Experience is (almost) everything. In fact, 73% of customers say that the customer experience is a key factor in their purchasing decisions. Most are even willing to pay more for an experience that’s more convenient and welcoming – and say that a great experience beats out great advertising every time. The good news is that a high-quality contact center experience can help pave the way to a great experience overall. Here’s how to maximize your contact center offer.
Give Your Customers Options
Phone calls used to be the standard way of getting in touch with an organization, but a recent study notes that 90% of Gen Z hate speaking on the phone. If your company or non-profit wants to ensure a great experience for a large swathe of the population, provide a variety of contact options, including phone, text, email, and chat – whether AI or human-driven.
Consider the Customer Journey
Having a contact center isn’t enough. You need to get strategic when it comes to designing the overall customer experience and how it connects with the customer journey. While 89% of companies believe that their automated system understands their customers, only 54% of customers agree. In addition to customer research and feedback, use analytics to understand when and why customers are getting in touch and how you can ensure that you’re meeting their needs at that specific point in the customer journey.
Make Life Easy for Customers
Nothing’s worse than waiting on hold and then having a call drop out. Build redundancies into your contact center operations so that customers aren’t left in the lurch. Call-backs and emailed summaries of instructions are simple ways you can reduce friction for customers. So is solving their problems the first time around. Make sure your staff are trained in common issues and authorized to make decisions that solve customers’ problems – such as refunds or returns – and customers will love the experience.
Use Your Integrations
Silos are so 20th Century. Any contact center today should be integrated into the larger ecosystem of your business or organization. This ensures that everyone in your company – from marketers to contact center agents – has access to ticketing software, CRM solutions, knowledge bases, and more. With visibility comes efficiency, so ensure your staff are working with the information they need to deliver great results.
Hire Great Agents
People are the heart of any business. A friendly, knowledgeable agent can engender a positive sentiment in just about any caller by answering questions, solving problems, and putting customers at ease. At ACD, we’re proud to help connect our customers with a team of skilled, US-based agents who understand your business and your customer needs.
Deliver a Great Customer Experience with ACD
Looking to elevate your customer experience? ACD’s all-in-one cloud-based contact center solution integrates with your existing systems and can be tailored to your organization’s needs – ensuring seamless, high-quality service. You’re also welcome to tap into our stable of trained reps at any time to ensure that customers aren’t left waiting during times of high demand. For more information, schedule a demo!
