Cut costs. Get leaner. Show profit. Whatever you call it, here are seven ways to do it in your contact center.
Use one, some or all of these ideas from ForresterResearch to cuts costs without hurting service levels and customer satisfaction.
- Put more info at agents’ fingertips. If they have the most up-to-date info, they’ll give more accurate answers, reducing customers’ callbacks and the costs that come with them.
- Communicate with other departments. Get updates daily from every department so agents are prepared to answer questions about everything from shipping delays to marketing promotions and sales specials. Then they won’t spend valuable time looking up details.
- Contact customers more. Send e-mail, text messages or automated phone messages with updates to eliminate some costly calls to you.
- Broaden agents’ horizons. Turnover costs a lot. Keep agents for longer with training so they’re skilled enough to handle all the demand. Show them career paths so they see room for advancements. And give regular recognition and rewards.
- Allow work from home. Agents who work from home are more loyal, help reduce operation costs, make flexible scheduling possible (rather than over staffing) and can keep service available through potentially costly emergencies.
- Keep Web and Service info consistent. If customers get the same info from both sources, they’ll rely on just one.
- Put more on the interactive voice response (IVR). Customers will use more IVR self-serve options as long as they can get to an agent if needed.
