Right now, companies everywhere are adopting the customer engagement and experience mindset. In fact, a recent study by Korn/Ferry International indicates that customer engagement is now the top marketing concern for 52 percent of CMOs.
Of that group, 30 percent believe that creating sustainable relationships with customers is a top concern, while 22 percent believe that providing an effective customer service experience is essential.
The numbers dont lie; there is clearly a strong desire amongst the majority of business leaders to create stronger, longer lasting relationships with customers. One place where this is especially true is in the contact center, where agents must ensure that customer satisfaction is at an all-time high. But without the proper tools in place, this is very difficult to achieve.
Here is a look at some of the essential pieces you need to add to your customer experience arsenal heading into 2014:
A reliable customer experience platform
One of the most important customer experience aspects that your contact center needs is a reliable customer experience platform and nowhere is this more important than in the cloud. A flexible cloud-based model is absolutely essential for connecting remote workers and sharing customer information amongst inter-departmental agents as they engage with customers.
Additionally, the cloud is increasingly a trusted solution for ensuring uptime and facilitating communication with customers at all times. When disaster strikes, the contact center must stay up and runningand the way to ensure this is with a cloud-based disaster recovery and business continuity plan. Just how safe is cloud-based storage? Recent research conducted by Gartner Predicts indicates that by the end of 2016 more than 50 percent of Global 1000 corporations will have stored sensitive customer information in a public cloud service.
A unified group of trained agents
Every agent in your contact center should have access to valuable customer intelligence capable of providing detailed information on previous call histories, demographic breakdowns and a complete overview of recent interactions with your company. When agents have access to the same customer information, they can act as one unit and make cohesive decisions. Call center agents need to be well-trained and ready to engage with any customer that contacts your enterprise.
Seamless workflow tools
Dealing with large amounts of customers at once requires moving back and forth between different accounts without missing a beat. Your agents must be able to manage customer interactions effectively and intuitively across all channels. This can prevent issues such as desktop overload or confusion between customers. Improve your agent workspace, and your customer experience will greatly benefit.
A mobile app
These days, customers want to connect to your contact center from smartphones and tablets. According to recent research conducted by Nuance, 72 percent of consumers have a more positive outlook about a company that provides a mobile customer service app. Further, after using a mobile app for customer service, 81 percent of customers will inform others via social media and word of mouth.
Trying to assemble these tools independently of one another can be an enormous, complicated and costly challenge for any company or organization. Learn about how your customers with Genesys can have a truly personalized and integrated self-service customer experience
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