Around 54% of customers say they would abandon a company after just one bad experience. This means all it takes is one negative interaction, and you could lose one of your most valuable clients. With the rise of social media, customers are becoming increasingly vocal about their negative interactions with brands. This could mean a poor experience damages your reputation and makes it harder to attract new customers.
Unfortunately for business leaders, there is no shortage of potential issues which can cause your customer to rate your service experience as “poor.” Anything from too many transfers to a lack of personalization can be enough to turn an interaction sour.
So, how do you ensure you consistently provide your agents with the tools they need to deliver excellent interactions every time? Simply put – give them more information.
The Benefits of Combining CRMs and Contact Centers
Contact centers are a fantastic tool for managing customer interactions. They facilitate the flow of countless pieces of valuable data points every day about your client’s needs, preferences, and expectations. Unfortunately, these insights often don’t stay in the contact center database for agents to access whenever they need them. Instead, they’re sent to a separate CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform or worst case, not captured at all.
For years, CRM and contact center systems have been two core components of an excellent customer experience strategy, but they’re frequently disconnected, leading to many problems for agents. Unifying your CRM and your contact center is one of the easiest ways to help your agents deliver personalized experiences without needing them to open multiple apps or tabs.
Benefits of unifying your CRM and contact center:
- Empowers agents with data: Bringing your CRM information into your contact center means your agents can easily access valuable, contextual information when interacting with customers. The right solution will ensure each agent knows what a customer's needs and pain points are so that they can deliver the best solutions.
- Improves efficiency: A combined CRM and communications interface gives your agent an all-in-one environment where they can access all necessary tools in one place. That means they spend less time jumping between applications and more time delivering excellent service. Some solutions even come with out-of-the-box screen pops, to automatically provide agents with customer data form the moment they answer a call.
- Allows for personalization: With an integrated CRM solution, your agents can access useful information about each customer at the moment. This means they can personalize the service offered to suit every client. This level of insight is crucial as consumers demand more personalized, relevant, and engaging experiences.
- Enhances insights: An integrated interface can provide a consolidated environment for tracking insights and creating reports. Some solutions allow you to automatically keep logs of calls received and dialed, including notes, so agents don't have to waste time on post-call wrap-up. You can even track the workflow of your employees alongside insights into your customer's journey.
- Boosted productivity: A combined CRM and contact center can save your employees time and make them more productive. They'll be able to transfer calls with relevant contextual notes and insights, so employees can easily pick up where another call left off. Some solutions also come with options for call-back scheduling, click-to-dial functionality, and other helpful built-in tools for productivity.
Contact Centers and CRMs: Better Together
Your contact center and CRM environment shouldn't be separate.
Your CRM is one of the most critical tools in your CX strategy, providing you with all the behind-the-scenes insights into your target audience and their journey. Bringing this intelligent solution into your contact center empowers your team and paves the way for better employee experience and greater customer satisfaction.
Today, integrating your CRM and contact center couldn't be easier. Desktop Connect from Geomant provides businesses with a convenient out-of-the-box solution for unifying leading contact center and CRM solutions into an all-in-one agent interface.
Note, if you have not yet invested in a CRM system for your organization or department, you may benefit from a bundled Customer Activity Tracker.
Contact Geomant today to find out how you can leverage the benefits of connecting your CRM to your contact center.