Emtropy + SupportLogic: Empowering the next generation of Support Experience powered by AI
SupportLogic’s VP of Ecosystems, Harish Batlapenumarthy, shares why he joined the company and what he believes lies ahead for customer support technology.
Call Center Times
Author: Judith Platz, Chief Customer Officer at SupportLogic
In the dynamic realm of customer support and customer experience (CX), the spotlight is often on delivering unparalleled customer service. While many corporations prioritize the right investments and strategies to ensure an outstanding CX, the support agents driving these customer experiences can get lost in the shuffle. But with new technologies and further insight amid this pursuit, a pivotal shift is emerging – one that places call center agents at the forefront.
To create unrivaled CX, the company’s internal employees must have a positive working experience, following the saying coined by author Jeanette Jenkins: “You get out what you put in.” Essentially, if you transform the agent experience (AX), you’ll automatically transform the CX. This especially rings true when it comes to call centers. Undeniably, CX is intricately linked to the performance of agents, so prioritizing the well-being and retention of agents is the first step in unlocking the full potential of support.
Tackling the Challenge of Agent Turnover
The call center industry routinely grapples with a problem threatening its ability to offer remarkable customer service: high agent turnover rates. According to Quality Assurance Training Connection research, the call center industry has an astonishing turnover rate of 30 to 45% due to time-consuming administrative tasks, an excessive workload, and difficulties with existing software and workflow tools. This high churn poses critical challenges – missed business opportunities, reputational damage due to inadequate support, and a widening staffing gap. A robust foundation of internal support systems is imperative to address these issues, so companies are turning to technology to alleviate stress on agents and the customers they serve.
The Role of AI in Transforming Support
According to a study by TELUS International, 72% of executives are allocating a higher budget for enhancing digital CX in 2023 compared to the previous year. Among these leaders, 68% have augmented their digital funds by 25%, focusing on technologies such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, AI, and customer analytics. Predictive AI tech paired with generative AI, a system designed to create or generate new forms of data, has emerged as a powerful solution for call centers grappling with agent retention challenges, fundamentally transforming the landscape of customer assistance.
Call center agents statistically perform better when both forms of AI technology is embedded into the agent experience strategy. Businesses can harness the power of machine learning (ML) and predictive analytics to mitigate agent burnout and offer a hybrid support model in which the traditional roles like agents and managers work in tandem with new assistive GenAI tools that support agents in processing large amounts of language data, in turn, generating smart responses with immediacy across language barriers. This, in turn, enhances their day-to-day responsibilities and positively influences their overall job satisfaction.
Here are five ways AI can enhance the agent experience:
Companies of any size can leverage generative AI’s content generation abilities to streamline essential tasks, including training, by intelligently assisting in coaching and upskilling new team members. AI also aids in developing soft skills so agents can help solve the customer’s inquiry with accuracy and empathy while upholding an on-brand communication style with clear intent.
The impact of AI on customer support transcends service quality and issue resolution. Predictive AI’s data interpretation is vital to addressing common support challenges, from fragmented customer data to backlogs and limited visibility into attrition. When combined with powerful generative AI, these challenges mitigate agent turnover and exhaustion, enhancing support operations. This marks a profound transformation as AI enhances problem-solving capabilities and nurtures relationships with existing customers. Simultaneously, it improves the agent experience, retaining top-tier talent and supporting their daily endeavors.
About SupportLogic
SupportLogic delivers the world’s first support experience (SX) management platform that enables companies to proactively understand and act on the voice of the customer to build healthy relationships and maximize customer lifetime value. SupportLogic SX uses predictive and generative AI to extract and analyze customer sentiment signals from both structured and unstructured data and provides recommendations, content and collaborative workflows. SupportLogic is helping global enterprises like Databricks, Qlik, Nutanix, Rubrik, and Snowflake to prevent customer escalations, reduce churn and elevate the customer support experience. To learn more, visit supportlogic.com.
Contact:
Matt Maurel
matt.maurel@anthonybarnum.com
225-933-0123
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