It’s Time to Partner with a Call Center

You’ve always known that offering a great customer experience is one of the most powerful ways to differentiate yourself from your competitors. But are you aware of the way technology is transforming your customers’ expectations?

You may be finding that returning phone calls during “normal business hours” just isn’t cutting anymore. In this article, we’ll outline the ways the internet has changed the definition of “customer experience” and list 4 signs it’s time for your business to partner with a contact center.

From Customer Service to Customer Experience

The internet subtly shifted your customers’ attitudes. And this shift is raising the bar for businesses when it comes to customer service. The internet provides immediate answers. When a customer can learn instantaneously what time it is in Germany, they learn to expect lightning-fast results in other spheres of life.

At the same time, social media provides a platform. At its best, the platform is a community. Other times, it can be a sounding board for grievances. The disgruntled customer, who in years passed may have steered a handful of people away from your doors, can now be heard—and heeded—by potentially thousands.

We don’t mean to disparage the internet entirely. Its benefits to your business far outweigh its disadvantages. Still, in the aftermath of the internet’s ubiquity, customer service is archaic. Successful businesses cultivate customer experience. Providing a great customer experience (as opposed to customer service) means you’ve adapted to your customers’ changing expectations.

The key to a great customer experience (CX) is an infrastructure in which the customer’s preferences are paramount. Like the internet, a great CX is available during “off” hours. Channels of communication are plentiful, e.g., chat, phone or email. And just like the internet, customers can get results quickly.

Does that sound difficult for a small to medium-sized business to pull off? It is—unless you partner with a contact center.

Like customer expectations, contact centers have evolved with technology. Gone are the days of uninformed reps floundering over a bad VoIP connection. Today’s contact centers offer multiple channel connections, self-service solutions and actionable insights into your business’s CX. In short, contact centers can provide the infrastructure to improve your customers’ experience.

4 Signs It’s Time to Partner with a Contact Center

But how do you know if you need to upgrade from run-of-the-mill customer service to high-tech customer experience? Look for these four signs.

1. Your Business Has a High Customer Churn Rate. If your business isn’t holding onto customers, the problem may be poor service. In theory, your employees know customers come first. But if you’re still handling customer interaction in-house, your customers must compete for attention with your employees’ other tasks. Bad service can be anything from being on hold while the receptionist routes other calls to bouncing from one person to the next. When customers are unhappy, 91 percent of them leave. On the other hand, increasing customer retention by just 5 percent can improve your profits by as much as 95 percent.

2. You’re Not Tracking Data About Customer Interactions. You may be surprised about the wealth of data your contact center can provide. AI can uncover customer behavior patterns that will let you know which customers are ready for an upsell or which customers need incentives to stay. Contact centers can use AI to route calls to representatives based on personality types to get the best results. You can also know important information such as customer resolution rate and other insights.

3. Customers Are Reaching Out Through Multiple Channels. Customers are reaching out through email or social media, and 55% of their requests go unanswered. Remember, the unhappy customers you’re not responding to on social media are a click away from blasting their complaints online. A contact center can help you coordinate communications across channels without missing a beat.

4. Recent Growth Leaves You Struggling to Keep Up with Customer Service. You’ve done an exceptional job of growing your business. But now you’re feeling the strain of ongoing customer support. You may not be ready for the investment of time and money to hire new service representatives. Contact centers offer scalable options to improve customer experience. And chances are, there are contact centers with trained agents already knowledgeable in your industry.

Provide Great CX with Contact Centers

If the way you’ve always done customer service isn’t working anymore, it may be time to adapt to your customers’ changing expectations. Contact centers offer several benefits to help you retain customers. You can manage customer interactions across multiple channels and provide valuable insights to improve your customers’ experience with the help of a contact center that specializes in your industry. And contact centers are an affordable, scalable option for growing businesses.

If you’re ready to provide an exceptional customer experience, contact us today. We work with only the top 25 percent of contact center providers. We can help you find a contact center with agents experienced in your industry and within your budget.