Does your contact centre need a sat nav?

Improvements to operational efficiency are typically judged on whether the initiative has sped up the average transaction time, but all to often a consequence of hitting this target is a drop in effectiveness. The truth is that efficiency and effectiveness should not be odds with each other and can exist harmoniously. The reward for achieving this balance is a contact centre where average handle time is reduced, first call resolution is improved, cross-sell and up-sell is increased, customer loyalty is strengthened and process compliance is adhered to.

 

 

So the obvious question is, why isn’t everyone doing it?

 

 

Ironically, one of the hurdles has been the influx of information and applications that contact centres have introduced in recent years, ranging from knowledge management, online catalogues, billing, ordering applications, to often-complex CRM systems. Visit most contact centres today and you will find agents flitting from screen-to-screen in order to complete what the layman would expect to be a straightforward transaction.

 

This constant need for multitasking not only increases handle time and tries the patience of the customer, it also de-focuses the agent from really listening to the customer and delivering a high-quality interaction. In fact, one solution to the problem that I have even heard mooted was to increase the size of agent screens to accommodate this apparently necessary need to juggle.

 

 

As I was making a long drive home from a meeting last week it struck me that the ideal seat in a contact centre, would not be to dissimilar from the seat in my car (and I don’t me leather and heated!). From my driving position I want to be able to focus on getting from A to B with as little distraction as possible. Meanwhile, to keep me heading in the right direction my sat nav has plotted the most efficient and effective route, clearly prompting me along the way, and should I veer off course it will quickly get me back on track. What’s more it is also taking real-time information from other sources to make sure I avoid joining the end of a 10-mile tailback on the M4.