The agile methodology has the potential to revolutionize customer service and tap into the value of front-line employees, who represent an untapped resource. By empowering agents through an agile approach, organizations can incorporate customer responsibility and creative problem solving into customer service. The first users have already achieved impressive results in their contact centers, as they have increased resolution and efficiency on the first call and, at the same time, reduced operating costs. A combination of agile best practices and sustained investment in cultural change can position organizations to obtain similar benefits in their customer service functions.
Efficient demand management is a business strategy that involves balancing supply and demand for products or services. This means accurately predicting customer demand and ensuring that there are enough products available to meet this demand, without creating excess inventory. These multidisciplinary teams can resolve more than 95 percent of customer requests during the first contact, preventing a negative experience or multiple handoffs. In a European contact center for a major telecommunications company, all the employees who served specific customers were on a floor with an open seating plan.
Employees who have become used to the usual ways of working may need a compelling reason to take a new approach; the stimulus can be a clear story of change. The provider took advantage of the success of the pilot program to implement the new customer service model in centers in nearly a dozen different countries. By implementing efficient demand management strategies and optimizing their supply chain procurement processes, companies can reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction. To achieve efficient demand management, companies must have a clear understanding of their customers' needs.
However, today, the availability of hardware adds a design dimension that complicates everything and can result in several iterations of the design to adapt to ever-changing supply and delivery times. The pandemic has also led customers to rethink (and increase) their expectations about the behavior of organizations in crisis situations. In just a couple of months, we've seen global lockdowns push customers to adopt digital channels at a faster pace than would have been expected. The process of mapping customer journeys from start to finish can help agents think about how their participation at any given touchpoint contributes to a positive customer experience.
And reflecting the efficiency and visibility established by TEX, the contact center reduced the number of times customers were transferred by 70%. However, the unique dynamics of customer service require companies to design tailored deployment and scaling plans. To ensure that your strategy remains agile enough to respond quickly to changing customer needs, it is important to adapt your design approach accordingly. Investing in cultural change and utilizing agile best practices can help you obtain similar benefits in your customer service functions.
Additionally, efficient demand management strategies should be implemented and supply chain procurement processes should be optimized in order to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction.
