Top CRM Benefits for the Contact Center
Customer Relationship Management software vendors claim their products will benefit customers in a number of strategic ways. But as the old saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. What have real customers actually experienced? Has CRM software made their call centers more efficient, cost-effective or profitable?
Fortunately, there are plenty of customer success stories that document the tangible benefits of customer facing strategies and software solutions. A number of these apply directly to call centers. Below are some examples of CRM-driven enhancements culled from many real-world implementations.
Easier Access to Customer Data
One of the most touted benefits of CRM software is that it gives call center reps easy access to a wide variety of customer information. One international telecommunications company opened a new customer contact center that’s responsible for handling inquiries from more than 400,000 customers, and the CRM system installed gives agents instant access to a database containing an array of helpful customer data. This contact center 360 degree customer view allows the agent to answer customer queries more quickly and better meet their needs. It also enables the company to document customer requests as they’re being processed. With the aid of the new customer relationship management software system, the company has increased both agent and customer satisfaction to new levels.
Another company, a global energy provider, implemented a Customer Relationship Management solution and provided its call center agents with immediate access to all customer data, including records of previous engagements and historical information related to electricity service. With this capability and on-demand data, reps have real time information concerning customer inquiries, allowing them to provide more timely and personalized service. The results are improvements to first call resolution, improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, and more opportunities to promote additional products and services.
Increased Efficiency and Productivity
A provider of comparison shopping services deployed an integrated Sales Force Automation (SFA) and customer support system to replace a legacy system, and linked the business software systems with its telephony and order-entry apps. The new technology enables contact center agents to properly brand incoming calls, read required disclosures and review customer orders for quicker and more consistent order fulfillment and customer service. By using an SFA system integrated with a customer support application, the company increased up-sell and cross-sell orders by 12% in the first six months and improved call center agent productivity by 15% within 60 days.
In another example, a provider of financial services information wanted to improve the efficiency of its call centers and enable customer service representatives to upsell or cross-sell financial products and services. With a new cloud-based CRM solution, integrated with the company’s back-office Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, the firm now provides reps with customer purchase history for more effective renewals processing. It also monitors and measures the performance of its call center based on the types of calls addressed, bottlenecks and other factors. First-call resolution rates increased by double digits. And with enhanced customer insight, the firm has developed more effective and less costly marketing campaigns while increasing up selling and cross selling over 5%.
Improved Customer Retention
To keep up with growing competition in its retail banking market, a regional bank needed to improve its level of customer service and customer retention. Specifically, the bank had to deal with a growing volume of multichannel customer interactions, deploy a telesales campaign through its call center, and adopt a more efficient complaint management procedure.
The bank implemented a financial services CRM system in its call center, and has transformed the facility into a modern contact center with multi-channel support and streamlined processes for increased efficiency. Customer service representatives have improved interactions with customers and can respond to them more quickly, improving the level of customer satisfaction. Increased financial services product referrals are up over 10% from the prior year and customer retention has improved by 8.5%.
Cost Savings
A municipal government agency opened a contact center to bring together multiple toll-free numbers that were dedicated to various public services. The contact center, which handles an average 7,000 calls per weekday, implemented a public sector CRM system. Among the benefits are improved constituent relationship management, as evidenced by survey responses, and better management of peak demand for services, which has saved the city money by more efficiently allocating resources and optimizing work hours.
These are just a few representative examples of how call centers are routinely benefiting from CRM technology. These real world case studies show that these customer management systems can have a tangible impact on call center operations, and improve both customer satisfaction and the company's bottom-line.