6 Technological Shared Business Services (SBS) Innovation Ideas

It has been a challenging couple of years for the shared business services industry. A lot has changed in the world and times are more uncertain than ever before. But thanks to the hard work of contact centre managers, supervisors and software developers worldwide, we are now seeing new call centre technologies and tactics develop at an unprecedented rate.

The industry has received positive developments, indicating numerous opportunities to improve efficiency, speed and cost-effectiveness, which ultimately results in happier customers for your organisation. However, with a new year ahead, it is essential to determine the most suitable technologies and strategies to achieve top-quality service with flexibility, low expenses and minimal complications, while still ensuring customer satisfaction.

1. Multichannel engagement platforms

Consumers now expect organisations to be available via several communication methods – from traditional phone calls to website-embedded live chat. So how do you keep up with customer demand?

One way to enhance customer interaction for your contact centre is to utilise a multichannel engagement platform. For example, say you get a lot of callers who have navigated your website but only need answers to basic queries. A viable solution to aid these users and reduce the workload for your staff is to implement a chatbot for customer service on your website. The chatbot can be programmed to handle these specific inquiries promptly and effectively. Next, you could install a live chat function within your website too.

2. Automation and AI

If you are interested in serving customers more efficiently, automation and AI are two of the most effective innovations. In fact, some research suggests that just over half of customers prefer talking to a chatbot or virtual agent when looking to quickly solve a query online. This is because these bots are known to deliver immediate answers without any risk of queuing.

Your organisation and customers both gain from this advantage, as automated bots utilising AI can offer faster and more efficient service at a lower expense. Just remember: when you implement a chatbot on your website, it is important to integrate it with other communication channels that are managed by a human support team.

3. Web callbacks

Long wait times are one of the worst examples of poor customer service. Nevertheless, every call centre manager or supervisor knows that they are sometimes unavoidable. So how do you make sure that your customers are receiving assistance in a timely manner, while also reducing queues and increasing efficiency? That is where web callbacks come in. Your customers can request a free callback at any time that suits them. It means your agents can be free to take on more inbound calls, while you and the team face reduced pressure.

In addition, incorporating web callbacks as an option for connecting your call centre and website can help to alleviate any frustration experienced by dissatisfied customers who would otherwise have to wait, which is a highly astute decision.

4. Multilingual support

The prevalence of globalisation and multiculturalism implies that your customers may communicate in languages beyond your country’s primary language. For instance, a municipal government that caters to a city with a substantial Spanish-speaking population must provide the same calibre of service to them as they do to native English speakers.

Offering multilingual assistance from your contact centre can differentiate your business by providing more customised customer service, which is a smart strategy for enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. What is the best way to offer multilingual customer service fast? The answer lies in deploying a customer service platform with built-in multilingual translation. It means your support agents can instantly converse with your customers in more than 100 languages, giving your customers greater accessibility and your organisation a competitive edge.

5. Video chat

As the pandemic emerged, an increasing number of customers grew to value the emergence of video-based customer service. Organisations promptly acknowledged the benefits that online video chat offers, such as real-time face-to-face interaction, accessible from any device or location. These benefits are highly advantageous for delivering a personalised and convenient customer experience.

However, the real benefits of a video call centre lie in the channel’s ability to boost sales and increase contact centre efficiency. An example of the effectiveness of video chat support is the ability for support agents to establish rapport with customers, leading to an increase in average order value by 30%. The key reason why video chat support is so efficient is the ability to foster a connection and mutual understanding – it allows customers and support agents to better understand each other, faster.

6. Social media live chat

Integrating social media live chat enables you to seamlessly link platforms such as X, Facebook and Instagram with your call centre. This technology essentially enables your support agents to engage with your customers on their preferred platform.

As an example, suppose your business has a Facebook page with higher engagement rates than your website. In that case, you may receive numerous inquiries from customers via Facebook Messenger. Your support agents can answer these queries like they would any other live chat message or email – all from a single dashboard. Using social media live chat integration is an excellent method to expedite response times and decrease obstacles, enhancing customer satisfaction and efficiency.

As demonstrated by the ideas above, numerous new tactics for transforming call centres circle around linking formerly separate contact channels. Therefore, ensuring that all of your customer contact channels are working collaboratively with one another is one of the most effective approaches to revitalising your call centre. After all, if your website and your call centre are still acting as separate entities, you will need to accept a difficult truth: you will not be able to keep up with your competitors, nor your customers.