The role of the typical contact centre is changing. Today’s customers are more empowered than ever before, and they’re no longer willing to stay loyal to a company after a stream of poor service experiences. In a world where your clients are growing increasingly less forgiving, it’s important for brands to find a customer service solution that spans channels and speeds up the problem resolution process.
For most organisations, customer experience has become the key differentiator, and the ultimate way to stand out in a crowded industry. UK businesses currently lose £37 billion a year because of poor customer service. If you want to avoid becoming just another number, the cloud contact centre could be the answer.
Contact centre as a service: customer-centric technology
CCaaS, otherwise known as contact centre as a service, allows companies to tap into all the flexibility and scalability of the cloud when it comes to implementing a customer-focused communication strategy for their business. With CCaaS, you can assess customer needs and rapidly implement new technologies and tools without having to spend a great deal of money on installation and hardware.
The cloud contact centre gives modern businesses the opportunity to evolve rapidly as they continue to learn about customer preferences. This means that problems with communications can be fixed fast, and brands can bypass problems with their reputation.
Embracing the omnichannel approach to communications
One of the great things about the cloud contact centre in this modern, digitally-transforming world is the fact that it allows businesses to extend methods of communication beyond traditional audio calls and conferences. Aspect Software research shows that businesses who adopt omnichannel strategies can earn 91% greater year-over-year retention of their customers. That’s because today’s consumers—particularly in younger generations prefer alternative modes of communication.
When agents can reach out to their coworkers and supervisors for help dealing with complex problems, issues can be resolved faster, leading to happier customers. Click To Tweet
With CCaaS, a contact centre can implement any communications strategy that suits their target audience, ranging all the way from instant messaging with chatbots and automated responses, to video conferencing. Since Marketing Week found that the average customer uses around six touchpoints to engage with brands, it makes sense to ensure your contact centre is active where your customers are.
Achieve speedier first-time resolutions
The cloud contact centre doesn’t only make communication easier and more versatile between brands and customers, it can also be a way to enhance collaboration between members of a contact centre team. When agents can reach out to their coworkers and supervisors for help dealing with complex problems, issues can be resolved faster, leading to happier customers.
Many of today’s CCaaS offerings come with add-on features like collaboration tools and even monitoring services so supervisors can watch over the performance of contact centre agents and jump into action when something starts to go wrong.
CCaaS is constantly evolving
Finally, contact centre as a service can help brands to future-proof their business thanks to the inherent flexibility and adaptability of the cloud.
While an on-premises contact centre needs to be built according to a specific number of agents and estimated call volume, a cloud contact centre can rapidly change and adapt in an unpredictable environment. This can be particularly beneficial for companies that see seasonal changes in call volume.
Originally published Apr 17, 2018, updated Jan 17, 2023
