‘Thanks for the video Carly, it looked great’, commented one of our fabulous customers in an email to me this week. They went on to list what they liked about a video I had recorded for them, including the ‘wonderful sound quality’ and ‘bright, professional lighting’ (bear with me while I continue to toot my own horn, this is going somewhere!), which made me feel chuffed to bits. We all love feedback and it’s vital whether good or bad. But what made me particularly happy was the fact this company complimented the technologies and equipment we at Today Digital use for our brill videos. While they’re recorded remotely, we use only the best software with professional lighting and top-of-the-range webcams to make them look enviable. I’m also going to use this opportunity to shout out to our brilliant production team who work tirelessly to make those videos sparkling.
Why is this important? Well a new poll supported by Poly and commissioned by the Call Centre Management Association (CCMA) found that 79% of contact centre staff want the hybrid working model but 85% of the 200 UK companies who took part said their live agents would require specialised equipment to work effectively.
Richard Kenny, Senior Marketing Manager, Poly, said: “Hybrid working is a new term for call centres. This is a fundamental shift away from previous operating models and requires a reimagining of the role of the call centre, building towards more team, social and learning activities to keep advisors connected.”
“This signals a dawn of a new type of contact centre advisor – a highly mobile individual who works from multiple locations and brings with them the tools they need to do their job. This requires an understanding of how employees can transition between across multiple locations and work seamlessly from anywhere and investment in pro-grade personal devices such as headsets and webcams.
“Contact centre advisors want to be involved in decisions on what equipment they use and in the choice of where they work, and now is the time to listen to the voice of the advisor so they can deliver an exceptional customer experience from anywhere.”
It should be obvious that live agents working remotely need the proper tools to be able to do their jobs, yet we hear many stories about this being either shunned or forgotten, which is baffling to say the least.
Good CX relies on good technologies and equipment, which if not provided also affects the job satisfaction of the live agent. There’s nothing more stressful than a tired, old laptop not starting up when calls are coming in, or having to use computer audio instead of a broken or incompatible headset.
As the saying goes, a bad workman always blames his tools. So don’t give your staff the opportunity to not deliver when it comes to customer experience.
