Insights

We consider the call center as a very necessary tool for customer acquisition and retention. Customer service is undeniably one of the most important strategic differentiators for the majority of businesses. Changing market forces have only reinforced this perspective. According to Microsoft’s State of Global Customer Service report, 95 percent of consumers consider customer service before becoming loyal to a brand. Increasing your customer retention by just five percent can boost your profits by at least 25 percent. 

But as call volumes and costs grow, you need a customer service strategy that drives business value creation while delivering a competitive advantage. That’s why you need call center modernization. Call operations may seem pretty straightforward, but there is always room for improvement. Modernizing your call center makes it more efficient and effective and positively impacts the business bottom line. Let’s discuss how to modernize your call center.

Benefits of Call Center Modernization

The goal of call center modernization is to improve the customer experience. Modernization means you make it easier for customers to get in touch with you and improve the resolution time. Transforming your call center to a modern one gives you a competitive advantage. It allows you to deliver personalized, consistent, and seamless interactions with your customers. 

These are the benefits you get from modernizing your call center:

• Immediate Cost Savings: Despite the initial investment required when upgrading your call center infrastructure, there should be a fast return-on-investment (ROI) besides long-term benefits. This is due to increased productivity by your agents and operational & substructure cost savings. 
• Create Better Experiences for Both Customers and Agents: The primary goal of call center modernization is to improve the customer experience. But you should also improve the productivity of your call center reps and managers. This leads to higher job satisfaction and lower attrition. Modernization gives you access to tools that improve efficiency and creates an exceptional experience for both call center agents and customers.
• Future-Proofing: A modern call center should be both sustainable and scalable. It allows you to support future business growth and an increase in call volumes. The costs of upgrades, movements, maintenance, and proprietary hardware should also be sustainable.
• Save Money Over Time: Besides immediate cost-savings, call center modernization will also save you big money in the long run. With expanded and automated communication capabilities, you can drastically decrease the call center agents’ workload and customer service price. You can also leverage other communication channels such as chatbots, email, mobile, and social media to get in touch with your customers.
• Focus on Customer Service Strategy: With call center modernization, you can now shift your focus from the software to your overall customer service strategy. You can take a step further and keep an eye on the future. You will be able to create a strategy that incorporates new channels and opportunities for growth. 

How To Modernize Your Call Center

In the last few years, customer service has made huge advances with the focus shifting to improving the customer experience. Customers won’t tolerate impersonal service, long wait times, and multiple transfers. If you haven’t modernized your call center, your customers will notice and there’s a good chance you’ll lose them. Here are tips on how you can go about call center modernization:

1. Focus on the Experience

There are several digital channels that enable your customers to access information about your brand at a moment’s notice. Customers have a shorter attention span so you should make every interaction count. Phone calls are one of the best ways to provide an efficient and consistent customer experience for high retention rates.

When modernizing your call center, ensure you have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that enables your agents to gather insights into customer needs, wants, and preferences. You can use this to build stronger customer profiles and enhance the experience of each customer moving forward. More information means you can resolve issues faster and provide personalized services to your customers on phone.

2. Create a Self-Service System

Customers are increasingly developing a preference for self-service options. They prefer automated solutions to resolve an issue with a product or service.  According to Gartner, 97 percent of customer service leaders are currently integrating some type of self-service initiative as part of their strategy.  Your call center should have solutions that accommodate this.

For example, a hosted interactive voice response (IVR) system will allow you to intercept inbound calls, determine the caller’s needs, and redirect them to the appropriate departments. It also offers automated prompts that allow your callers to navigate to specific information on their own.

3. Embrace Mobility and Remote Work

You should strive to keep your call center mobile. Mobile devices and cloud-based solutions allow you the freedom of having a mobile workforce. Your agents will be able to receive calls and handle customer needs without losing access to data, information, or communication resources. During the pandemic, most businesses piloted the possibility of this with varying degrees of success. Seventy percent of customer service employees want to continue working from home post-COVID-19. A mobile workforce also widens your talent pool and reduces your overhead costs.

4. Boost Employee Engagement

Modernizing your call center goes beyond the technical aspect of it. You also have to boost employee engagement to be able to leverage the technological advancements you make to your call center. You can do this by increasing team leader-call center agent communication, systematically managing agent engagement, and creating a sense of purpose around the customer.

5. Work With a Partner Instead of Hiring a Software Provider

You need to keep your call center ahead of the curve. Instead of hiring a software vendor to install modern call center systems, work with a partner who can revolutionize your customer service strategy to modern standards. This will give you access to call center best practices, strategies, and methodologies that will help you to define and execute your roadmap. It frees you up so you can focus more of your time on operational objectives.

Call center technology and trends are always evolving. Having a modernized call center allows you to easily adapt to these changes while still delivering a consistent and exceptional customer experience. Some of the necessary factors in modernizing your call center include advanced application and analytics, flexibility, internal employee expertise, and remote call center agents.

1. Focus on the Experience
   There are several digital channels that enable your customers to access information about your brand at a moment’s notice. Customers have a shorter attention span so you should make every interaction count. Phone calls are one of the best ways to provide an efficient and consistent customer experience for high retention rates.
   When modernizing your call center, ensure you have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that enables your agents to gather insights into customer needs, wants, and preferences. You can use this to build stronger customer profiles and enhance the experience of each customer moving forward. More information means you can resolve issues faster and provide personalized services to your customers on phone.
2. Create a Self-Service System
   Customers are increasingly developing a preference for self-service options. They prefer automated solutions to resolve an issue with a product or service.  According to Gartner, 97 percent of customer service leaders are currently integrating some type of self-service initiative as part of their strategy.  Your call center should have solutions that accommodate this.
   For example, a hosted interactive voice response (IVR) system will allow you to intercept inbound calls, determine the caller’s needs, and redirect them to the appropriate departments. It also offers automated prompts that allow your callers to navigate to specific information on their own.
3. Embrace Mobility and Remote Work
   You should strive to keep your call center mobile. Mobile devices and cloud-based solutions allow you the freedom of having a mobile workforce. Your agents will be able to receive calls and handle customer needs without losing access to data, information, or communication resources. During the pandemic, most businesses piloted the possibility of this with varying degrees of success. Seventy percent of customer service employees want to continue working from home post-COVID-19. A mobile workforce also widens your talent pool and reduces your overhead costs.
4. Boost Employee Engagement
   Modernizing your call center goes beyond the technical aspect of it. You also have to boost employee engagement to be able to leverage the technological advancements you make to your call center. You can do this by increasing team leader-call center agent communication, systematically managing agent engagement, and creating a sense of purpose around the customer.
5. Work With a Partner Instead of Hiring a Software Provider
   You need to keep your call center ahead of the curve. Instead of hiring a software vendor to install modern call center systems, work with a partner who can revolutionize your customer service strategy to modern standards. This will give you access to call center best practices, strategies, and methodologies that will help you to define and execute your roadmap. It frees you up so you can focus more of your time on operational objectives.
   Call center technology and trends are always evolving. Having a modernized call center allows you to easily adapt to these changes while still delivering a consistent and exceptional customer experience. Some of the necessary factors in modernizing your call center include advanced application and analytics, flexibility, internal employee expertise, and remote call center agents.