Without customers, your business is dead. Being able to contact customers, follow up on prospects and meet buyers where they are, either on voice, text, or webchat, is critical, but for many SMEs, contact centre technologies have been out of reach.
In the past contact centre solutions have been enterprise-grade. They needed expensive data centres, hardware, and the software nous to work. SMEs typically can’t afford these costs and don’t have the IT staff to support them.
With the rise of the cloud, contact centres have come into the reach of SMEs and can be delivered to any internet-connected device. Dubbed Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS), all the software and hardware live in the cloud, allowing users to scale up when demand is high and roll things back during slower times. CCaaS means SMEs pay only for what they use – nothing more.
Features to consider in a CCaaS solution
Our most recent survey found 69 per cent of customers call the company’s main phone line when they have a query or want to make a purchase. But 41 per cent said their customers only use digital methods of reaching out, including email, webchat, and social media.
Then there are the people who come to a physical location (35 per cent), and the ten per cent who use a self-service knowledge base.
A modern contact centre solution must address all these needs (probably apart from people walking through the door!). Especially in a period of growth, communications can reach a tipping point where enquiry volume starts to flow at an unmanageable rate. CCaaS solutions give SMEs a full suite of tools allowing them to compete with larger enterprises on an even footing.
Turning masses of data into meaningful engagements
Analytics is key to being able to gain deeper insight into operations and manage staff and resources accordingly. Monitoring call performance to collect data such as average call time, the amount of time customers are waiting on the phone before answered, and how long it takes for an issue to be resolved will offer insight into customer needs to not only help businesses increase profitability and efficiencies but also boost customer satisfaction.
Understanding the intricacies of interactions and the context of customer behaviour is key to creating meaningful experiences that drives value. For instance, offering an automated call-back option will eliminate the need for customers to wait on the line for an agent.
Interactive voice response (IVR) lets customer answer voice prompts directing them precisely where they want to go, which further accelerates service and leads to faster issue resolution. Additionally, customers use a variety of channels to outreach so it’s important that agents can meet customers where they are. This means easy switching between voice, video, and chat.
Added flexibility
With the rise of work from home (WFH), many agents have moved out of the contact centre and into their home offices. A CCaaS solution should provide the flexibility for staff to work from wherever they happen to be, with no dissolution of service or performance.
A CCaaS solution is flexible, allowing you to only pay for the seats your business is using. For a business with a lot of seasonality, this flexibility to only pay for what you need is a game-changer.
Agents also need outbound dialling, saving them time and eliminating the need to enter a phone number every time they make a call. This streamlines the process, allowing staff to make more calls in a more effective way.
Every SME needs an easy, economical way to centralise and personalise their contacts with the people who make their business possible – the customer. This is where CCaaS drives business value. The best software intuitively understands communication processes, reduces friction, and supplies metrics to prove what is and isn’t working.
Most importantly, CCaaS puts SMEs in the game and levels the competitive playing field with larger businesses.
