Tag Archives: contact center

I recently posted a poll asking which kind of transmission is easier to operate when learning to drive. Even though a couple folks picked manuals, which I am still shocked by, the results looked pretty much the way I thought they would.

I learned to drive on an automatic transmission but did learn to drive a manual thanks to my college roommate teaching me. Pop the clutch, shift gears, monitor rpm’s, all while trying not to roll backwards down a hill after being stopped at a red light was annoying.

My automatic did all that shifting, popping, monitoring for me. All I had to do was just focus on the road. Press the gas pedal to go and hit the brake to stop. That was it. The learning curve wasn’t even close to the same and I learned I was cool sticking with an automatic.

Going through training as a contact center agent reminds me so much of learning to drive a manual transmission. Instead of pop the clutch, shift gears, monitor the rpm’s it’s look up data, switch systems, rekey data, navigate to the correct module, etc.

We recently started working with a contact center that has 17 different systems that their agents might need to interact with on any given call. Think about that. Remembering where to go and what to do on any given call is flat out complicated.

With all the new systems and tools that have been introduced to contact centers since the 1990’s, why hasn’t the agent journey been given the same attention that the digital customer journey has?

I get it, self service is great. But can anyone else relate to me when I say that I am guilty of not being able to figure something out and then smashing 0 for the operator when I really need some help. It’s the reason why there are still over 6 million contact center agents worldwide. People need help with complicated stuff. And let’s remember, when the consumer gets to the point that they need to call in they’re not always in the best mood. It’s not hard to understand why agents quit when their days consist of being spoken to rudely while having to remember all the manual call mechanics to solve a customer’s issue.

No matter how many screens, or sticky notes, or flow charts, or days of training, or Slack and Teams channels, or conversational AI tools an agent has, they’re still having to do all that manual shifting themselves. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The future of contact centers doesn’t look like 2 month long training classes so agents can remember what to do and when. An average agent turnover rate of between 30 and 45% yearly doesn’t have to be the status quo. Agents don’t have to wake up with anxiety every day because of all they have to remember while trying to help a customer.

The future of the contact center is one that will be much easier to navigate not by changing your core systems but by upgrading from a manual transmission to an automatic to eliminate those manual call mechanics that cause hold times and mistakes.

Cue adds CRM widget, expands telephony integration, and more.

Cue, an Atlanta-based software company, announced earlier this week the release of the newest version of their software solution that will further enable phone-based sales and service reps to improve productivity and drive results both during and after calls. 

By acting as an on-screen teleprompter, Cue helps inside sales and service reps navigate through conversations the right way, every time. Cue automatically updates fields in a customer’s existing system, which allows reps to complete work in real time that is historically left for post call wrap up. Cue also simplifies reps’ tech stack so reps no longer have to toggle between tabs and applications.

New features include:

  • CRM Widget: Cue’s new lightweight widget embeds directly into CRMs, allowing reps to gain the benefits of Cue while staying within a system they already know.
  • Telephony Integration: Handles inbound calls from new contacts within Cue and automatically creates new contacts in your CRM or other external system.
  • One-Step Integration: It’s easier than ever to connect Cue with your CRM, telephony and more thanks to Cue’s new one-step integration, Cue integrates with 200+ systems.

According to CEO & Founder, Michael Wilson, “Instead of having to change the way phone-based customer support and sales reps are used to working, companies can now simply embed Cue’s teleprompter-esque conversation guide right into the systems they’re already using. Between this CRM widget and our enhanced one-step integration, we’re excited to empower our customers to get up and running with Cue even faster and in turn, impact their sales and customer service success.” 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Cue at sales@itscue.com.

Thanks,

The Cue Team

Increase Your Contact Center Agent Efficiency

Break the 80/20 Rule to Scripting

The Pareto Principle

As with many things in life, the Pareto Principle, named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, applies to contact center efficiencies, too. And in a call center, it might mean that the 20% of calls that go off script require 80% of the time agents spend on the phone.

We also see it in the inverse relationship between call scripting and agent institutional knowledge.

You’re Not Alone

For most contact centers, efforts to manage this 80% usually go one of two ways. Leaders are faced with the problem of increased call volumes while trying to reduce call times. And many aim to streamline processes by making their scripts overly simple, leaving out crucial information that might be needed to complete a customer’s request or appropriately triage.

When this occurs, sales and service representatives have to improvise and use excuses such as, “Sorry, my system is running slow,” while they navigate their way to the tool that can help them help you. In even more frustrating scenarios agents can end up giving incorrect answers to specific questions or even immediately send the caller to 2nd tier support too early in the conversation.

Others make workflows so complex and rigid, that it can be a challenge for agents to grow comfortable and gain the knowledge required to be successful.

Simplifying scripting increases the training time required to establish institutional knowledge. But attempting to anticipate everything risks overwhelming new agents. Neither of these options serve the objective of increasing productivity, reducing handle times, and making training and coaching more efficient.

If this sounds relatable, you’re not alone. Businesses are constantly trying to solve this problem and get time back. Tools and trainings are offered constantly to help develop more robust documentation and agile scripts. But what if it’s easier than that?

Don’t Let Process Disrupt The Conversation

What would it look like for an organization like yours to rethink their agent desktop—to mitigate redundant conversations and duplicated efforts and reduce the volume of paper all over an agent’s cube? It shouldn’t feel impossible to make onboarding efficient or streamline your various systems and technology.

The 80/20 rule originated as a commentary on the distribution of wealth and became an essential business philosophy, informing the way we run our organizations and manage our teams. But it certainly isn’t the law. You don’t have to resign yourself or your team to long calls and inadequate scripts.

Think about what it means to break that rule. Perhaps you need to automate more of your process. Or maybe the key is in developing new ways to put knowledge at your agents’ fingertips. Whatever it is, implementing it successfully could optimize both scripting and training in the process.

What steps can you take to centralize your processes and ensure your agents are handling calls the right way, every time?

Cue® provides a simple agent desktop that streamlines workflow and enables phone-based agents to complete all functions of their job in one place, instead of having to navigate between multiple systems. With Cue®, agents can better assist customers, streamline training, reduce talk time, and eliminate after-call work—all with the confidence that they possess the right tools to engage every person they speak to.