There are always new trends in the contact center.
New tech, new strategies and – of course – plenty of ways to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
Today, we’re going to look at thought-provoking contact center statistics in 6 areas of service.
In this post:
- Best practice for contact center service
- Managing outbound service and sales
- Shrinking IVR and hold time
- Getting to grips with self-service
- Managing a contact center (like a boss)
- Expanding customer loyalty
Best practice for contact center service
There’s a lot to think about in contact center best practice. A growing range of cloud tools means increasingly sophisticated services are open to any business.
Think blended service, custom call routing, automated outbound and more.
#1 Hurry up and answer the phone!
The average speed of answer (ASA) is 15 seconds better in blended contact centers than in those with dedicated inbound and outbound teams. (Source)
#2 Help agents to help customers
86% of agents feel that they don’t have the resources or the authority to deal with customers effectively. (Source)
#3 Get it right, first time
20-30% of call volume is about previously unresolved issues. (Source)
#4 Get customer data to your agents
60% of failed attempts at First Contact Resolution (FCR) are due to an agent’s inability to access the right data. (Source)
#5 Consistency above all
One-third of customers say that the ability to follow up with the same person is a key element of great customer service. (Source)
Managing outbound service and sales
The gaps between service, sales and marketing are closing up. Plenty of businesses are interested in a more holistic approach, with the contact center at its heart.
These contact center statistics show how tools – and strategies – which can meet a flexible range of demands are vital.
#6 Take the service to the people
87% of consumers want proactive customer service from the companies they buy from. (Source )
#7 And how does that make you feel?
Almost three-quarters of customers who receive proactive service feel a positive change in their perception of the brand. Source
#8 Sell, sell, sell (and serve…)
Organizations with tightly aligned sales and marketing teams have 38% higher sales win rates. (Source)
#9 The early bird gets the worm
Between one-third and one-half of sales go to whichever vendor responds first. (Source)
#10 Good relationships, good sales!
Nurtured leads make purchases worth almost 50% more than non-nurtured leads. (Source)
Shrinking IVR and hold time
IVR can be both a strength and weakness for contact centers.
There definitely save a ton of money for businesses… but what about CX?
Well – modern, conversational AI systems *may* be the solution here. Most consumers are familiar with systems like Amazon’s Alexa so conversational systems are nothing new to them.
As for hold time… there are clear ways to improve the hold experience!
(What if hold time *didn’t* wreck your CX? Read all about a better kind of IVR.)
#11 Don’t make me wait!
Over 70% of customers get ‘extremely frustrated’ waiting on hold. (Source)
#12 Virtual queuing is the best option
75% of customers find the idea of a callback (aka virtual queuing) ‘highly appealing’. (Source)
#13 I already tried your website!
Customers most dread hearing: ‘We’re sorry to keep you waiting. Did you know you can find a range of answers on our website?’
They’re most interested in hearing a regular, specific update about how long they will be on hold. (Source)
#14 Forget this, I’m out of here!
Abandoned calls are a huge problem. One-quarter of customers hang up after five minutes. (Source)
#15 Traditional IVRs are *not* much loved
How do callers feel about IVR? Not great – and that’s why conversational AI is rapidly overtaking IVR as the solution of choice.
(Source)
Getting to grips with self-service
There’s no doubt that self-service is a winning strategy; customers love it (when it’s done well) and it saves huge amounts of money.
There are still big questions about how to integrate self-service as a channel though.
Don’t just think of self-service as a way of dodging customers!
#16 Just let me do it myself please!
Almost three-quarters of customers think they should have the ability to solve their own product or service issues. (Source)
#17 Trust in people’s common sense!
65% of consumers feel good about themselves when they successfully use self-service. Source
#18 Set-up and forget? Never!
One-fifth of contact centers have never made changes to their self-service system! (Source)
#19 Dead-ends are always a bad idea
66% of contact centers don’t provide any option for customers to move between self-service and an agent. (Source)
#20 Businesses are focused on self-service
Improved self-service is among the top three priorities for businesses that want to compete on CX. (Source)
How to manage your contact center (like a *boss*)
What do contact centers really want? No surprises really – it’s more contact center automation, fewer calls and a lot more control over how they work.
Number 24 really jumps out as a concern – still, few contact centers design their own processes.
We tend to think they’re the best people for the job!
#21 Too many calls make life hard
Well over half of customer care executives consider call reduction their top priority. (Source)
#22 Connecting systems is a huge problem
What’s the single biggest challenge contact centers face to getting the most out of strategic investments? It’s ‘integration with existing systems’. (Source)
#23 Do you have rose-tinted glasses on?
80% of businesses say they deliver ‘superior’ customer service. 8% of customers agree. (Source)
#24 Who actually design customer services?
Under one-quarter of contact centers enjoy full design collaboration for their own processes. (Source)
#25 What prevents contact centers from running efficiently?
(Source)
Expanding customer loyalty
Practically nothing is more valuable than the loyalty of your customers. In fact, 2021 should be your year of customer loyalty (and retention…)
The things customers value aren’t complicated either; a little personal service goes a long way.
And personalization is nowhere near as challenging as it used to be!
#26 Loyalty pays dividends
Loyal customers spend 67% more than new customers. (Source)
#27 Customer acquisition costs are too high!
Acquiring new customers costs 5-10 times more than selling to existing ones. (Source)
#28 Personalization is the new normal
One-third of customers who abandoned a business relationship in the last year did so because personalization was lacking. (Source)
#29 Like your customers? Prove it
48% of customers expect specialized treatment for being good customers. (Source)
#30 Young customers are the most loyal
Millennial customers are some of the most loyal. Once they find brands they like, 80% will stay long-term. (Source)
And finally…
#31 CX is the most important thing you can improve today
Practically everyone – 96% of customers – says customer service plays a leading role in their choice of (and loyalty to) brands. (Source)
This fact says something very important: the contact center’s main output is customer loyalty.
It’s not about fire-fighting. Actually, the contact center is how your business shows its dedication to customers.
That dedication means speed, accuracy and consistency. Those are three results which are best achieved with automation.