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Contact centres

Business Decision Makers: Their CX concerns, and how to resolve them

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By Dan Burkland, President at Five9

As the cost-of-living crisis forces customers to tighten their belts, effective and receptive customer service remains the key to maintaining success. Focusing on customer experience (CX), even through periods of economic instability, can increase a company’s profitability by up to 2% and shareholder return by up to 10%.

Business leaders are now faced with difficult decisions, and CX teams must ensure they are looking at three key goals: reducing expenditure, increasing empathy with customers, and prioritising adaptability in an ever-changing environment.

Businesses are facing waves of resignations as talent teams struggle to source and retain employees. It’s not just the well-being of customers that CX teams need to consider – it is their employees too. When employees are motivated and knowledgeable, they are able to give better customer service, resulting in improved customer experience – but that only comes from improving the employee experience (EX).

Investing in new areas might initially seem counterintuitive during economic turbulence. But compromising on CX directly impacts brand loyalty – nearly a third (32%) of customers stated they would stop doing business with a brand after just one poor experience.

A recent study of business decision-makers identified key strategies in helping businesses to transform the experience of their call centre agents, and consequently, customer experiences.

Unlocking the informed and empathetic agent

The CX study found that while 86% of contact centre decision makers report an increase in the volume of interactions, 72% also note an increase in agent turnover. Contact centres are clearly a casualty of the Great Attrition, with employees reevaluating their approach and demanding greater flexibility, more remote working options, and a stronger focus on well-being. In fact, more than half (54%) of contact centre employees are not willing to go back to the office full time.

Therefore, organisations must look to cloud-based technologies to offer a seamless agent experience from home to office. With all customer data and comms in the cloud, agents can securely access the information they need, wherever they choose to work.

However, it is not just a question of making your organisation more attractive to retain and hire agents, but also ensuring that you have the technology in place to cope with this deluge of interactions at speed. Currently, less than half (47%) of contact centres are starting to adopt AI to provide agent assistance, which is essential for giving employees the information they need to drive quality interactions at scale.

Bringing together human empathy and judgment, with the speed and scale of AI offers the best of both worlds for customer service. More than half (53%) of decision-makers reported that agents need emotional intelligence and empathy, with customer issues becoming increasingly complex, so collaborative intelligence technologies should be a key area for both CX and EX investment.

Making every interaction meaningful

Empathy has replaced expediency as customers seek a more human customer experience. Customers want and expect agents to truly listen to their needs, understand and identify with their situation and feelings, solve their issues, and answer their questions effectively. Above all, they want to connect on whatever channel is most convenient for them at that moment. Therefore, businesses must ensure that however customers choose to get in contact, they can resolve these queries simply, quickly and on a variety of channels.

Encouragingly, the majority (95%) of contact centre decision-makers say their organisation provides an omnichannel experience. In fact, 40% of customer interactions now take place via non-voice digital channels, with 69% expecting more than 40% of customer support interactions to be fully self-handled by 2024. Organisations are clearly stepping up with expanded digital and self-service options, to provide options that ‘meet their customers where they are’ and reduce costs.

Yet nearly a third (30%) stated that these channels are not integrated. Organisations must therefore work to bring customer and contextual data together to ensure a seamless experience across every channel. Fortunately, by integrating all data within the cloud, organisations will create a 360-degree view of each customer to enable seamless experiences across any channel or touchpoint. Whether customers opt for ever-growing self-service options or want to chat to an agent over the phone, ensuring that the right data is in the right place to inform interactions is essential.

Looking towards the future, it’s paramount that businesses act decisively to address CX challenges. Self-service, multi-channel and AI offerings are quickly becoming commonplace for customers – organisations must provide their agents with the right software to work as efficiently and reactively as possible. By bringing the focus to both employee experience and customer experience, customer loyalty and satisfaction can be maintained, increasing profit in periods when it is needed the most.

Daktela enhances its automated chat functionality with Coworkers.ai acquisition

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Daktela has acquired Coworkers.ai, with the technology set to be integrated into its software by the end of this year, enhancing the company’s existing chatbot capability and enabling businesses in the UK to deploy complex automated chat solutions in their customer communications.

Coworkers.ai are intelligent virtual assistants that use contextual AI. This means they understand the intent of the person they’re communicating with; they recognise moods and understand any cultural, historical and situational features. This type of AI uses machine learning combined with algorithms that listen and learn, taking a human approach to process content.

Intelligent voicebots, chatbots and mailbots can speed up resolution times and deliver more meaningful, accurate, and relevant recommendations and answers. They ultimately allow customers to get answers faster, self-serve 24/7 and free your staff from time-consuming, repetitive tasks.

The Coworkers’ pronunciation, intonation, and reactions are also natural, so many users don’t even know they’re communicating with a bot.

For Daktela, this is the first of many planned acquisitions. In addition to organic growth and global expansion, this should place the company among the top 10 global providers of CCaaS services in the next five years.

David Hájek, Co-Founder and Head of Global Expansion at Daktela, said: “Our acquisition strategy has two parts. We are looking for companies with a similar focus and profile, as Daktela, in those foreign markets where we are not present today or where we are starting. The second type is technological acquisitions, which will help us fundamentally improve our product portfolio and scale our core technology; Coworkers.ai is an example of this. Artificial intelligence is no longer a buzzword today; within a few years, it will become a necessary reality in companies.”

His words are echoed by Gartner’s analysis, which stated that by 2026, 10% of customer and business communication should be automated due to artificial intelligence, saving companies an estimated 80 billion US dollars.

Daktela’s acquisition of Coworkers.ai comes three years after its inception. A significant benefit of their solution is that it uses its own natural language processing (NLP) technology based on artificial intelligence.

Coworkers.ai co-founder Luboš Urbančok added: “Thanks to this, our voicebots and chatbots are significantly ‘smarter’ than others and can solve even more complex requests. At the same time, we are a low-code platform, which means that practically anyone can handle the implementation in the company even without programming knowledge,” C

The Coworkers.ai enhanced chatbot and voicebot technology will be available in the UK from December 2022

If you’d like to find out how this technology can help your business communications, please get in touch with Daktela UK. Tel: 0800 470 2159 Email: info@daktela.co.uk

Handling dramatic surges in contact volume

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Because time is precious and we know that our clients cannot always be there to answer the phone. Woven offer a host of tailored call handling services that enable businesses large and small to capture every opportunity.

Our bureau service, Woven with You, provides a seamless extension of our clients business, allowing them to focus on the value-add activity that will help them grow.

We handle every contact to the highest quality standards in a flexible scripted environment, with bespoke technology, quality assurance apps and insightful data analytics.

Whatever solution you require, we ensure a simple set up, and deliver reliable, actionable, and intuitive feedback enabling you to concentrate on your business and the moments that matter.

We do not think of ourselves as just an outsourcer; we work in partnership, collaborating with our clients to deliver exceptional experiences.

24/7 customer service solution

We offer a flexible and scalable approach, not to mention global reach, with sites in the UK and South Africa.

Onshore or Offshore – the choice is yours.

Our connected agents and automated AI work in tandem to provide customers the type of service that delivers meaningful and effective interactions.

We already deliver inspired experiences to some of the worlds most prestigious brands, with over 600 clients across multiple sectors.

We support your customers in their contact channel of choice across voice, chat, socials and email.

If you would like to know more, let’s talk?

Contact hello@wearewoven.com or give us a call on 0333 103 7337.

www.wearewoven.com

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT: The benefits of offshore outsourcing

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We live in a connected global village and businesses are expanding their search for expertise beyond their country’s borders to benefit from global business services. Offshore outsourcing benefits businesses by allowing them to relocate office jobs to countries with lower labor costs but equal expertise, like South Africa.

Benefits of offshore outsourcing

Reduce capital costs

We take responsibility of workspace, equipment and human capital

Turn fixed costs into variable costs

We reduce your costs almost immediately through measurable sales, service optimization and tailored operating-model integration

Increase efficiency

We are at the top of our game. Gain access to our expertise, knowledge and passion for the industry

Cater to changing customer demands

We mitigate risk by anticipating changing customer demands and requirements

Why South Africa?

Many Global Businesses have chosen South Africa to be part of their service delivery model partnering with one of the numerous businesses that operate from this No 1 BPO destination. Awarded the most favoured Customer Experience delivery location in 2021 (Ryan Strategic Advisory Front Office BPO Omnibus Survey), after 3 consecutive years in 2nd place, combined with a strategic focus on BPO by the South African government, the country has established its reputation for delivering high quality, consistent services into international markets.

If you would like to know more, let’s talk?

Contact on hello@wearewoven.com or give us a call on 0333 103 7337.

www.wearewoven.com

The #6 benefits of outsourcing

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By Woven

#1 Reducing cost is probably the obvious reason why businesses outsource their customer contact centre, but there are many more incredibly valuable benefits of partnering with a specialist outsourced contact centre provider.

So, what are they?

#2 Trained Staff Always Ready and Available

Outsourcing provides trained professionals right at your fingertips. It takes away the hassle of finding the right candidate for the job and the stress of searching through endless CV’s for the right fit.

#3 Customer Service Experts

Outsourcers are experts at delivering exceptional customer service. Long hold times, multiple touchpoints or lack of channels can all have a detrimental effect on your business.

Satisfied customers are repeat customers which in turn provides revenue growth. Top call centres become an extension of your brand, a partner you can trust to treat your customers as though they were their own.

#4 Technology

The evolution of technology has given customers more ways to reach a business than ever before. A huge advantage of outsourcing your call centre is the built-in tech that comes with it. They can provide innovative bespoke technology that your in-house operation might not even have thought about. Customisable CRM platforms, Chatbots, Voicebots, Automation capabilities and the list goes on…when you outsource to a call centre you provide yourself with the opportunity to provide a service backed by the best technology available in the industry.

#5 Real-time Reporting

Blending expert analysts with powerful, customsied analytics-based scoring and reporting tools empowers clients, managers and advisors with results, insights and advice that drive self-improving operations.

#6 24/7 Service

Customers don’t only have questions or queries 9-5, Monday-Friday. Instead of limiting your customers to time frames you can be available to provide a service at a time that is convenient for them.

Here at Woven we are not just an outsourcer; we offer a new way of working. Our people are powered by our technology to meet the needs of your business.If you want to find out more, get in touch with us on 03331037337 or email hello@wearewoven.com

www.wearewoven.com

Consumers judge brands based on customer service, but contact centre employees aren’t being empowered

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Both consumers (97%) and contact centre managers (98%) agree that customer service interactions have an impact on whether consumers stay loyal to a brand. And a vast majority (88%) of contact center managers also agree that brand perception directly impacts overall company revenue. When positive customer experience (CX) interactions boost loyalty, revenue follows.

Calabrio has identified a direct correlation between contact centres, brand loyalty and brand revenue. The global research report, State of the Contact Center 2022: Empowering the Contact Center as a Brand Guardian, uncovered a surprising gap between the role contact center agents play in consumer brand perception and how much employers support and empower those same agents to be brand guardians.

“We know that contact center interactions can make or break a customer relationship, leading to increases or decreases in revenue,” said Tom Goodmanson, president and CEO of Calabrio. “How smoothly those interactions go is a direct result of how agents are trained and how they are supported with the right tools and technology. It’s critical for brand loyalty that agents feel confident to make the right decisions at any given moment. And the most efficient way to improve the customer experience is to empower contact center agents as brand guardians.”

The jump to the cloud revolutionized how agents work and learn, opening opportunities to build stronger customer relationships. To accelerate this, agents now need a more flexible and more autonomous work experience, accessibility to best practices, and digital tools that help them shape the optimal customer journey across all possible interaction channels.

In short, agents need to be truly empowered as frontline brand guardians to protect revenue streams.

Voice reigns supreme

AI-powered chatbots have gained in popularity, but nearly 80% of consumers still rank phone interactions as their preferred customer service channel. Yet contact center managers have a mismatched perception of how important voice channels are to brand image. Managers ranked voice channels third, behind email and web interactions.

This gap may be leading to a misplaced focus on newer channels, such as social media and apps. Instead, consumers overwhelmingly think contact centers should prioritize agent training (70%) and fill staffing gaps (58%), instead of adding additional channels like chatbots or virtual assistants.

Loyalty is fleeting. Bad experiences have BIG impacts

60% of consumers say they switched brands due to a negative contact center experience— most leaving after only two negative experiences. Even a single negative experience significantly damages consumers’ perceptions across future interactions. In fact, consumers with a recent negative experience were less than half as likely to say contact centers were doing a good job in any category. In other words, recency bias is powerful — and it is hard to recover once consumer confidence is lost.

Other critical disconnects

The study shows significant gaps between consumers’ experiences and the service contact center managers think they are delivering:

  • Availability of human agents – 80% of managers think they are meeting or exceeding customer expectations for access to live agents. But only 37% of consumers agree.
  • Quick response times – 79% of managers think they are meeting or exceeding customer expectations for response, but only 45% of consumers agree.
  • Needing to feel heard and understood – 84% of managers think they are meeting, or exceeding customers’ needs to feel heard and understood by the brand, but only 45% of consumers agree.

The study consisted of 500 respondents from the US, UK, Nordics and DACH, split evenly across consumers and contact center managers. To see the full report, go to: State of the Contact Center 2022: Empowering the Contact Center as Brand Guardian.

CCaaS demand to push market to $19.8bn by 2031

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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The Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) market was worth $4.3 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $19.8 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 16.8% between 2022 and 2031.

That’s according to a new report published by Allied Market Research, Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) Market, which says the automatic call distribution segment was the highest revenue contributor to the market, worth $854.7 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $3,321.7 million by 2031, with a CAGR of 14.7%.

In short, the COVID-19 pandemic is anticipated to have a favourable effect on the contact centre as a service (CCaaS) business worldwide.

The demand for CCaaS has increased owing to increased feedback management, and suppliers cost associated with the setup of offline contact centres. Moreover, the growing decency upon Internet and digitalization globally started to deploy CCaaS solutions, and thus is expected to drive the growth of the Contact Center as a Service Market analysis post-pandemic.

Region-wise, North America holds a significant share in the global CCaaS market, owing to the presence of prime players in this region. In North America authorities have expressed a strong enthusiasm in implementing contact center cloud solutions. Major corporations that are committed to delivering superior customer service are widespread in the area, which boosts the growth of the market.

The collaboration to provide cloud-based contact center solutions to the Canadian market was announced on April 21, 2022 by Five9, Inc., a global provider of intelligent cloud contact centers, and Deloitte Canada, an independent company operating under the Deloitte name. Collaboration is anticipated to significantly improve customer experience as Five9 continues to expand its worldwide footprint and link the success of Deloitte Canada and Five9 with Canadian businesses to fulfil the rise in need for digital age networking and CCaaS.

Other key findings:-

  • The automatic call distribution segment was the highest Contact Center as a Service Market Share contributor, with $854.7 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $3,321.7 million by 2031, with a CAGR of 14.7%.
  • The integration and deployment segment was the highest revenue contributor to the market, with $100.4 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $798.5 million by 2031, with a CAGR of 23.1%
  • The large enterprise segment was the highest revenue contributor to the market, with $2,880.8 million in 2021, and is expected to continue its growth during Contact Center as a Service Market Forecast period.
  • North America was the highest revenue contributor, accounting for $2,378.8 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $9,353.9 million by 2031, with a CAGR of 14.9%.
  • Asia-Pacific is estimated to reach $5,517.4 million by 2031, at a significant CAGR of 19.5%.

The key players profiled in the Contact Center as a Service Industry report include Accenture LLP, Alphabet Inc. (Google Corporation), Amazon.com Inc. (AWS), AT&T Inc., Cisco Systems, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Orcale Corporation and SAP SE. Market players have adopted various strategies, such as product launch, collaboration & partnership, joint venture, and acquisition, to expand their foothold in the Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) market.

Business intelligence to support a post-pandemic mindset

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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The ‘management versus employee’ battle on WFH continues – but have managers recognised why hybrid working has become such a problem?  Without face-to-face interaction, remote workers have far less trust in the information provided by distant colleagues – or distant business partners/ suppliers/ customers.  And that is leading to a breakdown in relationships across the board.

Furthermore, the pandemic has exacerbated differences in working attitudes: for every ambitious individual wanting to make a fast impact on the business before moving on to the next challenge, there is another taking the quiet quitting approach, coasting along doing just enough to get by.  How do the former engage the latter or monitor their progress to ensure key tasks are done – especially when they have zero trust in the business information currently available? The stand-off will be both inevitable and painful – especially given the continued challenge to recruit talent.

Peter Ruffley, CEO of Zizo, discusses how fast analytics projects that deliver rapid business insight are now urgently required to rebuild trust – and not just in data.

Lost Trust

Hybrid working has thrown up many operational challenges for businesses but one of the biggest issues – and one that is radically undermining business performance – is an endemic lack of trust associated with remote employees. Without face-to-face contact, companies are discovering that individuals simply do not have the same level of faith in the information presented. Untrusted information has zero value to any business.

Individuals instinctively trust information more when colleagues are physically present to support and field questions about it, but not so much when those same colleagues are remote. Information shared in a meeting room has far more credibility than screen shares on Zoom. And that is creating real problems – undermining relationships between colleagues and raising questions of trust between business partners.

How can businesses monitor and manage business relationships if they cannot trust the, typically outdated, performance information being provided? How can managers inspire less engaged colleagues to perform if most of the discussion is an argument about data accuracy? Resentment is building – and the hybrid working problem is far deeper than debates about the number of mandated days in the office.

Given the escalating economic challenges faced globally and the associated need to be far more agile and responsive, no company can afford to be hamstrung by this lack of trust, the business implications could be devastating.

Information Frustration

This issue is particularly painful for those organisations still struggling with weekly and monthly reporting cycles. The less they trust the information presented, the more individuals are demanding it. They want more information, with greater frequency and significantly improved business relevance. The need for data they can use, rapidly, to achieve measurable improvements, is clear.

Individuals are also frustrated that businesses cannot provide the same level of information available as standard within the online consumer market. If an eCommerce provider can show complete order history at any time, with the option to drill down for all the detail, why should the working environment be any different? Why are managers compelled to wait weeks for summary information that, more often than not, fails to provide the insight they require?

Of course, the demand for fast access to trusted information is nothing new. What has changed is the attitude and expectation.  Ambitious individuals want to make their mark quickly.  They don’t want to be constrained by limited access to untrusted data that will inevitably delay the essential improvements in process or customer experience: how would that look on the CV? Plus, of course, every business needs quick wins and a way to achieve incremental digital transformation – and that means taking a very different approach to data analytics projects.

Instant Analytics

The new mantra is not just fast change and confidence in tangible deliverables but: can this be done now? ‘Is the data in place to support this objective?’ is the most important question to ask – and answer. This model is nothing like the ‘build it and they will come’ approach of data warehouse projects that spent years collating data resources before the business even had a chance to verify the relevance of what was being collected, let alone determine whether the information could support business change. Instant data analytics projects must be able to answer the data question within days, assessing whether the data is of high enough quality and completeness to answer the business question.

Any instant analytics project starts with the first step in the data lifecycle (collect, combine, context, change) to determine what information is in place today, what valuable insight can be immediately leveraged and whether that supports the outlined priority business goal. If not – the project can be immediately reviewed, and steps put in place to collect the right data. Cost and time have been minimal and essential knowledge has been gained about the existing data. On paper, a fast fail is also a success, because it is a win to identify the business processes not in place to achieve the outlined goals, as the business can now begin to collect the required information resources.

If the data is already collected it can be the foundation to rapidly achieve the desired goal, combining sources and adding context to unlock essential insight. Critically, this is an iterative process that builds incremental value: a project should deliver within three months and provide a platform for the next iteration.

Business Driven

The other fundamental change is that instant data analytics projects are business, not IT-driven. A business user understands the relevant data – and how it can drive change. A successful instant analytics project is about identifying a process that can be digitally transformed very quickly to deliver quantifiable value to the business, or utilising data to win more customers – and engaging with individuals across the business to ensure this is a fixable problem.

For example, a traditional project would have focused on improving the performance of the entire production line – taking years to achieve any change. An instant data analytics project, in contrast, looks for a very quick win – for example by moving a test process from the end of the production line to immediately after the stage when the failure could happen. This highlights any problems as they occur, allowing immediate remediation and response. The result is a small, fast win that builds confidence in data and encourages further incremental development at other stages of the process.

Plus of course, the process transforms trust – trust in data, colleagues and business partners. Whether it is providing a supplier with on-demand access to a KPI dashboard, allowing the company to click through for detailed information or giving managers immediate access to sales information, rather than waiting for the weekly spreadsheet debate, small, business-driven information wins create a step change in data perception and trust.

Conclusion

Businesses are rapidly recognising the implications of the loss of trust. The breakdown in relationships between colleagues and business partners is not just due to the lack of face-to-face interaction but the implicit concerns regarding the information they are sharing. Without immediate, accurate data insights that are trusted by everybody, how will any business respond with the speed and confidence required to succeed in the current economic environment?

The benefits of live chat on your website

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Live chat used to be a “nice to have” service offering, Today, more than 41% of customers expect live chat on your website and more than half of all customers prefer to chat with someone in real-time and online. It gives customers a way to reach you at the exact moment that they have questions or problems they can’t solve.

Customer experience plays a key role in your business’ growth and revenue. Being available in the channel that best suites them is a factor of delivering exceptional customer experiences.

At Woven we can provide your business with seamless live chat technology for your team or even manage it for you.

Benefits:

  • Improved support experience
  • Increased customer engagement and satisfaction
  • Connected customer experience
  • Increases first contact resolution
  • Reduced service costs and boost efficiency

With tPoint Live Chat and Messenger the possibilities are endless:

  • Quick replies and predetermined responses to common questions
  • Live Chat Screen transfer for secure payments – not visible to advisors
  • tPoint powered End Feedback Survey to aid improvement to your customers experience
  • Consistent Advisor Experience with unified Agent Desktop so your advisors can respond to interactions on Chat or Social DM

If you would like to know more, let’s talk?

Contact us on hello@wearewoven.com or give us a call on 0333 103 7337 to find out more about our live chat services.

www.wearewoven.com

Data shows customer service has power to make or break corporate reputations

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Good customer service is the most powerful tool a business has when it comes to improving and maintaining its reputation, new research has found.

As part of its Make Every Conversation Count report, FM Outsource asked 1,000 people for the factors that are most likely to have a positive impact on their perception of a brand. Efficient customer service was the most widely cited response, with half (50%) of respondents valuing it most highly.

Ranked just below efficient customer service were customer reviews (49%) and recommendations from family and friends (44%), suggesting that strong customer care is linked to positive endorsements.

In contrast, price (32%), social media presence (18%), and advertising (15%) were all cited much less frequently.

However, while good customer service has the potential to enhance a business’s reputation, the research found that poor customer service can destroy a brand.

When asked whether a customer service conversation had negatively impacted their relationship with a brand or business, 86% of respondents agreed. Notably, nearly a third (31%) of consumers have told friends or family to avoid a brand following a negative customer service interaction, and 26% have left a critical review online.

At the same time, the research also revealed that the vast majority (80%) of consumers believe that poor delivery of customer service reveals a brand’s general lack of care towards its customers. Only 11% said that it is unrelated.

Martin Brown, CCO at FM Outsource, said: “There is still a tendency among many businesses to treat customer service as an additional overhead, rather than an integral growth opportunity. However, our research shows the powerful ripple effect that a positive or negative customer service interaction can have on a business’s reputation.

“In the challenging business landscape ahead, reputation will be crucial to organisations’ ongoing success. It’s therefore clear from our report that outstanding customer service will be an invaluable tool when it comes to not only retaining, but also attracting customers.”