Angry customer : What is happening with my flight return. I am tired of calling your business. You people are not efficient enough to handle anything. When will I get my money back, or have you guys swallowed it all?”
Agent: I understand your concern and extremely sorry for the issues you are facing. I will help you with the query if you could provide me with your ticket or reference number
Such conversations are very familiar to our ears. These humble-hearted humans are known as agents who hear every customer’s query, quarrel, and more. So, before beginning this blog, let’s applaud the remarkable job they perform. And this calls for creating a positive agent experience.
Agents being the crucial element of a contact center need to be cared. They simplify the customer experience and increase the ROI of your business. So, to lay down a better agent experience and keep them motivated, here are
1. Align technology with agent’s need
Every contact center has different requirements, so it is necessary to have an industry-specific call center solution that can be optimized to meet the business and agent needs. This eases an agent’s task and improves efficiency.
2. Unified and integrated system
In the era where customer experience is everything, high expectations are laid on agents. This requires an agent to handle calls in the best possible way to cut down the average handle time, and deliver higher resolutions while sounding more informed. Performing the best on such expectations is not a child’s play. To handle an agent’s frustration and simplify their life, it is suggested to have an integrated contact center solution. For instance, a Cisco Finesse Unified Agent Desktop enables agents to have a 360-degree view of customer information. Now agents are not required to swap screens to fetch information required to handle a call. This benefits both, customer and agent. An agent can save a lot of time and effort thereby having a better experience. Further integration helps the systems to interact with each other irrespective of the communication channel.
3. Agents should have their pitches
Another critical thing to consider is the script used by agents. An Agent Scripting Tool is a solution to this. It is a series of guided dynamic scripts that can be further optimized as per the business requirement. This simplifies agent work experience as they are guided on how to respond to customers at each step. Even a newbie is capable of handling calls like a pro.
4. Improved team collaboration
Agents have a hectic schedule with stringent targets and timelines to follow every day. Such a scenario makes inter-team communication a need of the hour. From transferring calls to on-call assistance, everything becomes easy. Inter-team gadgets allow agents to communicate with each other and with a supervisor.
5. Knowledge on fingertips
While handling customer calls, the major issue with agents arise on the grounds of knowledge. They are often stuck and need to transfer calls to other agents or supervisors. So, with tools like Knowledge Base agents can get instant access to information. This allows them to offer a quick solution to the customer. This support empowers them to handle every customer like a pro and further share their information with the customer for the best possible solution.
6. Routing
skill-based routing is another effective way to convert agents’ frustration into a great experience. When a supervisor route calls according to the skills of agents, the agent can handle calls with all his efficiency. Even a caller is more satisfied in interacting with the appropriate agent who has good knowledge related to the query. This further improves call resolution and reduces handle time that keeping agents motivated to do their best.
7. Aligned with the goals
In addition to the best technologies, agents must be aligned with the company’s goals and contribution of agents. This makes agents feel cared about and essential for the organization. Further, align agents with the best possible training to boost their morale. This empowers agents with the best possible knowledge and experience and creates a great agent experience.
8. Keep agents updated
Agents must be updated on every possible thing ranging from product knowledge, new technologies (related to automation, AI or more), target, their performance, customer reactions, and more. The more responsible and informed an agent is, the better is his performance and satisfaction level with the job.
