At a Glance
Contact centres are complex places that bring together a lot of technology, a great deal of data and a large number of people, all of which come with their own set of challenges. Getting technology to do what you want is often difficult. Simply making two sets of data agree with each other is often impossible and we all know that recruiting, retaining, training, and motivating good agents is a challenge.
In the midst of these challenges, how can one define 'best practice' in their contact centre? What is the standard in each industry? And how do you achieve success in every area of your contact centre, harnessing the power of technology and balancing agent management to create a harmony of customer communication?
Our experts have over 30 years of experience advising leaders on how they can unlock the potential of their contact centre through technology and operational efficiency. The most common question we get is, 'What's best practice?' We have sought to answer this question by congregating our experience and industry knowledge.
Defining a Service Objective
Summary
A service objective within the context of a contact centre acts as the destination point, guiding the organisation in delivering customer service aligned with its brand values and market position. Unlike brand values, the service objective focuses exclusively on customer service delivery, influencing factors such as contact centre design, staffing, and technology.
Setting a clear service objective enables the organisation to define service levels effectively, ensuring that performance metrics are meaningful and aligned with organisational goals. Developing a strong service objective involves gathering input from key stakeholders, drafting, seeking feedback, and obtaining board-level approval.
.png){kind=small}
Best Practice
A strong Service Objective which explains what you are trying to achieve and aligns to your brand values is the critical first step in defining a contact centre strategy.
Setting a Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Summary
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a formal agreement between an organisation and its customers outlining the level of service to be provided, traditionally measured by metrics such as response times. Contact centres often use SLAs to monitor and improve their performance, transitioning from basic metrics like response times to more customer-centric measures like satisfaction scores.
However, in outsourced contact centres, meeting SLAs sometimes prioritises over customer satisfaction, necessitating a balance between operational efficiency and customer loyalty. Metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) are valuable SLAs for assessing customer loyalty and satisfaction. Effective SLAs should align with the Service Objective, be easily measurable, and promote transparency.
Different SLA approaches include classic metrics, NPS/CSAT, efficiency, and balanced scorecards, with the latter offering a comprehensive view of performance across financial, customer, internal process, and learning/growth perspectives. Additionally, SLAs can vary based on customer segmentation, tailoring service levels to different customer segments or experiences with the product or service.
Best Practice
Of course, every organisation is different with a different Service Objective. However, we find that there is seldom one or even two simple measures which cover the whole of the Service Objective. Therefore, a balanced scorecard often works the best. Read the full chapter for an example.
Customer Journey
Summary
The customer journey encapsulates all interactions a customer has with a company, from initial awareness to post-purchase stages, guiding businesses in understanding customer perspectives and behaviours. This journey typically includes stages like awareness, consideration, decision, purchase, and post-purchase. Understanding and mapping the customer journey is vital for businesses to enhance overall customer experience, identify pain points, and optimise touchpoints.
In modern contact centres, interactions often begin online, shaping the customer journey. By integrating elements like chatbots and personalised responses, businesses can tailor experiences and improve satisfaction levels. Additionally, moving towards personalised customer journeys enables businesses to leverage key data to offer highly personalised experiences, as illustrated by a case study of transforming a pension support service, demonstrating the effectiveness of such strategies in enhancing customer satisfaction and engagement.
Best Practice
For most contact centres, best practice indicates moving to personalised customer journeys which use multiple data sets to offer a highly customised experience to every customer.
Contact Centre Technology
Summary
In choosing a contact centre solution, organisations typically consider three main options: CCaaS, VoIP, or bespoke solutions on platforms like AWS. While CCaaS is common, VoIP centres are preferred for specific needs such as security or geographical restrictions, and AWS-based solutions suit those with advanced AWS skills.
Employing an omnichannel approach ensures seamless customer experiences across various channels, catering to evolving customer preferences. Automated Call Distribution (ACD) systems optimise call routing, enhancing efficiency and customer satisfaction. IVR technology streamlines initial interactions, offering personalised experiences and reducing wait times.
Workforce Management (WFM) practices vary but generally focus on forecasting, scheduling, real-time monitoring, performance management, and agent utilisation. Leveraging chat and chatbots enhances customer service availability and efficiency, with features like automation, 24/7 support, and personalised responses. Knowledge management systems centralise information for agents and automation tools, improving service quality and consistency.
Overall, adopting best practices tailored to specific business needs ensures optimal contact centre performance and customer satisfaction.
Best Practice
Best practice is different for each type of contact centre technology. We give an in-depth overview of all the technologies listed here, and more, then define best practice in the corresponding chapter of our ebook.
Best Practice with Contact Centre Agents
Summary
Supporting contact centre agents effectively is crucial for ensuring exceptional customer service amidst challenges in recruiting, training, and retaining talent. These agents serve as the face of the organisation, representing its brand, understanding customer needs, and delivering sales and service. Recruitment strategies should focus on offering more than just financial incentives, considering factors like location and job market conditions.
Supporting agents involves comprehensive training, regular feedback and coaching, empowerment, well-designed workspaces, and promoting work-life balance and career development. Emotional support, recognition, and peer collaboration are also vital, along with leveraging AI systems for real-time feedback and assistance.
AI is transforming contact centres by enhancing customer service, offering natural language processing, speech analytics, predictive analytics, intelligent routing, sentiment analysis, data-driven insights, self-service options, and continuous learning.
Best Practice
Think about your offer to potential agents. How is this role different? How will the agents be treated? The overall offer needs to be a lot more than just financial.
Target Operating Model (TOM)
Summary
A Target Operating Model (TOM) delineates how a contact centre should be staffed and operated, covering staffing needs, roles, agent numbers, processes, and performance measurement. It emphasises that technology alone is ineffective without an efficient team to manage services and cater to customers. The TOM encompasses a Customer Contact Plan, Resource Plan, Quality Management, and Process Management.
Best practices involve developing a Customer Contact Plan detailing interaction expectations, channel preferences, and necessary skills. Resource planning entails determining agent numbers, skills, locations, and training, with tools like Workforce Management (WFM). Quality management focuses on monitoring, coaching, training, and process improvement. Process management emphasises mapping, standardisation, simplification, automation, collaboration, feedback integration, employee empowerment, and omnichannel integration. Gamification can enhance agent engagement and performance.
Conclusions
Every operation is unique, and subject to the needs and objectives of the wider business. For this reason, 'best practice' can't be universally defined for most aspects of a contact centre. We offer an in-depth analysis of each topic in our ebook, which outlines the criteria to consider in your specific situation.
We recommend bringing on experts from the contact centre industry to help guide your contact centre's transformation. Here at StableLogic, we are able to offer you guidance on best practice in every area of your contact centre because we have led contact centre transformations for over 30 years.
We are a completely independent consultancy, meaning we are not partial to any supplier. We run procurements fairly and impartially, giving every vendor equal consideration while balancing our expertise and the best interest of you, our client. We can assist in every phase of your contact centre transformation, depending on your requirements.
Please do get in touch if our expertise could assist your next contact centre transformation.
Case Studies
Discover how we have found and established contact centre best practice for these industry leaders.
Submit a comment