With customer experience (CX) as the new brand differentiator, the contact center has become the pivotal battleground for customer loyalty and long-term financial success for organizations of all sizes.
Forrester Research found that a company’s revenue can increase significantly when its CX index score rises. According to the research, even a 10-percentage-point improvement in a company’s CX -- across industries -- can translate into more than $1 million.
On the other hand, CX missteps made amid rising customer expectations means risking damage to a company’s reputation and bottom line. As many organizations learn that reality the hard way, it leaves those that are getting it right at a clear advantage. With that in mind, below are three common CX pitfalls and how to navigate around them.
MISTAKE ONE: Failing to Connect Contact Center and CX Metrics
Be cautious in what you measure and the downstream impact on other parts of the business. For example, metrics like average handle time (AHT) are an important component of contact center productivity, but it could become problematic if not considered with an eye toward CX. For example, if your first contact resolution (FCR) metric declines in line with AHT, the CX effect is a net negative. Rather than track contact center efficiency and customer satisfaction separately, consider them one in the same. DMG Consulting recommends identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that measure activities such as customer effort, customer satisfaction, revenue (sales and collections) agent effectiveness and engagement, and agent productivity.
MISTAKE TWO: Going Multichannel Instead of Omnichannel
Today’s consumer expects to interact with brands seamlessly across multiple channels, including web chat, click-to-call, SMS, and social messaging. However, according to recent Nemertes Research, fewer than half of the organizations it studied support these channels. In the rush to connect across multiple channels, many organizations aren’t integrating interactions into a seamless, omnichannel experience. The result is frustration for customers when agents lack the necessary information and context to effectively and efficiently deliver optimal service and ultimate resolution.
MISTAKE THREE: Over-complicating the Agent Experience
How are you enabling your contact center agents to handle the proliferation of channels? How many screens or systems do they need to access to assist a typical customer? If your agents are struggling with multiple systems that don’t connect, the effect on CX is negative -- and lasting. For your customers, disparate systems mean inconsistent experience, and Forrester Research shows this leads to higher operating costs and lower customer satisfaction. A commitment to the customer experience includes a commitment to the agent experience. A smart option for empowering the agent with the ability to resolve customer issues is to embed your contact center solution directly with the agent’s CRM interface to connect all customer interaction data. Fewer clicks to access a comprehensive view of the customer delivers a better experience to all.
Avoiding these three pitfalls will position your contact center agents to better deliver the kind of CX that differentiates your brand in all the right ways.
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Click here to read “3 Customer Experience Mistakes You’ll Never Make Again” in its entirety.
