With that in mind, let’s take a look into the future of this continuously-growing and evolving industry. This visual graph below illustrates a complete picture of call centers—the figures and trends to keep watch so you can stay on top of the game. Let’s get started!
Understanding Customer Expectations and Needs
As a business, it’s understandable that you want to differentiate yourself from other organizations and stand out from the competition.
As part of your plans and strategies to keep on improving, this can also mean that you outsource certain business functions to better-skilled professionals. This will allow your company to uncomplicate issues and unload you of tasks, providing you more time to focus on important matters such as maintaining high customer satisfaction.
Many technological advances are emerging and there will only be more to come. Considering the numbers and the new trends mentioned above, you could better improve processes by looking into the right metrics, using automation tools, and implementing machine learning, among others, to reduce the number of frustrated customers and elevate your satisfaction score.
Call Center Industry Trends to Watch Out For
1. Chatbots
More brands and businesses are turning to chatbots. A study shows that consumers would like to use chatbots to get quick answers during an emergency (37%), to resolve an issue (35%), and even make reservations (33%), among others.
Messaging platforms serve as the primary drivers for the growth of chatbots. Platforms that feature chatbot functions can improve brand awareness, sales or lead generation, and customer support services. What’s more, chatbots are available 24/7 and can respond almost in an instant, even when managing multiple conversations.
As chatbots utilized by contact centers get more advanced and sophisticated, they will be able to incorporate more empathy and personalization in their conversations. Implementing chatbots in contact center companies enable them to cut costs and allow agents to focus on more pressing calls while providing a positive experience to users.
2. More advanced data analytics
Prior to the introduction of new technologies, contact centers depended on their quick-thinking and experienced team leaders and managers to lead their agents and boost their performance. But, in this data-driven era, analytics and insights now influence long-term strategy development and approaches for better decision-making, identifying the root cause of a problem, and evaluating agent performance to propel the business in the right direction.
Since call center companies serve as the point of contact between businesses and their customers, it makes sense to utilize advanced analytics software and tools to churn out information from their interactions.
The data collected and studied highlights valuable insights regarding important metrics like average handling time, agent idle time, first call resolution, and more. It also includes user information, such as demographics and preferences, to help develop more effective strategies for better customer service.
3. Non-voice commerce
Conversational commerce is growing, and it’s changing the way people communicate with businesses. This convenient communication method allows customers to chat, make purchases, ask questions, and receive help from companies whenever and wherever they want.
Statistics show that on Facebook Messenger alone, people and businesses exchange 20 billion messages each month. Messenger for Business allows brands to provide support via Messenger, which is one way to simplify the customer journey. Customer service centers are exploring this new way of communication to enhance customer experience and generate additional revenue.
4. Social media presence
Customers connect with businesses on social media platforms and expect to receive a quick response. About 37% of consumers expect answers on their queries or complaints within a day. Additionally, more than 76% of people message businesses to get customer service support for a product or service.
Users go on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to talk about and get in touch with brands, which is a clear indication that you must invest in social media.
Forming your social media support teams will let you tap on more customers and foster brand communities. As such, consider including investing in training and social media management tools for more efficient, responsive, and personalized two-way conversations.
In line with this, new customer support platforms allow agents to have all of their customer interactions in one window. This platform has access to all forms of communication such as Facebook, Viber, WeChat, Twitter, etc.
5. Cloud computing
Nowadays, call center businesses recognize the practicality and functionality of cloud-based platforms as they help remote agents interact with customers the same way they would on-site. Using cloud computing applications for your contact center not only let you gather and generate data from customers, but they also do so smoothly and conveniently by making customer files accessible online.
Given this, you can subscribe or avail of a cloud-based tool on a pay-per-usage basis instead of spending a chunk of your marketing spend on IT and infrastructure. This allows brands to serve more customers and have the advantage of flexible time, as well as hire skilled agents from other parts of the world for round-the-clock support.
6. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is leading the conversation around call center trends as it’s one of the more exciting and powerful technological disruptions in the industry.
AI solutions and machine learning can filter complex conversations and redirect them to contact agents for comprehensive support. It can determine the next steps when interacting with customers based on its previous interactions.
For instance, it can detect the customer’s language and tone by looking for specific keywords and utilize sentiment analysis algorithms to manage calls more accurately. This helps route calls to the skilled agents at the right time, boost agent productivity and performance, and ensure customer satisfaction.
For example, Cogito has a human-level of artificial intelligence that’s aware of all conversations and in real-time analysis as well. It studies multiple conversations and provides the best guidance for agents to converse with empathy, and confidence.
Final Thoughts on the Future of Call Centers
There you have it—the leading figures and trends at play in the BPO and call center industry. Acknowledge these new technologies and statistics or you risk getting left behind, as other organizations adapt and advance. Being a leader in the outsourcing industry means keeping up with the latest innovations to meet your customers’ expectations.
Are you looking for ways to outsource specific functions of your business? Executive Boutique Call Center is a reliable and progressive call center in the Philippines that provides excellent and outstanding service. Visit the Executive Boutique Call Center Contact Us page here and drop a message to get started.