By IMImobile
IMImobile’s new ROI Calculator helps businesses estimate potential cost savings for their contact centre operations with proactive and reactive call deflection tactics.
As the world prepares itself for a new normal, it has become evident that digital communication channels are crucial for businesses now and for the future. Customers and businesses alike have witnessed how adapting to digital solutions has made it possible to maintain business continuity and stay relevant in these times.
Despite huge disruptions in service across all industries, contact centres are dealing with an unprecedented rise in customer enquiries. Some contact centres have seen a 1000% jump in call volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic and agent capacity reduced by almost 20% due to remote working challenges. These trends invariably mean lengthy wait times and delayed issue resolution for customers which negatively impacts customer service. The added challenge of compounding costs associated with increased call volumes and retaining agents to handle inbound enquiries effectively is only causing further problems for contact centres.
So, how do businesses maintain customer satisfaction, increase contact centre efficiency and keep up agent productivity at the same time?
Call Deflection – Tactics for Success
While most companies have made the switch to digital channels or implemented self-service solutions as part of their contact centre strategies, they are struggling to capitalise in a way that translates to reduced call volumes and operational costs.
Implementing an effective call deflection strategy is one approach to streamlining contact centre operations. Customers are given the option to either self-serve through automated chatbots or resolve their enquiry with an agent at their own convenience via a digital messaging channel.
Proactive call deflection enables businesses to pre-empt customer needs and send timely updates or alerts on customers’ preferred channels to reduce the need for customer contact. This not only saves customer’s time but helps businesses communicate on more cost-efficient channels thereby saving agent hours, operational costs and delivering a positive customer experience.
Reactive call deflection allows the customer to switch to a digital messaging channel once they have already contacted a business. The IVR provides customers with an option to deflect inbound calls to a digital channel with customer consent and continue the conversation. This is a win-win for both customers and the contact centre. Customers get to resolve their enquiries using their preferred channel while agents are equipped to deal with multiple enquiries at once and interact with customers in a more efficient way. Digital channels such as WhatsApp Business are also more cost-effective than traditional voice channels.
Automation and self-service when combined with call deflection is another effective way of dealing with burgeoning call volumes. AI-powered chatbots can be deployed to become the first line of response for routine enquiries while seamlessly handing over calls to agents for more complex ones. Reports suggest that AI-powered chatbots can reduce call volumes by about 80%. Gartner further states that about 40% of today’s call volumes can be addressed through self-service.
Measuring Cost Benefits of Call Deflection – The ROI Calculator
Call deflection, both proactive and reactive, has significant benefits for improving contact centre efficiency, agent productivity and reducing operational costs. Businesses currently lack the necessary tools to measure the benefits tangibly and therefore implement the right solution for their contact centres.
The contact centre experts at IMImobile have designed an ROI calculator that enables businesses to calculate how much they could save by implementing a call deflection solution. The tool is customized to cater for contact centres of varied sizes ranging from those with 100 agents to 100,000 agents.
The ROI Calculator estimates the value generated from call deflection as a standalone solution or proactive/reactive call deflection in combination with self-service and automation. Businesses can discover the direct ROI for these solutions from call deflection within the IVR. The indirect ROI can be derived from the decrease in call volumes or increased contact centre capacity based on customers switching to digital channels to solve their enquiries.
The ROI calculator is a user-friendly tool with a simple interface that computes cost savings based on the following inputs:
- No. of voice calls per day
- Average annual compensation per agent
- Average call handling time
- Average hours per agent, per day
- No. of working days in a week
The tool’s calculations and cost saving estimates are based on industry standards and internal knowledge leveraged from IMImobile’s clients who have implemented call deflection strategies. With the right mix of metrics, industry best practices and internal data, the ROI Calculator is a robust and reliable tool that will be the first step towards building a cost-efficient contact centre strategy that enhances the overall customer experience. It will empower contact centres create solutions that reduce call volumes and costs, increase operational efficiency and provide support to amplify agent productivity.
Give IMImobile’s ROI Calculator a try today to see how an effective call deflection strategy can benefit your business. For more information about call deflection, take a look at IMImobile’s latest whitepaper that reveals the tactics for its successful implementation.
To know more about the ROI Calculator or customize estimates for your business, reach out to our experts.
