The ASA (average speed of answer) golden rule varies from around 80% of calls answered in 20 seconds to 90% answered in 10 seconds. This seems to change from industry to industry, and channel to channel – so the ability to analyse your customer hangup rates while on hold will give you accurate and personalised metrics that relate directly to your business.
Options to successfully reduce call abandonment include:
- Setting an expectation of the ASA with your customer while they are on hold
- Offering other contact options, including callbacks (instead of staying in a queue) and self-service (which is ideal if a customer wants to update account details or select a standard transaction)
The AHT (average handle time) is another source of frustration for your customers, as is FCR (first call resolution). How can you streamline it?
With a Microsoft Digital Contact Centre, you have several strategies to choose from, including:
- Intelligent call routing to virtual and live agents best qualified (in terms of skills, experience, capacity, and availability) to help your customer
- Empowering your agent with access to a knowledge base and an AI bot to ‘listen in’ and suggest answers and give resolution recommendations as the call progresses
- Handle the call via an AI bot which recognises, understands, and responds with natural language
And to make your support offering even more timely and appealing to your customers, a digital contact centre enables you to provide support around the clock. Onboard agents from multiple time zones (all they need is an internet connection) to assist your customers when required – not just during ‘normal’ business hours.