Jana's story

SoftBCom Team

Agent Jana and the customer value contact center - Using Omni channel

This is the further story of Jana that we have already got to know.

Until recently, Jana had a frustrating job as an agent in a traditional call center. Day after day, she took one phone call after another, the questions were predetermined and everything she had to say was also – so she quit.

Now she works in a really cool, modern customer value contact center. As soon as a call comes in, the software shows you who is calling, what it is about and what history the caller has. All on a single screen. Jana sees at a glance all previous interactions with the customer via the various channels: SMS, calls, e-mails and she can use all channels herself, depending on what is relevant for a particular customer at the moment. This allowed Jana to further develop her communication skills and since she has more opportunities to offer support efficiently and without wasting time, customer satisfaction has also increased, because she now works in a customer value contact center.

Was ist ein Customer Value Contact Center?

In many classic call centers, customer inquiries cannot be completed immediately or simply take the customer too long. A classic example of this are multi-stage processes, such as the preparation of an insurance or loan agreement. Sometimes information is transmitted through several channels, which, in turn, cannot be documented in a single history in the CRM system. Only when the necessary information has been received in full, the customer must be informed, for example by phone.

What else helps Jana to fulfill her duties?

The Customer Value Contact Center software offers Jana a wide range of applications and assistance. Here she can access the CRM, the help desk with ticket management and a knowledge base, because from time to time she needs support! The customer value contact center is already becoming possible today with the SoftBCom CC solution - quickly and easily. All existing systems can be easily integrated.

Jana wird Supervisorin im Kundennutzen Contact Center

This is the continuation of the story of Jana.

Some time ago, the call center where Jana works was converted to a so-called "customer value Contact Center". Jana's work has become much more interesting, where Jana used to be just a simple agent, she is now the trusted advisor of her clients. It is even the case that she deserves much better.

Jana has been working in such a "customer value Contact center" for several months now and both she and her colleagues and not least the customers are extremely satisfied. The management quickly noticed Jana's good work, so they suggested that she become a team leader. She was still trained in employee management and off we went. She has mastered all areas and facets of her work to the full: she knows how to satisfy customers, knows all the special features of a contact center from her own experience and is always looking for ways in which she can best support her colleagues.

For example, it controls the waiting times and adjusts the IVR based on this. She now offers her customers a callback, an e-mail or a chat channel faster. In addition, she knows which of the new agents needs her help, which questions are causing difficulties and how many cases beginners solved last week or yesterday. Jana gets vivid graphics from her system. This visualizes everything flexibly and efficiently for you in real time – a colleague has set this up for you and the other team leaders. On this basis, she then decides which employees need training and whether projects need to be organized differently in order to avoid unnecessary questions. These analyses help everyone: yourself, your colleagues and the customers. In addition, all this has a positive effect on the business, because it helps to work more efficiently. Colleagues get better support, teams become more efficient and team goals are quickly achieved and overachieved. Jana's team is extremely satisfied – the NPS in the customer projects has increased significantly - new customers could be won as a result.

Advantages of a Customer Value Contact Center at a glance

From the customer's point of view:

The customer will be contacted as it is convenient for him - Omnichannel more information here
The customer is able to contact the same contact person
Whenever the customer calls, you know the status and the entire history of his case

From the agent's point of view:

The agents handle their cases completely on their own responsibility
Complicated cases are completely orchestrated by you
All information is documented centrally in the CRM in the customer's history
All channels are available at any time
Agents become Trusted Advisors of their clients

From the point of view of managers:

Efficiency increases significantly
Cases and results are now being considered, not individual actions anymore
Actions can still be monitored, so that targeted intervention and improvement can be made
Agents are trained as specialists and thus become increasingly valuable employees
You will therefore remain in the company for much longer

Jana is making a career as a successful manager, she is now responsible for the entire online area of the company

We talked to Jana.

Tell us about the main technological solutions that you use to maintain customer relations.

This is not primarily about the technologies themselves. What matters is that the communication works smoothly, that there is a friendly atmosphere and – this is the most important thing – how the service that the customer needs is organized.

Your company's online business is growing by 40% annually. What challenges does this bring for you?

Customers are not yet used to the high standard of service that we offer them. You are surprised that we communicate via channels that are pleasant to you as a customer, that we can organize the delivery immediately, are always available and react promptly to changing customer requirements and conditions. This results in a certain inertia. But, as they say, you get used to good things quickly.

Don't you sometimes have malfunctions and failures? How do you solve this?

Our Customer Value Call Center is the communicative heart of our entire customer service system. Our universal agents have a lot of tools at their disposal with which they can analyze the processes and make decisions independently, that is, everything is solved locally. The agent can independently correct the business processes in the system.

And where do you get these qualified specialists from?

Everyone knows that this is a big challenge, but we solve it with the help of the organizational structure of the Customer Value Call Center. It allows us to retain specialists of various specialties in the course of customer service. In this way, we create "social elevators" where employees can see exactly where things are going and which individual steps they have to take.

What are the technological features on which the success of your company is based?

It is based on two components: On the one hand, the close exchange with the customer with whom we are constantly in contact – by phone, via messenger, in chats, by SMS – we accept inquiries, keep up to date and solve possible difficulties. This is what we understand by the term OMNI, which, although it gets on everyone's nerves a little bit, but by which everyone understands something different. The second component is the particularly close connection of our communication system to the system of the most important business processes, i.e. orders, shipping, service and warehouse management. In fact, our Customer Value call center is a structure that brings together communication with the administration.

But probably this will work less well in the B2B channel, where traditionally everything is about personal contact, about individual work and special conditions?

Our technology also makes it possible to land a big hit here. Actually, everything has remained the same: direct contact, personal services. Here, too, communication through the omnichannel call center becomes more pleasant, the employees react more precisely and faster.

But what awaits us in the future? How will we shop, how will we communicate with the service and what will change for the simple customer?

A lot will change. On the one hand, the contact with the supplier, the seller and the service staff will not only be easy and convenient, it will also be adapted to the respective target group: to older people who prefer to communicate traditionally by phone with a direct contact person, to younger people who are familiar with all channels and who are not afraid of contact with robots and bots.

Jana organizes home offices

We have been following Jana's story for a long time. She was unhappy as an agent in a traditional call center and therefore switched to a customer value contact center. So she became a successful manager.

The challenge Jana faces is the following: How can she better motivate her agent colleagues?

Through financial incentives, of course: In the Customer Value Contact Center, payment is made according to performance. But what if life circumstances change, if someone can no longer work normal shifts? Some time ago Julia, one of Jana's best agents, met IT consultant Felix at a conference and now they are a couple. Since Julia is a successful employee, they could afford a small, cozy house. And now they have had a child. Congratulations!

Child or career?

But Julia now faces a difficult decision: she does not want to give up her career, and still stay at home with the baby. Is there perhaps a way to combine the two? Lucky for you that your contact center is not only customer-friendly, but also employee-friendly. The bosses know perfectly well that their employees are their most important asset and appreciate the low turnover. Since Julia wants to continue to participate in the daily routine, this was made possible. Of course, Jana, her manager, was happy to support her in this.

The company's software allowed Julia to set up a home office that is just as convenient and secure as the workplace in the office. There were no technical obstacles: a stable Internet connection and a computer with a large screen are enough. However, Julia could no longer work a regular eight-hour day. Her partner Felix also works from home and they share the responsibility, but raising a baby is a hard job! Julia needs to be flexible in her planning. And she sometimes has to change her working hours at short notice.

Flexible with home office solution

Jana has offered her a solution for this. Six months ago, your contact center switched to the SoftBCom Workforce Management System. Now Julia can set her own working hours, depending on what her daily schedule looks like.SoftBCom WFM also has a mobile app. Sometimes Julia sees that her little Mia is getting restless, probably she is not feeling well. What other work can be done there? Julia then informs the system, the work schedule is adjusted, a replacement is assigned and the manager is informed. This can take place from anywhere, no matter where Julia is at the moment – while walking, with friends or on the playground. Sometimes Julia also simply swaps her shift with colleagues because she needs a break.

Recently, however, Julia discovered a new challenge of her homework in unpleasant background noises – for example, when a dog barks or a child screams. That's why Julia now prefers to work with digital channels and leaves voice communication to her colleagues in the office. She is happy to chat with visitors to the site, communicate via Facebook Messenger, read and write e-mails and serve other channels – up to six dialogues at the same time. And the managers appreciate her skills, respectful and professional communication with a humorous touch. It is clear to them that Julia's good writing style has a positive impact on the image of the entire company. This means that Julia shows a high level of professionalism in digital communication, she is a role model for new employees – and all this from home, in addition to taking care of the baby! She did not leave the contact center, even improved her income and lifestyle – without sacrificing what is really important to her: spending time with Mia.