The Customer Experience should focus on setting expectations for the right messaging experience. This can include predefined messages that explain the messaging experiences (caution against using words that indicate agents may not be readily available), or what to expect in reaching an agent, surveys, etc.
The Agent Experience should focus on meeting the customers where they are in and working towards solving the customer’s contact intent, prioritizing customers according to the Brand’s policies (sense of urgency, intensity of the intent), and managing queues and volumes as the program progresses with automations in Stage 2.
Training:
- Brand process and product knowledge training should be designed for the messaging experiences a Messaging Agent should deliver rather than using the same content/processes for a voice or chat agent.
- Introduce Conversational Cloud training on Day 1 or Day 2 of training to ensure agents have time to work within the platform and get familiar with the platform features and benefits throughout the entire training timeframe. Time should be embedded within training to allow for messaging agents to role play the content learned, being both customer and agent, to understand and see how the customers’ experiences are handled in messaging. Agents should feel confident in the platform when going live with customers.
- Ramps to proficiency from training should begin to be measured from when an agent begins taking messaging conversations until they are reaching their targeted KPIs and SLAs.
Tools and Resources:
- Knowledge articles should be updated to allow for the handling of messaging conversations (for example, remove references to “calling in” or transferring to another voice queue).
Reporting
- Basic Report Center Reporting
- Analytics Builder Standard Reports
Workforce Planning
- On a new-to-messaging launch, workforce planning may present a challenge with over- or under-staffing taking place. Most Brands will take an FTE model approach to staff according to forecasts and projections and in Stage 1, may choose to continue with an estimated FTE model to begin to measure the program’s success, flexing staffing up and down. Best practice is to use the metrics below to start to assess how much volume can be managed with limited automations and unknowns in variable arrival patterns.
Measuring what Matters:
- Improvements in Interactive Conversations per Logged in Hour (ICPLH)
- Agent Segment Duration
- Average Wait time to first human response
- Agent Average Response Time
- Repeat contact rate 1 hour
Targeted Outcomes:
- Reduced Cost per Contact (compared to Voice and/or email)
- Improving Interactive Conversations per Logged in Hour (ICPLH for humans)
- Contact Center efficiencies:
- Reductions in Agent Segment Duration
- Reductions in Average Wait time for Human Assignment
Now that you understand the implications of this stage for your contact center, let's move on to the design considerations. Click here to proceed.