Smart Business Magazine, February 2016

42 Smart Business Columbus February 2016 Client interaction How to improve your customer service with communications technology Every business interacts with its customers and its critical to direct those customers quickly to the right resource whether thats sales billing or customer service in order to get answers on the first try every time Just think about how customers expect to communicate with your organization in todays world They dont want to just speak with a customer service agent over the phone They expect to use all forms of communication to reach your company email text chat Web interface etc And if your customers cant communicate with you easily theyll move on to some other competitor says Ed Flynn senior technology consultant at Warwick Communications Inc The bar continues to be raised Thats why organizations are turning to contact center technology to take their customer interactions to the next level They are building relationships that better assist and empower their customers through consistent customer experiences across all channels that are handled quickly and efficiently Smart Business spoke with Flynn about how to utilize technology to better serve your customers What exactly is contact center technology Is it related to call center technology Call centers as you may traditionally think of them are not as effective for todays business environment because phone calls are only part of how customers contact you Instead the terminology has moved away from call center to contact center Its about how effectively and efficiently you communicate with your customers beyond just voice interaction regardless of the type and size of your business What are some features that businesses use to better interact with their customers Historical and real time reporting and monitoring lets you understand the big picture and call by call performance of your staff You can respond instantly to changing traffic volumes to ensure service levels are maintained and use historical data against service level objectives for reviews to measure key performance indicators and to identify ways to improve business processes Customer relationship management CRM systems are playing an increasing role today Contact center technology can be seamlessly integrated into these back office systems like CRM so that critical customer data pops onto the computer screen as calls and multimedia contacts arrive Youve probably heard the rule 20 percent of your customers generate 80 percent of your revenue In order to deliver a superior level of service to your top tier customers you can profile your customers Then regardless of the way they contact you you can prioritize their position in queue or ensure top employees handle them Other features include a Web chat option where customer questions come through your phone system and are directed to the right employee interactive voice response which allows callers to self access information from your system like the status of their order and skills based routing where for instance calls are routed to a staff member who speaks a foreign language or best handles complaints How can employers find the best solution With so many options its important to have somebody with experience help you sort through the choices It all starts with understanding how your business works and what your needs are now and for the future Then the technology and its features can be customized to fit your organization as well as plan what could be added later as your company grows It also takes someone with experience to tweak this technology so its not cumbersome for the customer or your employees Again the right expert can help with the implementation and education What else is important to understand More manufacturers are offering as part of their services ways to utilize contact center technology to improve customer service You also have the option to either purchase an on premise system and install it in your workplace or get cloud based or hosted technology where you pay for the portions of the service that you want to utilize Again with the right adviser on your side you can find a solution that works for you before your customers find a warmer reception with someone else ED FLYNN Senior technology consultant Warwick Communications Inc 216 830 8262 eflynn@ warwickinc com Insights Telecommunications is brought to you by Warwick WEBSITE To learn more about contact center technology and other technology solutions visit www warwickinc com INTERVIEWED BY JAYNE GEST INSIGHTS TELECOMMUNICATIONS