Are Contact Centre Agents Becoming Too Robotic?
"With mundane banking requirements being done digitally, through self-serve channels and customers increasing their adoption of digital channels, contact centre agents are now forced to become more of technical experts than banking experts," says Asma Beljaflah, Head of Emirates Islamic Contact Centre at Tanfeeth.
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Here’s the irony. In contact centres, agents are bombarded with rules, expectations, and new tools that cause human error; and they are also bearing the brunt of customer frustration. It has led them to become more ‘robotic’ in their customer interactions. This contradicts the AI agenda, which seeks to humanise technology.
In 2019, Tanfeeth launched a programme ‘OCOP’ to upgrade the way customers are able to bank with us, to ensure we remain relevant to our end users. Asma Beljaflah, Head of Emirates Islamic Contact Centre at Tanfeeth talked about the challenges that contact centres face today.
Full interview:
What strategies do you recommend for the training and development of contact centre agents, and how does this contribute to delivering a high-quality customer experience?
What we do in contact centres is overburden agents with rules and penalise them for mistakes to the point where agents become robotic in their interactions with customers. This is the complete opposite of what the AI agenda is striving for. In today’s world AI is striving to become more human-like. In 2019, Tanfeeth launched a programme ‘OCOP’ to upgrade the way customers are able to bank with us, to ensure we remain relevant to our end users. We also continue to invest in upgrading digital proposition, increasing self-serve and improving our customers ability to bank seamlessly. We have also embarked on a journey to upskill our people and get them ready for the future by reinstating the human-human interactions by empowering our people to own the customer. Whilst developing the right tools, we decided to teach our people skills to handle people rather than force product information, directing our people on how to find solutions rather than memorising the answers.
What are some of the key challenges faced in contact centre operations today?
Remain a relevant, value added channel to the end user. Banks are adopting a digital first agenda to ensure that we remain attuned to customer requirements and continue to be part of their ecosystem. However, there are multiple challenges that conventional contact centres still face:
- With mundane banking requirements being done digitally, through self-serve channels and customers increasing their adoption of digital channels, contact centre agents are now forced to become more of technical experts than banking experts.
- Additionally, banking requirements that land into contact centres are expected to be more complicated in nature, one that AI isn’t programmed to do. But customers will always seek a human connection. However, the expectations for resolution will be higher, as customers are accustomed to instant servicing.
- Upgrade contact centre platforms to sync with customer requirements. In the near future, conventional voice and email will become obsolete, social media, metaverse are some of the most preferred channels for new-generation end users. That being said, you don’t want to become a late adopter but you also have to be equipped with the right resources to contain the customer in the channel of choice and be aware of the potential risks and mitigate them.
My advice to contact centre leaders is to become more agile and aware of your customers’ preferences and expectations, upskill yourself and upgrade human and non-human resources.
Also Read: Can Future Retail Tech Revolutionise eCommerce?
How do you ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the contact centre operations at Tanfeeth meet service level agreements and customer expectations?
Investing in the right platforms to provide relevant, real-time and consistent data for better insights is crucial to know where we stand. Gauging the voice of customers is critical to understand if we are meeting our customer expectations. Additionally, the message from the top is equally important. Senior management’s endorsement of continuous improvement to the status quo is a key driver that enables us to ensure we are efficient and effective in our operations.
In today’s omnichannel environment, how should contact centre agents manage customer interactions across various channels?
Containing customers in their channel of choice is crucial. The worst experience a customer can have is if they are conversing on Whatsapp/ social media and are then asked to call their bank to complete their request. Whilst there is always an element of risk associated with ‘non-conventional’ channels, as an organisation we have to solve for this and eliminate the risk by upgrading our infrastructure rather than put our customer through inconveniences and hurdles.
Investing in an omnichannel platform to gain better visibility of our customers is a must. This convenience will differentiate early adopters and give them competitive advantage and higher wallet share. Finally, upskilling agents from a ‘uni’ to ‘multi’ and eventually ‘omni’ is crucial.
In your opinion, what data and technology trends can revolutionise the contact centre industry?
AI and machine learning can revolutionise the contact centre by enabling intelligent automation, sentiment analysis and personalised customer interactions. Strong data analytics for real-time insights can also enhance operational efficiency and customer experience.
