For years, the contact center was regarded as a necessary evil, an appendage that was just part of the cost of doing business. Eventually, people realized the contact center could be a profit driver, and it got some serious upgrades to match. Improving contact center reliability can be one of the biggest new profit drivers you never saw coming.
Why Contact Center Reliability Means Value for the Entire Business
The evolution of the contact center from cash sink to value driver came at the behest of a few critical realizations.
People only accept automation so far. HSBC Holdings did a study with bank tellers over self-service systems. It found that customers generally prefer self-service…until the second something goes wrong. Then there’s absolutely no tolerance for machines and customers demand immediate, real-person help.
Harnessed positive experiences. Advertising is expensive and often difficult to handle these days. Using positive word-of-mouth, though, can augment advertising operations well. A Temkin Group study found that 77% of customers would recommend a company to a friend following a positive customer experience.
Reliability is directly rewarded. A PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that customers were willing to pay up to 16% more for products delivered from a better customer experience. Providing that customer experience, therefore, allows for price hikes, assuming the customer is satisfied.
A lack of quality is often punished. The same study found plenty of negative reinforcement as well; 60% of those respondents would stop doing business with a company found to have “unfriendly service,” and 46% percent would do likewise if the employees were considered short on knowledge. Just one bad experience with even a “beloved” brand is enough for 32% to walk away.
The competition is stepping up. Knowing what we know so far, it’s not surprising to see businesses step up their contact center reliability game in large numbers. Word from Compare Business Products says that 62% of businesses worldwide are using cloud-based contact centers to help improve overall reliability. A clear majority moving in this direction should be a sign to make the move as well, lest competitors take a chunk out of the market share.
The Best in Contact Center Reliability Starts Here
These ideas will help you keep up contact center reliability and help turn your contact center into a revenue generator. Sometimes a little more help is called for, and getting in touch with us at TelcoAlert can make a huge difference. Follow that link to check out our free IVR monitoring checklist, which will help give you a better understanding of when it’s time to call in IVR monitoring and breathe new life into your contact center reliability figures.