How to Streamline Contact Center Operations Amid Query Deluge this Holiday Season?

The holiday season is a busy time for contact centers. Customer interaction rises manifold across all touchpoints. As frontline workers handling this barrage, your contact center agents must deftly handle the queries since a customer satisfied is a customer retained. But how can companies handle a deluge of cross-platform customer queries without straining their resources?

Tips to prepare for the holiday rush?

Manually monitoring different channels of customer interaction is a tedious task. An automated omnichannel solution can help collate all communications spread over different channels to give your staff a technological leg-up. But before diving deep into how an omnichannel solution can help, here are a few pointers on preparing for the rush:

1. Implement a workforce management solution

A robust workforce management solution helps contact centers schedule agents per the customer call volume, forecast staffing needs, and track performance. It optimizes operations to provide excellent customer service.

2. Train your agents

Nothing can replace hands-on training and a morale-boosting pep-talk. Go into a huddle with your contact staff and explain what is required of them. Train them on handling calls and redressing grievances. Consider these points while training the staff:

⦿ Emphasize customer service
Excellent call handling is key to customer satisfaction and retention. Ensure that the staff handles all queries politely. As a brand representative, the team must live up to the company’s standards.

⦿ Inform about promotions and products
Ensure all relevant information about products and promotions reach the agents regularly. Creating scripts or FAQs is a good starting point. This way, the agents get a ready reckoner to resolve all queries.

⦿ Help them manage time effectively
Effective time management streamlines operations, reduces customer waiting time, and amplifies response.

3. Utilize self-service options

Self-service options help reduce the number of incoming calls. Customers can use these to resolve their queries themselves. There are several self-service options that you can offer:

• A FAQ section on the website
• An online chat function
• An IVR system
• Social media platforms

Whichever self-service option(s) you offer, ensure they are easy to use and navigate. These options must offer precise, accurate, and up-to-date information. If your customers cannot find what they are looking for, they will likely end up calling the contact center.

4. Automated omnichannel service

Managing multiple communication channels is challenging. Any lack of integration can result in information redundancy and fragmented communications, leaving the staff and customers dissatisfied. Our CXInfinity platform lets you meet your customers at the touchpoint of their choice. It seamlessly integrates conversations across different channels and offers you a single-pane view. You get a single-window command center to address queries, irrespective of how the customers contact you, be it over a phone call, chat, email, or text.

Backed by our AI-driven solution, your team can address all customer requests and manage all discussion threads without toggling screens. It seamlessly connects all customer information with the relevant knowledge base to place accurate data at the agents’ fingertips. As an automated solution, CXInfinity drives higher customer satisfaction translating directly into retention.

5. Use of pre-built AI bot

The use of bots for customer service is increasing because they frequently mimic human behavior and speech. In online chat sessions, these bots, or chatbots, are generally the first “agents” clients communicate with. Typically, chatbots greet customers and gather some background information, including their name, order number, and problem description.

InfiBOT is a zero-prep, pre-built AI bot solution to help customer support employees engage with potential customers. InfiBOT delivers round-the-clock customer service while reducing operational costs by 40% and caller wait time by 80%.

Tight integration with NLP means the AI chatbot interprets messages and responds appropriately. This is because NLP assists the chatbot in finding context to humanize each interaction.

6. Optimizing the flow through the Unified agent desktop

Unified agent desktop automates managing your customer interactions by combining the power of contact center software with the convenience of desktop computing. You can manage your contacts, cases, and workflows more effectively with Unified Agent Desktop. It makes it easy to manage your calls and provides you with the tools you need to deliver world-class customer service. Unified agent desktop helps you improve productivity and efficiency while raising customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

As the holiday season approaches, contact centers leveraging CXInfinity in conjunction with InfiBOT and unified agent desktop will breathe easy. They will be able to handle calls with ease and create fresh leads while increasing customer retention. Get in touch to learn how our solutions can help you reduce costs while optimizing operations.