Bridging the Gap Between Contact Centre Agents and SMEs

Let’s face it, agents don’t have all the answers.

They are often in situations where a customer is asking a question outside of their knowledge or training. 

At this point, an agent can do one of two things: put the customer on hold while the agent tries to find a subject matter expert (SME) who can help answer the question, or blind transfer to an expert who they think would know the answer. The end result: a very poor customer service experience.   

In the last year, there was a wholesale move to a work–from–home model for businesses, making it even more difficult for agents to reach SMEs. Agents can no longer look around the office and see who is available to help. 

With agents and experts in different locations, it leaves customers on hold or, worse, having to call back a second or third time. 

Traditionally, there has been a distinct separation between the contact centre and back-office workers.

However, as services and products become more complex, the burden of agent training has limited agent knowledge across familiar 80/20 lines—leaving customers with less common questions to receive a poor experience. 

If agents have the ability to use a consolidated directory to easily find an expert, click-to-call, conference, or transfer in directly with the customer, they no longer have to place customers on hold—leaving them to wonder what is going on—or transfer the call to the wrong expert. 

Utilizing a cloud-to-cloud integration to support on-net calling and transfers network allows your business to automatically redirect calls from the general number to the contact centre, a particular skills group, or even directed to an expert who is outside of the contact centre – without incurring additional toll charges. 

In addition to help keep costs lower from a business perspective, this also provides the correct call path for customers who are looking for a particular expert. 

As your organization bridges the gap between agents and experts, your customers will feel the direct effects: a more seamless customer service experience, accelerated resolutions, and time savings due to improved first contact resolution (FCR).