Upwards of 65% of businesses are currently using cloud-based platforms and, according to a study conducted in 2014, more than 21.1% of contact centers are planning to move their business to cloud-based platforms within the next 13-18 months.

For contact centers, average handle time (AHT) is one of the most important measurable metrics.

When consumers think of contact centers, they often conjure images of large, faceless companies with agent-operated phone systems. They don’t, however, often think of small brick-and-mortar or e-commerce companies. The reason for this is that contact centers are still relatively rare among small businesses, even though they have the potential to help small businesses increase their bottom lines and produce more profits.

Compared to other businesses, contact centers face a unique set of challenges. The high-volume and often stressful environment can be difficult for employees, managers, and engineers alike and it’s easy for contact centers to fall victim to a predictable set of common problems.

In a contact center, there is nothing more important than customer service. It is both the center of the business and the foundation from which conversions and sales spring. Without good customer service, companies don’t earn positive word-of-mouth recommendations and may even lose customers. In fact, of the customers who leave a company, 68% do so because of poor customer service. With this in mind, it is clear that providing outstanding customer service is the best way for contact centers to maintain a strong customer base and to ensure that business stays on track.

One of the main challenges that contact centers face is disconnected systems. These systems are numerous and agents are required to wade through them in order to locate information, provide service, offer support, or make sales.

Contact Centers count on their agents to offer excellent customer service. To assure this is achieved at all levels, contact centers rely on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as queue time, average handle time, first call resolution, abandonment rate, etc.

Customer self-service continues to be on the list of top trends in customer service. According to Gartner Group, “By 2017, two-thirds of all customer service interactions will no longer require the support of a human intermediary.” Customer self-service is the capability for customers to complete transactions on their own. In the digital world, self-service transactions are becoming more widespread and provide significant opportunities for organizations.

In the past, sales nearly always hinged on the direct interaction between the customer and a representative of the company. Sales rep would call or visit you, and show you their line of products. They helped you understand their products and how to use them. The Sales rep explained why their products were of the best value, or the best solution to meet your particular needs.

Your company prides itself on its stellar customer service and support. But lately you’ve been having some problems. Customer satisfaction is down in certain areas. What’s the problem, and how can you fix it? It can be a difficult task, especially since customer support now occurs over so many different channels. So here are four steps to unraveling issues across those channels and getting customer satisfaction up to where it needs to be.