The emergence of new digital consumer trends and technologies are changing the playing field for contact centres today. On the technology side, the rise of empowered machines means that by the end of the year, up to 10% of purchase decisions will be influenced by intelligent agents. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit, 75% of executives have also confirmed that AI will be “actively implemented” in their companies within the next three years.
The customer side is also evolving, with customers wanting answers faster than ever and expecting companies to know who they are and be on hand to help anytime, anywhere. This includes being fully present across all their favourite messaging channels, with 70% of consumers saying they prefer this form of contact over calling for customer support.
This new environment has created an opportunity for companies to differentiate themselves by transforming their contact centres to level up their CX programs. Many companies have already begun to realise the potential rewards of doing so, with interaction technologies such as Global Web Real Time Communication (WebRTC) reaching 75.95% penetration as of January 2018.
The Future of the Contact Centre Conference, held on 22nd February in London, examined the new opportunities that are emerging for contact centres and explore the plethora of technologies that are driving these forward. With advancements like unified omnichannel communications and chatbots, a forward-looking digital strategy is key for any business that wants to remain competitive today.
Take control and map your journey
Improving the customer experience is an enterprise wide sustained effort and many companies fail to realise this. So first and foremost, businesses need to adopt the right mentality and approach. To truly harness the benefits that new technologies provide, it is paramount for businesses to first take complete control in aligning their internal processes with their optimum customer journey. Failing to do so will lead to inconsistencies that reflect poorly on the brand. Much too often we see companies falling into the digital waste land, where digital customer interaction channels are not properly integrated into customer processes or the back-end systems that ultimately fulfil the customer promise.
This first stage is also where companies need to ensure that they map out a positive customer journey while having a beneficial impact on the business process side. Providing cross-channel chat based messaging for first contact resolution is a great way to achieve this. Firstly, this increases agent productivity, allowing them to manage multiple chat conversations simultaneously. As a result, more customer enquiries can be completed faster. Secondly, this reduces inbound voice calls at peak and off-peak times by providing alternative channels to voice. Thirdly, this can reduce operational costs by answering enquiries over cheaper communications channels; SMS chat sessions are up to 75% cheaper than voice calls.
Gresham House Strategic PLC (LON:GHS) has a 42.1% ownership of IMImobile PLC, correct as of 31 January 2018 month end NAV announcement, released 1 February 2018
