3 Ways Tomorrow’s Call Centers Will Deliver Value

In business, constant change is one of the few things you can count on. The modern call center looks very different than the first call centers which sprang up in the 1970s.

By becoming a full-service customer hub.

Call centers have always been about phone calls, but modern call centers are integrating all forms of customer communication, and bringing them together into a single, efficient hub. In fact, the best call center software is already helping businesses do all this.

Today, some customers want to contact a company by phone. Others want to communicate by email when they have a question or problem, and some prefer an instant messaging system. Others still expect to write something on Twitter, or Facebook, and get a response.

More importantly, customers want all these communication methods to be integrated. If they talked with an agent via instant message, and then later send an email, they expect whoever responds to their email to know all about the message conversation.

The efficient call centers of tomorrow will be able to integrate all forms of communication, so agents can solve customers issues quickly, and in the way the customer prefers.

By becoming central to all business operations.

We live in a world of social media, where most people pop online to find out about a company before they consider doing business with it. Customers who have a good experience might talk about it, but customers who have a bad experience talk about it even more.

People are no longer as moved by a company’s big name, or long history in an industry. Instead, they’re interested in how well a company can meet their needs. In the digital age, customer service is becoming more, not less, important.

The call center is the first, and best place to deliver exceptional service every day, to every customer. First-time callers will quickly form an impression of your company as a whole by how efficiently, and politely you deal with them.

When customers call, write, or tweet with a problem, the way a call center deals with that issue will determine how likely the customer is to stick with the company. In the past, customers had brand loyalty for a lot of reasons. In the future, brand loyalty will be tied almost exclusively to the customer service experience.

By becoming outbound.

The call center has always been about taking inbound communication from customers. That will continue to be important, but for the call center of the future, inbound calls are just the beginning.

A forward-thinking business needs to engage with customers to anticipate what they need, not just meet needs after they arise. Businesses need to make people aware of services, and products, so they know where to go.

Yet reaching out can be hard, and building trust and relationships are tricky. How can you possibly reach out effectively to people who aren’t even considering your business yet, especially when people don’t really enjoy being disturbed? If you contact someone in the wrong way, it comes off as intrusive, and you might lose that person’s business forever.

The call center of tomorrow will contact both existing customers, and further prospects. That contact will be done by great agents who know how to build a solid relationship. Those agents will convey genuinely relevant, and helpful information that engages customers, and meets their needs.

Evolution is natural, in business as in all of life. Call centers are here to stay. The important thing is making sure your call center changes in a way that serves you, by serving your customers.