5 MIN. READ
In today’s business landscape, “customer-centricity” has become so important that organizations coordinate their efforts and adapt all customer contact points to implement a customer-centric culture in every step of the client journey.
Long-term growth and success depend largely on customer loyalty and satisfaction. The Customers 2020 Report predicts that customer experience will overtake product and prices as the key brand differentiator by 2020.
Coupled with evolving customer service complexities and expectations, customer service has become a top priority for brands worldwide. As such, forward-thinking businesses are taking a customer-first approach to call center operations and readjusting processes and procedures to deliver even more strategic value.
The growing importance of ‘customer-centricity’
Research carried out by Deloitte and Touche found that customer-centric organizations were 60% more profitable than their competitors, while a Forrester study shows that 72% of customer-centric businesses have made improving customer experience a top priority.
Both Zappos and Amazon are prime examples of brands that have spent years building a culture around their customers’ needs by emphasizing a customer-centric culture in all their contact point.
In today’s business landscape, “customer-centricity” has become so important that tech giants like Oracle have created new roles like that of CCO (Chief Customer Officer) to deliver amazing customer experience across all touch points consistently.
Such organizations are coordinating and adapting all customer contact points to deliver strategic value and meet evolving customer expectations.
Building a customer-centric culture through improved call center operations
Building a customer-centric culture involves identifying what customers want and creating conversations as well as products/services to fulfill their wants, needs and requirements. A key part of implementing a customer-first culture revolves around improved contact center operations.
Driven by the desire to reduce costs, raise customer satisfaction scores and deliver better-personalized customer experiences to a growing digital consumer base, savvy brands are looking for ways to improve their call center service.
Leveraging technology to improve customer call experience
In particular, customer-centric online retailers have begun investing in customer-facing technology solutions to improve the customer call experience. These solutions, which are redefining the way brands interact with customers, include chatbots, AI-driven robots, RPA (robotic process automation) and functionalities such as self-service capabilities in IVR (interactive voice response) systems.
The widespread adoption of chatbots and AI
Amazon is one of the brands that have done an excellent job and are showing the world how bots and AI can be applied in customer service without sacrificing customer satisfaction. Today, 25% of companies with customer-facing sites are deploying bots to handle simple, low-level questions, and using higher-skilled workers to address more involved contacts (and try to upsell while they are at it).
Another company created an omnichannel experience that merges online and customer data so call center agents can access info on the customer’s browsing history and experience with the firm. The effect reportedly raised customer satisfaction scores by 7%. To achieve these results, brands must leverage the right mix of technology and processes.
Although a Deloitte survey indicates that phone calls are expected to account for only 47% of contacts, 93% of executives surveyed at consumer and industrial product firms expect contact volume to remain the same or grow.
This reflects the growing use of bots and AI. In Amazon’s help experience, chat has become the first option for customers hunting for help while call center personnel handles more involved issues. Done correctly, this will drastically reduce the volume of calls coming through your call center, freeing up personnel to deliver more personalized service to customers with more complex issues.
To stay ahead of the competition, improve customer satisfaction scores and ensure customer loyalty, online retailers must take proactive steps to deliver better contact center service by emphasizing a customer-centric culture across all touchpoints.
By leveraging customer-facing technology (especially bots and AI) in their workflows, call centers can increase revenue, reduce costs and deliver an awesome customer experience.
You can learn more about how to use technology to enhance your customers’ experiences by scheduling a consultation with Call Center Power. We can help. Call us now at 1-888-650-5880.
