Connecting The Customer Experience In A Highly Disconnected World
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What is the greatest pain point facing today’s customer contact teams? The answer, as revealed in the CCW Digital Market Study on the Future of the Contact Center, is fragmentation. A staggering 52% of contact center leaders say their systems and tools are too fragmented or disconnected.
The finding is doubtfully surprising. Customer contact leaders have spent decades lamenting the existence of “siloes” within their operations, and agents routinely complain about having to look at numerous screens to solve even the most basic issues. The fragmentation also trickles down to the interaction level; customers identify long wait times, incorrect routing, and repetitive questioning, all clear products of misaligned systems, as frequent sources of frustration.
The finding is, however, particularly problematic right now. The stakes of the customer experience have never been higher, and the demands of customers have never been greater. They expect brands to recognize their profiles, anticipate their needs, and provide personalized solutions no matter where or when they choose to connect. They expect this high degree of personalization without the need for any undue effort or waiting, and they are holding brands accountable with their wallets. Just shy of 60% of customers say they care more about the experience than ever when making purchasing decisions. About 66% will switch to a competitor after just one or two bad experiences.
A rapidly changing labor landscape is further exacerbating the challenge. Thanks to the COVID-driven rise of remote work, agents are more distributed – and thus more reliant on their core systems – than ever before. Staffing challenges stemming from the “Great Resignation” are prompting a newfound look at outsourcing opportunities, which creates further workforce distribution.
Connection in a Disconnected World
A distributed workforce does not, however, have to be a disconnected one. Thanks to Frontline Connect, unifying the customer contact operation to create consistent experiences across all touch points, and all agent teams, is indeed possible.
“Frontline Connect is our new platform, providing a seamless connector between an outsourced contact center, their client and their support representatives, that further empowers agents to think faster and perform better,” says Sarah Wesen. “With the use of Frontline Connect, Frontline Call Center has been able to bridge the gap between customer care and tech support, using one agent model to support both. This has positioned us to support a variety of genres that use smart technology.”
The newest chapter in Frontline’s 15-year effort to “elevate the quality, personalization, and consistency of CX,” Connect is a source of empowerment for a modern contact center that aims to help modern agents wow modern customers.
By centralizing the entire support experience, Connect minimizes the risk of agent distribution. No matter where the agent is working – at home, on-site, or in an outsourcing environment – they have access to key customer data, contact center tools, and company knowledge. Able to deliver a consistently high-quality experience to all customers, without undue hesitation, they ensure literal separation does not manifest as figurative fractures in the customer experience.
Unifying different aspects of the support operation, meanwhile, brings to fruition the idea of a singular experience. Instead of coming across as distinct functions with their own tone, focuses like technical support, customer relations, account management, and customer feedback functions can all fall under one proverbial roof. No longer will customers be exposed to, let alone affected by, the bureaucratic red tape within your organization. They will simply ask their question and get their personalized answer, immediately.
Support for omnichannel engagement, moreover, eliminates the notorious friction that arises when customers move from touch point to touch point. Thanks to Connect, conversations that begin in a messaging environment can seamlessly escalate to the phone without any unnecessary repetition or waiting. Depending on the operation’s channel strategy, the customer can even stay connected to the same agent!
“Between guided paths, integrated process and case history the support experience remains consistent from start to finish regardless of the communication channel,” offers Wesen. “It was originally an internal tool to help agents in our blended support environment. It’s success has led us to release it publicly as a platform for others to use as well.”
Supporting the Contact Center of the Future
Not simply a way to bridge existing operational gaps, Connect opens the door to more agile, futuristic contact center models. With confidence that all knowledge, data, case histories, tools, and processes are centralized, companies can tap into the “gig work” community without worrying about steep learning curves or drop-offs in quality. Agents, even those with limited exposure to the brand, will have what they need to perform key tasks.
Companies can also be more nimble with their outsourcing efforts, aware that their partners will be able to quickly connect to existing systems and begin supporting customers. This empowers companies to find the right partner for their current and future needs, as opposed to sticking with an existing partner solely out of history and familiarity.
Indeed, companies that are confident in the foundation of their contact center and the accessibility of their insights and tools know longer have to stress over whether agents will know what to do or say. They can instead focus on cultivating talent that can use the data and knowledge to create the strongest possible connections with customers. Human agents transform from script-reading robots into empathetic ambassadors for the business.
Frontline has long filled that need as well, building agent teams and engagement models that are uniquely suitable for their clients. Whether to extend service operations, handle certain functions or channels, or simply offer welcome specialization, Frontline’s agents have the tools, training, and experiential support to prove highly capable – and immensely valuable.
As Frontline’s ultimate goal is to empower companies to deliver exceptional experiences, the organization also helps brands elevate their contact center environment. The company, for example, provides implementation services as a certified NICE CXone partner.
