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I just read an article in Customer Interaction Solutions, “Five Things Customer Service Operations Need to Improve” written by Erik Linask. He explains that there are five things that in 2012 contact centers need to be thinking about. There have been many changes in the CRM industry including social media and how companies need to be thinking about these five things.

The number five thing that they need to improve on was “Escalation Coaching”. He explains that “agents simply need to understand when to escalate situations to the next level of support”. I agree that agents do not always know when to do this. That is why contact center should deploy programs that can clearly define the end of the process and allow the system to automate the next steps. This can be done via a warm transfer of the caller or simply sending the case to the proper Tier 2 agent. By using the guided process many Tier 1 agents can handle a common Tier 2 problem with confidence and ease.

Erik explained the number 4 issue as being “Appropriate Staffing”. He states that you can “develop a flexible operation…through outsourcing or using virtual contact center technology”. There are many solutions for “seasonal hiring”. In many cases having an application contain all of the necessary steps in an organized fashion call allow larger contact centers with dedicated agents to essentially shift their help from contract to contract. They would be ultimately using the same application however, only the information for that “brand” would be presented to them. This allows the larger contact centers to pull their help to adjust staffing based upon the seasonality of their business. This would dramatically reduce training time and keep your agents and customers happy.

“Agent Location” was the number 3 thing to focus on. Erik states that “Callers from the U.S., for instance, would prefer to speak to someone in Madison, Wisc. or Detroit, rather than someone overseas”. Being in the “cloud” is a great way to make this happen. Many helpdesk / ACD Telephony platforms are in the “cloud”. This allows you to have your operations anywhere. Having agents work from home can lower your overhead and keep them more satisfied with their jobs. With lower overhead costs and increased efficiency there is really no need to send your support overseas.

Issue 2, “Proper IVR Design” is especially important. Erik states “The first choice in every IVR system should be: Do you want to speak to an agent, or would you like to use our enhanced automated self-help system?” With proper IVR design you are getting the information that you need before it hits the agent or frustrates the caller. How many times have you called for support and your option is not listed however, you can’t get to an agent either? This can be very frustrating, click here to read more about the IVR options. Cost and time savings shouldn’t frustrate your customers.

Finally the number 1 wish list item, “Continuity within customer service organizations” and Erik hits the nail on the head. He sums it up with how many times in a call you are asked to repeat your information over and over again and how frustrating this is for the caller. There are easy fixes for that using virtual contact center software. Applications can allow you to gather this information once and present it to the agent as needed. These applications can do wonders for your business but as Erik states, “ technology is only as good as the people using it”.