Call centers must maintain an optimal balance between great customer care and available resources. Analytics tools and the information that they uncover can give managers and supervisors ability to achieve and maintain that balance as part of the effort to improve center’s overall profitability. When properly implemented, call center solutions will monitor essential parameters such as call times, efficiency and productivity that result in great employee performance and high customer satisfaction.
Reports supplied by analytics tools lay a foundation for every routine call center efficiency assessment that looks for procedural issues that negatively impact the customer experience. As a result of the call center operational improvements, companies can establish great customer service as a sustainable competitive advantage over their competitors.
Defining Call Center Analytics
Amidst the flurry of activity in an ordinary call center, agents can receive numerous phone calls of which only a handful get noticed by management. System failures, customer complaints and employees that ask for assistance often are the only issues that attract the attention of managers. Otherwise, the information needed to assess agent performance and measure customer satisfaction or notably absent.
Call center analytics involves the collection and interpretation of data that measures the performance of call center agents and the overall call center operation. The tools used in the implementation and execution of call center analytics can measure the results produced by the call center and make necessary adjustments. As a result, companies achieve the highest possible level of performance from their available resources.
Benefits of Call Center Analytics
Management can use call center analytics to evaluate the call center from the perspective of everyone involved, including owners, employees, and customers. The resultant circumspect and wide-ranging view of the operation helps companies achieve the maximum return on their investment. Factors such as loyal and engaged employees and satisfaction directly contribute to the profitability of the call center and the firm.
Call center analytics supply supervisors with real-time reporting that can identify and resolve problems as they develop, rather than waiting for major service disruptions that can cost much in terms of damaged customer relationships and lost business. Data such as hourly call volume, for example, can lead to the adjustment of staffing levels which can result in a consistently low customer hold time for incoming calls. Also, the reduction of the amount of time spent resolving major issues helps agents spend more time focusing on the needs of callers.
Rather than basing decisions on isolated incidents and hunches, managers can make decisions that are supported by valid data collected from every part of the call center operation. Such well-informed decisions can close operational and performance gaps, resulting in call centers that are characterized by continual improvement. Ultimately, call center solutions can result in a fantastic customer experience that results in the prompt resolution of issues, high-quality relationships and repeat business.
Common Approaches to Analytics
Call center analytics depends on one or more of the following six approaches, each of which has particular benefits. Companies that want to implement effective call center solutions should evaluate their organizational and business requirements and then look for the combination of capabilities that best meets their needs.
Speech Analytics
Call monitoring performed by a group of specialists analysis the speech patterns of callers and agents to identify problems. Managers can use the reports generated from speech analytics to create call scripts and revise procedures to improve call center performance and the outcome of customer calls.
Text Analytics
Call centers that depend on text-based channels for customer interaction can implement text analytics to evaluate performance. Such tactics monitor and analyze communications from email, messaging, social media, chat and similar media to identify language and other indicators that affect agent performance and customer satisfaction.
Predictive Analytics
Call center analytics information can detect historical patterns involving call center performance and the customer experience. Data such as the number of calls by day or time frame, for example, can help managers predict future activity and optimize staffing levels to control costs while improving service. Other factors such as service levels and handling time can also predict future training needs and provide a foundation for the revision of procedures.
Self-Service Analytics
Modern analytics tools use technology such as online knowledge bases, FAQs, and support tickets to reduce the number of inbound calls. Such self-service options can result in impressive gains in customer service via round-the-clock accessibility, faster issue resolution and convenience. Self-service analytics measures the use of self-service options and supplies vital insights that can result in the improvement of their quality and consistency. By optimizing the self-service experience, companies can dramatically increase their call handling capacity while reducing overall cost.
Desktop Analytics
Desktop analytics use real-time call monitoring, to identify inefficiencies as they develop. Managers who effectively use such data can address security and performance issues as they occur to contain service issues that can result in negative customer experiences. Supervisors can view an agent’s desktop and monitor phone activity and provide coaching and other interventions as necessary. For example, desktop analytics can help eliminate duplicate tasks and uncover equipment issues that can extend call handling times.
Cross-Channel Analytics
Call centers that use multiple communication channels can use cross-channel analytics to customize agent responses based on the channel being used by the customer. Such analytics can, for example, notify an agent that a caller uses particular online resources and supply an agent with information that can help the caller find an online solution that can eliminate future phone calls. As a result of cross-channel analytics, callers get directed to resources that best address their inquiry and companies can reduce the recurrence of incoming calls.
Call center solutions supply businesses with the ability to perform a routine call center efficiency assessment that can identify potential training and equipment issues. The call center operational improvement companies gain from implementing analytics can substantially improve the customer experience while delivering an impressive ROI that directly contributes to call center and business profitability.
Our Solution
We conduct a thorough strategic review of your call center operation and evaluate it in light of your business model and mission. Based on that review, we supply you with professional advice that will result in improvements for your call center. We also provide call center solutions, agent training and cutting-edge technology that can close operational gaps in your call center and deliver an excellent customer experience.