It seems evident that many of the recent changes we’ve seen in the contact center over the last two years are very likely to continue, at least for the foreseeable future, as our “new normal.” But, even before the pandemic, organizations were being challenged by shifting workforce dynamics. This includes the explosive growth in the number of engagement channels and customer interactions while budgets and resources were increasingly limited — what we at Verint® call the “Engagement Capacity Gap™.”
Happy Agents Make Happy Customers
In the past year, on top of continuing to struggle to close the Engagement Capacity Gap (ECG), organizations have been faced with record employee attrition in what’s become known as “The Great Resignation.” Staffing contact centers (historically challenging to begin with) has become even more difficult. Those who remain are left to handle increased interaction volumes with even fewer employees — adding to stress and, potentially, causing them to leave. What have you done to stem the tide?
Keeping Your Best Agents – Hiring Top Talent
In Verint’s just released Engagement Capacity Gap™ Study 2022, retaining the best workers and hiring skilled new talent are cited among the top concerns for contact center leaders. What are you doing to ensure you have the tools you need to offer your agents the flexibility they are demanding (including remote and gig work), as well as having the ability to measure and improve employee engagement?
On top of this, there’s never been more competition for top talent. Adding automation to your hiring process can help identify those applicants who are the best fit and most likely to succeed in the long-term, as well as speed up the hiring process so you come out ahead of your competition.
Closing the Gap on Customer Expectations
As the number of customer interactions grows, customers are weighing every experience they have with your organization. Are your agents able to provide the service they require? Are they able to quickly resolve problems? Do they have the requisite knowledge to resolve issues? These are all crucial factors in creating positive customer experiences. You need to be able to capture experience data across channels to get a clear picture of what your customers (as well as your agents) are truly experiencing.
Experience Management and Closing the Gap
Regardless of whether the interaction is in-person, or via one of the host of digital channels, your customers judge everything through an experience lens. Your contact center agents are on the front lines of the battle for customer loyalty. Do you have the tools you need to capture and analyze data from these interactions that are so crucial to your business? And, if you are capturing data, is it sitting trapped in disconnected silos of information? What are you doing to break down silos of information and connect stakeholders for shared insights and coordinated action? After all, if you can’t see what’s going on and measure its impact across your organization, it’s virtually impossible to know where to start to make improvements.
To learn more about these topics, please visit https://www.verint.com/experience-management/.