Modernizing Call Centers for Omni-Channel Commerce
Customer call center applications are in need of modernization as customers increasingly expect an omni-channel experience at all points in their journey. Call center applications have traditionally been siloed and are often one-dimensional. Sometimes they are completely disconnected from the digital commerce ecosystem, forcing Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) to navigate across multiple platforms just to do their job. This makes it difficult to support use cases where customers may be calling with a store specific question, a web support question or general feedback about a previous purchase experience, worsening the experience for an already-frustrated customer. As a result, executives continue to hear a similar refrain from their teams: wait times for the call center are long, wait times in stores are long because associates are busy answering phones, and overall customer satisfaction scores (CSAT) continue to decrease.
To improve CSAT and enable a true omni-channel experience, key call center capabilities must be implemented. This begins with inbound call tools (e.g. customer phone number capture) and continue on to downstream functionality such as traffic routing and integration with CRM tools. The CRM capabilities should enable CSRs to identify customers by phone number and recall their previous interactions, along with order history. Once the customer’s information has been reviewed, the focus then shifts to commerce capabilities to address the customer’s transactional needs.
To facilitate the commerce experience effectively the call center application must possess the same capabilities that a customer has on the website they are shopping and the advanced functions that a Sales Associate may have in-store. We have found that the best way to accomplish this is to tightly couple call center capabilities to an existing commerce platform. In many instances the commerce platform can be enhanced to include business logic that delivers a true omni-channel experience in the call center without the need for new technologies or internal skill sets.
As our clients have embarked on this call center modernization journey we’ve seen them unlock capabilities that have led to major experience improvements in numerous uses cases that fall into a few categories:
Traditional Web Support: The most common use case for call centers is when customers are attempting to self-service online, but need additional help. With a call center application that closely resembles the web commerce experience and the ability to use customer phone number to seamlessly look at customer history, CSRs are able to help customers quickly and without having to navigate across multiple systems.
Physical Retail Locations: A customer may look up a store directly via a web search or via map applications on a personal device and attempt to call the store directly. Rather than disrupting in-store associates, a call center can be leveraged to support the stores remotely by having mirrored capabilities with the in-store Point of Sale (POS). Along with inbound calling systems that can identify and route calls placed to individual stores, we are able to drive a store focused experience on the call center with specific inventory, scheduling and store operations support available.
Emerging Omni-Channel Experiences: A customer may place a web order for in-store pick up and then attempt to call the store for details about their order status, to make changes or even to modify a pickup time. With an integrated omni-channel commerce experience the call centers are able to interact with orders placed through web to be fulfilled in other channels, including supporting requests traditionally fielded by store associates. Even text and chat support specialists are able to leverage the omni-channel commerce capabilities without needing an inbound phone call to trigger the call center experience.
As customer expectations have turned to self-service and web enablement for more complex use cases, we find that customers at times may still pick up the phone or send a quick chat to complete the last leg of their self-guided experience. A robust call center can help bridge this final gap and enable a true omni-channel experience for customers and CSRs, improving customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.