Gone are the days of the traditional call center setup. Today’s customers want to be able to get in touch with brands on their own terms – and on the channels that work for them. And with the past few years driving customers increasingly towards instant, digital solutions, expectations have skyrocketed. To stay on your customers’ good side, customer contact centers need to keep pace with these expectations.
Here are three ways to ensure that you’re delivering on those customer needs.
1. Blended, Multi-Channel Solutions.
It used to be that customers would pick up the phone when they had a question. But the omnichannel nature of today’s customer journey – combined with the sheer breadth and scope of today’s businesses – means that having a well-staffed call center room is just the start. Successful brands offer customer service across a range of different channels and functionalities, including chatbots, intelligent virtual agents, and even automated menu items. Combining self-serve options, AI-backed help, and live customer service reps provides the best of both worlds – smart, timely assistance targeted to the complexity of a customer’s situation.
2. An All-in-One, Integrated CRM.
Silos are for farmers, not complex customer-facing businesses. If your CRM doesn’t seamlessly “talk” to the various parts of your business, you’re setting your customers – and your agents – up for a frustrating experience. No one wants to provide the same information multiple times or be bounced around from agent to agent. An integrated CRM provides valuable insights across the entire customer journey so that every agent who speaks to a customer has the necessary background – and can deliver great results without the friction. Plus, with the whole customer journey in front of you, your agents can highlight sales and cross-sales opportunities that will deliver value for your customers. With a CRM like ACD’s, both agent and customer have what they need for a streamlined, seamless experience.
3. A Cloud-Based Solution.
Running your own servers and tech on-premises is an expensive way to do things. Maintenance is costly, and upgrading and expanding become major headaches. Either you buy “too much” in anticipation of future growth, or you run lean and have to search for rapid (i.e. expensive) solutions. But with a cloud-based solution, growth, and infrastructure maintenance are all handled externally – and your team can log on from wherever their work happens to be. Cloud-based solutions are more reliable, have more redundancies to keep you up and running at all times, and are generally the most cost-effective as well.
ACD Has All of Your Customer Contact Must Haves
Ready to level up your contact center experience? ACD‘s two-pronged customer contact solutions deliver omnichannel support, all-in-one integrated solutions, and the SaaS support you need. Whatever your needs, we can help you provide customer care and sales outreach that keeps your reputation – and your bottom line – strong.