Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

Contact centres struggle with more complex customer service

Top CX obstacles include technology and staffing issues

However, survey respondents reported significant customer experience obstacles, including legacy technology (51%), staffing issues (44%), and a lack of integration between digital and voice channels (37%).

Specific workforce and technology challenges uncovered in the research included:

• Respondents' average rate of agent turnover was 58% year over year, with increased workload and a lack of growth and advancement opportunities cited as the top two reasons for attrition
• Lacking the necessary tools to effectively perform in the position, and repetitive, monotonous tasks had the greatest negative impact on agent performance
• More than a third (35%) of respondents said engaging across all communications channels in a relevant/personalized fashion was a challenge, and 64% indicated that they need to increase the number of agents who support multiple channels
• 92% of respondents believe their agent-facing applications are not as effective as they could be

As the report notes, these findings suggest opportunities for contact centers to embrace a digital workforce of AI-powered assistance for customers and agents. This includes technology such as intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) and real-time agent coaching applications.

"Contact centers will need to automate where possible and free up live agents for more complicated tasks, which also opens the door for professional growth opportunities," said Callan Schebella, EVP of Product Management, Five9. "And as customer expectations rise, equipping employees with the right tools and resources will be mission-critical. To balance efficiency and employee satisfaction, the contact center of the near future will operate with a blend of live and virtual agents, and advanced analytics and modern cloud technology will be essential. For contact centers experiencing the shortfalls of legacy software, now is the time to innovate."

Survey respondents seem to agree. When asked to share the top strategies their contact center is pursuing to satisfy customer needs, 42% said they plan to enhance self-service functionalities; 42% of respondents said they plan to launch new services/offerings to focus on digital customer engagement, and 27% hope to deploy AI and automation to streamline processes and services.

Additionally, 52% of respondents said they expect self-service to have the most significant impact on the customer experience in the next two to three years.

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)