Role of Agent Interface to boost Customer Experience (CX)
What’s the primary objective of contact centers? ‘CUSTOMER SATISFACTION’ As per the traditional KPIs, customer satisfaction is calculated on the average time a customer spends on hold, how swift is the agent’s answers, and how quickly was the resolution provided? There is a direct connection between customer experience and frontline productivity. Make an effort to boost it, carefully consider and analyze agent tasks/issues that arise.
Great Agent Experience
For a high quality of customer satisfaction and organization productivity, eradicate or work on barriers that boost agents’ performance. As per Gartner, alleviating the agent experience will ultimately increase the customer satisfaction rate by 11%. Further, experts suggest developing customer experience management (CEM) and dealing with customers as individuals.
Agents are the only point of human contact – customers have with the organization. Organizations must equip agents with the support and the resources required to employ their skills at best. Incorporating the right tools is like a gateway to delivering great CX. Agent interface plays a key role for a company, and these are the qualities of a perfect agent workspace to boost CX.
Flexibility
A disorganized workspace spoils efficiency and productivity. With the presence of omni-channel contact centers, agents have multiple digital channels to communicate with customers. It sometimes creates chaos, affecting CX. Work efficiency increases if agents can get the correct information in front of them. An efficient and simple interface will support the agent and strive for a favorable workflow.
Usability
An intuitive and easy-to-use interface will ensure smooth CX. Simplify the process for agents and new hires with basic training, tools, and system. The organization’s bottom line will be cut short with training and guidance. A single application to access all data will increase average handling time (AHT) and impact CX positively.
Accessibility
The era of flexible working options for agents has ushered because of remote and hybrid models in 2020. The facility to work from anywhere and any device defines resources for contact center transactions in the future. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) suggest creating your web content understandable, practical, operable, and secure.
Core Behaviours of Agents to Make a Difference
The trend of online purchases and socialization is growing. Interactions through traditional channels like in-store purchase or call center communication often fall to second place. Product and user-generated content, positive and negative reviews are crucial to creating a great customer experience.
Following the 2009 Profiles International Report ‘Six Crucial Behaviors for Consumer-Facing Employees,’ these core behaviors of agents will make a huge difference in CX:
Trust
Building a robust and long-term relationship, so gaining customers’ trust is the first and foremost step.
Tact
It is important to watch how and what agents say.
Empathy
Customers are prone to the person who understands and cares about their experience/problem.
Conformity
Alignment of customers’ objectives and expectations is the core behavior an agent needs to keep.
Focus
Distractions will lead to the downfall, and a good customer service agent keeps information in mind.
Freedom
Be a problem solver for customers as that is what they are looking for.
Key Findings Include
The goal of an agent is to optimize customer interactions and nurture customer loyalty. As per Gartner, 86% of customer experience executives classify employee engagement as a top part of delivering improvement in CX. Following a detailed study and experience on opportunities and challenges of contact center agents, including the survey of over 150 agents collected from 20 different industries:
- Right tools can either speed or hinder the resolution of customer inquiries.
- 29% of surveyed staff highlighted the motivating factor for agents is helping customers.
- 30% of agents face major problems in using the system adequately.
- Around half of the contact center agents have limited on-the-job training i.e. less than two hours in a month.
- Motivation and engagement of the workforce are increased with business transparency.
- Agent’s influence on the organization’s goals is considered a significant inducing factor (22%).
- 16% of agents believe that their engagement will increase if their performance metrics and business goals are aligned.
Empower Agents (Conclusion)
Customer expectations are constantly evolving, expanding from digital-first looks to engaging customers with exceptional experiences provided daily. Contact centers need to support their agents as they hold the solution for customer problems.
- Agents working in SMB (small & medium business) contact centers (68%) have higher levels of satisfaction compared to large contact centers.
- Training programs and organizational practices vary as per contact center sizes. Small contact centers give more continuous training to enhance agents’ skills.
Drive greater efficiency, satisfaction, and retention by transforming customers’ and agents’ experiences together. Support your agents and ensure an effortless experience with the flexible layout from a single interface.
What’s the primary objective of contact centers? ‘CUSTOMER SATISFACTION’ As per the traditional KPIs, customer satisfaction is calculated on the average time a customer spends on hold, how swift is the agent’s answers, and how quickly was the resolution provided? There is a direct connection between customer experience and frontline productivity. Make an effort to boost it, carefully consider and analyze agent tasks/issues that arise.
Great Agent Experience
For a high quality of customer satisfaction and organization productivity, eradicate or work on barriers that boost agents’ performance. As per Gartner, alleviating the agent experience will ultimately increase the customer satisfaction rate by 11%. Further, experts suggest developing customer experience management (CEM) and dealing with customers as individuals.
Agents are the only point of human contact – customers have with the organization. Organizations must equip agents with the support and the resources required to employ their skills at best. Incorporating the right tools is like a gateway to delivering great CX. Agent interface plays a key role for a company, and these are the qualities of a perfect agent workspace to boost CX.
Flexibility
A disorganized workspace spoils efficiency and productivity. With the presence of omni-channel contact centers, agents have multiple digital channels to communicate with customers. It sometimes creates chaos, affecting CX. Work efficiency increases if agents can get the correct information in front of them. An efficient and simple interface will support the agent and strive for a favorable workflow.
Usability
An intuitive and easy-to-use interface will ensure smooth CX. Simplify the process for agents and new hires with basic training, tools, and system. The organization’s bottom line will be cut short with training and guidance. A single application to access all data will increase average handling time (AHT) and impact CX positively.
Accessibility
The era of flexible working options for agents has ushered because of remote and hybrid models in 2020. The facility to work from anywhere and any device defines resources for contact center transactions in the future. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) suggest creating your web content understandable, practical, operable, and secure.
Core Behaviours of Agents to Make a Difference
The trend of online purchases and socialization is growing. Interactions through traditional channels like in-store purchase or call center communication often fall to second place. Product and user-generated content, positive and negative reviews are crucial to creating a great customer experience.
Following the 2009 Profiles International Report ‘Six Crucial Behaviors for Consumer-Facing Employees,’ these core behaviors of agents will make a huge difference in CX:
Trust
Building a robust and long-term relationship, so gaining customers’ trust is the first and foremost step.
Tact
It is important to watch how and what agents say.
Empathy
Customers are prone to the person who understands and cares about their experience/problem.
Conformity
Alignment of customers’ objectives and expectations is the core behavior an agent needs to keep.
Focus
Distractions will lead to the downfall, and a good customer service agent keeps information in mind.
Freedom
Be a problem solver for customers as that is what they are looking for.
Key Findings Include
The goal of an agent is to optimize customer interactions and nurture customer loyalty. As per Gartner, 86% of customer experience executives classify employee engagement as a top part of delivering improvement in CX. Following a detailed study and experience on opportunities and challenges of contact center agents, including the survey of over 150 agents collected from 20 different industries:
- Right tools can either speed or hinder the resolution of customer inquiries.
- 29% of surveyed staff highlighted the motivating factor for agents is helping customers.
- 30% of agents face major problems in using the system adequately.
- Around half of the contact center agents have limited on-the-job training i.e. less than two hours in a month.
- Motivation and engagement of the workforce are increased with business transparency.
- Agent’s influence on the organization’s goals is considered a significant inducing factor (22%).
- 16% of agents believe that their engagement will increase if their performance metrics and business goals are aligned.
Empower Agents (Conclusion)
Customer expectations are constantly evolving, expanding from digital-first looks to engaging customers with exceptional experiences provided daily. Contact centers need to support their agents as they hold the solution for customer problems.
- Agents working in SMB (small & medium business) contact centers (68%) have higher levels of satisfaction compared to large contact centers.
- Training programs and organizational practices vary as per contact center sizes. Small contact centers give more continuous training to enhance agents’ skills.
Drive greater efficiency, satisfaction, and retention by transforming customers’ and agents’ experiences together. Support your agents and ensure an effortless experience with the flexible layout from a single interface.
