November 14, 2022
Today we start a three-part series about the customer experience (CX), Work From Home (WFH), and call-centers in Japan. More specifically, about using an omnichannel approach with WFH to provide superior customer satisfaction.
Overview: Call centers are switching to WFH
In 2020, Covid-19 changed business. While we are still going through wave after wave of Covid-19 outbreaks around the world, companies are starting to learn new ways to act.
The WFH phenomena, to help social distancing, has been a myth buster. Maybe the only positive outcome of the Covid-19 pandemic is that businesses learned that WFH is possible and can be highly productive.
In a May 6 Japan Times article, call centers were identified as Covid-19 hotspots. These facilities usually have people packed in, with desks close together with no partitions.
In Japan, pre-Covid-19, this industry of 250,000 allowed approximately 6% of staff to work from home. They explained their reluctance to use WFH with concerns over data leakage and static infrastructure. According to a Customerthink.com article, dated June 22, 2020, globally, only 59% of call center companies allowed some agents to work remotely.
With Covid-19, that figure has increased to 74%. Many companies now report that WFHleads to higher agent satisfaction and lower turnover, plus reduced office space requirements per agent. And most importantly, 34% had reported realizing that the remote technologies worked better than they thought.
There is a good chance that the government will make additional calls for social distancing. As of this writing, Covid-19 cases are north of 1000 per day. For the call center industry, now is a chance to look at remote agents again.
Why an omnichannel customer support system is needed to level up customer experience
A simple infrastructure update is not enough to secure customer experience
When switching to WFH, many call center companies also use this opportunity to update their infrastructure to be more flexible and responsive to customer needs. While you can alleviate concerns about data leakage with the use of virtual desktop technology (discussed in part three), this kind of update by itself will not be enough to improve customer satisfaction.
To rehash some critical points from Zendesk’s CX Trends 2020 survey, almost half of respondents stated they would switch to a competitor after just one bad customer experience. Nearly 70% of respondents said they are annoyed when their call is transferred between departments, especially if they have to repeat the issue. Lastly, they said they want support available 24/7.
An omnichannel customer service system is what you need
Implementing an omnichannel ticketing tool system would allow most of these concerns to be answered and be compatible with a virtual desktop solution.
An omnichannel customer support system, like Zendesk, will enable the integration of many data sources, making the tool a one-stop-shop for interacting with customers. They expand your agent’s reach beyond the phone and Email to social networks, online communities, and self-service options.
The next article will further delve into an omnichannel ticketing system and its benefits to a call center. The last piece will discuss concerns for remote agent connectivity.
Conclusion
With chaos comes opportunity, and now is an opportunity for Japan’s call center industry to consider a change that most customers will understand. WFH for agents will improve flexibility to survive a pandemic and employee satisfaction. Zendesk omnichannel ticketing system will improve agent efficiency and customer satisfaction—a win-win situation.
If you would like to continue reading, click here to be taken to Part II.
If you’d like to learn more about Zendesk and CX solutions, please feel free to contact Unwired Logic today. We are one of the trusted Zendesk partners and will be more than happy to help you learn more about this subject.
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