Enhancing a company’s customer experience can start at its nerve center, otherwise known as the contact center.
Marketers should look no further than their respective contact centers to find ways to augment the overall customer experience. Since contact center agents deal with customers throughout the entirety of their work schedules, it only seems logical for companies to start there to shape the nature of their overall customer experiences.
Research firm Frost & Sullivan contends that the transformation of the contact center into a customer experience center is imperative because it is “a critical conduit by which the company can grow the business, retain customers, and protect the brand.”
Contact center agents represent “the ‘tip of the spear’ in establishing and maintaining an emotional connection with customers,” according to Frost & Sullivan’s research.
The goal of the contact/customer experience center is ultimately to “create and maintain profitable and long-lasting customer relationships,” the research says.
“One of a company’s primary goals is to create a ‘loyal’ customer who engages in profitable behavior for an extended period of time,” according to the research.
Frost & Sullivan published an executive brief for contact center executives, managers, and decision-makers in which it “discusses industry trends, business benefits and the value proposition for transforming your contact center into a customer experience center.”
The executive brief includes Frost & Sullivan’s most recent contact center trend data and enterprise considerations for complete customer experience management.
“The most evident challenge in call centers today is one of complexity—complex products and services, intricate systems interfaces, and a dizzying array of measurements and key performance indicators (KPIs) to meet,” the research says. “It is important to keep track of customer interactions across all touch points. This includes churn data and determining why customers leave.”
According to the research, it recommends measuring product innovation, speed of delivery, customer service, and other factors that have the greatest appeal to customers and their propensity to remain loyal.
“Consider utilizing a combination of after-call surveys, first-call resolution measurements and net promoter scores,” the research says.
Why should a contact center become a customer experience center?
“The customer’s perception of the brand is about every single interaction they have—from sales and service, billing, advertising and the day-to-day use of the product or service,” the research says. “In order to be successful, customer experiences need to be carefully designed and thoughtfully planned. This is the only way to ensure that an excellent and consistent customer experience is delivered every time.”