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How To Improve Customer Service in the WFH Era

An agile cloud contact center empowers agents and customers can interact quickly, efficiently, and successfully, with minimal effort.


From the Covid-19 pandemic which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, and worldwide lockdowns to a global movement for human rights, the year 2020 certainly experienced its fair share of world-shifting events and has been a year unlike any other.

Photo: Attilio Licciardello, Co-founder of Mida Solutions | Source: Courtesy Photo
Photo: Attilio Licciardello, Co-founder of Mida Solutions | Source: Courtesy Photo

Its impact created a societal tipping point in how companies assist and engage with their customers, amid significant changes in customers’ expectations.

Leading companies have known for years their key business advantage is the customer experience. Those that invested in customer experiences, pre-Covid, reaped the benefits. Meanwhile, many SMBs were under-prepared for the rapid adoption of planned investments in customer centric technology.

It looks as though the global shift online is here to stay and it has raised the bar for customer service. A recent Cisco and BT study suggests that 76% of customers buy more from companies able to offer excellent customer service, while 64% of agents say their digital channels offer limited support. This data highlights quite a big gap between customer expectations and contact center technologies.

 

What do your operators need when working remotely?

As IT managers and CEOs  assess their current customer service platforms they realize the need for solutions to provide a satisfying customer experience, regardless of where the operator is located. Here’s a look at must-have features for next-generation cloud contact center solutions:

 

  • Seatless option – Operators need to be familiar with the platform they use to work. A plus of a cloud based contact center software solution is surely a web-based attendant console which gives operators the same features and the same friendly user interface, regardless of the fact that they are working remotely or in the office.
  • Cut down on the jargon – When moving to the cloud, customer service can become an omnichannel service or – if your customers prefer voice interaction – this is the time to make their requests simple! That is possible today thanks to advanced Interactive Voice Response software, which can help customers get their requests resolved before making contact with operators. Vendors who specialize in contact center applications can shape the best and quickest path for customers using customized responses designed to guide users to the information they need, or to an online expert. This can preclude long and irritating wait times and simultaneously maximize the efficiency of operators, who are called to intervene just when their competencies are required.
  • Integration with CRM or other business critical applications – A contact center is a hub of all the interactions a company has with its customers. A cloud contact center is not an island. Instead, by design, it provides an updated snapshot of the customer relationship. Integrations with CRM and other business applications is crucial to ensure every stakeholder informed on how the service is performing from a customer and business point of view.

 

Ultimately, customer experience improvements should explore opportunities to incorporate a cloud contact center that is full-featured yet agile, so agents and customers can interact quickly, efficiently, and successfully, with minimal effort.

Build a better experience with the technology, tools and metrics necessary to evaluate how your customer service team is performing, in real-time.

 

Attilio Licciardello is co-founder of Mida Solutions, an Italy-based Independent Software Vendor focusing on Unified Communications and Professional Communications since 2004. Passionate about telecommunications and IT since the 70s, his goal is to help enterprises all over the world implement omnichannel communications solutions able to integrate and adapt to specific business processes. 

 

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