How can speech analytics boost sales productivity

Despite the rise of text-based channels such as live chat and email, customers still prefer direct verbal communication. In fact, BIA/Kelsey, a strategic advisory firm, predicts mobile calls to businesses alone will exceed 169 billion this year. This means providing excellent customer service through the voice channel will remain a top priority for contact centres.

To serve this increase in demand for direct access to agents, businesses are turning to speech analytics to enhance performance and improve overall customer satisfaction. Through visual representations of call data, contact centres will be able to help sales reps and customer service agents deliver more effective service, benefitting the customer and business alike.

How does speech analytics work?

Speech analytics is a tool which takes the words spoken, variations in pitch, tone and silences and analyses them. It also records call audio and data, allowing agents to listen to previous calls or read call transcripts through a dashboard. By implementing the technology, businesses have been able to set themselves apart from competitors by pre-empting customer issues before they arise and delivering top quality customer service.

Improving customer experience 

Research from Vonage found that 75 percent of consumers still prefer the human touch when engaging with brands. They might reach out using an email or a quick chat session if their request is simple, but they tend to want to connect with a person on the phone for complex requests.

Speech analytics is great for helping businesses when handling these more complicated requests. When a customer makes contact, it provides businesses with an opportunity to not only assist with their current issue but also better understand deeper concerns.

A customer wants to deal with whatever issue they have quickly and with as little effort as possible. Speech analytics help businesses preempt similar scenarios and train agents to leave customers feeling as satisfied as possible.

The system allows companies to know whether a customer is satisfied or unhappy by gauging pitch and tone in the call, as well as highlighting keywords or phrases that lead to a positive or negative experience. The solution visualises the call so agents and others can see how a customer’s issue was resolved. It can help businesses understand patterns quickly so agents can deal with similar issues more effectively in the future.

Adopting new strategies

Once an agent learns how to navigate a specific issue, whether positive or negative, this information can be shared as a best practice and used to create a script for other agents. This could be particularly helpful for agents when dealing with difficult customer questions.

Thanks to speech analytics’ ability to record and transcribe conversations, supervisors can be reactive to learnings, quickly implement changes and when needed, supply agents with tangible results. Equally, they can determine the strengths of the agents and match them with the enquiries that best suit them. The whole process becomes far more efficient and effective.

On an individual level, speech analytics can highlight when an agent requires additional training and support. With insight derived from the tool, supervisors can give assistance or targeted training to agents whenever needed. This method can also be used to help businesses maximise talent resources. Enquiries can be routed to a relevant representative with the appropriate experience and knowledge needed to remedy the issue.

Profitability

Businesses are losing a staggering $75 billion a year because of poor service. By identifying your most common problems and frequently made complaints, speech analytics can help you implement changes that prevent your customers from switching before it’s too late.

Speech analytics’ ability to recognise repeat enquiries means contact centre supervisors can identify patterns that can be passed on to agents, and help them detect sales opportunities or prevent ineffective communications. Not only will they be able to seize any sales opportunities but thanks to insight derived from the tool, agents will be informed of the best route to encourage the upsell.

Know what your customers want, before they do

In the digital age, poorly informed contact centre agents will struggle to deliver the personalised experiences that can boost sales. Luckily, speech analytics provides an easy and cost-effective solution to learning what customers want — sometimes, before they even know it themselves.

By analysing response rates across key customer demographics and target markets, real-time speech analytics can help sales managers find creative ways to sell more to new and existing customers. 

Speech analytics helps contact centres and agents learn how to provide a better customer experience and spot upselling opportunities. Devin Reed, manager of content strategy at Gong, found that tactical apologising leads to a 5%+ increase in close rates. Devin worked out that if used sparingly, apologising could encourage sales. Importantly,  he found that it broke down a barrier between the customer and the agents. This transparency helped to reassure customers and agents were able to encourage them that the sale was in their best interest.

Speech analytics can provide a cost-effective alternative to focus groups. It can help businesses understand what customers want by collecting data in order to gain an understanding of what customers think about a service or product, which can shape the future of the business.

To learn more about how Vonage can help your company sell more and service better, visit: www.vonage.com.