Your Contact Centre Survived the Holiday Shopping Season. Now What?

Peter Milligan at 8×8 looks at what is next after the holiday shopping period for retail contact centres.

The holidays are a busy time for everyone. Time with family and friends, celebrating holiday traditions, sharing lots of delicious meals, and giving thanks.

And for retail contact centres, it can be a remarkably busy and demanding time of year—so congrats! You did it! You survived the holiday season.

The Gift of Data-Driven, Actionable Insights

I’m sure you received presents from family and friends throughout the holiday season, but what about your retail contact centre?

Well, you received one of the biggest gifts of all: data. And just like Scrooge and the ghost of Christmas past, it’s time to learn a lesson—from your data.

It may not seem like the most exciting gift at first glance, a bit like when you find socks in your stocking, but there is so much to learn from your data.

Digging into all the contact centre data and holiday sales results can help you improve customer experiences, enhance contact centre efficiency, and generate more revenue for your business.

Quality Management and Speech Analytics

Embedded in every interaction is a wealth of information, and using quality management and speech analytics can uncover areas for improvement to help you provide the best possible customer experiences.

Take a look at all the interactions that occurred during the holiday rush. Did your agents greet customers appropriately?

Did they represent your products and services accurately and invite people to join your loyalty program?

And how about your holiday deals—did they let customers know about any seasonal offerings and product recommendations?

Uncovering how your agents performed in a few key areas lets you help them hone their skills, sell more products, and achieve the goals set for them.

You can also see where certain agents are thriving and who is performing at the highest level in order to call out exceptional agents for a job well done.

These “shoutouts” can translate to incentives like bonuses and other perks, as well as serving as a fantastic way to motivate and train other agents.

In addition, using speech analytics doesn’t just uncover sentiment, it also helps you see where interactions have broken down.

By identifying issues with calls or interactions quickly, you can see where the problems are and take immediate steps to resolve them.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Metrics for Contact Centre Optimization

Time to dig a little deeper. Amongst the data you’ve gathered are the results of some key performance indicators (KPIs) that can help you see where improvements need to be made in your contact centre. Let’s look at some of the top ones and what they may reveal.

Average Speed to Answer (ASA)

How long does it take before a call is answered in your contact centre? The longer your customers have to wait to talk to an agent, the greater the likelihood of them hanging up or abandoning an interaction and going to your competition—and you don’t want that.

If you find you have a long wait time, there are a few possible reasons why. This could be because you’re not staffed properly and can’t handle the current volume of calls coming in.

It could also be that your agents are spending too much time on each call, or your self-service options are not helping as much as you think they are. Reviewing the why behind the wait can help you make the adjustments you need.

Average Handle Time (AHT)

How long does it take your agent to take care of each customer? Remember: shorter is not always better. Sometimes it may take a bit longer to satisfy each customer’s needs.

That said, if quickly and efficiently answering basic questions is taking too long, it is important to understand why. Is the information the agents need readily available to them?

This could be product or promotion details, customer data like profiles or past purchase history, or access to experts within your organization to help with details beyond an agent’s purview.

Understanding the ins and outs of your average handle time is another great opportunity to make changes to improve efficiency.

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

This is a big one. How satisfied were your customers with the service they received in your contact centre?

Now that the holidays are in the rear view mirror, it’s time to really evaluate your CSAT. If it is high, this is great; but it is not an excuse to rest on your laurels. If it is low, then it is definitely time for some changes.

As I noted before, it is important to find out the why. Why did the customer leave the review they did? And why did they call in the first place? A new customer may be calling based on your latest offer or promotion.

If that’s the case, your agents should be prepared to get right to it. For a repeat customer, understanding their past purchase or interaction history could give your agents great insight as to why they are calling and perhaps they can anticipate what products or services they may be interested in.

This reduces the effort each customer has to put into getting what they want and can improve their satisfaction.

In addition to knowing why they may be contacting you, consider how they want to contact you.

They should be able to interact with your company using the channel or channels they choose, whether that’s voice, web chat, social media, SMS, email, or video. Data points like these can help you tailor the customer experience to their needs.

Another thing not to overlook: your agents should not only be knowledgeable, they should be polite and empathetic.

Many retail purchases are more than just transactional, they are emotional. Consider the purchase of a luxury car or a vacation, or a high-end leather bag or a racing bike.

These are things your customers have been considering for some time and dreaming about—that emotion ties into these purchases. Your agents’ energy and excitement should match your customers’.

Use Last Year’s Data to Make This Year Better

Feeling ready to take on the new year? This brief look at your data merely scratches the surface. The data in your contact centre is the gift that keeps on giving.

And, while the retail industry continues to be extremely competitive, with the right contact centre solution and the right tools in place, you can provide great customer experiences, maintain profitability, and increase revenue.

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of 8x8 – View the Original Article

For more information about 8x8 - visit the 8x8 Website

About 8x8

8x8 is transforming the future of business communications as a leading Software-as-a-Service provider of voice, video, chat, contact centre, and enterprise-class API solutions, powered by one global cloud communications platform.

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Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.

Author: 8x8