{"id":45408,"date":"2020-11-30T17:17:23","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T17:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"\/us\/en\/blog\/?p=45408"},"modified":"2024-08-14T07:25:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T14:25:02","slug":"collaboration-over-communication-at-your-remote-call-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/us\/en\/blog\/collaboration-over-communication-at-your-remote-call-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaboration & (over) communication at your remote call center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long gone are the days when working at a support desk meant dealing with repetitive but simple tasks. Today\u2019s customer queries are far more complex. People now expect agents to help with billing problems, shipping delays, and product malfunctioning, among other things.<\/span><\/p>\n

Succeeding in such a changing role requires collaboration and communication. Agents have to often reach out to several departments to solve a single inquiry. But creating an environment that fosters these interactions is anything but easy, especially when the global pandemic pushes businesses into remote working.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, it\u2019s vital that companies introduce technologies and workflows that improve collaboration. By doing so, they can delight customers and agents can even beat their pre-pandemic performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The high cost of bad customer service<\/b><\/h3>\n

Contact centers in many organizations, however, are yet to modernize. Treated as a necessary evil, support teams have to work with outdated tools and solve problems without support from other departments. Poor collaboration frustrates agents who feel siloed and isolated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Customers suffer as well. They receive an unsatisfactory experience and many will walk away from the brand because of a single bad interaction. And poor customer service inflicts around $62 billion losses a year to US companies alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Spotlight<\/a><\/p>\n

Collaboration is more important than ever<\/b><\/h3>\n

The need to build effective, remote contact centers<\/a> that facilitate collaboration and communication isn’t going away. It\u2019s here to stay long term for multiple reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

For one, call centers<\/a> are one of the most densely packed businesses and, as such, a fertile ground for infectious diseases. So it comes as no surprise that 74% of contact centers now support remote work. And even when offices open up, many agents will be reluctant to move back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever more complex support inquiries are another factor to consider. Today\u2019s customers don\u2019t call because of simple problems; they can solve those by checking out YouTube videos or online forums. Customers reach out when their own research failed. And you can be sure their problem is going to be complicated. Solving difficult inquiries require agents to talk to other departments. They need product experts to help with product malfunctioning, while complex billing problems can only be solved with input from finance teams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Collaborative contact centers are thus a critical component of modern customer service. They allow employees to talk to each other, share documents, and tap into the knowledge of an entire organization. That\u2019s the only way agents can solve a rising number of problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Provide agents with access to information<\/b><\/h3>\n

And if those problems are simple, such as upgrade requests or basic billing queries, agents can solve them on their own. But even then they still need the right tools and information. If a customer needs help in understanding her bill, agents must have access to billing information. This might sound simple, but many organizations tend to assume that contact centers should be kept separate from core business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such opinion, however, can\u2019t stand the test of reality. Agents need access to information to do their job and that means companies need to have open APIs and allow access to CRMs and other backend systems. Solving customer problems shouldn\u2019t require transferring the call or manually asking for help. Providing agents with the infrastructure they need empowers them and ensures they can stay engaged and productive, no matter how complex issues they\u2019re tackling.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tSpotlight on the Supervisor\t\t<\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\tHow to better manage teams of remote contact center agents\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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