During the pandemic, customers turned to digital communications in droves for service and support. Contact centers quickly needed to pivot to add or enhance additional support channels such as chat, text, and email. Omnichannel support is now the de facto standard for many organizations, and this shift will continue to grow throughout 2023 and into…
The requirement to provide a better customer experience while improving agent productivity and controlling costs is paramount in contact centers in the best of times. During a recession, it could be the difference between survival and failure. Workforce management (WFM) continues to be one of the most important contact center agent productivity tools. By optimizing…
Coaching your contact center agents on their performance can either fill everyone with dread or be a productive activity that you and your agents look forward to. Either way, it needs to be done, and arming yourself with a full set of coaching tips for contact center agents will ensure the sessions are productive. Agent…
Donuts in the breakroom, water cooler talk, lunch chats with teammates—they’re the little things that make going back to work on a Monday more bearable. For your remote agents, however, it’s often all work with little reward. In addition to feeling the mental and emotional weight of consumer-facing jobs, remote contact center agents are experiencing…
We all can quickly recall examples of when we’ve received gold-star service — and at the opposite end of the spectrum — when service has been disappointing. For example, think of how an amazing restaurant experience combines well-prepared, tasty food with promptness, friendliness, and food-oriented knowledge. Then think of an example when you’ve been stuck…
If the labor shortage has left your contact center scrambling for staff, you might have overlooked a potential goldmine of knowledgeable, eager future team members: retirees. According to research by Goldman Sachs, five million people have left the workforce since the beginning of the pandemic, and most were over age 55 (3.4 million). Researchers say…
Are your employees excited to come to work each and every day? Or are they disengaged, disinterested, and lacking motivation? Employee engagement is one of the most challenging aspects to master in the contact center. That’s why many organizations are putting increased emphasis on improving their company culture in order to improve employee morale. One…
Agent burnout directly harms the quality of customer service your business provides and significantly hurts your company’s bottom line. It’s hard to ignore the fact that contact centers are plagued with high agent burnout and turnover rates. According to industry studies, average annual turnover ranges between 30-45 percent – with some centers experiencing turnover into…
Employees today have more choices and flexibility about where and when they do their jobs. While working from anywhere has its advantages, it also means leaders have the extra challenge of managing contact center agents in multiple locations. Working differently means that leaders must also think expansively about the agent experience and how to keep…
Born and bred in the heart of London, Sweaty Betty, the women’s activewear company, was forced to navigate COVID-19 restrictions on three different continents. Having expanded beyond the UK to New York and Hong Kong, the company had to quickly pivot with pandemic lockdowns in place from brick-and-mortar retail to mostly e-commerce. The company’s contact…
WEBINAR
How Is AI Shaping the Customer Services Industry?
Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 1:00 PM EDT