Consumers have not forgotten about the importance of the human connection in customer service. Despite the fact that multi-channel methods, including chatbots, have grown in popularity as a means of answering consumer questions, new research says the need for more interpersonal communications remains a major component of the customer experience.
Amdocs, a multinational corporation that focuses on software and services for communications, found in its recent study that while digitalization has certainly become a focal point in customer service, physical agents who are highly skilled and have the tools they need to assist consumers are the real key to excellent customer service for nearly 85% of consumers.
According to Amdocs, “agents themselves, however, are often too overwhelmed to provide the ‘wow’ moments that today’s savvy, demanding, empowered consumer expects. They say they are being held back by challenges including the growing number of services offered (73%), the need to possess knowledge across multiple products, platforms and technologies (62%) and the increase in customer interactions (51%).”
Given the importance of such highly skilled agents, it’s becoming more apparent the value of outsourcing your customer service needs to a contact center that puts a priority on agent training.
Outsourcing Advantages
One of the keys to quality customer experiences is the education and training of the agents. Too many on-premise contact centers fail at properly training their agents. They often struggle to even identify the right person for this type of work, which means what training they do have can be less effective if the agent doesn’t have the skills or aptitude to effectively communicate with customers. When you outsource to a professional, they know what to look for in an agent and they have the right education programs in place to ensure they’re able to field all types of questions from consumers.
When you outsource your customer service to a qualified contact center, you’re also able to be more flexible. For example, when introducing a new service or product line, the agents are put through a training program that familiarizes them with the new offering and gives them the information they need to know when the product or service hits the market and customers begin calling in with questions.
The Nearshore Experience
At Protel BPO, we not only adhere to comprehensive training programs, so our clients get the highest quality customer experiences, we also have incentives in place that prove to our agents how much they mean to us. Our employees often comment about how happy they are to work in our Belizean-based, nearshore contact center and it shows in our employee retention numbers and ultimately, customer approval ratings. Find out more about how we approach providing an excellent customer experience by contacting us today.