Harnessing Big Data in Call Centers

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February 12, 2021

Harnessing Big Data in Call Centers

An auto mechanic who is in tune with data (pun intended) can tell you that your fan belt is due for a change in 2,000 miles and would advise changing it today to avoid future labor costs. An airline company that knows more than your frequent flier number could propose a seat based on your past selections and offer discounted upgrades customized to your preferences and let flight attendants know you prefer coffee to tomato juice in the morning- even if you’re flying coach.
The point is, it’s no longer about how much you know about your clients, but rather, what you are going to do with that information.

Big Data and your Call Center(s)

The data available at your call center already translate into metrics such as rates of abandoned calls, hold time, conversion rates, and transferred interactions, to mention a few.
However, the large amounts of data available can also be used to measure and analyze your contact center performance concerning customer loyalty and other business-related outcomes.
After all, your contact center is the department that can best gather the knowledge necessary to empower your company to make improvements in all steps of a consumer’s ” journey.”

Tips for Using Big Data in Your Call Center

1. Analyze Customer Engagement across Multiple Channels

It’s all about being relevant online, answering questions, and creating a connection with your clients, leading to the development of communities. Keep in mind that communities are the next stage of self-service, a community of peers can provide answers for other customers creating engagement and loyalty, and in some cases, good product ideas. So if you are not applying analytics to the data from multiple channels, your call center is missing out on an opportunity to gather valuable customer insights.

2. Use Agent-Customer Interaction Data

While we know that every customer to agent interaction impacts customer experience and engagement, measuring simple metrics like agent utilization and average handle time are no longer sufficient. What is really needed is data that indicates the breadth and scale of the impact. Courtesy of Big data, call center managers can measure agent performance and optimize customer interactions in real-time.

3. Implement Predictive Analysis

By using big data, you can determine the factors that have the greatest impact on agent performance, which allows for the development of the right strategies for decreasing agent churn, boosting agent effectiveness, and improving overall customer satisfaction. You can then use predictive models to evaluate which changes would have the biggest impact on your call center’s overall performance.

Conclusion

According to ICMI research carried out in 2013, two-thirds of call center managers agree that Big data can improve customer experience, a rather clear indication that call centers must continue to refine the use of data to further their operations’ efficiency.
Besides, if you talked to a friend and he/she kept asking you questions that you knew they already had the answers to, you’d likely get pretty frustrated.
With cloud computing in full swing and autonomous driving cars likely right around the corner, the technology is there if you’re willing and capable of harnessing the power behind it.
So what are you doing to turn big data into a valuable resource for your call center(s)?