Contact Center Pipeline May 2023 | Page 14

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

By Venu Gooty

PUTTING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE AT THE CENTER OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Digital transformation in a contact center is as much about people as it is about technology . By prioritizing the development and well-being of employees , companies can ensure that their contact center ( CC ) agents have the right skills and motivation to thrive in the digital age , while also creating more positive business outcomes . It may seem counterintuitive , but the emergence of generative AI-enabled tools has reinforced rather than debunked the idea that companies must integrate the human element into their AI initiatives to build a healthy , holistic employee experience ( EX ).

It hardly needs to be said : Excellence in customer experience ( CX ) starts with healthy EX , and organizations should build out their CX strategy accordingly . If agents don ’ t have the tools or management support to be efficient and productive , the CC will struggle to meet its current and future challenges . One of these challenges – providing personalized CX – has risen to the top of corporate priority lists . A 2022 survey of large companies found that 73 % i of respondents have increased their efforts to deliver more personalized CX since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020 .
This makes sense : COVID-19 has hastened the digital transformation of CCs , especially by accelerating the transition to e-commerce . This in turn has increased CC traffic , potentially eroding EX as agents struggle with the sheer volume of customer queries . Attrition in customer-facing roles soared during the peak pandemic years as agents found themselves deluged with customer requests while struggling to navigate often outdated systems . Some companies reacted hastily by automating as many transactions as possible , which sometimes backfired , creating even more stress for agents .
EQUIPPING EMPLOYEES TO CHAMPION YOUR BRAND
Agents make up the face of your brand , serving as gatekeepers who can make the difference between a rave review on Yelp … and a slam from a disgruntled customer . A recent study found that fewer than 10 % of CC agents ii reach proficiency with less than two months of training – yet they ’ re often given the opportunity early on to influence your CX to a profound degree . If they can ’ t handle a particular situation or answer a critical question for a troubled customer , abandonment of your brand can happen . Few customers have time for an agent to research an answer or work up a solution .
It ’ s thus critical to empower agents quickly to deal with all kinds of customer issues by equipping them with agile , scalable technologies . With smart knowledge management capabilities , team leaders can distribute business-critical information among them to facilitate rapid onboarding . AI-enabled task automation , for instance , can boost their productivity right out of the gate , while analytics can monitor the customer ’ s sentiment during an interaction and predict their questions in real time .
14 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE i
GetFeedback . com , The 2022 State of CX Report , June 12,2022 [ Accessed January 24 , 2023 ] ii
Procedure Flow , Market Research Report : The State of Contact Center Training , June 2021 . [ Accessed January 24 , 2023 ]