Research shows that one-on-one calls are a company’s main type of interaction with customers. Recording each call to gain insight from these conversations is costly. Plus, manual analysis of the content is time-consuming and difficult. That is why businesses are turning to speech analysis software programs.
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What is Speech Analytics
Speech analysis is a process of mining recorded (or sometimes live) calls to extract information about customer-agent interactions, customer mood, most frequently asked questions, what worked or didn’t work, and other aspects of call center operation.
Benefits of Using Speech Analysis Tools
There are many ways in which this type of program can help a company improve its call center effectiveness. Here are a few:
Increases Call Center Productivity
The programs discover agent weak areas and ensure they are sticking to the provided scripts. This allows companies to improve call agent training and to edit the scripts if they need to. Additionally, calls can be categorized to find the most frequently asked questions and other identifying aspects that enable them to be channeled to the appropriate agent.
Identifies Opportunity for Additional Sales
The presence of certain commonly used phrases or words helps companies identify areas of customer interest. This provides the opportunity to inform them about additional products or services they might purchase. It also opens the door to greater brand loyalty. Customers who realize that they can meet their needs through the products of one company will build loyalty to that business.
Identifies Recurring Problems
Analysis of calls can provide a “troubleshooting manual” for the company, helping them see what agents have tried and what has, or has not worked in solving customer issues. This allows them to develop other ways of addressing common problems but also shows them where agent training is lacking.
Helps Ensure Compliance
Of course, human communication often fails to express just the right reactions, and that is why scripts are needed for call center agents. Claims about the efficacy of a product or about its use can result in legal problems for companies. This is especially true of debt-collection companies. There are some things agents just are not legally allowed to say. This is also a matter of agent training and improvement.
Reduces Cost
Customers who must call back repeatedly become disgruntled. Callbacks are also costly and increase the overall volume of calls meaning longer wait times for visitors. Speech analytics can mine data to identify successful mitigations and the result is one-call resolution. This also leads to greater customer satisfaction.
Although the benefits of speech analysis address different areas of call center effectiveness, the result is the same: a reduction in customer “churn.” When customers find their issues resolved in a single call, when they encounter a knowledgeable and efficient agent and when they are introduced to other products they didn’t know existed, they are less likely to migrate to a competitor (often taking their friends with them).
When companies can achieve this level of customer satisfaction while lowering their costs, using speech analytics programs from places like Verint just makes good sense.