Speech Analytics Technology Keeps Call Center Agents and Customers Engaged
September 04, 2020
Speech Analytics Technology Keeps Call Center Agents and Customers Engaged
Engagement is a major competitive differentiator in the call center space. Customers want an engaged service experience and are demanding better outcomes and higher levels of interaction from call center agents. Yet many workers in the space do not feel engaged as employees, which can present major issues when it comes to performing their jobs successfully.
New research from Zenefits reveals that 85 percent of employees do not feel they are engaged, leading to underperformance, a decrease in sales and poor worker retention. This is particularly problematic in the call center space, which has one of the highest annual turnover rates of any industry in the U.S.
Technology can play a major role in boosting both employee and customer engagement, and speech analytics is becoming an important part of boosting engagement in the call center. The technology may be used as early as the hiring process, helping to screen candidates and ensuring hires have the right level of knowledge and are equipped to deliver the best customer experience possible. Speech analytics is useful for measuring candidates' overall verbal communication skills as well as measuring their listening and empathy skills.
Speech analytics also has a role to play in onboarding and training of new call center agents. The technology provides a baseline of characteristics displayed by the most successful agents, which may then be used as a teaching model. Speech analytics will highlight examples of positive customer engagement and interactions and use those to help onboard and train new talent.
When combined with AI, speech analytics provides real-time, actionable insights to coach agents throughout their customer interactions, leading to more positive outcomes overall. This also helps boost employee engagement, as agents will have more confidence when their customers are happier and more engaged.
The technology may also be used to coach employees throughout their careers. Too often, companies end the training process early on and agents are left on their own. By providing useful feedback and coaching on a regular basis, agents can feel more engaged while continuously working to improve their interactions and customer engagements. This encourages agents to work on their own professional development and career advancement opportunities, keeping them happy and engaged employees through the long run.
Edited by Maurice Nagle
Gloss