The customer experience is a core concern for call centers and one that is becoming increasingly challenging as businesses must navigate a changing landscape, including demand for support across mobile, social media, and other channels. Call Center IQ, an online industry resource for call center and customer experience professionals, recently released its 2015 Executive Report on the Customer Experience, providing insight into the goals and driving factors that come into play when designing the customer experience.First up is the good news that call centers do care about their customers. The majority of the respondents to Call Center IQ’s survey, 77%, believe that the goal of the customer experience is to drive customer satisfaction, loyalty, or advocacy. In contrast, just 17% cite driving revenue, profit, or cost reduction as the central objective. This view is also found among C-level executives, with 58% of respondents stating that their executive teams identify satisfaction, loyalty, or advocacy as the primary goal.
So this gives us a look into what the majority of call centers see as the main objective in designing the customer experience, but how do they go about achieving it? The three most common strategies for call centers looking to provide a high level of customer care are to build long-term relationships with customers, achieve first contact resolution, and deliver personalized engagement. Accuracy is the most important element to driving a great customer experience, according to the businesses surveyed.
Call centers are also recognizing the need for omni-channel coverage and moving away from working in an individual silo. Sixty-three percent of businesses not currently offering mobile support and 53% not offering social media support plan to start doing so in the next 18 months. When it comes to moving out of the silo, 75% of businesses aim to work more with internal departments and stakeholders to design the customer experience. Additionally, 53% are seeking external partnerships for the same purpose.
While there are challenges in crafting a customer experience that meets the primary objectives of satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy, call centers are seeking new ways to reach this goal. If you are interested in reading more, the full report is available at Call Center IQ’s website.
