How to overcome the barriers to five-star service 5 Strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres White paper puzzel.com
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Transcript
How to overcome the barriers to five-star service
5 Strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
White paper
puzzelcom
ContentsExecutive Overview
One-time integration in the cloud
Cracking the self-service puzzle
Change the culture to elevate the status of the contact centre
New ways of working
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys
Conclusion
5 Strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
1
2
3
4
5
Executive Overview
According to Call Centre Helperrsquos (CCH) latest survey1 customer satisfaction remains the lsquoking of contact centre metricsrsquo with 932 of respondents stating it is the number one priority for their operations However it appears that contact centres are being held back for a variety of reasons some of them alarmingly basic When Call Centre Helper asked readers for the major barriers that are stopping them from running their lsquodreamrsquo contact centre the top three centred around finances and technology ndash lsquobudgetrsquo at 806 (a staggering four out of every five contact centres) lsquoIT issuesrsquo (591) and the lsquoneed for new technologyrsquo (538)
Dig deeper into the technology and lack of integration between channels remains a key challenge Astonishingly fewer than one in ten organisations (96) integrate all their channels with four times that number claiming not to integrate their channels at all or using completely different solutions to manage each channel separately
In this white paper we outline five positive strategies to drive efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
One-time integration in the cloud 1
1 Easy for agents easy for customers ndash customers find having to repeat themselves
one of the biggest bugbears in contact centres whatever the communication channel Keeping repetition to a minimum by enabling an agent to see a customerrsquos account history without having to switch between screens allows them to deal with enquiries effectively and without delay Maximising cloud-based integration capabilities builds loyalty as the result of fast and easy interactions
2 Access to a complete contact centre solution ndash although technology has altered
the way customers interact with contact centres when it comes to complex interactions person-to-person communication is still the channel of choice Good customer service is not just about dealing with enquiries quickly but demonstrating that agents understand the customerrsquos emotional state when responding to them Agents who display high levels of lsquoemotional intelligencersquo are better at problem solving and keeping customers happy Itrsquos a virtuous circle ndash keeping customers happy also keeps agents happy spurring them on to higher levels of productivity
3 A more engaging experience ndash easy access to critical customer data and contact
history allows a more personalised response greater customer satisfaction and agent retention
4 Reduced input errors and faster response ndash features such as Click-to-Call
enable agents to launch outbound calls directly from CRM systems such as Salesforcecom reducing time spent checking numbers and preventing dialling errors
5 Faster decision-making and better response times ndash an integrated clear view of
customer interactions aids decision-making and allows proactive management of response times
The words lsquocloudrsquo and lsquointegrationrsquo are nothing new and yet blending the two together creates a powerful catalyst for change the critical first step towards excellent customer service Releasing the 10 benefits of cloud-based integration forms the very foundation of successful contact centres today
The 10 essential benefits of integration in the cloud
6 Easier customisation ndash cloud technology allows users to develop and integrate their
own bespoke applications without resorting to expensive external consultancy staff
7 Empowered agents and reduced attrition ndash agents have all the information they
need on their desktop to provide exceptional service because CRM and other business systems can be linked seamlessly to the core contact centre solution This saves time and empowered agents stay put for longer reducing the costs associated with having to recruit and train new people
8 Integration with Workforce Management (WFM) ndash linking a cloud contact centre
solution to a WFM system makes a powerful combination Managers can quickly allocate the right employees with the right skill sets at the right time in order to meet service level agreements in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible At the same time the risk of overstaffing is reduced and overtime is minimised
9 Security ndash for contact centres handling personal or sensitive data particularly with
regard to payments integration with Payment Service Providers (PSPs) means agents can switch freely between applications without having to make changes to other payment integrations saving time and boosting security levels The introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation is yet another reason to boost security and the ability to retrieve stored personal information in the contact centre through integration with other enterprise databases and systems
10 Integration saves time and money ndash using the latest cloud-based solutions it is
easy to develop and maintain customised integrations saving time and cost What is more ongoing maintenance upgrades and software roll-outs can be administered in the cloud This drastically diminishes the requirement for a large in-house IT department and further reduces any associated headcount costs while maximising resilience for enhanced service delivery to customers
The CCH survey goes on to say that average handling times (AHT) appear to be increasing with only 179 of contact centres claiming their handling times are decreasing At the same time Virtual Assistant take-up is on the rise and the number of contact centres that have installed virtual assistants otherwise known as chatbots has increased from 99 to 115 in the past year These statistics suggest the growing effectiveness and acceptance of self-service because live agent conversations are now used to tackle more complex or emotional enquiries As a result this provides fresh impetus to review or boost self-service offerings However it is important to blend self-service with the human touch and this is where cloud-based integration comes into its own
3 ways to piece together the self-service puzzle2
1 Multichannel ndash cloud contact centre solutions mean that customer service can beall things to all people enabling them to interact in the channel of their choice Just be sure to do a little home-work first Think about the conversations typically conducted with customers and then introduce the most relevant channels to bridge the digital and human worlds Powerful integration capabilities in the cloud can link contact centre and CRM applications while inbuilt intelligent routing automatically directs enquiries to the best-skilled available agent even when escalating digital interactions to live agents
2 Self-service and security ndash make security a vital part of the self-service puzzle Avoid storing card details internally by working with a cloud technology provider that ensures Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance and improves the ongoing security of all telephone IVR web and SMS financial transactions
3 A more engaging experience ndash chatbots or bots are an excellent addition to any self- service offering by providing anything from hotel bookings to recipe advice They can also capture customer conversations to improve service levels and even anticipate needs by upcross-selling other products based on a customerrsquos previous purchases or web-browsing history With the right solution the integration capabilities of the cloud can make new and existing artificial intelligent options an intrinsic part of the core contact centre platform to drive seamlessly blended digital and human conversations
Cracking the self-service puzzle2
Change the culture to elevate the status of the contact centre 3Many contact centres suffer from an acute image problem and the most negative perceptions often come from colleagues in other departments According to the CCH Survey the number of organisations who consider their contact centre to be nothing more than a lsquocost centrersquo has grown from 395 to 416 or a lsquonuisancersquo has increased from 74-94 in the last 12 months Itrsquos time to turn these perceptions around by demonstrating the strategic value contact centres bring particularly as a valuable source of customer insight
First of all listen to your agents They know if customers are happy what works and what does not Do customers prefer voice contact or are they increasingly looking to self-serve Are they ready for the latest chatbots This knowledge is vital to delivering gold-star customer service What is more it supports the strategic decision-making process around investments in new technology Make time to find out what is happening on social media and turn it into valuable customer information for advisors Then combine all this valuable intelligence with speech analytics and silent monitoring to capture the voice of the customer (VOC)
Secondly technology is not enough Develop a regular programme of communications with customers in a variety of ways from good old-fashioned face-to-face networking and shared learning opportunities at User Groups smaller focus groups and customer panels to interactive forum through secure online portals This will build customer trust and elicit valuable VOC feedback that can be proactively fed into future product roadmaps and new customer service initiatives
New ways of working 4
Eradicate the silos ndash the siloed approach where each individual sales channel or
department was managed separately is no longer fit for purpose Overthrow this blinkered mentality and make integrated cloud-based technology the enabler Through automation and web services these solutions promote consistent ways of working along with the ability to connect the dots between a conversation that starts as a tweet continues with a call progresses to a form filled in on a website and maybe concludes with an email Customers expect five-star service regardless of their choice of communication channel
Foster a spirit of collaboration ndash introduce a culture that thrives on experimenting with
new ways to solve customer problems by working with rather than against each other and the rest of the organisaton Foster collaboration through regular team huddles and online mechanisms for sharing tips and learning with colleagues as well as with other departments This will inspire everyone to provide first-class customer experiences For example encourage the contact centre to engage with the marketing department so they are ready to answer increased volumes of enquiries informatively and with confidence when the next campaign hits the streets Excellent customer response and sales in one go
Never underestimate the power of knowledge ndash organisations that make
knowledge-building and sharing a top priority are rewarded with both loyal employees and customers Talk about the importance of knowledge-sharing and the contact centre will become the go-to department for best-practice customer service that all parts of the organisation can learn from adopt and benefit from
Make data contextual ndash transform customer conversations by using intelligent data to
add context to contact centre interactions Put data at the centre of everything and make it actionable across all channels Data should be four things contextual suggestive pre-emptive and predictive so that agents have all the right information at the right time to go beyond basic reactive enquiry handling towards anticipating a customerrsquos every need ndash from the channels they prefer to the products they might buy in the future ndash a truly gold-star service
Mobility and digitalisation have created an lsquoopen all hoursrsquo mentality where consumers use a combination of channels and devices before making their purchase It has radically transformed consumer behaviour and expectations of what good customer service means This trend has also changed the way that contact centres operate from call centres handling mainly voice calls to fully-fledged customer engagement centres with multi-skilled agents handling voice email chat SMS and social media all at the same time
With the right mindset and technology todayrsquos contact centres are well-placed to become the trailblazers of five-star customer service
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys5
bull Understand whatrsquos going wrong ndash can customers find answers to basic questions on the website Are FAQs up-to-date Is there a chatbot option at the ready when call volumes soar Is the IVR menu too long or complicated Become your own customer for a day to find out whatrsquos missing and what can be improved
bull Single view for all-round customer concentricity ndash customers expect to receive the same excellent service regardless of channel Make sure your contact centre solution fully integrates with CRM and other business applications to provide a single view of the customer with the flexibility to create the right level of service for different customer segments and at every touchpoint of the customer journey
bull Use the right metrics ndash put the customer at the heart of contact centre design Customers are not interested in how many calls the contact centre can answer or how long each call takes they want fast positive outcomes Instead consider Net promoter Customer Satisfaction and Customer Effort scores along with Customer Churn and First Response rates as key performance indicators (KPIs)
bull The future of AI is here ndash innovations like chatbots can be a valuable extension to an organisationrsquos self-service offering Just be sure to select a bot that best fits the needs of your customers and your business and ensure the handover between bots and agents is totally seamless
Loyal customers quickly become disloyal if their favourite brands make simple processes complicated If organisations are not easy to do business with chances are their customers are likely to defect to the competition in droves Always on the front-line contact centres have the power to give customers quick and satisfying answers to their queries with very little effort on the customerrsquos part The aim should be to create frictionless customer journeys every time for a five-star service Itrsquos a two-way process
Step one ndash work backwards to the technology
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
ContentsExecutive Overview
One-time integration in the cloud
Cracking the self-service puzzle
Change the culture to elevate the status of the contact centre
New ways of working
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys
Conclusion
5 Strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
1
2
3
4
5
Executive Overview
According to Call Centre Helperrsquos (CCH) latest survey1 customer satisfaction remains the lsquoking of contact centre metricsrsquo with 932 of respondents stating it is the number one priority for their operations However it appears that contact centres are being held back for a variety of reasons some of them alarmingly basic When Call Centre Helper asked readers for the major barriers that are stopping them from running their lsquodreamrsquo contact centre the top three centred around finances and technology ndash lsquobudgetrsquo at 806 (a staggering four out of every five contact centres) lsquoIT issuesrsquo (591) and the lsquoneed for new technologyrsquo (538)
Dig deeper into the technology and lack of integration between channels remains a key challenge Astonishingly fewer than one in ten organisations (96) integrate all their channels with four times that number claiming not to integrate their channels at all or using completely different solutions to manage each channel separately
In this white paper we outline five positive strategies to drive efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
One-time integration in the cloud 1
1 Easy for agents easy for customers ndash customers find having to repeat themselves
one of the biggest bugbears in contact centres whatever the communication channel Keeping repetition to a minimum by enabling an agent to see a customerrsquos account history without having to switch between screens allows them to deal with enquiries effectively and without delay Maximising cloud-based integration capabilities builds loyalty as the result of fast and easy interactions
2 Access to a complete contact centre solution ndash although technology has altered
the way customers interact with contact centres when it comes to complex interactions person-to-person communication is still the channel of choice Good customer service is not just about dealing with enquiries quickly but demonstrating that agents understand the customerrsquos emotional state when responding to them Agents who display high levels of lsquoemotional intelligencersquo are better at problem solving and keeping customers happy Itrsquos a virtuous circle ndash keeping customers happy also keeps agents happy spurring them on to higher levels of productivity
3 A more engaging experience ndash easy access to critical customer data and contact
history allows a more personalised response greater customer satisfaction and agent retention
4 Reduced input errors and faster response ndash features such as Click-to-Call
enable agents to launch outbound calls directly from CRM systems such as Salesforcecom reducing time spent checking numbers and preventing dialling errors
5 Faster decision-making and better response times ndash an integrated clear view of
customer interactions aids decision-making and allows proactive management of response times
The words lsquocloudrsquo and lsquointegrationrsquo are nothing new and yet blending the two together creates a powerful catalyst for change the critical first step towards excellent customer service Releasing the 10 benefits of cloud-based integration forms the very foundation of successful contact centres today
The 10 essential benefits of integration in the cloud
6 Easier customisation ndash cloud technology allows users to develop and integrate their
own bespoke applications without resorting to expensive external consultancy staff
7 Empowered agents and reduced attrition ndash agents have all the information they
need on their desktop to provide exceptional service because CRM and other business systems can be linked seamlessly to the core contact centre solution This saves time and empowered agents stay put for longer reducing the costs associated with having to recruit and train new people
8 Integration with Workforce Management (WFM) ndash linking a cloud contact centre
solution to a WFM system makes a powerful combination Managers can quickly allocate the right employees with the right skill sets at the right time in order to meet service level agreements in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible At the same time the risk of overstaffing is reduced and overtime is minimised
9 Security ndash for contact centres handling personal or sensitive data particularly with
regard to payments integration with Payment Service Providers (PSPs) means agents can switch freely between applications without having to make changes to other payment integrations saving time and boosting security levels The introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation is yet another reason to boost security and the ability to retrieve stored personal information in the contact centre through integration with other enterprise databases and systems
10 Integration saves time and money ndash using the latest cloud-based solutions it is
easy to develop and maintain customised integrations saving time and cost What is more ongoing maintenance upgrades and software roll-outs can be administered in the cloud This drastically diminishes the requirement for a large in-house IT department and further reduces any associated headcount costs while maximising resilience for enhanced service delivery to customers
The CCH survey goes on to say that average handling times (AHT) appear to be increasing with only 179 of contact centres claiming their handling times are decreasing At the same time Virtual Assistant take-up is on the rise and the number of contact centres that have installed virtual assistants otherwise known as chatbots has increased from 99 to 115 in the past year These statistics suggest the growing effectiveness and acceptance of self-service because live agent conversations are now used to tackle more complex or emotional enquiries As a result this provides fresh impetus to review or boost self-service offerings However it is important to blend self-service with the human touch and this is where cloud-based integration comes into its own
3 ways to piece together the self-service puzzle2
1 Multichannel ndash cloud contact centre solutions mean that customer service can beall things to all people enabling them to interact in the channel of their choice Just be sure to do a little home-work first Think about the conversations typically conducted with customers and then introduce the most relevant channels to bridge the digital and human worlds Powerful integration capabilities in the cloud can link contact centre and CRM applications while inbuilt intelligent routing automatically directs enquiries to the best-skilled available agent even when escalating digital interactions to live agents
2 Self-service and security ndash make security a vital part of the self-service puzzle Avoid storing card details internally by working with a cloud technology provider that ensures Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance and improves the ongoing security of all telephone IVR web and SMS financial transactions
3 A more engaging experience ndash chatbots or bots are an excellent addition to any self- service offering by providing anything from hotel bookings to recipe advice They can also capture customer conversations to improve service levels and even anticipate needs by upcross-selling other products based on a customerrsquos previous purchases or web-browsing history With the right solution the integration capabilities of the cloud can make new and existing artificial intelligent options an intrinsic part of the core contact centre platform to drive seamlessly blended digital and human conversations
Cracking the self-service puzzle2
Change the culture to elevate the status of the contact centre 3Many contact centres suffer from an acute image problem and the most negative perceptions often come from colleagues in other departments According to the CCH Survey the number of organisations who consider their contact centre to be nothing more than a lsquocost centrersquo has grown from 395 to 416 or a lsquonuisancersquo has increased from 74-94 in the last 12 months Itrsquos time to turn these perceptions around by demonstrating the strategic value contact centres bring particularly as a valuable source of customer insight
First of all listen to your agents They know if customers are happy what works and what does not Do customers prefer voice contact or are they increasingly looking to self-serve Are they ready for the latest chatbots This knowledge is vital to delivering gold-star customer service What is more it supports the strategic decision-making process around investments in new technology Make time to find out what is happening on social media and turn it into valuable customer information for advisors Then combine all this valuable intelligence with speech analytics and silent monitoring to capture the voice of the customer (VOC)
Secondly technology is not enough Develop a regular programme of communications with customers in a variety of ways from good old-fashioned face-to-face networking and shared learning opportunities at User Groups smaller focus groups and customer panels to interactive forum through secure online portals This will build customer trust and elicit valuable VOC feedback that can be proactively fed into future product roadmaps and new customer service initiatives
New ways of working 4
Eradicate the silos ndash the siloed approach where each individual sales channel or
department was managed separately is no longer fit for purpose Overthrow this blinkered mentality and make integrated cloud-based technology the enabler Through automation and web services these solutions promote consistent ways of working along with the ability to connect the dots between a conversation that starts as a tweet continues with a call progresses to a form filled in on a website and maybe concludes with an email Customers expect five-star service regardless of their choice of communication channel
Foster a spirit of collaboration ndash introduce a culture that thrives on experimenting with
new ways to solve customer problems by working with rather than against each other and the rest of the organisaton Foster collaboration through regular team huddles and online mechanisms for sharing tips and learning with colleagues as well as with other departments This will inspire everyone to provide first-class customer experiences For example encourage the contact centre to engage with the marketing department so they are ready to answer increased volumes of enquiries informatively and with confidence when the next campaign hits the streets Excellent customer response and sales in one go
Never underestimate the power of knowledge ndash organisations that make
knowledge-building and sharing a top priority are rewarded with both loyal employees and customers Talk about the importance of knowledge-sharing and the contact centre will become the go-to department for best-practice customer service that all parts of the organisation can learn from adopt and benefit from
Make data contextual ndash transform customer conversations by using intelligent data to
add context to contact centre interactions Put data at the centre of everything and make it actionable across all channels Data should be four things contextual suggestive pre-emptive and predictive so that agents have all the right information at the right time to go beyond basic reactive enquiry handling towards anticipating a customerrsquos every need ndash from the channels they prefer to the products they might buy in the future ndash a truly gold-star service
Mobility and digitalisation have created an lsquoopen all hoursrsquo mentality where consumers use a combination of channels and devices before making their purchase It has radically transformed consumer behaviour and expectations of what good customer service means This trend has also changed the way that contact centres operate from call centres handling mainly voice calls to fully-fledged customer engagement centres with multi-skilled agents handling voice email chat SMS and social media all at the same time
With the right mindset and technology todayrsquos contact centres are well-placed to become the trailblazers of five-star customer service
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys5
bull Understand whatrsquos going wrong ndash can customers find answers to basic questions on the website Are FAQs up-to-date Is there a chatbot option at the ready when call volumes soar Is the IVR menu too long or complicated Become your own customer for a day to find out whatrsquos missing and what can be improved
bull Single view for all-round customer concentricity ndash customers expect to receive the same excellent service regardless of channel Make sure your contact centre solution fully integrates with CRM and other business applications to provide a single view of the customer with the flexibility to create the right level of service for different customer segments and at every touchpoint of the customer journey
bull Use the right metrics ndash put the customer at the heart of contact centre design Customers are not interested in how many calls the contact centre can answer or how long each call takes they want fast positive outcomes Instead consider Net promoter Customer Satisfaction and Customer Effort scores along with Customer Churn and First Response rates as key performance indicators (KPIs)
bull The future of AI is here ndash innovations like chatbots can be a valuable extension to an organisationrsquos self-service offering Just be sure to select a bot that best fits the needs of your customers and your business and ensure the handover between bots and agents is totally seamless
Loyal customers quickly become disloyal if their favourite brands make simple processes complicated If organisations are not easy to do business with chances are their customers are likely to defect to the competition in droves Always on the front-line contact centres have the power to give customers quick and satisfying answers to their queries with very little effort on the customerrsquos part The aim should be to create frictionless customer journeys every time for a five-star service Itrsquos a two-way process
Step one ndash work backwards to the technology
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
Executive Overview
According to Call Centre Helperrsquos (CCH) latest survey1 customer satisfaction remains the lsquoking of contact centre metricsrsquo with 932 of respondents stating it is the number one priority for their operations However it appears that contact centres are being held back for a variety of reasons some of them alarmingly basic When Call Centre Helper asked readers for the major barriers that are stopping them from running their lsquodreamrsquo contact centre the top three centred around finances and technology ndash lsquobudgetrsquo at 806 (a staggering four out of every five contact centres) lsquoIT issuesrsquo (591) and the lsquoneed for new technologyrsquo (538)
Dig deeper into the technology and lack of integration between channels remains a key challenge Astonishingly fewer than one in ten organisations (96) integrate all their channels with four times that number claiming not to integrate their channels at all or using completely different solutions to manage each channel separately
In this white paper we outline five positive strategies to drive efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
One-time integration in the cloud 1
1 Easy for agents easy for customers ndash customers find having to repeat themselves
one of the biggest bugbears in contact centres whatever the communication channel Keeping repetition to a minimum by enabling an agent to see a customerrsquos account history without having to switch between screens allows them to deal with enquiries effectively and without delay Maximising cloud-based integration capabilities builds loyalty as the result of fast and easy interactions
2 Access to a complete contact centre solution ndash although technology has altered
the way customers interact with contact centres when it comes to complex interactions person-to-person communication is still the channel of choice Good customer service is not just about dealing with enquiries quickly but demonstrating that agents understand the customerrsquos emotional state when responding to them Agents who display high levels of lsquoemotional intelligencersquo are better at problem solving and keeping customers happy Itrsquos a virtuous circle ndash keeping customers happy also keeps agents happy spurring them on to higher levels of productivity
3 A more engaging experience ndash easy access to critical customer data and contact
history allows a more personalised response greater customer satisfaction and agent retention
4 Reduced input errors and faster response ndash features such as Click-to-Call
enable agents to launch outbound calls directly from CRM systems such as Salesforcecom reducing time spent checking numbers and preventing dialling errors
5 Faster decision-making and better response times ndash an integrated clear view of
customer interactions aids decision-making and allows proactive management of response times
The words lsquocloudrsquo and lsquointegrationrsquo are nothing new and yet blending the two together creates a powerful catalyst for change the critical first step towards excellent customer service Releasing the 10 benefits of cloud-based integration forms the very foundation of successful contact centres today
The 10 essential benefits of integration in the cloud
6 Easier customisation ndash cloud technology allows users to develop and integrate their
own bespoke applications without resorting to expensive external consultancy staff
7 Empowered agents and reduced attrition ndash agents have all the information they
need on their desktop to provide exceptional service because CRM and other business systems can be linked seamlessly to the core contact centre solution This saves time and empowered agents stay put for longer reducing the costs associated with having to recruit and train new people
8 Integration with Workforce Management (WFM) ndash linking a cloud contact centre
solution to a WFM system makes a powerful combination Managers can quickly allocate the right employees with the right skill sets at the right time in order to meet service level agreements in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible At the same time the risk of overstaffing is reduced and overtime is minimised
9 Security ndash for contact centres handling personal or sensitive data particularly with
regard to payments integration with Payment Service Providers (PSPs) means agents can switch freely between applications without having to make changes to other payment integrations saving time and boosting security levels The introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation is yet another reason to boost security and the ability to retrieve stored personal information in the contact centre through integration with other enterprise databases and systems
10 Integration saves time and money ndash using the latest cloud-based solutions it is
easy to develop and maintain customised integrations saving time and cost What is more ongoing maintenance upgrades and software roll-outs can be administered in the cloud This drastically diminishes the requirement for a large in-house IT department and further reduces any associated headcount costs while maximising resilience for enhanced service delivery to customers
The CCH survey goes on to say that average handling times (AHT) appear to be increasing with only 179 of contact centres claiming their handling times are decreasing At the same time Virtual Assistant take-up is on the rise and the number of contact centres that have installed virtual assistants otherwise known as chatbots has increased from 99 to 115 in the past year These statistics suggest the growing effectiveness and acceptance of self-service because live agent conversations are now used to tackle more complex or emotional enquiries As a result this provides fresh impetus to review or boost self-service offerings However it is important to blend self-service with the human touch and this is where cloud-based integration comes into its own
3 ways to piece together the self-service puzzle2
1 Multichannel ndash cloud contact centre solutions mean that customer service can beall things to all people enabling them to interact in the channel of their choice Just be sure to do a little home-work first Think about the conversations typically conducted with customers and then introduce the most relevant channels to bridge the digital and human worlds Powerful integration capabilities in the cloud can link contact centre and CRM applications while inbuilt intelligent routing automatically directs enquiries to the best-skilled available agent even when escalating digital interactions to live agents
2 Self-service and security ndash make security a vital part of the self-service puzzle Avoid storing card details internally by working with a cloud technology provider that ensures Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance and improves the ongoing security of all telephone IVR web and SMS financial transactions
3 A more engaging experience ndash chatbots or bots are an excellent addition to any self- service offering by providing anything from hotel bookings to recipe advice They can also capture customer conversations to improve service levels and even anticipate needs by upcross-selling other products based on a customerrsquos previous purchases or web-browsing history With the right solution the integration capabilities of the cloud can make new and existing artificial intelligent options an intrinsic part of the core contact centre platform to drive seamlessly blended digital and human conversations
Cracking the self-service puzzle2
Change the culture to elevate the status of the contact centre 3Many contact centres suffer from an acute image problem and the most negative perceptions often come from colleagues in other departments According to the CCH Survey the number of organisations who consider their contact centre to be nothing more than a lsquocost centrersquo has grown from 395 to 416 or a lsquonuisancersquo has increased from 74-94 in the last 12 months Itrsquos time to turn these perceptions around by demonstrating the strategic value contact centres bring particularly as a valuable source of customer insight
First of all listen to your agents They know if customers are happy what works and what does not Do customers prefer voice contact or are they increasingly looking to self-serve Are they ready for the latest chatbots This knowledge is vital to delivering gold-star customer service What is more it supports the strategic decision-making process around investments in new technology Make time to find out what is happening on social media and turn it into valuable customer information for advisors Then combine all this valuable intelligence with speech analytics and silent monitoring to capture the voice of the customer (VOC)
Secondly technology is not enough Develop a regular programme of communications with customers in a variety of ways from good old-fashioned face-to-face networking and shared learning opportunities at User Groups smaller focus groups and customer panels to interactive forum through secure online portals This will build customer trust and elicit valuable VOC feedback that can be proactively fed into future product roadmaps and new customer service initiatives
New ways of working 4
Eradicate the silos ndash the siloed approach where each individual sales channel or
department was managed separately is no longer fit for purpose Overthrow this blinkered mentality and make integrated cloud-based technology the enabler Through automation and web services these solutions promote consistent ways of working along with the ability to connect the dots between a conversation that starts as a tweet continues with a call progresses to a form filled in on a website and maybe concludes with an email Customers expect five-star service regardless of their choice of communication channel
Foster a spirit of collaboration ndash introduce a culture that thrives on experimenting with
new ways to solve customer problems by working with rather than against each other and the rest of the organisaton Foster collaboration through regular team huddles and online mechanisms for sharing tips and learning with colleagues as well as with other departments This will inspire everyone to provide first-class customer experiences For example encourage the contact centre to engage with the marketing department so they are ready to answer increased volumes of enquiries informatively and with confidence when the next campaign hits the streets Excellent customer response and sales in one go
Never underestimate the power of knowledge ndash organisations that make
knowledge-building and sharing a top priority are rewarded with both loyal employees and customers Talk about the importance of knowledge-sharing and the contact centre will become the go-to department for best-practice customer service that all parts of the organisation can learn from adopt and benefit from
Make data contextual ndash transform customer conversations by using intelligent data to
add context to contact centre interactions Put data at the centre of everything and make it actionable across all channels Data should be four things contextual suggestive pre-emptive and predictive so that agents have all the right information at the right time to go beyond basic reactive enquiry handling towards anticipating a customerrsquos every need ndash from the channels they prefer to the products they might buy in the future ndash a truly gold-star service
Mobility and digitalisation have created an lsquoopen all hoursrsquo mentality where consumers use a combination of channels and devices before making their purchase It has radically transformed consumer behaviour and expectations of what good customer service means This trend has also changed the way that contact centres operate from call centres handling mainly voice calls to fully-fledged customer engagement centres with multi-skilled agents handling voice email chat SMS and social media all at the same time
With the right mindset and technology todayrsquos contact centres are well-placed to become the trailblazers of five-star customer service
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys5
bull Understand whatrsquos going wrong ndash can customers find answers to basic questions on the website Are FAQs up-to-date Is there a chatbot option at the ready when call volumes soar Is the IVR menu too long or complicated Become your own customer for a day to find out whatrsquos missing and what can be improved
bull Single view for all-round customer concentricity ndash customers expect to receive the same excellent service regardless of channel Make sure your contact centre solution fully integrates with CRM and other business applications to provide a single view of the customer with the flexibility to create the right level of service for different customer segments and at every touchpoint of the customer journey
bull Use the right metrics ndash put the customer at the heart of contact centre design Customers are not interested in how many calls the contact centre can answer or how long each call takes they want fast positive outcomes Instead consider Net promoter Customer Satisfaction and Customer Effort scores along with Customer Churn and First Response rates as key performance indicators (KPIs)
bull The future of AI is here ndash innovations like chatbots can be a valuable extension to an organisationrsquos self-service offering Just be sure to select a bot that best fits the needs of your customers and your business and ensure the handover between bots and agents is totally seamless
Loyal customers quickly become disloyal if their favourite brands make simple processes complicated If organisations are not easy to do business with chances are their customers are likely to defect to the competition in droves Always on the front-line contact centres have the power to give customers quick and satisfying answers to their queries with very little effort on the customerrsquos part The aim should be to create frictionless customer journeys every time for a five-star service Itrsquos a two-way process
Step one ndash work backwards to the technology
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
One-time integration in the cloud 1
1 Easy for agents easy for customers ndash customers find having to repeat themselves
one of the biggest bugbears in contact centres whatever the communication channel Keeping repetition to a minimum by enabling an agent to see a customerrsquos account history without having to switch between screens allows them to deal with enquiries effectively and without delay Maximising cloud-based integration capabilities builds loyalty as the result of fast and easy interactions
2 Access to a complete contact centre solution ndash although technology has altered
the way customers interact with contact centres when it comes to complex interactions person-to-person communication is still the channel of choice Good customer service is not just about dealing with enquiries quickly but demonstrating that agents understand the customerrsquos emotional state when responding to them Agents who display high levels of lsquoemotional intelligencersquo are better at problem solving and keeping customers happy Itrsquos a virtuous circle ndash keeping customers happy also keeps agents happy spurring them on to higher levels of productivity
3 A more engaging experience ndash easy access to critical customer data and contact
history allows a more personalised response greater customer satisfaction and agent retention
4 Reduced input errors and faster response ndash features such as Click-to-Call
enable agents to launch outbound calls directly from CRM systems such as Salesforcecom reducing time spent checking numbers and preventing dialling errors
5 Faster decision-making and better response times ndash an integrated clear view of
customer interactions aids decision-making and allows proactive management of response times
The words lsquocloudrsquo and lsquointegrationrsquo are nothing new and yet blending the two together creates a powerful catalyst for change the critical first step towards excellent customer service Releasing the 10 benefits of cloud-based integration forms the very foundation of successful contact centres today
The 10 essential benefits of integration in the cloud
6 Easier customisation ndash cloud technology allows users to develop and integrate their
own bespoke applications without resorting to expensive external consultancy staff
7 Empowered agents and reduced attrition ndash agents have all the information they
need on their desktop to provide exceptional service because CRM and other business systems can be linked seamlessly to the core contact centre solution This saves time and empowered agents stay put for longer reducing the costs associated with having to recruit and train new people
8 Integration with Workforce Management (WFM) ndash linking a cloud contact centre
solution to a WFM system makes a powerful combination Managers can quickly allocate the right employees with the right skill sets at the right time in order to meet service level agreements in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible At the same time the risk of overstaffing is reduced and overtime is minimised
9 Security ndash for contact centres handling personal or sensitive data particularly with
regard to payments integration with Payment Service Providers (PSPs) means agents can switch freely between applications without having to make changes to other payment integrations saving time and boosting security levels The introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation is yet another reason to boost security and the ability to retrieve stored personal information in the contact centre through integration with other enterprise databases and systems
10 Integration saves time and money ndash using the latest cloud-based solutions it is
easy to develop and maintain customised integrations saving time and cost What is more ongoing maintenance upgrades and software roll-outs can be administered in the cloud This drastically diminishes the requirement for a large in-house IT department and further reduces any associated headcount costs while maximising resilience for enhanced service delivery to customers
The CCH survey goes on to say that average handling times (AHT) appear to be increasing with only 179 of contact centres claiming their handling times are decreasing At the same time Virtual Assistant take-up is on the rise and the number of contact centres that have installed virtual assistants otherwise known as chatbots has increased from 99 to 115 in the past year These statistics suggest the growing effectiveness and acceptance of self-service because live agent conversations are now used to tackle more complex or emotional enquiries As a result this provides fresh impetus to review or boost self-service offerings However it is important to blend self-service with the human touch and this is where cloud-based integration comes into its own
3 ways to piece together the self-service puzzle2
1 Multichannel ndash cloud contact centre solutions mean that customer service can beall things to all people enabling them to interact in the channel of their choice Just be sure to do a little home-work first Think about the conversations typically conducted with customers and then introduce the most relevant channels to bridge the digital and human worlds Powerful integration capabilities in the cloud can link contact centre and CRM applications while inbuilt intelligent routing automatically directs enquiries to the best-skilled available agent even when escalating digital interactions to live agents
2 Self-service and security ndash make security a vital part of the self-service puzzle Avoid storing card details internally by working with a cloud technology provider that ensures Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance and improves the ongoing security of all telephone IVR web and SMS financial transactions
3 A more engaging experience ndash chatbots or bots are an excellent addition to any self- service offering by providing anything from hotel bookings to recipe advice They can also capture customer conversations to improve service levels and even anticipate needs by upcross-selling other products based on a customerrsquos previous purchases or web-browsing history With the right solution the integration capabilities of the cloud can make new and existing artificial intelligent options an intrinsic part of the core contact centre platform to drive seamlessly blended digital and human conversations
Cracking the self-service puzzle2
Change the culture to elevate the status of the contact centre 3Many contact centres suffer from an acute image problem and the most negative perceptions often come from colleagues in other departments According to the CCH Survey the number of organisations who consider their contact centre to be nothing more than a lsquocost centrersquo has grown from 395 to 416 or a lsquonuisancersquo has increased from 74-94 in the last 12 months Itrsquos time to turn these perceptions around by demonstrating the strategic value contact centres bring particularly as a valuable source of customer insight
First of all listen to your agents They know if customers are happy what works and what does not Do customers prefer voice contact or are they increasingly looking to self-serve Are they ready for the latest chatbots This knowledge is vital to delivering gold-star customer service What is more it supports the strategic decision-making process around investments in new technology Make time to find out what is happening on social media and turn it into valuable customer information for advisors Then combine all this valuable intelligence with speech analytics and silent monitoring to capture the voice of the customer (VOC)
Secondly technology is not enough Develop a regular programme of communications with customers in a variety of ways from good old-fashioned face-to-face networking and shared learning opportunities at User Groups smaller focus groups and customer panels to interactive forum through secure online portals This will build customer trust and elicit valuable VOC feedback that can be proactively fed into future product roadmaps and new customer service initiatives
New ways of working 4
Eradicate the silos ndash the siloed approach where each individual sales channel or
department was managed separately is no longer fit for purpose Overthrow this blinkered mentality and make integrated cloud-based technology the enabler Through automation and web services these solutions promote consistent ways of working along with the ability to connect the dots between a conversation that starts as a tweet continues with a call progresses to a form filled in on a website and maybe concludes with an email Customers expect five-star service regardless of their choice of communication channel
Foster a spirit of collaboration ndash introduce a culture that thrives on experimenting with
new ways to solve customer problems by working with rather than against each other and the rest of the organisaton Foster collaboration through regular team huddles and online mechanisms for sharing tips and learning with colleagues as well as with other departments This will inspire everyone to provide first-class customer experiences For example encourage the contact centre to engage with the marketing department so they are ready to answer increased volumes of enquiries informatively and with confidence when the next campaign hits the streets Excellent customer response and sales in one go
Never underestimate the power of knowledge ndash organisations that make
knowledge-building and sharing a top priority are rewarded with both loyal employees and customers Talk about the importance of knowledge-sharing and the contact centre will become the go-to department for best-practice customer service that all parts of the organisation can learn from adopt and benefit from
Make data contextual ndash transform customer conversations by using intelligent data to
add context to contact centre interactions Put data at the centre of everything and make it actionable across all channels Data should be four things contextual suggestive pre-emptive and predictive so that agents have all the right information at the right time to go beyond basic reactive enquiry handling towards anticipating a customerrsquos every need ndash from the channels they prefer to the products they might buy in the future ndash a truly gold-star service
Mobility and digitalisation have created an lsquoopen all hoursrsquo mentality where consumers use a combination of channels and devices before making their purchase It has radically transformed consumer behaviour and expectations of what good customer service means This trend has also changed the way that contact centres operate from call centres handling mainly voice calls to fully-fledged customer engagement centres with multi-skilled agents handling voice email chat SMS and social media all at the same time
With the right mindset and technology todayrsquos contact centres are well-placed to become the trailblazers of five-star customer service
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys5
bull Understand whatrsquos going wrong ndash can customers find answers to basic questions on the website Are FAQs up-to-date Is there a chatbot option at the ready when call volumes soar Is the IVR menu too long or complicated Become your own customer for a day to find out whatrsquos missing and what can be improved
bull Single view for all-round customer concentricity ndash customers expect to receive the same excellent service regardless of channel Make sure your contact centre solution fully integrates with CRM and other business applications to provide a single view of the customer with the flexibility to create the right level of service for different customer segments and at every touchpoint of the customer journey
bull Use the right metrics ndash put the customer at the heart of contact centre design Customers are not interested in how many calls the contact centre can answer or how long each call takes they want fast positive outcomes Instead consider Net promoter Customer Satisfaction and Customer Effort scores along with Customer Churn and First Response rates as key performance indicators (KPIs)
bull The future of AI is here ndash innovations like chatbots can be a valuable extension to an organisationrsquos self-service offering Just be sure to select a bot that best fits the needs of your customers and your business and ensure the handover between bots and agents is totally seamless
Loyal customers quickly become disloyal if their favourite brands make simple processes complicated If organisations are not easy to do business with chances are their customers are likely to defect to the competition in droves Always on the front-line contact centres have the power to give customers quick and satisfying answers to their queries with very little effort on the customerrsquos part The aim should be to create frictionless customer journeys every time for a five-star service Itrsquos a two-way process
Step one ndash work backwards to the technology
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
6 Easier customisation ndash cloud technology allows users to develop and integrate their
own bespoke applications without resorting to expensive external consultancy staff
7 Empowered agents and reduced attrition ndash agents have all the information they
need on their desktop to provide exceptional service because CRM and other business systems can be linked seamlessly to the core contact centre solution This saves time and empowered agents stay put for longer reducing the costs associated with having to recruit and train new people
8 Integration with Workforce Management (WFM) ndash linking a cloud contact centre
solution to a WFM system makes a powerful combination Managers can quickly allocate the right employees with the right skill sets at the right time in order to meet service level agreements in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible At the same time the risk of overstaffing is reduced and overtime is minimised
9 Security ndash for contact centres handling personal or sensitive data particularly with
regard to payments integration with Payment Service Providers (PSPs) means agents can switch freely between applications without having to make changes to other payment integrations saving time and boosting security levels The introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation is yet another reason to boost security and the ability to retrieve stored personal information in the contact centre through integration with other enterprise databases and systems
10 Integration saves time and money ndash using the latest cloud-based solutions it is
easy to develop and maintain customised integrations saving time and cost What is more ongoing maintenance upgrades and software roll-outs can be administered in the cloud This drastically diminishes the requirement for a large in-house IT department and further reduces any associated headcount costs while maximising resilience for enhanced service delivery to customers
The CCH survey goes on to say that average handling times (AHT) appear to be increasing with only 179 of contact centres claiming their handling times are decreasing At the same time Virtual Assistant take-up is on the rise and the number of contact centres that have installed virtual assistants otherwise known as chatbots has increased from 99 to 115 in the past year These statistics suggest the growing effectiveness and acceptance of self-service because live agent conversations are now used to tackle more complex or emotional enquiries As a result this provides fresh impetus to review or boost self-service offerings However it is important to blend self-service with the human touch and this is where cloud-based integration comes into its own
3 ways to piece together the self-service puzzle2
1 Multichannel ndash cloud contact centre solutions mean that customer service can beall things to all people enabling them to interact in the channel of their choice Just be sure to do a little home-work first Think about the conversations typically conducted with customers and then introduce the most relevant channels to bridge the digital and human worlds Powerful integration capabilities in the cloud can link contact centre and CRM applications while inbuilt intelligent routing automatically directs enquiries to the best-skilled available agent even when escalating digital interactions to live agents
2 Self-service and security ndash make security a vital part of the self-service puzzle Avoid storing card details internally by working with a cloud technology provider that ensures Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance and improves the ongoing security of all telephone IVR web and SMS financial transactions
3 A more engaging experience ndash chatbots or bots are an excellent addition to any self- service offering by providing anything from hotel bookings to recipe advice They can also capture customer conversations to improve service levels and even anticipate needs by upcross-selling other products based on a customerrsquos previous purchases or web-browsing history With the right solution the integration capabilities of the cloud can make new and existing artificial intelligent options an intrinsic part of the core contact centre platform to drive seamlessly blended digital and human conversations
Cracking the self-service puzzle2
Change the culture to elevate the status of the contact centre 3Many contact centres suffer from an acute image problem and the most negative perceptions often come from colleagues in other departments According to the CCH Survey the number of organisations who consider their contact centre to be nothing more than a lsquocost centrersquo has grown from 395 to 416 or a lsquonuisancersquo has increased from 74-94 in the last 12 months Itrsquos time to turn these perceptions around by demonstrating the strategic value contact centres bring particularly as a valuable source of customer insight
First of all listen to your agents They know if customers are happy what works and what does not Do customers prefer voice contact or are they increasingly looking to self-serve Are they ready for the latest chatbots This knowledge is vital to delivering gold-star customer service What is more it supports the strategic decision-making process around investments in new technology Make time to find out what is happening on social media and turn it into valuable customer information for advisors Then combine all this valuable intelligence with speech analytics and silent monitoring to capture the voice of the customer (VOC)
Secondly technology is not enough Develop a regular programme of communications with customers in a variety of ways from good old-fashioned face-to-face networking and shared learning opportunities at User Groups smaller focus groups and customer panels to interactive forum through secure online portals This will build customer trust and elicit valuable VOC feedback that can be proactively fed into future product roadmaps and new customer service initiatives
New ways of working 4
Eradicate the silos ndash the siloed approach where each individual sales channel or
department was managed separately is no longer fit for purpose Overthrow this blinkered mentality and make integrated cloud-based technology the enabler Through automation and web services these solutions promote consistent ways of working along with the ability to connect the dots between a conversation that starts as a tweet continues with a call progresses to a form filled in on a website and maybe concludes with an email Customers expect five-star service regardless of their choice of communication channel
Foster a spirit of collaboration ndash introduce a culture that thrives on experimenting with
new ways to solve customer problems by working with rather than against each other and the rest of the organisaton Foster collaboration through regular team huddles and online mechanisms for sharing tips and learning with colleagues as well as with other departments This will inspire everyone to provide first-class customer experiences For example encourage the contact centre to engage with the marketing department so they are ready to answer increased volumes of enquiries informatively and with confidence when the next campaign hits the streets Excellent customer response and sales in one go
Never underestimate the power of knowledge ndash organisations that make
knowledge-building and sharing a top priority are rewarded with both loyal employees and customers Talk about the importance of knowledge-sharing and the contact centre will become the go-to department for best-practice customer service that all parts of the organisation can learn from adopt and benefit from
Make data contextual ndash transform customer conversations by using intelligent data to
add context to contact centre interactions Put data at the centre of everything and make it actionable across all channels Data should be four things contextual suggestive pre-emptive and predictive so that agents have all the right information at the right time to go beyond basic reactive enquiry handling towards anticipating a customerrsquos every need ndash from the channels they prefer to the products they might buy in the future ndash a truly gold-star service
Mobility and digitalisation have created an lsquoopen all hoursrsquo mentality where consumers use a combination of channels and devices before making their purchase It has radically transformed consumer behaviour and expectations of what good customer service means This trend has also changed the way that contact centres operate from call centres handling mainly voice calls to fully-fledged customer engagement centres with multi-skilled agents handling voice email chat SMS and social media all at the same time
With the right mindset and technology todayrsquos contact centres are well-placed to become the trailblazers of five-star customer service
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys5
bull Understand whatrsquos going wrong ndash can customers find answers to basic questions on the website Are FAQs up-to-date Is there a chatbot option at the ready when call volumes soar Is the IVR menu too long or complicated Become your own customer for a day to find out whatrsquos missing and what can be improved
bull Single view for all-round customer concentricity ndash customers expect to receive the same excellent service regardless of channel Make sure your contact centre solution fully integrates with CRM and other business applications to provide a single view of the customer with the flexibility to create the right level of service for different customer segments and at every touchpoint of the customer journey
bull Use the right metrics ndash put the customer at the heart of contact centre design Customers are not interested in how many calls the contact centre can answer or how long each call takes they want fast positive outcomes Instead consider Net promoter Customer Satisfaction and Customer Effort scores along with Customer Churn and First Response rates as key performance indicators (KPIs)
bull The future of AI is here ndash innovations like chatbots can be a valuable extension to an organisationrsquos self-service offering Just be sure to select a bot that best fits the needs of your customers and your business and ensure the handover between bots and agents is totally seamless
Loyal customers quickly become disloyal if their favourite brands make simple processes complicated If organisations are not easy to do business with chances are their customers are likely to defect to the competition in droves Always on the front-line contact centres have the power to give customers quick and satisfying answers to their queries with very little effort on the customerrsquos part The aim should be to create frictionless customer journeys every time for a five-star service Itrsquos a two-way process
Step one ndash work backwards to the technology
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
The CCH survey goes on to say that average handling times (AHT) appear to be increasing with only 179 of contact centres claiming their handling times are decreasing At the same time Virtual Assistant take-up is on the rise and the number of contact centres that have installed virtual assistants otherwise known as chatbots has increased from 99 to 115 in the past year These statistics suggest the growing effectiveness and acceptance of self-service because live agent conversations are now used to tackle more complex or emotional enquiries As a result this provides fresh impetus to review or boost self-service offerings However it is important to blend self-service with the human touch and this is where cloud-based integration comes into its own
3 ways to piece together the self-service puzzle2
1 Multichannel ndash cloud contact centre solutions mean that customer service can beall things to all people enabling them to interact in the channel of their choice Just be sure to do a little home-work first Think about the conversations typically conducted with customers and then introduce the most relevant channels to bridge the digital and human worlds Powerful integration capabilities in the cloud can link contact centre and CRM applications while inbuilt intelligent routing automatically directs enquiries to the best-skilled available agent even when escalating digital interactions to live agents
2 Self-service and security ndash make security a vital part of the self-service puzzle Avoid storing card details internally by working with a cloud technology provider that ensures Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance and improves the ongoing security of all telephone IVR web and SMS financial transactions
3 A more engaging experience ndash chatbots or bots are an excellent addition to any self- service offering by providing anything from hotel bookings to recipe advice They can also capture customer conversations to improve service levels and even anticipate needs by upcross-selling other products based on a customerrsquos previous purchases or web-browsing history With the right solution the integration capabilities of the cloud can make new and existing artificial intelligent options an intrinsic part of the core contact centre platform to drive seamlessly blended digital and human conversations
Cracking the self-service puzzle2
Change the culture to elevate the status of the contact centre 3Many contact centres suffer from an acute image problem and the most negative perceptions often come from colleagues in other departments According to the CCH Survey the number of organisations who consider their contact centre to be nothing more than a lsquocost centrersquo has grown from 395 to 416 or a lsquonuisancersquo has increased from 74-94 in the last 12 months Itrsquos time to turn these perceptions around by demonstrating the strategic value contact centres bring particularly as a valuable source of customer insight
First of all listen to your agents They know if customers are happy what works and what does not Do customers prefer voice contact or are they increasingly looking to self-serve Are they ready for the latest chatbots This knowledge is vital to delivering gold-star customer service What is more it supports the strategic decision-making process around investments in new technology Make time to find out what is happening on social media and turn it into valuable customer information for advisors Then combine all this valuable intelligence with speech analytics and silent monitoring to capture the voice of the customer (VOC)
Secondly technology is not enough Develop a regular programme of communications with customers in a variety of ways from good old-fashioned face-to-face networking and shared learning opportunities at User Groups smaller focus groups and customer panels to interactive forum through secure online portals This will build customer trust and elicit valuable VOC feedback that can be proactively fed into future product roadmaps and new customer service initiatives
New ways of working 4
Eradicate the silos ndash the siloed approach where each individual sales channel or
department was managed separately is no longer fit for purpose Overthrow this blinkered mentality and make integrated cloud-based technology the enabler Through automation and web services these solutions promote consistent ways of working along with the ability to connect the dots between a conversation that starts as a tweet continues with a call progresses to a form filled in on a website and maybe concludes with an email Customers expect five-star service regardless of their choice of communication channel
Foster a spirit of collaboration ndash introduce a culture that thrives on experimenting with
new ways to solve customer problems by working with rather than against each other and the rest of the organisaton Foster collaboration through regular team huddles and online mechanisms for sharing tips and learning with colleagues as well as with other departments This will inspire everyone to provide first-class customer experiences For example encourage the contact centre to engage with the marketing department so they are ready to answer increased volumes of enquiries informatively and with confidence when the next campaign hits the streets Excellent customer response and sales in one go
Never underestimate the power of knowledge ndash organisations that make
knowledge-building and sharing a top priority are rewarded with both loyal employees and customers Talk about the importance of knowledge-sharing and the contact centre will become the go-to department for best-practice customer service that all parts of the organisation can learn from adopt and benefit from
Make data contextual ndash transform customer conversations by using intelligent data to
add context to contact centre interactions Put data at the centre of everything and make it actionable across all channels Data should be four things contextual suggestive pre-emptive and predictive so that agents have all the right information at the right time to go beyond basic reactive enquiry handling towards anticipating a customerrsquos every need ndash from the channels they prefer to the products they might buy in the future ndash a truly gold-star service
Mobility and digitalisation have created an lsquoopen all hoursrsquo mentality where consumers use a combination of channels and devices before making their purchase It has radically transformed consumer behaviour and expectations of what good customer service means This trend has also changed the way that contact centres operate from call centres handling mainly voice calls to fully-fledged customer engagement centres with multi-skilled agents handling voice email chat SMS and social media all at the same time
With the right mindset and technology todayrsquos contact centres are well-placed to become the trailblazers of five-star customer service
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys5
bull Understand whatrsquos going wrong ndash can customers find answers to basic questions on the website Are FAQs up-to-date Is there a chatbot option at the ready when call volumes soar Is the IVR menu too long or complicated Become your own customer for a day to find out whatrsquos missing and what can be improved
bull Single view for all-round customer concentricity ndash customers expect to receive the same excellent service regardless of channel Make sure your contact centre solution fully integrates with CRM and other business applications to provide a single view of the customer with the flexibility to create the right level of service for different customer segments and at every touchpoint of the customer journey
bull Use the right metrics ndash put the customer at the heart of contact centre design Customers are not interested in how many calls the contact centre can answer or how long each call takes they want fast positive outcomes Instead consider Net promoter Customer Satisfaction and Customer Effort scores along with Customer Churn and First Response rates as key performance indicators (KPIs)
bull The future of AI is here ndash innovations like chatbots can be a valuable extension to an organisationrsquos self-service offering Just be sure to select a bot that best fits the needs of your customers and your business and ensure the handover between bots and agents is totally seamless
Loyal customers quickly become disloyal if their favourite brands make simple processes complicated If organisations are not easy to do business with chances are their customers are likely to defect to the competition in droves Always on the front-line contact centres have the power to give customers quick and satisfying answers to their queries with very little effort on the customerrsquos part The aim should be to create frictionless customer journeys every time for a five-star service Itrsquos a two-way process
Step one ndash work backwards to the technology
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
Change the culture to elevate the status of the contact centre 3Many contact centres suffer from an acute image problem and the most negative perceptions often come from colleagues in other departments According to the CCH Survey the number of organisations who consider their contact centre to be nothing more than a lsquocost centrersquo has grown from 395 to 416 or a lsquonuisancersquo has increased from 74-94 in the last 12 months Itrsquos time to turn these perceptions around by demonstrating the strategic value contact centres bring particularly as a valuable source of customer insight
First of all listen to your agents They know if customers are happy what works and what does not Do customers prefer voice contact or are they increasingly looking to self-serve Are they ready for the latest chatbots This knowledge is vital to delivering gold-star customer service What is more it supports the strategic decision-making process around investments in new technology Make time to find out what is happening on social media and turn it into valuable customer information for advisors Then combine all this valuable intelligence with speech analytics and silent monitoring to capture the voice of the customer (VOC)
Secondly technology is not enough Develop a regular programme of communications with customers in a variety of ways from good old-fashioned face-to-face networking and shared learning opportunities at User Groups smaller focus groups and customer panels to interactive forum through secure online portals This will build customer trust and elicit valuable VOC feedback that can be proactively fed into future product roadmaps and new customer service initiatives
New ways of working 4
Eradicate the silos ndash the siloed approach where each individual sales channel or
department was managed separately is no longer fit for purpose Overthrow this blinkered mentality and make integrated cloud-based technology the enabler Through automation and web services these solutions promote consistent ways of working along with the ability to connect the dots between a conversation that starts as a tweet continues with a call progresses to a form filled in on a website and maybe concludes with an email Customers expect five-star service regardless of their choice of communication channel
Foster a spirit of collaboration ndash introduce a culture that thrives on experimenting with
new ways to solve customer problems by working with rather than against each other and the rest of the organisaton Foster collaboration through regular team huddles and online mechanisms for sharing tips and learning with colleagues as well as with other departments This will inspire everyone to provide first-class customer experiences For example encourage the contact centre to engage with the marketing department so they are ready to answer increased volumes of enquiries informatively and with confidence when the next campaign hits the streets Excellent customer response and sales in one go
Never underestimate the power of knowledge ndash organisations that make
knowledge-building and sharing a top priority are rewarded with both loyal employees and customers Talk about the importance of knowledge-sharing and the contact centre will become the go-to department for best-practice customer service that all parts of the organisation can learn from adopt and benefit from
Make data contextual ndash transform customer conversations by using intelligent data to
add context to contact centre interactions Put data at the centre of everything and make it actionable across all channels Data should be four things contextual suggestive pre-emptive and predictive so that agents have all the right information at the right time to go beyond basic reactive enquiry handling towards anticipating a customerrsquos every need ndash from the channels they prefer to the products they might buy in the future ndash a truly gold-star service
Mobility and digitalisation have created an lsquoopen all hoursrsquo mentality where consumers use a combination of channels and devices before making their purchase It has radically transformed consumer behaviour and expectations of what good customer service means This trend has also changed the way that contact centres operate from call centres handling mainly voice calls to fully-fledged customer engagement centres with multi-skilled agents handling voice email chat SMS and social media all at the same time
With the right mindset and technology todayrsquos contact centres are well-placed to become the trailblazers of five-star customer service
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys5
bull Understand whatrsquos going wrong ndash can customers find answers to basic questions on the website Are FAQs up-to-date Is there a chatbot option at the ready when call volumes soar Is the IVR menu too long or complicated Become your own customer for a day to find out whatrsquos missing and what can be improved
bull Single view for all-round customer concentricity ndash customers expect to receive the same excellent service regardless of channel Make sure your contact centre solution fully integrates with CRM and other business applications to provide a single view of the customer with the flexibility to create the right level of service for different customer segments and at every touchpoint of the customer journey
bull Use the right metrics ndash put the customer at the heart of contact centre design Customers are not interested in how many calls the contact centre can answer or how long each call takes they want fast positive outcomes Instead consider Net promoter Customer Satisfaction and Customer Effort scores along with Customer Churn and First Response rates as key performance indicators (KPIs)
bull The future of AI is here ndash innovations like chatbots can be a valuable extension to an organisationrsquos self-service offering Just be sure to select a bot that best fits the needs of your customers and your business and ensure the handover between bots and agents is totally seamless
Loyal customers quickly become disloyal if their favourite brands make simple processes complicated If organisations are not easy to do business with chances are their customers are likely to defect to the competition in droves Always on the front-line contact centres have the power to give customers quick and satisfying answers to their queries with very little effort on the customerrsquos part The aim should be to create frictionless customer journeys every time for a five-star service Itrsquos a two-way process
Step one ndash work backwards to the technology
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
New ways of working 4
Eradicate the silos ndash the siloed approach where each individual sales channel or
department was managed separately is no longer fit for purpose Overthrow this blinkered mentality and make integrated cloud-based technology the enabler Through automation and web services these solutions promote consistent ways of working along with the ability to connect the dots between a conversation that starts as a tweet continues with a call progresses to a form filled in on a website and maybe concludes with an email Customers expect five-star service regardless of their choice of communication channel
Foster a spirit of collaboration ndash introduce a culture that thrives on experimenting with
new ways to solve customer problems by working with rather than against each other and the rest of the organisaton Foster collaboration through regular team huddles and online mechanisms for sharing tips and learning with colleagues as well as with other departments This will inspire everyone to provide first-class customer experiences For example encourage the contact centre to engage with the marketing department so they are ready to answer increased volumes of enquiries informatively and with confidence when the next campaign hits the streets Excellent customer response and sales in one go
Never underestimate the power of knowledge ndash organisations that make
knowledge-building and sharing a top priority are rewarded with both loyal employees and customers Talk about the importance of knowledge-sharing and the contact centre will become the go-to department for best-practice customer service that all parts of the organisation can learn from adopt and benefit from
Make data contextual ndash transform customer conversations by using intelligent data to
add context to contact centre interactions Put data at the centre of everything and make it actionable across all channels Data should be four things contextual suggestive pre-emptive and predictive so that agents have all the right information at the right time to go beyond basic reactive enquiry handling towards anticipating a customerrsquos every need ndash from the channels they prefer to the products they might buy in the future ndash a truly gold-star service
Mobility and digitalisation have created an lsquoopen all hoursrsquo mentality where consumers use a combination of channels and devices before making their purchase It has radically transformed consumer behaviour and expectations of what good customer service means This trend has also changed the way that contact centres operate from call centres handling mainly voice calls to fully-fledged customer engagement centres with multi-skilled agents handling voice email chat SMS and social media all at the same time
With the right mindset and technology todayrsquos contact centres are well-placed to become the trailblazers of five-star customer service
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys5
bull Understand whatrsquos going wrong ndash can customers find answers to basic questions on the website Are FAQs up-to-date Is there a chatbot option at the ready when call volumes soar Is the IVR menu too long or complicated Become your own customer for a day to find out whatrsquos missing and what can be improved
bull Single view for all-round customer concentricity ndash customers expect to receive the same excellent service regardless of channel Make sure your contact centre solution fully integrates with CRM and other business applications to provide a single view of the customer with the flexibility to create the right level of service for different customer segments and at every touchpoint of the customer journey
bull Use the right metrics ndash put the customer at the heart of contact centre design Customers are not interested in how many calls the contact centre can answer or how long each call takes they want fast positive outcomes Instead consider Net promoter Customer Satisfaction and Customer Effort scores along with Customer Churn and First Response rates as key performance indicators (KPIs)
bull The future of AI is here ndash innovations like chatbots can be a valuable extension to an organisationrsquos self-service offering Just be sure to select a bot that best fits the needs of your customers and your business and ensure the handover between bots and agents is totally seamless
Loyal customers quickly become disloyal if their favourite brands make simple processes complicated If organisations are not easy to do business with chances are their customers are likely to defect to the competition in droves Always on the front-line contact centres have the power to give customers quick and satisfying answers to their queries with very little effort on the customerrsquos part The aim should be to create frictionless customer journeys every time for a five-star service Itrsquos a two-way process
Step one ndash work backwards to the technology
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
Always aim for frictionless customer journeys5
bull Understand whatrsquos going wrong ndash can customers find answers to basic questions on the website Are FAQs up-to-date Is there a chatbot option at the ready when call volumes soar Is the IVR menu too long or complicated Become your own customer for a day to find out whatrsquos missing and what can be improved
bull Single view for all-round customer concentricity ndash customers expect to receive the same excellent service regardless of channel Make sure your contact centre solution fully integrates with CRM and other business applications to provide a single view of the customer with the flexibility to create the right level of service for different customer segments and at every touchpoint of the customer journey
bull Use the right metrics ndash put the customer at the heart of contact centre design Customers are not interested in how many calls the contact centre can answer or how long each call takes they want fast positive outcomes Instead consider Net promoter Customer Satisfaction and Customer Effort scores along with Customer Churn and First Response rates as key performance indicators (KPIs)
bull The future of AI is here ndash innovations like chatbots can be a valuable extension to an organisationrsquos self-service offering Just be sure to select a bot that best fits the needs of your customers and your business and ensure the handover between bots and agents is totally seamless
Loyal customers quickly become disloyal if their favourite brands make simple processes complicated If organisations are not easy to do business with chances are their customers are likely to defect to the competition in droves Always on the front-line contact centres have the power to give customers quick and satisfying answers to their queries with very little effort on the customerrsquos part The aim should be to create frictionless customer journeys every time for a five-star service Itrsquos a two-way process
Step one ndash work backwards to the technology
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
With so much choice the challenge is to invest in the right technology and turn it into a five-star customer experience The following trio are a good place to start
bull Self-service - meets the real-time on-demand response that consumers expect without the burden of additional headcount When using mobile apps embedded with the latest encryption technology customers can self-serve at any time from anywhere and securely
bull Customer journey mapping ndash cloud solutions track the end-to-end customer journey across every touchpoint Try it to discover where the friction hotspots are so that proactive measures can be taken to re-align processes before you lose valuable customers
bull Analytics ndash breathe life into data Use analytics to monitor all interactions as they happen and provide the hard evidence to make meaningful changes to service delivery Add predictive analytics to the mix for a powerful tool that demonstrably facilitates frictionless customer journeys
Step two ndash technology for frictionless customer journeys
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
Overcoming the key barriers to five-star customer service starts with changing the very essence of contact centre culture It begins with contact centre leaders who are determined to elevate the status of their operation by empowering their team to come up with creative ways of thinking and working that turn traditional customer conversations on their head It ends with business leaders who recognise the strategic role of the contact centre and make time to invest in the right technology that drives effortless customer interactions Be a successful organisation by adopting these five strategies for efficient and effective customer service in contact centres
Conclusion
Reference
1 Call Centre Helper ndash ldquoWhat contact centres are doing right now (2018 edition)rdquo httpswwwmckinseycom~mediaMcKinseyBusiness20FunctionsOperationsOur20InsightsBoosting20contact20center20performance20through20employee20engagementBoosting-contact-center-performance-through-employee-engagementashx
2 ContactBabel ndash UK Decision Makersrsquo Guide 2018-2019 ndash Digital Channels Chapter Sponsored by Puzzel httpswwwpuzzelcomukwhite-papersguide-digital-channels-2018-19
3 Gartner ldquoMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service Western Europerdquo Simon Harrison Steve Blood Drew Kraus Daniel OrsquoConnell 17 October 2018
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
Puzzel is an omni-channel cloud contact centre solution with the flexibility and scalability to support smaller enterprises and global corporations Voice e-mail SMS web-chat and
social media channels are all managed in a single easy-to-use application Advanced widget integration enables agents to
handle multiple customer interactions across different channels all from the same screen to provide a complete omni-channel
customer experience
With over 20 years of pure cloud experience Puzzel was named as a Challenger in Gartnerrsquos Magic Quadrant for Contact
Center as a Service report3 for the fourth consecutive year The report highlighted the companyrsquos strong growth functional
capabilities strengths in standards and compliance customer service and support Puzzel is a complete customer interaction solution with a proven track-record in multi-channel solutions
For more information please visit wwwpuzzelcom
About Puzzel
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