With the advent of the Internet age, the way companies interact with their consumers has undergone significant change. However, despite this, phone calls remain one of the primary ways for organizations to communicate with their clients and the most important channel of contact between them. It is the quality of customer support that determines how a business will be seen by its clients, so businesses are willing to invest in the right tools, and one such tool is the cloud call center software.
Therefore all savvy business owners are thinking about cutting costs while maintaining or increasing profit margins without sacrificing customer service quality.
How to achieve call center cost reduction without sacrificing quality?
Call centers, client service, technical assistance, and orders-taken service departments need a significant monthly budget. However, these costs can be reduced.
Choose the right way to implement a call center solution
Call centers use either on-premise or cloud systems to provide an interface for agents processing incoming and outgoing calls. The main difference between these two kinds of contact center software solutions is the type of hardware they need.
In the case of an on-premise contact center, you need to invest in the necessary infrastructure, software, and IT staff to maintain it, troubleshoot problems, and update the whole system. Only after all these things are implemented are you entitled to expect a decent customer experience.
The upfront cost of deploying, changing, and maintaining on-premises software is constantly rising, and there is a perception that on-premises systems are an expensive option these days.
A cloud contact center software solution allows you to implement the entire system with no costly maintenance requirements. In the cloud, the entire infrastructure is already deployed, and the call center provider’s top-notch technicians constantly maintain the system by fixing and updating it online so that your call center managers don’t have to worry about complicated technology and can use all benefits of contact center solution to accomplish their business goals.
No extra staff to update, maintain or troubleshoot your telephony problems. It’s everything small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) need for exceptional customer service and boosted revenue.
Did you know that cloud solutions provide better business continuity than on-premises solutions?
It’s how innovation has impacted the industry, giving it compelling benefits.
Enhance First Call Resolution
A good indicator of successful performance is the metric called First Call Resolution (FCR). It measures how well an agent resolves calls from customers on their first attempt. Remember that the first call is the source of the initial experience, which cannot be modified later.
If your agents get all the required information in advance to handle customer requests, they can easily solve issues from the first contact. So the results will be positive:
- Maximization of agent efficiency;
- Better customer retention;
- Increased customer satisfaction.
Anticipate customer needs
Knowing your customers’ needs is vital not just before launching a new product or service but also throughout the year. Surveys can help you get an idea of what they need and how you can improve your business. You can either do traditional surveys where people fill out forms online or conduct phone interviews. Depending on what kind of data you are trying to collect, each method may work better for you. For example, if you need to understand what customers think about certain aspects of your business, then you might find it easier to ask questions via email. On the other hand, if you want to learn about customers’ buying habits, then you could call them and ask if they would mind answering some questions. Some companies hire research firms to conduct surveys for them. These firms often charge an unaffordable price, so it is worth considering whether you can afford to pay someone else to answer your questions.
Provide SMS alerts
You can save money by using multiple types of notifications via various platforms (e.g., Instagram, Facebook Messenger) and push. However, it may be more efficient to use less expensive options first before switching to more expensive ones. If you cannot reach them, it might be best to send an SMS message instead.
Introduce skill-based routing
The constant transfer of the caller from one agent to another, making him repeat his name and the reason for the call and not offering the necessary support, is the quickest way to reduce customer satisfaction. This annoying process can be prevented by this kind of routing, namely:
- guarantees that callers are routed to the most appropriate specialist to handle their problems from the start;
- route calls based on sophisticated algorithms that take into consideration such factors as the customer location, previous contact history, the phone number dialed, and other info;
- links the client to an operator in accordance with the agent’s skills, priority, or language.
Therefore, skill-based routing directs callers to agents most qualified for their needs, resulting in increased customer satisfaction, shorter call-handling times, and a cheaper cost per call.
Use the advantage of self-service options
Cutting the call volume is an excellent method of reducing call costs. Enforcing a self-servicing IVR menu for routine, repetitive inquiries reduces your telephony costs by allowing your agents to spend more time on more complex calls and, therefore, decreasing the cost per call.
How can you accomplish this without reducing the quality of service? Empowering your clients with self-service options, such as a knowledge base on your website, an IVR system for self-service, e-books, etc., will greatly reduce the incoming call volume without sacrificing the quality of service.
Decrease agent attrition
If you analyze the situation, it is possible to determine the optimal size for the staff. Secondly, if the business expands and, accordingly, incoming calls grow, the section dealing with phone calls can move to another location.
To retain good call center employees, you must understand why people leave. You should know what motivates them so that you can provide that satisfaction to others. Motivate your staff to stay by providing incentives such as bonuses, promotions, raises, and better benefits. Employees who feel valued will not only work harder but also perform better. In addition, encourage teamwork among your call center employees. They will appreciate working together towards a common goal. Lastly, you must recognize those individuals who do exceptional jobs and fuel the growth of your business. Make sure these people receive recognition and rewards.
Ensure effective scheduling
Better scheduling and adherence can dramatically reduce staffing costs and, consequently, contact center costs. These essential suggestions include implementing a workforce management system, informing agents about adherence levels, and rewarding workers. Using these tactics to boost productivity and usability will also result in significant reductions in call expenses.
Invest in regular agent training and coaching
The perfect way to reduce the cost of a call and boost customer satisfaction is to ensure that professionals have the information, training, and assets they need to respond adequately to customer needs. You can achieve this by carefully selecting candidates and providing reliable onboarding and training specific to their performance. Your efforts to build a highly skilled team of agents will improve FCR, decrease the processing time and improve customer service, thus reducing the number of repetitive calls for an identical problem.
Apply the call monitoring process
Cloud-based call center software provides the ability to use monitoring features such as call recording, agent prompts, call barging, and whispering.
The QA team at the call center should participate in up-to-minute call monitoring to pinpoint typical customer service issues. The QA team should be focused on helping the business enhance customer experience, improve communication processes, and inspire employees to collaborate to achieve business goals.
Call center managers can use call monitoring to provide constructive feedback to agents, assisting them in improving overall call quality and optimizing call processing times. A qualified agent will not excessively delay calls or constantly keep the customer waiting. This will result in greater efficiency and decrease cost per call in the call center.
Hire remote agents
Hiring remote agents to staff your call center or collaborating with an outsourcing call center to process call flow can greatly reduce staffing and infrastructure costs. You have the option to employ remote call center teams for peak seasons, outsource some call center operations to another external call center, and allow some employees to work remotely. All of the above will seriously diminish your operational costs and the cost per call without compromising service quality.
Bottom line
To maximize the impact of the call center, you should keep call center costs as flat as possible while ensuring that it persists in providing amazing customer service. The balance between performance and efficiency will be crucial here. By following the tips above, you can transform your call center into a profit center!
