Every part of business today is under pressure to perform, to deliver more with less and with very few exceptions these required gains are being delivered through process improvements and the deliberate application of technology to support change.

One area of business that has the greatest potential for improving performance by implementing technology solutions is the customer contact centre.

The bulk of the cost associated with contact centers is bound up in its people, so naturally contact centre management spend a large amount of time managing and planning this resource to optimise performance and output. Only 8% of the budget in contact centers is in technology, yet it is this area which holds the greatest potential for achieving the greatest gains in terms of operational efficiency and also improving the revenues generated from the contact centre operation.

The premise is very simple; there are certain customer contact centre applications that can be easily handled by a recorded message.

When high value items and white goods become out of stock it is very important to contact the customer to inform them of the delay. A higher rate of contact can be achieved using Qire’s Interactive voice messages for two simple reasons; 1 We can retry the customer until we reach the right party and then divert the customer into the call centre to speak to a customer service agent. 2 We can leave answer machine messages informing the customer of the delay and request a call back at there convenience.

In any given month customers may experience small items that are out of stock. Although this doesn’t cause them a major problem it may leave them disappointed that they didn’t receive the full order. To assist in improving the customer experience you may want to contact the customer to apologise and offer them a discount of the next order. This would give two major benefits; 1 Show the customer that you value them highly and are willing to improve the customer experience. 2 Increase sales by the customer ringing back in to claim their discount.