Simply put, call center agents are professionals who handle the bustle issuing from a successful business.
Mid-size businesses and big enterprises usually employ call center agents or customer service representatives (CSR) to answer a large volume of inbound and outbound calls, reply to emails, text messages, and manage other platforms.
But there’s still a little more to it than that. Read on to learn more.
What do call center agents do?
Call center agents need to have strong communication skills, advanced problem-solving skills, and goodwill to better serve the hundreds of customers they might speak to on a daily basis.
They receive customized reports that serve as guidelines to monitor their performance on calls (handled, resolved, or abandoned), customer feedback, average hold time, etc. This helps them improve areas where they might be falling short and work towards perfecting the customer experience.
Just like agents need a set of skills and can manage their performance periodically, they should be provided with the latest industry tools for better and faster accomplishment of their tasks. A CSR’s ability, combined with scientific development, could greatly contribute to the profitability of a company and overall customer satisfaction.
Why do businesses need call center agents?
The main goal for businesses is to unite representative expertise with time-effectiveness. When a business skyrockets, so does customer demand.
The large amount of questions, complaints, and conversions can no longer be managed by one person only. You’ll need competent agents for specific areas of customer service. For instance, one agent should address payment issues, while others should clarify specific doubts about a product or service.
It’s only natural to wonder why you would need to hire a human to handle customer service when there are chatbots available nowadays. While it’s true that artificial intelligence has become fairly prevalent, human interaction isn’t fully replaceable as of yet, especially when it comes to precise customer requests.
Automated communication is effective to an extent, but first-rate customer experience entails personalized attention — that’s a CSR’s area of expertise. For now, the way to an ideal customer experience should be how a customer reaches the ideal agent for their request, and how long it takes to complete the operation. The less time-consuming and easier an interaction is, the better.
Call center innovations
Unfortunately, people’s need for instant gratification is rampant, and call centers can’t afford to be rusty anymore. Interactive voice response (IVR) is a revolutionary business technology, and a prime example of how AI can be a game-changer for your business.
Choosing from an extensive list of options and listening to a robotic voice until you finally reach your specific issue could culminate in abandoned calls and lost sales. That’s why traditional IVRs should be replaced with conversational IVRs.
They use natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU) for seamless interaction, even though you’re not talking to a live agent at first. When you explain an issue in your own words, you come to the right solution faster and more easily.
Moreover, customers’ issues aren’t restricted to business hours, and there’s no prediction of when a problem will arise. Thankfully, IVRs are accessible 24/7 for a refined experience every time.
Omnichannel solutions
Omnichannel is often mistaken with multichannel in several occasions. While both softwares work with multiple channel communication, the former option gives customers an unparalleled, consistent experience.
As opposed to multichannel, omnichannel solutions seamlessly unify various channels (SMS, IVR, phone, messaging, email) so that an agent will always have a customer’s information close-at-hand, regardless of the preferred channel. Switching through them will no longer require that customers repeat themselves, as their info will be available across all platforms without context loss.
This software optimizes time for both the agent and the customer since it prevents miscommunication, and its smooth-running interface creates a personalized, all-in-one interaction.
Whether live or automated, call center agents are a critical part of the modern business. Advanced technology and qualified professionals are the ideal resources to deliver undivided focus to your customers.
