Why Your Call Center is Only Getting Noisier (mckinsey.com)

From a report by research firm McKinsey & Company: Organizations have been investing in all manner of customer-facing technology solutions to replace live calls. Of all operational call-center technologies, digital solutions were ranked as one of the most important over the next five years by four out of five executives. Only agent desktop tools ranked higher. These technologies begin with websites, chat bots, and apps and extend to artificial-intelligence robots that simulate human conversations -- redefining the way organizations interact with customers -- as well as more tried-and-tested functionalities such as improved web, app, or self-service capabilities in interactive voice-response (IVR) systems. And yet, despite this plethora of technology solutions, we see that calls are not going away and instead are catching call-center executives off guard in their efforts to reduce volumes. It's not that a spike in call volumes is necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, the proliferation of digital tools can awaken previously dormant customers, sparking new inquiries from an engaged customer base. But in many instances, we've also observed that the volumes of unwanted calls exceed what would be expected during a learning period, or remain constant or rise over time, defeating strategic goals and leaving managers bewildered and unable to tie tech investments to improved operational outcomes. Why are so many organizations struggling with reaping the full benefits from these investments? In our experience, the answer often lies in two core areas. First, as companies turn to technology to address call-center volumes, they allow customer experience to take a back seat to digital technology in their operations, creating dissonance in direct customer interaction, where the objective is harmony and efficiency. Second, by counting on technology to solve their call-center issues, executives lose focus on core operations and upset the balance between human interaction and automation in an era of evolved customer service.

Comments

Re:My IQ dropped 10 points after that summary

[cayenne8]

I think the only thing I may hate worse than the sing song indian accents that are barely understandable...is the voice robot that answers phones these days, asking that you speak answers to them, rather than simply pushing a button.

I thought I hated he button thing...but man, having to talk/shout to a computer voice to get through a menu system?

not only frustrating, but you're having to do it within earshot of people around you, at least with pushing buttons, it is private that you are doing something support related.

When I get the voice activated menus (VAM?)..i just repeated ask for "operator"...and maybe a motherfucker or two too, as that I've heard some of the systems respond faster to off color language as a sign that the customer is frustrated and needs a human intervention fast......usually that bypasses all the stupid choices and gets me to some human to actually converse with.

Of course, that human may not be understandable, but hey at least they are human and you can try more than with a VAM.