As a contact centre consultant I am bombarded with requests to consider fancy technology that promises to transform Customer Experience (CX). But as an informed consumer my daily Customer Experience tells me that technology is not the panacea for delivering a quality service. Many – if not all – contact centres need to focus on the basics first.
Slow Systems double queue length
Second only to the ubiquitous queue message “Sorry for the delay. We are receiving an unusual volume calls… ” it’s frustrating to be told during a call “Sorry, my systems are running slowly today.”
Slow systems in the contact centre don’t just lead to customer and agent frustration; it’s also a driver for the long queues. For example, if slow systems add 30 seconds to a 5 minute call then customer queues will more than double in length.
Talk to your agents or check your voice analytics to identify which system(s) lead to extended contact handling time (AHT) and get them fixed.
Make a call into your own operation
Consider how your system feels from the customer perspective.
In a recent renewal email my supplier told me “If you would like to make any changes, log into your Account and click on change my details. If you choose not to renew your business insurance policy please call us on xxxx yyyyyy“. I didn’t want to renew so made the call. Guess what… I heard the usual “exceptional volume” announcement followed by a message telling me that I could manage the policy on the web site. NO I CAN’T! And you wrote to me to tell me I couldn’t!
To add insult to injury I was then told that I might like to go to the web site and use the convenient web chat facility . Almost inevitably the web chat facility couldn’t be found.
Here’s a few thoughts:
- If your business process means you need to talk to me then give me a number that doesn’t lead to messages suggesting I go away.
- Publish different phone numbers on your web site. That way you’ll know that I’ve already spent time trying to solve my own problem . Then change your queue messaging so I don’t feel like I’m being sent around in circles.
- By all means use alternative contact channels – but make sure they are available and accessible.
Test all of your channels
My electricity supplier doesn’t want me to pick up the phone to talk to them. The web site shoved me across to alternative channels; I picked WhatsApp:
Today is Thursday and nothing’s happened. If your multichannel processes are failing then you are not losing agent workload, you are losing customers