Category: Growth

Customers have grown accustomed to the perks, flexibility, and convenience of cloud computing-hosted platforms. In customer service terms, these include personalized interactions, 24/7 access, self-service options, and AI-enhanced features. 

A hosted interactive voice response (IVR) is an automated telephone system that operates from a remote server, which users can access using a web browser or mobile app. It incorporates technologies such as voice recognition, dual-tone multi-frequency (to signal user intent when a number is pressed), and automated call distribution to fulfill its call center duties. 

While traditional, on-premises systems may share some similarities with their hosted counterparts—like call forwarding, chatbots, and auto attendants—significant differences still exist. Most obviously, the main difference is that on-premises IVRs are installed on devices to run natively.

That said, most locally deployed applications have become anachronistic and belong to a bygone era that people aren’t clamoring to revisit.

Hosted IVR typically follows a subscription-based business model known as SaaS (Software as a Service). This means that it offers customers a pay-as-you-go convenience so that they only get charged for what they need rather than being saddled with unnecessary extra features.

Similarly, hosted IVRs can also trim the fat of the customer services experience so that call centers can provide speedy resolutions without a lot of wasted time or effort. 

Hosted IVR: From the Caller’s Perspective

From the caller or customer’s perspective, hosted IVRs are more reliable. This is primarily because hosted IVRs typically operate as managed services by third-party providers with core competence and technical expertise. Consequently, this frees up call center business owners to focus on operating their core business activities.

Meanwhile, when customers call the business number provided by the organization, a message greets and prompts them to choose an option from a menu. Customers use their keypads (or voices) to enter their…

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There’s a ton of different call center metrics out there, but there’s just one that you absolutely need to nail: first call resolution.

Nothing kills customer loyalty more than not getting solutions right away.

Resolving a customer’s query or issue on their very first call is a surefire way to improve customer satisfaction—the faster a customer can get a resolution to their problem, the happier they’re going to be. And this, ultimately, will reflect well on your business.

Good vs. Bad Call Center Center KPIs

Some KPIs are crucial for the success of a call center; others need to be taken with a grain of salt. 

There are a ton of issues with some of the most popular call center metrics:

• Measuring the average call duration might seem like a good idea, but it can actually pressure agents to end calls quicker, which might result in dissatisfied customers or repeated callbacks. Although the average call duration can be useful when planning your resources, it shouldn’t be a North Star metric by any means.
• Call center service levels measure how many calls are answered in a given amount of time. Despite the name, this metric does not measure the quality of the service, but its quantity. Instead of focusing on providing quality service, agents often feel forced to try and answer more and more calls—to the detriment of the overall customer experience.
• Knowing your call abandonment rate is, for sure, important—but it shouldn’t be an end-all, be-all metric. A high call abandonment rate means that many callers are hanging up before they get to speak with an agent. However, it doesn’t tell you why customers are hanging up. Without the why, you don’t know if it’s the long wait times or if they simply found the answers they…

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2024 will be an interesting year for call centers. In particular, although providing top-notch user experiences will still be high on everyone’s priority list, service agents themselves may be in for a ride. 

Many firms are already implementing AI tools to automate simple issues and offer customers self-service options for routine tasks, which means only the complex problems are left for live agents. This is increasing the demand for highly skilled and specialized agents, and we haven’t seen any signs of this slowing down just yet. 

Meanwhile, the ever-evolving threat of cyberattacks also leaves call centers with a cat and mouse game of cybersecurity compliance regulations to deal with. Thus, if you run, manage, or work at a call center, it behooves you to stay ahead of the curve. 

7 Contact Center Trends That Are Changing the Game

1. Call centers will focus on employee retention 

53% of CX leaders view recruiting and retaining talent as their biggest challenge. This is no surprise since the average agent attrition rate for call centers in the US reached a staggering 83% in the first quarter of 2022. 

High turnover rates are a big problem because they cause call centers to spend considerable time and resources recruiting and training a consistent influx of new employees. This can be really tough on smaller firms, as hiring and onboarding a single employee can cost a call center $5,000-$7,000 on average.

That said, expect agent attrition rates to be a top priority in any call center, leading to a renewed focus on employee well-being. As a result, more and more companies will look to offer more competitive compensation and flexible work schedules in their job listings. 

72% of call center agents view better pay as the top factor…

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Call center scripts can be an effective tool for agents to use during customer interactions. They provide agents with a structure on how to interact with customers and ensure important information is communicated consistently and accurately. 

However, while they’re helpful, they can also become limiting if your agents begin to rely on them too much. 

For agents, it’s all about knowing when to use call center scripts and when it’s time to push them aside and rely on instincts and empathy to guide customer interactions.

Should You Use Pre-Written Scripts?

Pre-written scripts are great tools for agents to use in customer interactions.

Here are some of the advantages:

• Consistency: They enable your agents to communicate the same information in a similar tone, so no matter who a customer speaks to, they’ll receive the same message and level of service.
• Accuracy: By following a script, an agent gives accurate information every time.
• Efficiency: When your team is overwhelmed with a lot of requests, scripts can be a valuable tool to help them save time on simple issues that can be solved quickly.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, though—and that’s true with call center scripts when agents lean on them too heavily.

Here are some potential disadvantages to using call center scripts:

• Lack of flexibility: Complex situations often require deeper problem solving and more nuanced solutions.
• Lack of empathy: Scripts can feel inauthentic and impersonal, and agents lose the opportunity to build genuine connections with customers.
• Hinders growth opportunities: Agents don’t get better by repeating the same lines over and over again. They improve by navigating different situations, reflecting on what went well and what didn’t, and learning from these experiences.

So when exactly should you use call center scripts?

Here…

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There’s nothing worse than a spam call interrupting your day. Fortunately, there are a few easy ways to prevent them entirely. Each method is completely free and takes only a few minutes to set up. 

Although you may still get the occasional cold call from organizations in the non-profit or political sectors, most of the spammers and scammers will be put to rest. 

Here are several approaches to win back your privacy, starting with the simplest.  

Method 1: Register Online at donotcall.gov

Register your number in minutes online by following these simple steps:

1. Go to donotcall.gov.
2. Click the Register link, which takes you to the official registry page.
3. Click Register Here.
4. Enter up to three landline or mobile numbers you wish to register—digits only, with no dashes.
5. Enter your email address for verification purposes.
6. Click the Submit button.

7. Check your email for a confirmation and click the included link within 72 hours to complete your registration. Note that you’ll receive a separate email for each number registered

Method 2: Call to Register

You can register your number on the FTC’s National Do Not Call list by phone. 

1. Call 1-888-382-1222 or TTY: 1-866-290-4236 from the number you wish to register.
2. Press 1 for English or 2 if you prefer Spanish.
3. Press 2 to register your number by following the prompts.

How the Do Not Call List Works

You can register personal landline or mobile phone numbers free of charge. The registry does not…

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When done right, good IVR routing provides your customers with a better call-in experience, improves your call center metrics, and makes your agents’ lives easier by ensuring they’re getting the callers that are best suited to their expertise. Additionally, it reduces the number of queries going to your agents that could’ve been answered with self-service options.

Here are five key IVR routing strategies you need to know and when you should use each one.

IVR Routing Strategy 1: Menu-Based Routing

Ideal for businesses with multiple departments or services, menu-based call center IVR lets customers choose from a variety of options, putting them in the driver’s seat so they can head straight to their desired destination.

Here’s how it works: a customer calls in and is given a menu of options. They can then choose from these options to dictate which department or service they want to speak with. 

Menu-based routing is very common, and you’ve likely experienced it yourself when calling into a business like your bank or cell phone provider. It sounds kind of like this: “Press 1 to book an appointment. Press 2 to check your balance. Press 3 to make a payment. Press 4 to speak to a representative.”

It’s particularly effective at providing callers with agency and reducing call volume to live agents, since you can include self-service options in your menu that don’t require the caller to speak with an agent. Since most people generally prefer to solve their own queries whenever possible, this is a win-win on both sides.

Using the menu above as an example, if someone’s calling in just to check their balance, you don’t need a live agent to answer that call. Similarly, if they need to make a payment, you can set up a touchtone system to allow…

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Gone are the days when each piece of software existed in a vacuum. Thanks to APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), software now communicates between each other easily. However, businesses often buy software without considering what they truly need—especially when it comes to call center solutions.

When you start using a call center solution, it needs to work in your ecosystem. It also has to communicate with your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software, your project management tools, and any other software your business uses.

Let’s take a look at some of the integrations you must be mindful of when shopping for call center software.

A lot of call center tools claim to be integrated with popular software. In reality, though, that’s not completely true. Even if a certain software integration is offered, some integrations go deeper than others. You may get some of the features from the software but not all. We’ll touch more on this below.

To start, there are three main types of integrations you should know about. 

Native Integrations

From an end-user standpoint, these are the best kinds of integrations. You need no additional software to use them because the built-in integrated features work seamlessly. For instance, a call center program natively integrated with a CRM system will let you manage calls directly from the CRM interface—no extra set-up steps required.

• Pros: Fully-functional integration with zero coding needed on your end
• Cons: Limited to the tools supported by your call center service provider

API Integrations 

API integrations are designed to connect different software applications directly. Unlike native options, API-based integrations require solid technical know-how to set up and maintain. Furthermore, API integrations may not always be available out of the box, so you’ll have to code it yourself or purchase additional custom services for a…

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Call center burnout is a rampant plague across the industry, and even the best teams can fall victim to it. One day, everything seems to be fine—but then your agents gradually start underperforming and disengaging, and then your KPIs start dropping.

Before you know it, you’re in full-on burnout damage control. And while your employees might technically still be working—meaning their burnout hasn’t led them to leave and your call center’s churn rate hasn’t skyrocketed just yet—they’re merely going through the motions.

Fortunately, however, not only is it possible to recover and bounce back from call center burnout, but it’s also possible to take proactive steps to avoid it entirely. 

Here’s how to get call center burnout nipped in the bud for good:

Step 1: Set a Team Goal That’s Winnable, Then Keep Stretching It

Everyone loves being on a winning team. But being on a losing team? Not so much. After a long string of losses, despair can set in, and certain people can start giving up. (After all, if you know you’re going to lose, why try so hard?)

The first thing to do to turn this slump around is to set a team goal that’s a borderline slam dunk. It should be something that’s both super simple and something that you know your team can do. 

Note: if you’re worrying about the potential of creating a slacker culture by setting such an easy goal, don’t. You won’t stay at this level for long.

The key here is to steadily increase your goal each cycle until the current goal requires an above-average level of performance. For instance, you might set an incredibly easy goal for the first week, ramp it up very slightly for the second, then do a little bit of a stretch for the…

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Static websites are pre-built web pages that display the same content to every website user. Unlike dynamic websites, there’s no back-end database serving up personalized content based on what users do.

This means static websites have faster load times, cheaper hosting, simpler security, and fewer maintenance responsibilities than a dynamic site. 

Though the content on a static site is “fixed” content, it doesn’t have to be motionless or dull. You can still add forms, videos, and effects. Of course, there are limitations with static sites, but clever developers can usually find workarounds to get exactly what they want.

Let’s take a close look at nine static website examples that are extremely effective for a range of business use-cases. 

In each example, I’ll call out the static site generator or website builder used in each example and highlight specific page elements to serve as inspiration.

Note: Beginners will have no trouble creating a simple static website with a website builder like Wix. It’s all point and click, you won’t need to code anything. There is a lot more to know if you want to create a complex site using a static site generator.

1. Freelancer Static Website Example: Sophie Brittain

Built with Wix

Sophie Brittain, a freelance product designer in New York City, has a polished static website that showcases her work and makes it easy to get in touch.

The site is super simple. We’re talking two pages, four colors, a couple mouseover effects, and less than 500 total words.

But there’s nothing missing. 

The focus of the site is her past work, which is captured in high quality images. There’s nothing inventive in the way it’s arranged, but…

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