The second of the three disconnects affecting a customer’s journey is Disconnected Data throughout contact center operations. I think it is safe to say that we have all experienced the standard “Please hold while I look up your account” response. The first two questions that come to mind are: 1) how long will I have to wait, and 2) what do you need to look up, I just answered ten account-verifying questions before I got to you?
While Disconnected Interactions (article here) deals with the touchpoint between the customer and agent, Disconnected Data looks at how customer data is delivered within contact center operations to provide the agents with the appropriate information in a timely manner. Unfortunately, this all-to-common inability results from the use of subpar tools and, ultimately, hurts the customer experience.
The high cost of scattered data
A 2019 Microsoft State of Global Customer Service Report showed that 36% of respondent’s most frustrating aspect of a poor customer service experience is an agent that lacks the knowledge or ability to solve the customer’s issue. However, this can’t always be attributed to the agent’s skill or knowledge (or lack thereof). Yes, there could be the untrained or new agent, but fact is, all the information should be readily available to any agent at any given time. More often, it’s this lack of information that causes the agent to fumble and search for answers.
For agents to meet customer expectations, they require efficient and frictionless tools to resolve customer inquiries. Unfortunately, many contact center operations have disconnected systems with customer data scattered throughout, leading agents to use 10 or more different desktop and back-office systems to serve a single customer.
Furthermore, agents spend up to an estimated 30% of their time searching for information, often while customers are waiting or placed on hold. Even if the agent was able to resolve the customer inquiry, customers become frustrated for having to spend so much time on a seemingly simple task. With research showing that 61% of consumers saying they have stopped transacting with a business after a poor service experience, this disconnected data has a potentially serious impact on a company’s bottom line.
Connecting customer data
For businesses to improve the customer journey, they must use technology to empower agents to get the job done efficiently and effectively. This starts by taking a deep dive into contact center operations and reviewing all the applications and back-office systems agents must utilize. Only then, will contact center operations understand where there is internal disconnect.
Fortunately, there are CCaaS platforms that can bring together customer data and back-office systems within a single platform, including access to all customer interactions. There is less juggling between applications and less downtime to research information, allowing agents to more efficiently respond to customer inquiries. Also, by making data more accessible, this will improve contact center processes and workflows and remove any disconnect there, which is our next topic of discussion.
To learn more about how to deliver a connected customer experience and demo our CCaaS platform, email us at ccaas@leap.tel.