Why Contact Center Fundamentals Matter More than AI

In today’s technology driven world, contact centers are increasingly looking towards AI to enhance customer satisfaction. Chatbots, automated self-service, AI driven reporting are positioned as game-changers that can solve issues quickly and achieve great customer satisfaction and save cost to the businesses. However, in this rush towards AI, many businesses are forgetting one basic aspect: the fundamentals of contact center management. While AI can help, it can’t replace the foundational aspect like strategic routing, effective queue management, and actionable reporting — the elements which formed the backbone of the contact center.

The Overhype of AI in Contact Center

It’s hard to ignore all the noise around AI and the ways it can transform contact center. From AI powered bots to predictive analysis, the promise of AI is that it can solve all the problems ranging of high customer wait times, service level and above all increase the customer satisfaction. Many organizations invested heavily on AI just to realize that it hasn’t impacted the above parameter in the way they expected.

Why? Because AI is no way a Magic Bullet! It can’t fix broken processes, poorly designed routing and queuing or the reporting customized around what the business wants. In fact, the businesses who thought of having a head start in this new technology often found themselves still struggling with customer satisfaction and better business outcomes.

Why Basics matter more

Before jumping on the AI train, businesses need to ask…. are the basics covered? Here’s why getting the fundamentals right is more important than chasing the new shiny tech revolution called AI.

1. Routing & Queueing: Getting customers to the right agent quickly

The heart of any contact center is the match making process between the agent and the customers. This process determines how quickly the customer, and the agent will get connected. Skills-based routing, for example, ensures that the customer with specific requirement gets connected to the optimal agent who specializes in solving that problem. This not only improves time to resolution but also enhances customer satisfaction.

2. Reporting & Analytics: Understanding what really matters and what’s happening.

AI can provide fancy dashboards and predictive analysis, but if the underlying data is not correct, these insights are meaningless. Reporting is one of the most overlooked aspect of contact center. It’s not enough to track metrics like Average Handle Time, call volume or service level; business needs to dive deeper into why these numbers fluctuate and what’s the experience the customers are getting.

For example, if the customer is frequently calling about the same issue and getting transferred from queue to queue and the individual queues are showing the accepted average handle time, and the business believes that the contact center is performing well — a false positive. We need to think that this measure does not reflect the customer sentiment and the experience what the customer is getting from the business.

3. Training & Agent Empowerment: The human touch matters

While AI can handle routine task, there is no replacement for the well-trained empathetic agent who can not only solve the customer problem but also increase the customer satisfaction. Yet, many businesses cut back cost on agent training after implementing AI. This is a mistake.

Agents need continuous training not only on customer service but also how to leverage AI tools to maximum potential. When agents understand how to effectively utilize AI tools to enhance customer satisfaction, they see AI as a trusted companion rather than AI replacing them.

The Dangers of Neglecting the Basics

So, what happens when business ignore the basics in the favor of AI? Let’s consider an example. A company recently implemented advanced AI driven contact center solution, believing it will enhance customer satisfaction and they can reduce the overflow of routine calls to the human agents. However, within months, they saw an increase in customer dis-satisfaction and customer churn.

The reason? The new AI system was great at analyzing data and can quickly answer the routine task, but was poorly integrated into the existing processes and customer behaviors. Customer were getting lost in the automated flows, leading to high wait times. The company failed to recognize the core issues like optimize routing strategies and training the agents on the new AI system.

Striking the right balance between AI and the Fundamentals

Does this mean that the businesses should not look towards AI in contact centers? Absolutely not. AI can be incredibly powerful when used correctly, providing it complements and not replaces the solid foundation. Here’s how businesses can strike the right balance:

1. Optimize the basics first: Make sure the skills-based routing, reporting and training processes are efficient.
2. Use AI to enhance, not replace: Implement AI as a trusted companion for the agents, rather than replacing them.
3. Continuous Training: Train the agents not only in customer service but also in the new technologies.
4. Monitor and Adjust: Regularly monitor your routing and AI implementation to ensure they are actually improving customer satisfaction and not complicating it.

Conclusion

In the rush to incorporate AI, it’s easy to forget the basics of contact center. However, the most advanced technology can only perform if built on the solid foundation. In the end, focus on mastering the fundamentals first and let AI enhance what you’ve already perfected.