Constant changes in the technology landscape are rapidly transforming the way that businesses and consumers communicate. The demands for good service are evolving, and the experience landscape is changing, with 66% of customers admitting to using multiple channels to connect with customers.
Lately, companies have been re-shaping their strategies in the contact centre and customer engagement space to better serve their customers. AI has been one of the tools leading the way to the CX of the future, with 45% of companies planning on using it for customer service.
Although many people can see the benefits of AI from a smart assistant perspective, offering agents access to contextual information, fewer consumers see the value that things like sentiment analysis can offer.
The Benefits of Sentiment Analysis for Remote Agents
In recent years, the roles of contact centre agents have evolved. With self-service solutions now available for customers, agents are taking on more responsibilities. They’re not just responding to simple issues, they’re helping to improve customer success, and even delivering upselling opportunities too. Fortunately, customer sentiment analysis can help with this.
Sentiment analysis (infused with AI) can collect information on a customer and produce an assessment of sentiment that a call centre agent sees when in a chat or on the phone. This provides an understanding for agents on customer intent, and it can be used as a signpost to address issues that clients are having. Sentiment analysis can examine positive and negative components in a conversation, and up to 85% of the time, the machine can usually conform with what humans might deduce from the conversation. Some innovators in the customer engagement space are taking analytics of sentiment to the next level, by looking at specific words. For instance, if a customer uses “you” instead of “we” in a conversation, this indicates that they’re detached from the discussion.
Discovering Opportunities with Sentiment Analysis
Companies in the customer engagement landscape are beginning to use sentiment analysis throughout the customer journey to help them determine where each conversation is going. Whether it’s a sales agent looking for insights into whether a customer might be open to upselling, or a service agent defining the nature of a call, sentiment is a valuable tool.
In the right circumstances, sentiment analysis can also combine with the analytics of a contact centre and CRM system to help pinpoint the most lucrative customers in a company’s community. If you can determine who has the most positive feelings about your business, then you may also be able to discover who could become a future advocate for your brand.
Sentiment analysis is still a reasonably new technology for contact centres and customer engagement strategies. However, the more that we explore the possibilities of assessing sentiment, the easier it will be for business leaders to unlock new opportunities for better customer satisfaction, loyalty, and even advocacy in the years to come.
