Contact centre quality assurance software provider Playvox has released the findings of its 2021 Post-Pandemic Contact Center Trends analysis, providing insight into the ways in which sudden behavioural shifts such as remote working and online shopping played out in contact centres.
Contact centre agents faced unprecedented stresses stemming from increased call volumes at a time when they also had to navigate the move to remote working.
“Our analysis points to what Playvox has believed from day one – that the humanisation of agents is critical to increasing customer retention and satisfaction,” said Oscar Giraldo, founder, and CEO of Playvox. “Contact centres that operationalize these four trends will be the ones that come out on top in the economic rebound.”
Hybrid Workforces the Future
The first trend was embracing the hybrid workforce, with such an approach expected to become the new normal. Contact centres are increasingly adopting a blend of remote, hybrid and on-premises models. As a result, new approaches are needed to measure, reward and nurture customer service agents, wherever they may work. The onus, then, is on manager to employ consistent and fair metrics as they measure agent productivity and performance.
Another was realising empathy matters to customers and agents alike, and the crucial role customer service agents have played in providing customer satisfaction during the pandemic. It’s clear that human connection is one of the most important drivers of a successful interaction, but that doesn’t mean technology can’t play a role – indeed, the likes of AI coaching and real-time knowledge sharing from digital assistants means authentic reactions are more likely.
The third trend relates to changing roles for agents, and ways of enhancing customer experience via cross- and upselling. Companies increasingly see a key role for agents as being to recommend additional products and services as they assist customers.
Embracing the Cloud
Finally, the pandemic and its demands have proved the utility of cloud-based contact centre systems for providing a high level of responsiveness across a broad range of channels. Legacy systems struggled to meet the omnichannel expectations of customers, nor did they tend to be suitable for hybrid working initiatives. Hence the trend towards highly scalable cloud solutions with modern features such as performance visibility and metrics.
