The common challenges faced by inbound call center services today are sudden increase in call volumes, keeping pace with advancements in call center technology, and high attrition all of which can disrupt services to a large extent. To tackle these challenges, companies need to embrace modern and practical methods that are proven to be sound. Here’s considering some of the factors that are key to streamline inbound call center services.
Embracing automation– Intelligent algorithms are largely being used to simply and automate incoming customer queries at a large scale. Conversation AI gives customers a feeling of a natural conversation with agents without any actual human intervention. This AI-driven conversation is being taken to the next-level by introducing point-and-click UI and visual elements. These elements render this automated interaction more simplified and applicable for a range of tasks. Automation is a much-needed transition from the initial long-hold to an immediate initiation of action starting with asking customer identification questions. This has allowed enterprises to streamline the action stages involved in an inbound customer query.
Introducing flexibility in scheduling– A daunting schedule and work pressure have drained agents which ultimately resulted in a degrading work input quality from them. Agents should be given the leeway to maintain their own work schedule in terms of shift timings. There are instances when an agent is observed to be more productive and efficient during a graveyard shift than compared with a day shift. Enterprises must take this factor into consideration as this makes filling out unpopular shifts easier and involves lesser headache for managers. This also promises a better round-the clock service for inbound customer queries.
Adopting a multi-channel approach– Another proven way to streamline inbound call center services is to leverage multiple channels to divert inbound calls. These range of channels include emails, pre-recorded IVR messages, web self-service options, and live chat to cater to customers. This essentially prevents the overburdening of one channel with queries. It frees up agents in one channel who can attend to more important customer queries while ensuring quality and lesser time taken to resolve an issue.
Developing a knowledge base– Efforts taken to streamline inbound call center services must include a properly documented employee training process. It is essential to support the training process for employees as the call center industry experiences a high employee turnover rate. Apart from being used as an employee training program, a knowledge base acts a repository of answers and solutions that an agent can look up to for a quick issue resolution for customers. This brings accuracy and acceleration in service as it negates the need to put a customer on a long hold.
Parting note
These are among the strategies that are proven to aid enterprises to identify and fix inherent issues to better streamline inbound call center services. While it may seem like a long-drawn process, the benefits are during the process in the form of better efficient, improvement in quality and acceleration of service to cater to inbound customer queries.
