Digital Assistants: The magic solution for the problems that plague contact centers

One of the biggest problems that contact centers face today is staff turnover. Hiring and consequently retaining qualified staff has a huge impact on the bottom line of the company as well as to the quality of service rendered

Two of the most important figures that affect contact centers are the rate of turnover and the cost of turnover. According to research, the average annual turnover rate of contact center agents in the US ranges between 30-45 percent, which is more than double the average for all occupations in the U.S. High attrition has a direct impact on the bottom line of the contact centers. The Center for American Progress estimates the cost of replacing an agent to be about 20% of a full annual salary. If a contact center has about 50 employees this could translate to more than $100,000 yearly in turnover costs.

These costs include the time and money spent on recruiting and hiring, training of new employees, and the dip in productivity due to the initial vacancy and the extended learning period of the new hire. High turnover also has a variety of other negative impacts on productivity, culture, and service quality.

The reasons call centers often experience high turnover rates are often related to low employee engagement due to:

1. Non-challenging or repetitive work
2. Lack of recognition
3. Low employee satisfaction
4. Lack of professional development opportunities
5. Excessive pressure or stress

Is there a magic solution that can fix these problems that plague contact centers overnight? Can it somehow magically improve employee satisfaction, alleviate the work pressure, meaningfully engage employees,  while still reducing cost and improving the bottom-line.

Digital assistants from interface can fix the fundamental issues within contact centers brought on by low employee engagement. Digital assistants can take on a large part of the repetitive workload that agents get saddled with for nearly 60% of the day. These questions are simple and can be easily and intelligently answered by the digital assistants for customers instantly and correctly, without forwarding calls to different departments or putting customers on hold. This not only reduces the non-challenging buy also reduces the work pressure of the live agents.

Now that 60% of the day has been freed up for the live agents they can spend time tackling the complex customer issues that utilize the full extent of their knowledge. Focusing their attention on providing a better quality of service and themselves develop professionally. They can grow their knowledge base by understanding the nuances of their jobs and the business as well.

Digital assistants are also significantly less expensive than live agents. The cost of client interaction with a digital assistant is 10 cents versus a $4 cost for a human agent. The savings from digital assistants can stack-up quickly in a high volume environment, augmenting the bottom line of the organization.

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Digital assistants can overall improve the employee experience at the contact center through more fulfilling work. Fulfilled agents have a lower turnover rate, and companies don’t have to invest as much time and resources in recruiting, hiring, training, and on-boarding new agents. Happier agents are also more productive, which means that they can better achieve contact center metrics.

Cultivating a quality agent experience is important to contact centers of all sizes: According to CCW Digital’s Winter Executive Report, 33% of companies agree that improving the agent experience is a top priority. Digital Assistants can go a long way in helping organizations sustainably achieve that goal. Digital assistants are ideal at providing services that complement the skills of live agents and help organizations scale in a robust fashion.