The business landscape has undeniably shifted towards a greater emphasis on customer experience and satisfaction. While quality goods and services are still paramount, it’s begun to appear as though many customers would opt for slightly fewer products as long as they’re paired with world-class treatment. Plus, with the increased focus on convenience in the digital era, customer demands are growing, as well. That’s why it’s important to ensure your customer service department and call center are at the peak of their performance.
A notable shift
Picture the quintessential call center. What do you see? Chances are, you’re imagining row after row of cubicles, representatives outfitted with thin headsets, and desktop units. A few years ago, you might not have been too far off. However, the customer service industry has changed fairly radically, and more and more companies are making the move away from locationally-specific call centers altogether. With a handful of key technological innovations, the picture perfect call center of the past has all but disappeared. Instead, companies like Bright Pattern have offered businesses of all sizes an enticing alternative in the form of distributed cloud call center capabilities.
Instead of devoting physical space to a traditional call bank and investing in frequent hardware upgrades, many businesses are looking towards these distributed models due to their convenience and their numerous benefits. Due to the growth of cloud-based applications and in response to some of the primary complaints about the customer service career path, more and more businesses are relying on remote work to boost morale, reduce turnover, and decrease overhead costs.
Benefits of call center software
The top benefit of call center software is fairly obvious: Cost reduction. Instead of supplying each representative with software and maintaining a space large enough to house your customer service department, a distributed model cuts costs by allowing representatives to use their own hardware. The remote working component means that, as long as they’re available during your business hours, they can work from nearly anywhere in the world. All call representatives need is phone service and an internet connection. You save on leasing expenses as well as regular hardware upgrades and simply have to provide access to the software.
The notion of greater freedom for customer service representatives leads directly into the next point. Customer service sees some of the highest levels of turnover in any industry. Attracting top talent is hard enough, let alone retaining that talent. Incentives like remote work make customer service much more appealing. For representatives, this means no commute time, locational freedom, and less overall micromanagement. This can greatly boost morale and keep your top representatives with your company.
Avoiding turnover is key as the more time and money spent investing in team members who ultimately resign shortly into their tenure can disrupt your business’s flow and reduce the efficiency of your call center as a whole. This frequently leads to increased customer complaints, lowered representative performance, and morale dips. While call center software doesn’t immediately remedy all of these, it still goes a long way toward increased satisfaction for all parties involved.
A better call center
Don’t let your customer service efforts fall behind those of your competitors. If you want to become a top business in your field, you need to offer greater levels of customer care. More often than not, this starts directly with your call center. Look into software options and choose a provider that can offer guidance when it comes to restructuring your call center. It’s a great first step towards asserting yourself as the best of the best.
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