agent performance, labor costs, and workforce planning.
If you weren’t able to attend live or haven’t had a chance to view the replay, below is a recap of some of the advice we shared on how adopting workforce optimization best practices can transform your contact center for the better.
- There’s business value in improving the customer experience. According to leading analysts, customers in the USA (75 percent), Australia (72 percent) and the UK (68 percent) have confidently spent more because of a history of good service.
- Attracting and retaining employees can be a challenge. 57 percent of companies surveyed by Forrester found this to be one of their top concerns. As employees experience burn out or become disengaged, their overall productivity and quality declines.
- Agent empowerment and motivation are important factors in maintaining a productive workforce. Agents who are recognized for their achievements, collaborate with their peers, and work towards tangible goals, feel empowered to put more effort into providing greater customer service.
- An integrated workforce optimization solution can help manage both your front and back offices. Your back office should be able to consistently deliver what your front office promises. A single unified solution can more efficiently monitor your contact center performance, avoid conflicting data sets and maintain a unified picture of your agents’ activities.
- Make agent training a priority in the office. Today, customers are more knowledgeable thanks to web searches, discussion boards, and social media. When they reach out to your contact center, it’s usually because they have more complex issues or have exhausted all other means of assistance. Utilizing services such as Aspect Active Learning keeps employees at the top of their game and able to meet customer service demands.
- Use workforce optimization to manage agent activities, no matter where they work. Whether your agents work on-premise, remotely or in some combination of the two, ensure that they are meeting their goals and staying productive.
We’re already gearing up for the next webcast with CRMXchange, this time featuring an in-depth exploration of real-time analytics and why this technology can transform the way agents interact with customers. Our Senior Product Marketing Manager Bob Moore will be joining Nexidia’s VP of Product Management, Larry Skowronek next week on Oct. 22 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern to discuss how. Register now to listen live!
