Call centres evoke many different emotions, most of which are focused on the voice at the end of the phone. I, (as I’m sure many of you would agree) expect a friendly, helpful and knowledgeable adviser to tend to my needs, all culminating in a generally good customer experience.One of the key influencing factors to my satisfaction level is whether or not I leave the call with my query resolved. Naturally though, there are occasions when the agent at the end of the line just can’t meet my requirements, but is it always their fault?
Research undertaken by Jacada found that “38% of UK consumers surveyed believed that agents are trying to be helpful, but that they seem to struggle with company policies or technology.”
The modern contact centre agent has a lot to deal with and they need to be experts at multi-tasking. Whilst engaging in conversation with the customer and listening to the query being asked they are skilfully navigating their way around numerous computer screens, making notes on the account and trying to identify and find the correct resources and knowledge necessary to try and resolve the query.
However, through no fault of their own, increasingly complicated and rigid company processes, policies and advanced technology solutions can sometimes make it impossible for the agent to deliver the desired result to the customer.Policy and process makers are often unaware about aspects which are driving customer dissatisfaction and could be improved.
How can we help? At Fizzback we believe that utilising verbatim comments left by customers in open-ended questions can be the key to unlocking process, policy and system issues that may be affecting the agent’s ability to resolve customer queries. Advanced Natural Language Processors quickly and accurately pin-point the true drivers of satisfaction and dissatisfaction (whether it be the agent at fault or another issue upstream).
Many Fizzback clients have been able to successfully identify processes and policies that needed improvement by using the customer verbatim comments as a starting point for investigations, prompting process and policy owners to hold Voice of the Agent forums to understand the impact on the front line as well as the customers.
So, is it always the agent fault? In my humble opinion no, often they are just the bearers of bad news, bound by the process, policies and technologies put in place by the company.
Liz Turrell
For more info on Fizzback visit www.fizzback.com