Let’s be honest: There are a lot of elements that go into creating and running a successful inbound call center. But in our experience, we find that there are two that stand out over the rest: High-quality call center software and highly trained, effective agents. Here’s why you need both and just one isn’t going to cut it.

The Case for High-Quality Software

The biggest benefit of high-quality call center software is that it makes your agents’ jobs easier and smoother, and customers are going to feel that in their interactions with your agents. High-quality software will allow you to direct customers to exactly the right place, so that when they do reach an agent there is a much higher chance that the agent will be able to solve their problem. Good call center software will be easy to integrate with the other software and apps that you use to run your business, so that your agents have to do less toggling between apps during a call and all processes will be more efficient. Quality software will collect, store, and analyze call data so that you are able to identify areas for improvement in your call center and make those changes in your scripts, IVR, and the like.

The Case for Highly Trained Agents

Simply put, without the right agents manning your phones, customer satisfaction is going to suffer immensely. In an era where technology is getting smarter and smarter, which we know is often a good thing, many people who are reaching out to inbound call centers simply want to talk to a real person. For this reason, it’s absolutely essential that when customers do reach an agent, that agent is qualified to resolve the customer’s inquiry.

There are two ways that qualified agents are able to put callers at ease in a way that technology cannot. The first is that they can offer empathy and an emotional connection to the caller and the issue they are facing. Often, when customers are frustrated and at the end of their rope, connecting with a person who understands what they are going through and has the knowledge and ability to help them through it is the only thing that can salvage the relationship between that customer and the company. The second way is that knowledgeable agents are the only ones who can solve complex inquiries. Even the most advanced call center software is not yet able to solve all the individual, specific problems that individual customers face; there are countless situations in which customers need a live agent who can listen to their issue and the troubleshooting steps they have already taken and then offer experience-based advice.

The bottom line: Exceptional call center software makes everything easier for your agents behind the scenes and effective agents then take those advantages and deliver their knowledge and human touch to customers. Putting both together will guarantee a successful inbound call center.

While we can’t help you find the right agents, we can help with the software. To learn more about CallShaper’s dynamic, cloud-based platform, request a demo today.