Here’s why you need to invest in marketing automation

Marketing automation

In this competitive era, businesses do not have even a single second to waste. So, they find ways to reduce the wastage of time and increase productivity. Marketing automation is one such technology that helps with the same. As the name suggests, marketing automation is all about transforming the boring, monotonous marketing tasks into faster, fun and productive ones. For the businesses who do not use it, here’s a bunch of reasons why you should invest in this highly efficacious technology.

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A complete guide to call center analytics: III

1. Cross-channel analytics

Customers today, have been provided with multiple channels through which they expect to be able to reach and interact with call center agents. The data flowing in from each of these channels contains valuable insights. This call center analytics enables organizations to identify and evaluate the data so gauged and choose the best channels for interaction with customers. Cross-channel analytics provides a way to determine what channels any of their customers are using at a given moment, and tailor their service options accordingly. Agents can provide a personalized and exceptional customer interaction if they have the required information at their fingertips.

Cross channel analytics
Cross-channel analytics

2. Self-service analytics:

This is yet another call center analytics that enables the users to access and analyze corporate data even if they are not trained as a data scientist and do not have any working experience with business intelligence and data mining. Self-service analytics helps to do so through the use of tools that simplify the ease of understanding. It further enables organizations to solve the problems and needs of a large number of businesses that too without the need for data professionals. Self-service requires minimal human involvement and helps cater a larger number of customers efficiently.

Self-service analytics
Self-service analytics

3. Performance analytics:

Performance analytics exempts the dependency of call center managers on daily reports and roll ups so as to know how well things are going. It basically offers online reporting and dashboard views of critical performance data, both real-time and historical, in context. This call center analytics enables the organizations to gauge and update relevant information and insights. Based on this information and insights, it further enables the organizations to take pro-active steps to ensure the best possible service to their customers. Thus, it actually helps enhance the customer experience to a large extent.

Performance analytics
Performance analytics

 

 

Benefits of using speech analytics: II

1.Deflates operating expenses:

Speech analytics can help deflate operating expenses by detecting cost savings and ways to avoid spending money while generating incremental revenue. In order to tune a speech analytics application for a specific site, a significant investment in time and resources is required. This highly efficacious technology then filters out and provides cost savings data across the board. This enables the call center owners to avoid counterproductive spending and enhance their reputation among businesses requiring call centers. Moreover, it improves customer experience.

Reduce costs
Golden coins and red arrow Graph falls on white background

2. Reduces customer churn:

Speech analytics can help businesses/ organizations to curb customer churn. The tools engaged in this process can be used to identify the factors responsible for customer churn. It provides an opportunity to all such businesses to make the changes necessary to keep customers coming back. This results in improved quality service which further improves customer experiences and satisfaction, giving customers less of a reason to leave. Also, the more information companies gather about existing and potential customers, the better they can take advantage of general consumer behavior.

Reduces customer churn
Reduces customer churn

3. Improves customer experience:

This amazing software can be used for audio data analysis. This data analysis includes:i)

i) detecting things like emotion and stress in a customer’s voice

ii) the reason for the call

iii) the products mentioned and more

With the help of speech analytics, organizations can quickly identify a customer’s needs, wants and expectations, and work to meet them. These days, more and more call centers are relying on call center speech analytics to enhance customer experience. Organizations depending on call centers to provide their customers with satisfying and fruitful interactions can actually leverage the power of this wonderful technology to take their business elsewhere by discovering inferior agent-customer synergy.

Customer experience
Customer experience

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uses of automatic speech recognition system: I

By now, we are familiar with the automatic speech recognition technology. We have already discussed about its basics, working and benefits. Now, let’s take a look at its uses. Automatic call recognition can be used for the following purposes:

1. Handle high volumes of customer service enquiries:

Automatic speech recognition system is highly beneficial for businesses that have very high volumes of calls from repeat customers. It is useful in cases where calls occur in irregular peaks. The problem of high volumes of customer service queries can be solved by diverting the calls depending simply on their nature.

High call volumes
High call volumes

2. Identity authentication:

ASR technology proves to be highly useful where you need to authenticate someone’s identity on the phone without using personal data. Some advanced speech recognition systems provide an answer to this problem in the form of voice biometrics. The system allows you to create a voiceprint based on specific text such as ‘Name’ and ‘Account Number’. This information is then stored against the individual’s record, so that whenever they call again, they can simply say their name and if the voiceprint matches what they have stored, then the person is put straight through to a customer service representative. The benefit of this technique is that it takes less than 30 seconds and also bypasses the need for the individual to have to run through a series of tedious ID checks such as passwords, address details and more.

Voiceprints
Voice prints

3. Put caller’s through the right department:

By applying speech recognition, you can allow callers to choose a ‘self-service’ route or alternatively ‘say’ what they want and be directed to the correct department or individual. This technique helps in in three ways:

i) It ascertains what the call is about

ii) It takes the customer through security checks or other parameters if required

iii) Lastly, it transfers the customer to the appropriate member of staff.

The details that the customer has already provided appear on the screen so that they do not have to repeat the information. In other words, it helps the customers to voice their needs in the most appropriate manner.

Directing the callers to the right department
Directing the callers to the right department

 

 

Tips to reduce average handle time: III

1. Encourage agents to provide top- notch service:

Average handle time boosts up in cases where many customers are waiting on hold. Reasons responsible may be that agents get exhausted handling call after call and hence, slow down. This leads to customers’ dissatisfaction and hence frustration. Therefore, it needs to be dealt appropriately. One of the most efficacious method of doing so is to encourage agents to take breaks between calls and get refreshed from time to time.

Exhausted call center agents
Exhausted call center agents

2. Leverage call control:

Call control is a skill and can be taught to the customer support agents through specialized training. The nature of calls being received at a call center is heterogeneous. In other words, the content of a call may vary from customer to customer such that, while  some might come straight to the point, others might go into irrelevant details before they come to the reason for their call. Therefore, it is extremely important for agents to remain focused and encourage customers to get back to the real point. Call control is a skill and can be taught and trained.

Call control
Call control

3. Make the most out of experienced customer reps:

As a matter of fact, nothing can beat the real, on-ground experience. Therefore, processes should be established leveraging the inputs of the most experienced customer service agents. Valuable experience can actually let the newbies know about the popular shortcuts and workarounds to achieve a target. On the other hand, managers should identify those agents who have a low AHT and discover what tactics they employ. Thereafter, these agents should be held as role models and be encouraged to share practical tips with others so as to improve their efficacy as well.

Nothing beats experience
Nothing beats experience

4. Access AHT data carefully:

As mentioned earlier, the nature of calls being received at a call center is heterogeneous. A variety of calls can be encountered there like some deal with billing while others may be related to accounts or general queries. As a matter of fact, AHT for all these are different, and thus an agent’s performance should take into consideration the nature of call handled by him or her. Therefore, the result for AHT should be analyzed accordingly. Similarly, if the marketing strategies or management decisions change, the impact should be calculated accordingly.

Assessing average handle time
Assessing average handle time