You must have heard the well-established aphorism “Numbers don’t lie.” If you are a contact center manager or supervisor, it is time to shrug off your indifference to data. Even if you have not realized it, it is actually doing more harm than good to your business.
A modern contact center, thanks to improved backup and archival capabilities, collects vast amounts of data. But many are skeptical to use proper analytical tools to understand the impact of these numbers and data on their business because of the humongous data volume. But this means that you are losing out on golden opportunities to expand your business.
Be it big data or small data, the effect can no longer be ignored in today’s competitive business environment. Data increases productivity in every sphere of a business and drives sales. It is what helps the contact center to improve customer experience by personalizing the offers and ironing out the creases from customer engagements.
Data mining or analysis can help you to generate instantaneous leads and then use them to target your business proposals to the appropriate customers. As the proposals are based on the demographic, psychographic and behavioral data of the specific prospect in question, the chances of conversion increase a lot. Although buying is a decision that is more psychological than practical and often there is cognitive dissonance which makes it impossible to predict 100% accurately how a prospect would act in a particular instance, it is also undeniable that by studying the character and habits of an individual, a deeper insight can be gained into their mind.
Customers today want more choices and options. But any and every choice won’t work. They want such options that match their profile, suit their personality and satisfy their needs. This is only possible through greater accumulation and analysis of personal data gleaned from every single touch point. The data should then be sorted and stored in an organized manner so that it can be retrieved easily for future studies. This will also boost cross-department synergy.
Growing importance of data in the changing market landscape
Although most contact centers around the world are still voice-based, the inclination of the new generation towards digital channels is also palpable. They want speed. They want personalization. They want to be empowered. These are the factors that would improve customer satisfaction levels and propel growth.
How can you bring omni-channel experience to your customers? Data is the key. A customer today interacts with a contact center through multiple platforms. Data and numbers would give you a cue about the preference of the customer. The customer may prefer certain channels for certain kinds of interactions. Customers also want the flexibility to access multiple channels when looking for a solution to a single problem without having to explain the needs and the history every time there is a change of the channel.
Data mining will not only give your agents all the information about the client collected from past interactions but also help the ACD/ dialer and other predictive technologies at employment, to route the query of the prospect to the most suitable person under the circumstance. This is how the client will get a quicker remission and the handling time of the call will also be minimized.
Train your agents better
Collecting huge quantities of data from customers play another major role in a contact center. Using the data, a contact center can train its agents in the latest best practices and trends. Since the information stored in the call center systems give a very clinical and precise reading of a customer’s mindset, the agents can understand what are their likes and dislikes. The sales pitches and other offers can also be optimized for the best possible results.
Big data can help you to find a pattern even in cognitive dissonance of a customer. Sometimes even the customer is unaware of what really pushes them towards certain preferences or decisions. But if you can find a way to the innermost layers of a customer’s mind, you can get a lot of data that will prove to be absolutely critical in personalizing interactions with the said customer.
Understand the market trends
Data science is a powerful subject. It helps you to understand the latest market trends. By studying the transformations and trends, you can also prepare a predictive model so that your decisions can factor in the variables and prepare for any change. You can also successfully negotiate the threats to your business and take full advantage of the emerging opportunities.
CRM
Customer relationship management is at the heart of a contact center. Collecting relevant data can improve customer experience and prolong customer lifecycle. Any usability study suggests that success depends on properly leveraging data to provide effective solution to the customer at the earliest. And without a proper CRM database, that would be quite impossible.
Optimizing data collection and leverage is of paramount importance if you are looking to improve the performance indicators of your call center. This will help you to take better informed business decisions and also reduce wastage of critical resources. That is how you can create a strong and loyal customer base and also drive success.
