Hybrid working is the future, including for your customer contact center employees. But there are more trends you need to deal with as a customer contact manager if you want to be ready for the future. In this blog, we list five of them.

1. The rise of the cloud

The cloud is the new normal when it comes to business continuity and performance. The coronavirus outbreak taught us the importance of being able to work anywhere, at any time and on any device. But even if there is another reason why employees cannot – or do not want to – work in the office, work must be able to continue. Wherever your employees get to work, all the information they need must be available. That’s the only way to ensure that both the employee experience and the customer experience are consistent. Flexibility is key, and the cloud is the answer.

2. The shift to a hybrid work environment

The role of the office, and therefore customer contact center, is changing. Office becomes a place where you meet colleagues and supervisors, where you can brainstorm and have personal consultations. If you need to work with concentration, then the home office may be a better place.

3. Optimize the customer experience with artificial intelligence

Customers are increasingly embracing artificial intelligence. Getting an answer from a chatbot is already commonplace for most people. Thanks to AI, some of the customer contact can be automated and the most frequently asked questions can be answered faster than ever. This allows you to help even more customers, reduce wait times and increase customer satisfaction.

4. Omnichannel is a must

We wrote a blog about it before: a strong omnichannel environment creates a retention rate as high as 89 percent. If you don’t have one, it’s only 33 percent. A significant difference. If you want to be ready for the future, having a strong omnichannel environment is crucial.

5. Human empathy as a new driver of customer loyalty

As wonderful as artificial intelligence is, sometimes human contact is necessary. A personal phone call, a Whatsapp or a Messenger message with the right tone can work wonders. But only if your employee has real-time access to a customer’s interaction history across all communication channels can he or she provide your customer with a personalized and seamless experience.

Inspired?

Do you want a call center that is ready for the future? Then contact us without obligation. We will gladly work with you to find the ultimate solution for your organization. Want to get acquainted first? Stay informed by signing up for our newsletter.