The pieces that make up the contact center experience
Contact centers are on the frontline of customer engagement for many organizations. Nicor Gas is a natural gas utility provider serving 2.2 million customers in northern Illinois – excluding the city of Chicago – so we must be aware of all happenings throughout our territory and also be able to assist both residential and business customers in any situation. There are a few key pieces that make up the contact center experience and will be a big focus as we continue to adapt.
Piece 1: Information is key
Throughout my 32 years at Nicor Gas, I have always been in customer-facing roles, whether it is face-to-face interactions in the field, working at a customer’s home or engaging with a customer over the phone in the contact center. We need to ensure that we are educating and supporting our team members on providing a positive experience, recognizing that they may be the only person that a customer interacts with at the organization.
Piece 2: Setting up your teams for success
When leading a large team, like a contact center, employee engagement and support are key to success. The more we engage with our employees and listen to their feedback as well as the customer’s feedback, the better we can serve. We need to evaluate our business processes and think differently to provide the experience our employees and customers expect.
“The more we engage with our employees and listen to their feedback as well as the customer’s feedback, the better we can serve.”
Piece 3: Gathering customer feedback and acting on it
By adapting to change, the contact center will be able to continually drive positive customer engagement. Over the past five years, customer communication preferences have changed. Many customers now choose to engage via email and chat, or through self-service options.
Keeping our finger on the pulse of the customer is critical to moving our business in a positive direction to meet their expectations.
Although each industry is different, the customer remains at the center of everything we do.
