How should you optimize your Contact Center’s processes to deliver 24/7 support effectively?

28 Mar 2022

The importance of a contact center goes far beyond just answering incoming customer calls. It works as the focal point to attract consumers & build trust among your target audience. Even if your contact center agents are unable to resolve issues spontaneously, the assurance that somebody will always be available to help results in happier customers, nurturing this satisfaction is possible only if your contact center services is accessible 24/7 for customer convenience. Unconditional availability of customer services typically have a positive impact on your brand. Furthermore, easier ways to reach out to your support team and an understanding customer care agent will add to the benefits.

So, what are the nuances of having a 24/7 contact center? Read on to check them out.

Why is a 24/7 support contact center important for your business?

24/7 support contact center plays a crucial role in showcasing your brand reliability & boosting customer satisfaction while reducing the average call waiting time. This round-the-clock availability allows people to contact you at their time of convenience, thereby evenly distributing the number of incoming calls. This ensures that call waiting & queues are significantly minimized. Moreover, the call waiting time is a key metric to determine customer satisfaction & your support team’s performance. Having 24/7 support contact center services help to achieve highly on this metric.

Furthermore, this allows you to boost trust & earn loyal customers for the long run. The CES or Customer Effort Score refers to the effort dedicated by your customers to contact you. When your services are not reachable, they try to contact you repeatedly, which increases the CES. On the other hand, 24/7 availability reduces the efforts required to reach your support agents, and therefore, reduces the CES.

How should you optimize your processes to deliver 24/7 contact support effectively?

Maintain an omnichannel helpdesk

Omnichannel presence is as critical as offering 24/7 support. You cannot restrict the medium your customers prefer to contact you. Also, you may receive a higher number of requests through your contact center at some time or may get just a few emails during some other. No matter what the flow of incoming request or the medium of contact is, you should maintain a consistent quality of support service through all these communication channels alike. It is always the best solution to have a dedicated team for every support medium or, at least, maintain a proactive team that can take charge of all the support platforms diligently. Setting up a support team that can provide round-the-clock services will ensure that all the support requests are taken care of.

Automate major process workflows

Assigning request tickets and managing inter-team & inter-shift dependencies can be quite challenging in a distributed set-up. When you automate these workflows, important information can be automatically passed on without any hiccups—ensuring uninterrupted workflows. Thus, tickets will be assigned to the right agents based on their demography, expertise & customer segments. This will eventually result in the smooth functioning of processes & a higher rate of customer satisfaction.

Measure your team performance regularly

Tracking & monitoring your teams’ performance play a crucial role in a contact center. This enables you to identify bottlenecks in processes & curb them promptly. You should track the ticket volumes, your workforce’s capability to tackle them & the level of proactiveness demonstrated by your support team in resolving the issues. Make sure to offer consistent feedback to your team & also be open about receiving their views/suggestions about the processes in place. Your support team works on the frontline & are the first to sense any problem that may arise due to improper procedures. Be flexible about receiving suggestions & improve your contact center system based on them.

Final word

Round-the-clock availability of support services has become a necessity rather than a luxury these days. Customers have started expecting personalized & speedy delivery of services & support. Hopefully, the points mentioned above will throw light on the importance of having 24/7 support services and the different ways to implement them in your businesses!