Keeping Your Customers Online with Automation: Aspect Software

Author: Aspect Software

Date: 2nd March 2009

In today’s fast-paced world, customers want immediate and accurate assistance. When they call your company, they expect their call to be answered quickly and their problem to be resolved promptly.

As a contact center decision maker, you’re under extreme pressure to meet your customers’ needs and increase their satisfaction while simultaneously decreasing operating costs and improving profit margins. You know that meeting your customers’ demands can give your company a competitive advantage and help to enforce your company’s brand image in the minds of your customers. But, you also know that increasing service levels has historically mapped to increasing costs – something your center can’t afford right now.

What should you do?

Speech self service may be your solution. If you design your system to provide your customers with what they want, you will give them every reason not to zero out. In fact, you should realize rapid return on investment, reduced costs and increased customer and agent satisfaction. Speech self service can help your contact center provide outstanding and memorable customer experiences that will keep your customers loyal and encourage them to tell others.

This white paper will guide you through the benefits of well-planned contact center automation, explain the limitations you may face with your existing touch-tone system, and help you understand how to improve your technology and processes to get the results you want – decreased costs, happier customers, and increased revenue as your agents spend less time on routine transactions and more time on those that could generate additional income.

Don’t Hesitate - Automate

It is no secret that staffing accounts for the largest cost in many contact centers - generally between 60 and 70 percent of the overall budget. Live agents are expensive as they require annual salaries, benefits and training; not to mention associated peripheral expenses such as computers, office furniture and the overhead on facilities. Agents are, however, a very necessary and important part of your business. Without agents, it would be impossible for your company to provide customers with the service and information that they require and demand.

How can you cut costs while keeping up with your call volume and maintaining your service levels?

Automated speech self service.

Augmenting your human workforce with an automated speech self-service system provides your customers with the tools they need to quickly and easily obtain answers to standard questions or complete simple transactions on their own. You can use an automated system to deflect routine calls, such as account balance inquiries and address changes, so that your agents can handle more complex transactions, and potentially focus on cross-selling, up-selling or closing sales.

Automation allows you to deliver 24x7x365 service while extending your market reach in time zones worldwide without having to staff your contact centers around-the-clock. Automation also enables you to use your workforce more efficiently and employ fewer agents. It allows you to cut costs and increase revenues by reducing staffing expenses and agent turnover; decrease phone charges resulting from excessive hang-ups, call-backs, and lengthy hold times; and maximize agent productivity. Put simply, automated speech self service can help you strike the right balance between meeting customer demands and acknowledging the realities of the bottom line.

Give Your Customers What They Need

You like the idea of reducing costs, but you know that your customers aren’t thrilled with automation – or at least the automation you have to offer today. What you may not know is that a well-implemented speech self-service system can actually help you satisfy and retain your customers by allowing them to get the information they want, when they want it, without having to hold for assistance.

If your customers prefer not to discuss certain transactions with agents, automation is an ideal way to ensure privacy. For example, a customer who is paying an overdue bill might be more comfortable handling the transaction using automated self service; or a healthcare customer who is calling to get routine medical test results might prefer to hear the results read by a text-to-speech application versus a live agent.

Think of speech self service as having a positive snowball effect on your business. As more and more tedious customer requests are handled by your automated system, you will most likely see an increase in morale amongst your agents. When your agents are happy, they will provide your customers with better service, thus further enhancing your customers’ experiences. And, because customers are getting quicker and more efficient service, your organization will save money in toll charges.

Many companies have already implemented quality speech self service options to complement live agent interactions. If you’re not one of them, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon. As consumers enjoy higher levels of service with other organizations, they will expect more from your contact center. If you can’t deliver, your company could be left in the cold.

Aspect Software

Read the full white paper below


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