By Sam Hill, VP of Growth, Infinity
In an ideal world, contact centres would have the time, resources and tools available to analyse 100% of their agents’ conversations. Although there’s a difference of opinion in the industry about the levels at which quality monitoring should take place, the general rule is undeniable: a greater level of analysis results in better customer service.
Of course, the sheer volume of calls coming into the contact centre makes this impossible to do manually. As a result, most use only a small sample size of their customer conversations to make wider assumptions about the quality of their support. Some contact centres target a percentage of an agent’s calls, for example, while others analyse a specific number each month or split out successful and unsuccessful customer conversations.
But when every conversation matters, this can lead to skewed and inconsistent conclusions.
At a time when 93% of customer service teams feel their callers have higher expectations than ever before, it’s vital that contact centres learn from their interactions. By refining and scaling the ability to analyse conversations, technology can play its part in helping to meet an increasing demand for customer excellence.
Converting anecdotes into data
In all industries, businesses crave customer insights. It’s fortunate, then, that contact centre agents are on the frontline when it comes to harnessing that knowledge, interacting with new thoughts, complaints and enquiries throughout the day.
This level of exposure means agents are privy to the nuances of general customer opinion – a treasure trove of information, and the kind of data that contact centres should be converting into actionable insight.
If manual quality monitoring is untenable on the required scale, however, contact centres must turn to technology. With solutions such as conversation analytics – where keywords are monitored during conversations over the phone – contact centres can review higher volumes of calls, fine tuning their customer service in the process.
This kind of investment is essential, not just for the purposes of improving customer support, but also to meet the growing expectations of modern customers. According to a recent Salesforce survey, 79% of worldwide consumers believe the experience a company provides is as important as its product or services. Customer service is no longer the conduit to a sale; instead, it is seen by many as the product itself.
What’s in a phone call?
While call tracking technology reveals what led to a call, conversation analytics reveals what happened on every single call you make or take. This level of analysis enables contact centres to reposition their sales tactics, develop more informed marketing strategies, and transform the quality of their service at scale.
With greater levels of customer insight available, contact centres can shape and refine their strategies before any gaps in service have fully materialised. And when the market rapidly shifts – for example, during the pandemic or the looming cost of living crisis – this kind of granular analysis can better anticipate changing customer needs.
What kinds of questions are regularly occurring? At what point in the conversation are keywords being mentioned? Are there new patterns emerging in caller requests? Again, spiralling living costs could lead to more calls from vulnerable customers who need agents that are trained to provide the right support and response.
With murmurs of an impending recession growing, retaining every single customer is crucial. In the UK, 58% of consumers say they would end a relationship with a business due to poor customer service. If consumer expectations continue rising on their current trajectory, this figure will only increase.
Conversation analytics can take contact centres where they need to go. Through high volume analysis, businesses gain a better understanding of their customers’ needs – enabling them to enhance their levels of service, increase loyalty and improve sales conversion rates. Only with this level of insight can contact centres unlock the real value from their conversations.
