Contact centres have become fundamental elements of success for any company. It is a multichannel communication system between the company and the customer that improves brand image, builds user loyalty and aims to provide a top-notch customer experience.
Odigo being one of the thought leaders in the industry, has over 30 years’ of experience in providing businesses with tools to help ace their customer experience. The article further breaks down the correlation between the two, explaining how the technology enables businesses to improve customer experience.
What is a contact centre?
The contact centre is the area of the company that deals with customer support and queries. In many cases, it is directly related to all points of contact, pre-post sale, troubleshooting and support in multiple software like CRM. Consequently, it is said that contact centres are key to the successful development of a multi-channel marketing strategy. While the stereotype lies in thinking that it is only the larger companies that can afford a contact centre, it is not true. It is important to consider the development in technologies across sectors for smaller and medium sized businesses to give their customers the support they deserve.
What is a contact centre for?
Several customers feel the need to talk to someone from the company to solve complex problems or queries about their products/services. For such needs, it is often a software that facilitates communication between company and customer.
In fact, a contact centre can help improve brand awareness, product information availability and customer interaction. It is also particularly effective in filtering customer databases and preparing the organisation of an effective marketing campaign.
It is crucial to remember that in the digital age of communications, customers only come into contact with a company when they need to fulfill a need that is fundamental to their buying process. The contact centre provides the opportunity to impress them at this particular moment and provide them with an experience so positive that they would continue staying loyal to the brand, or even spread the word.
Types of contact centres
There are different types of contact centres depending on the direction of communications, i.e. whether they are contacted by customers or whether they are contacted by the company itself. However, the majority of contact centres do both. Odigo, for example, provides both inbound and outbound operations.
- Contact centre focused on inbound operations: Centre in which communications are received through different channels, whether they are calls, emails, communications via social networks, etc. It is most commonly used by customer services, both to provide support or resolve queries and to manage incidents, complaints or breakdowns.
- Contact centre focused on outbound operations: It is used to contact customers or potential customers via telephone, chats, emails, social networks, etc. It enables agents to receive messages or calls from them. It also provides notifications of collections, events, telemarketing or promotions. In general, it is very focused on sales, retention and customer loyalty.
- Blended, hybrid or mixed contact centre: this is a mixture of the two previous ones. They are used both to establish outgoing communications and to receive communications from outside.
The 5 main advantages of a contact centre
As we said at the start, the contact centre is a customer service essential and a great way to differentiate an organisation. As such, among its main benefits are those aimed at improving customer relations and the company’s brand image:
- Improving the user experience. To reinstate, a contact centre offers a multichannel experience to the customer, be it through telephone, email, chat or social media.The aim is to offer them the greatest possible flexibility to improve convenience and their user experience.
- Enhance the brand image. Through all channels and by contact centre agents themselves, customers are offered information about products or services. This can have an important corporate component, reinforcing the user’s positive image of the brand.
- Save time. Today’s customers demand quick and agile services to address their doubts or problems. A contact centre is a comprehensive service that can respond immediately via digital channels or with personalised agent-led care.
- Customer loyalty. All of the above benefits allow a company to build customer loyalty. A well-informed customer, who can resolve their doubts quickly and who has several channels at their disposal, is a customer who is more likely to be happy with a brand.
- Adaptation to user needs. The communication models are changing and users are using new communication channels in their daily lives. So are the shopping habits, as we see that in recent months ecommerce has grown. This evolution extends to brands, so consumers expect to be able to make a complaint through social networks or WhatsApp. A Contact Centre allows us to adapt to these new needs and meet user expectations.
Have you considered a contact centre for your business yet? To learn more, click here.
