Contact Center Complexity Hurts Your Bottom Line

We’ve known for some time that complexity in the contact center has a significant impact on how organizations address and support the customer experience – and, ultimately can hurt the bottom line.

That said, we were alarmed to learn that approximately 14% of agent time with the customer is wasted by spending time looking for information on a customer, according to recent research from Aberdeen.

We know organizations are struggling to regain control over their contact centers, their agent experiences and ultimately, what their customers experience. For that reason, we explored a variety of resources across the industry to get a better idea of what the current concerns are across the contact center industry regarding technical complexity.

The infographic below, “Contact Centers Want a Single Technology Vendor,” is based on the Serenova team’s evaluation of a series of key research pieces from leading sources including Aberdeen, Deloitte and CFI Group. Our findings show, in part, that analysts agree that the solution may be in adopting open-API cloud contact center platforms that can integrate all tools into a unified environment. It aims to measure what is the foremost concern amongst cloud contact center adopters and the source of their demand for cloud solutions.

And, importantly, we provide a breakdown of what a single vendor’s technology stack should look like, according to DMG Consulting’s recent research, “What End Users Want from Their Cloud-Based Contact Center Infrastructure.”

Contact Centers Want a Single Cloud Vendor

Cross-industry contact center satisfaction indicators are at an all-time low. According to CFI Group, the main culprit is pervasive lack of a single, flexible contact center tool with omnichannel integration and an open architecture. This lack of technical flexibility limits customizability and mires organizations in maintenance-only mode, hampering the ability to refine processes iteratively.

Contact Center Satisfaction Index at an All-Time Low

The Contact Center Satisfaction Index (CCSI) fell by 4 points to 68 on a 100-point scale in 2015, marking the lowest score in the study’s 9 year history. That score held steady for 2016 and 2017.

Complex, Multi-Touch Contacts are the Main Cause of the Drop

Contact center process, policies, and procedures are the biggest drivers of CCSI. Without technology that can enable the right processes and empower agents to deal with contacts immediately, CFI Group says scores will remain low.

Contact Center Leaders Agree Complexity is the Problem

75% of contact center leaders say agents manage too many tools. Agents use between 3 and 5 different software solutions to support customer service requests during a typical working day.

62% say integration is a challenge and that with existing systems is the biggest roadblock to implementing strategic objectives over the next 2 years.

85% say that interactions themselves will become more complex over the next 2 years, as customers self-serve for simple and more routine issues.

Complexity Drives Down Customer Satisfaction and Hurts Your Bottom Line

Agents waste 14% of their timelooking for the right informationto serve customers due toineffective tools. That’s 1.12 hours per day.

In large contact center, that’s at least $3,917,088 wasted per year, based on a median unburdened hourly agent pay rate of $13.40 in a 1000-agent enterprise call center.

What’s at stake if the situation doesn’t change?

An estimated $41 billion is lost by U.S. companiesalone each year due to poor customer service.

Companies can lift revenue an average of 15% by maximizing satisfaction with customer journeys.

Aberdeen Group cited two actions contact centers should taketo reduce agent time waste and increase customer satisfaction

1. Adopt a unified agent desktop, with integrated customer data and tool set.
2. Implement an intelligent routing system that sends customers to the right agents with the right resources.

What should a single vendor’s technology stack look like?