“An in Debt Discussion” with Jacqueline H. Waller
The host, Jacqueline H. Waller, has over 17 years of experience in the Data and FinTech industry. She has had a few different types of podcasts, online radio show and loves having conversations with people, helping businesses, and driving value to her guests.
Jeffery Hartman, often known to some as the “Don of Debt,” is here to offer a Q&A about omnichannel call centers and how they improve upon the consumer experience and make business more efficient.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges a contact center might face when switching over to an omnichannel system or strategy?
Jeffery Hartman: Ultimately, the contact center will probably struggle with translating the new system across their employees… that is to say, how will the people understand the technology and process? In many cases, your employees will not directly understand the new technology and all the different applications available to make the consumer’s journey more efficient and customized.
Omnichannel technology can make call centers more personal for the consumer, but without the agents or employee input and process, the system may fall short. So my best advice for companies looking to make the switch is to be sure that they train their agents to use the new system!
Q: What are some tips that you’d give an organization when it comes to finding which channels should take priority in an omnichannel system?
Jeffery Hartman: Understand the customer. For each brand, agency, whatever you have – there is a unique customer profile. To design an effective omnichannel infrastructure, you need to understand this consumer profile and see how they engage in communication and their preferred method? For example, if 80% of your customers use the phone and you’re prioritizing web channels, you’re not pitching in the right stadium.
Go where your customers are and support the main channels that they use. There will always be outliers that seek to use uncommon channels, and it doesn’t hurt to have support for these channels should the need arise… but don’t make them a priority – leverage your assets effectively.
Q: What do you believe to be the most pressing goal or aspect of omnichannel development that companies should understand?
Jeffery Hartman: Understanding how to provide a proactive service. Support has traditionally been reactive… we knew what our customers wanted because we had several support tickets that our call centers managed to identify averages. So essentially, we went into a support system, KNOWING what our consumers would likely want, but we didn’t do anything about it to make the consumer’s experience worthwhile!
When a call center better understands its consumer profile, it will offer a more renowned service that leaves the customer wanting to come back to the brand.
Q: Earlier, you touched on training your people to understand the omnichannel call center environment better, but what does this mean for employees? What are the implications?
Jeffery Hartman: Well, at the end of the day, your employees will need to understand all the different channels that the brand offers and how to translate the consumer’s journey through these channels. Your employees will need to understand the dashboard behind these channels… all the individual data points were collected before support was requested, during the support call/chat, and thereafter.
In a summarized view, your employees will need to be prepared to research the company’s structure and just know how to navigate this structure.
That wraps up our Q&A with Jeffery Hartman, thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions, and we look forward to seeing what’s next with the Don of Debt!
