Automation that rocks: How to excite your customers and agents

30 Nov, 2022 15:00

Many people think of automation in terms of speech computers that don't talk to you, self-service that has nothing to do with service and the rationalisation of workplaces. But listen up: Automation can be customer-friendly and service-oriented. And it can support employees instead of replacing them.

Let's make it clear right away: The aim of automation is not to empty contact centres of staff! That would not be a good idea, because this industry is already suffering from a shortage of skilled workers with over 20,000 vacancies that cannot be filled at the moment. So we are far from cutting jobs. Rather, it is about using the time of employees as efficiently as possible, to be able to use it for valuable tasks and to relieve them of monotonous routine tasks that a bot can take on instead.

Where do we start?

Those who deal with automation from these perspectives are faced with the question: Which tasks can be automated at all and for which tasks does it make sense? It is advisable to assess the current situation and, for example, to analyse the incoming calls in your service centre. Use a speech analysis tool, for instance – now you can identify the recurring questions and tasks in the recorded conversations. This way, you can see what the issues are and how often they occur.

Identify areas for improvement!

In addition, callers usually tell us much more than just their request. They start with an explanation of why they are calling in the first place, for example: "I didn't find the information on your website" or: "I didn't get an answer to my e-mail enquiry! This information is very valuable, but in the often stressful day-to-day work of a service centre, it is getting completely lost. By using speech analytics, this changes. You have the opportunity to recognise exactly these important clues, determine their frequency and subsequently react to them. Suppose that prospective customers do not find prices on the website, it is easy to supplement or optimise the website – and you reduce the call volume and also facilitate the acquisition of new customers.

Analysis offers you the opportunity to identify construction sites and ideally close them through automation – be it website optimisation, concern recognition or the telephone announcement of the opening hours of the various branches. Intelligent bots instead of a rigid IVR are perfect for pre-qualification. Voicebots and chatbots take over the answering of simple, recurring questions, such as opening hours, without complaint. This way, you offer automated services that are accessible around the clock and provide real added value.

Intelligent quality assurance

Another area of application for automated solutions such as speech analysis is quality monitoring. Optimise the conversations of your agents: Determine whether certain phrases, greetings and farewells are being used as desired. Whether too frequent pauses in speech bring the conversation to a standstill. Whether callers can present their concerns calmly or are constantly interrupted. Whether too many negative filler words reduce the sales success. And so on! You can also use such a tool to evaluate your agents neutrally, fairly and transparently.

A bot is a bot, a human remains a human

Another important possibility is partial automation through AI-supported assistance functions. For example, automatic voice authentication can simplify and shorten the verification of callers - e.g. for the use of sensitive bank or insurance data. Use AI-based solutions to relieve your employees of repetitive tasks and give them the time to take on complex, valuable work. Because employees can score points in customer dialogue with empathy, while a bot provides all the helpful information, such as current offers, information on the purchasing behaviour of a caller or even recommendations for action. Because the fact is: people are too valuable to work like bots.

Author: Thomas Döschl, VIER Sales Manager

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