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EX = CX: How to create a thriving gigCX model

Gig customer experience (gigCX) workers—independent contractors, freelancers, and other temporary workers who provide customer support and other related services—are a natural fit in the contact center space. Individuals who are looking for a remote work environment with flexible hours are increasingly joining customer care, back office, growth services, data annotation, and content moderation teams.
 
However, in order to attract and retain gigCX workers, especially in a tight labor market, it’s essential to approach engagement and retention with strategies that are customized to fit their needs and interests. Here’s how to engage and motivate a gigCX workforce that delivers exceptional results.

The rise of the gigCX worker
The number of participants in the gigCX economy has rapidly grown since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase is partly due to an increased reliance on gig workers to handle a variety of jobs from food delivery to answering the phone, in addition to more people pursuing gig work for supplementary—or primary—income during these tumultuous times.

For gigCX workers, the benefits include an opportunity to work with multiple companies simultaneously, which can potentially translate into a higher earning potential, and greater scheduling flexibility. Indeed, “heavy attrition is a common challenge in the contact center industry,” says DC Wright, chief transformation and innovation officer at TTEC. “The traditional model is very inflexible which people find unappealing.” An on-demand model like gigCX, Wright continues, solves some of those challenges by “allowing people to work when they want to work.”

According to a Pew Research Center report, “The State of Gig Work in 2021,” 9% of U.S. adults are current or recent gig workers. This figure is expected to grow in the next few years, with some analysts predicting gig workers will represent more than half of the U.S. workforce by 2023.

It behooves companies from across a wide range of industries to consider making gigCX a part of their regular operations. As an on-demand model, it offers greater staffing flexibility; during periods of high-demand, companies can activate a talent pool of gig workers and scale back when the volume decreases.   

In addition to greater flexibility, gig workers are less restricted by geographic limits, reducing the need for physical infrastructures reduces costs and increases efficiency. Companies can also recruit brand advocates or domain experts as gig workers, creating a highly informed and passionate service experience.

Imagine a music store (online or brick-and-mortar) where tier one gig workers field general inquiries and requests while other gig workers such as professional musicians handle calls related to instrument recommendations and technical questions.

Think like a gigCX worker 
On the surface, gigCX work is incredibly transactional—workers are there to complete a task, get paid, and move on. But just because a job may be short-lived on a task-by-task basis, there is still much that companies can do to motivate talented gig workers. The first step is to recognize that gig workers are not motivated by the same things as full-time employees. “To be successful, companies must remember that gig workers respond less to recognition among peers or professional mentorship and more to transactional benefits that support their flexible lifestyle,” according to a blog by Everee, a payroll and payments systems provider. Adjust your perspective on strategies for gig workers to build programs that successfully engage your workforce and promote loyalty in a short-term work culture. Other tips and best practices include:

1. Focus on flexibility
The evolving state of the workforce presents employers with a new challenge: how to attract and retain workers. Small and medium-sized businesses, especially, can only raise wages so much. And so, even ensuring that gig and part-time workers remain loyal to an organization has become mission critical.

According to a 2019 study by researchers at Yale University, flexibility was the main driver among gig workers. Organizations that are accustomed to having workers clock in and out for a 9-5 job will need to reassess their workforce planning processes to identify areas that would benefit from flexible staffing and work backwards to fill those roles.

2. Double down on onboarding and setting expectations 
It’s a mistake to assume that gigCX workers don’t need to understand a company’s culture or the brand that they’re representing. Make it a point to help gig workers feel welcome and part of the company, even if it’s temporary. Providing interactive training, introducing them to internal staff, and including them in team meetings can make a difference. In addition, communicating clear performance expectations is key. Make sure gig workers understand how their performance will be measured and policies that they’re expected to abide by, even though they’re setting their own hours.  

3. Provide regular feedback
Being a gig worker can be lonely, isolating work, especially if team leaders don’t communicate often or provide feedback. Being transparent with a gig worker about areas where they’ve excelled and opportunities for further improvement can encourage them to strive harder to meet the client’s expectations. Quickly communicating over a chat platform to simply thank workers for a task well done can drive loyalty and increase enthusiasm for the role. Another important part of feedback is timeliness. Managers that rarely communicate with their teammates may miss an opportunity to easily address an issue and improve performance.

4. Make payments easy and fair
It goes without saying that workers should be paid fairly for their work in a timely manner. However, delivering fast payments with a nimble payment system that is customized for gig work is still a work in progress at many companies. TTEC’s Wright predicts that eventually companies will adopt a pay-for-performance model through digital payments. “Companies need a platform that is able to track the quality and throughput of each transaction and in a perfect world, use a pay-for-performance model where workers can easily see how much they’ll earn for each transaction and get paid as soon as they’ve completed each task.” The more positive a payment experience workers have with a company, he adds, the more likely they are to choose it over competitors for similar work.

5. Provide transparent tipping
Payment terms for tips are another thorny issue. Learn from companies that have been hit with lawsuits from workers for unfair and dishonest tipping policies and clearly communicate terms. “When advertising gig opportunities at your business, be transparent about material terms,” states the Federal Trade Commission. “Like other objective claims about product attributes, performance, or price, companies also must live up to their representations about tipping policies and practices.”

Measure the right behavior
Make sure a gigCX worker’s performance metrics are aligned with the right results. For a gigCX worker completing back office work, it may make sense to rate their performance based on number of tickets closed and other efficiency metrics but not for a gig worker who interacts with customers. Rating a gigCX worker who answers customer inquiries, for instance, by the number of jobs completed doesn’t reveal the quality of the customer experience. In this case, customer satisfaction or effort scores are more relevant. Be strategic and creative about using performance metrics and milestone incentives to promote the results that matter and reward talented workers.

6. Work with an experienced CX partner for faster and better results 
A gigCX model is only as successful as the quality of the workers who are powering it. But not every company has the resources to attract, onboard, and train gig workers in addition to managing them and ensuring that they’re properly compensated. An experienced outsourcing partner already has the knowledge, technology, and expertise to ensure gigCX workers are prepared to deliver excellent services and alleviate angst for the client.

Redefining work
As the economy becomes increasingly digital and connected, opportunities for different forms of work continue to emerge. For many job seekers, working in a conventional 9-5 job is undesirable or it doesn’t fit their lifestyle. And employers are exploring new ways of delivering products and services that reduce costs. GigCX workers are a natural result of these trends, but companies need the right approach to build a successful gigCX workforce.

Ultimately, the customer experience is still shaped by the employee experience. The companies that understand this and treat gigCX workers with honesty, respect, and provide the tools they need to succeed will thrive in a new economy fueled by innovative work.

How to win back the hearts of your at-home workforce

At-home work, once a necessity during the pandemic, has become a make-or-break characteristic for future career choices. Access to a wider selection of jobs and personal flexibility has made remote job positions incredibly tantalizing. Many workers ask, ‘why go back?’

This leaves the American workplace at a crossroads. Tensions surrounding the pandemic appear to be decreasing, polling from Morning Consult found that as of Feb. 2022, 68% of remote workers surveyed are comfortable returning to the office, compared to 46% in Feb. 2021. But there are many who remain uncertain or adamant not to return to pre-pandemic working conditions. Research from Jabra showed that 77% of workers want more flexibility in how and where they work. 

It’s essential to retain talent who may gladly turn to a competitor. With the Great Resignation in full swing, a record 47 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021.

Here are 3 employee experience strategies to keep your remote and hybrid workforce engaged in 2022 while balancing a return to the office.

Strategy 1: Engaging a remote workforce
First, we must recognize that some of employees simply do not want to return to in-office. In fact, they may rather leave than work for an organization that requires so. Research from Prudential showed that one in three workers don’t want to work for a company that requires them to be 100% in-office.

Inspiring and retaining a completely remote segment of your work population means understanding what makes this environment essential to their success and how to accommodate it today so their career can flourish.

Connect the communication gap
Remote work has increased accessibility for a larger spectrum of employees from various backgrounds. In a statement on CNBC’s Make It, Maria Town,  president and CEO of The American Association of People with Disabilities, said, “Now we know these jobs can be done remotely—and people don’t want to see these options go away the moment we decide the pandemic is over.”

Retaining employees who see remote work as an opportunity to remove barriers begins at a human level: Connecting the social divide that isn’t present in-office. In a Remote Work report by Nira, communication and social opportunities were the top two challenges with remote work.

Inclusivity with virtual game nights, fitness and mental health activities, happy hours and discussion boards can help bridge that gap between coworkers who may never meet in person.

It’s also incredibly vital to maintain individual or small group conversations with leaders and coworkers to discuss employee needs and ambitions without the interference of larger virtual calls that may be recorded.

Note this can be easier said than done, as webinar and virtual chat fatigue are also factors in the remote and hybrid workplace (which we will discuss in the next strategy).

Recognize the nature and needs of remote work
Remote work is not the same as in-person work. It’s an obvious statement but organizations need to see that the perks and benefits of the traditional office place do not always apply to at-home. While remote work in-itself can be viewed as a perk, employees need recognition and incentives to continue a successful at home career. 

This begins with rethinking the at-home schedule. Research from Reclaim AI conducted between Feb. 2020 and Oct. 2021, revealed some of the time-consuming stats behind meeting fatigue:

  • The total amount of meetings has increased by nearly 70%
  • Over 40% of one-on-one meetings are rescheduled weekly, taking on average over 10 minutes each to coordinate again.
  • Professionals average 21.5 hours in meetings a week, over half a 40-hour workweek

Dropbox is acting to solve this problem at its core. As a part of its Virtual First initiative, the file sharing company embraced a non-linear workday approach. This enables employees to choose their own workhours, cutting out unnecessary time that has no effect on a day-to-day work schedule or conflicts with personal responsibilities. It also deployed a Virtual First Toolkit, which shared tips for collaboration, time management, inclusive language and team unity skills.

While a non-linear format may not be applicable for various industries, an important takeaway from Dropbox is to listen on a personal level to the concerns of at-home employees. Remote work has opened the door to employees of various backgrounds to collaborate meaningfully. Sometimes the best perk isn’t a free t-shirt, it’s being to hear your team and skip a meeting that isn’t essential.

Strategy 2: Mix and match a return to the office with at-home work
The choice to return in-office or remote is not cut and dry. Don’t assume employees want it one way or another.

Measure your workforces’ actual needs and desires for digital activities with internal discussions and surveys before being put into action.

Ask them and see how you can balance what they want with operational needs to return to the office. Determine what is necessary to do in the office and what’s ok to do from home, then build employee schedules and job responsibilities around those. Then agree to a hybrid schedule with employees. But don’t forget to have individual discussions and consider the entire team’s impact on some people’s choice to work from home or in the office.

Strategy #3: Bring employees back to the office and outsource remote talent to a CX partner
In some cases, a return to work is the most logical business choice. This decision may be met by resistance, leading to potential employee turnover and churn from those with critical brand knowledge and expertise. But there is one way to compromise so that both parties will win.

Team up with a CX expert to outsource on behalf of your brand with remote workers (who worked for you remotely). TTEC’s Retain 2.0 deploys a safe and secure approach to keep valuable, expert talent engaged and supporting customers  from home, even as others go back to the office. Employees who choose not to return to the office can become TTEC employees working on behalf of your company. TTEC manages the remote staffing, and your brand keeps institutional knowledge and employees happy.

Forge a new future for at-home
Retaining exceptional at-home talent is a balance of managing the right mindset and resources to keep employees engaged and productive outside of the office.

Staying one step ahead of your competitors means making remote work not just an alternative but an opportunity to build on amazing employee (and customer) experiences.

What does the future of cryptocurrency and NFTs look like in the financial space?

Digital assets—tokens or any kind of data stored on a blockchain, such as images, audio, videos, and other files—are everywhere. NYC’s mayor Eric Adams converted his paycheck to Bitcoin and Ethereum, Nike invested in NFT sneakers for the Metaverse, and El Salvador planned to be the first country to adopt crypto as a national currency. 

Users are ready and eager to adapt. But is the CX space prepared?

What are we doing wrong?
The market has already seen challenges, particularly in the financial services space where customers are investing large amounts of wealth, time, and energy into cryptocurrencies. Customers choosing to explore new avenues and sources of wealth crave fast, personal, and secure services.

The problem is a lack of all three attributes in this digital-first space. Platforms that specialize in digital assets are looking toward the future, but they aren’t addressing today’s customer needs that come with exploring new frontier, or how to manage customer and employee stress, inexperience, and eagerness that comes with uncharted territories.

We will address three key areas of concerns for digital assets in the financial services space and how CX leaders today can take a proactive approach.

1. Little to no banking in customer education
Digital currency and investments have seen a rise in popularity from news breaking events such as the Dogecoin explosion in value or the artist Grimes selling millions worth of NFTs. But adoption is still new for investors.

According to Pew Research 86% of Americans said they have heard a little about crypto currencies, but only 16% said they personally have invested in, traded, or used one. For all the exposure digital assets have acquired there is still an overwhelming majority of users who are new to the playing field.

Educational resources must be easily accessible externally for customers and internally for customer service associates. If knowledge bases are inadequate or not readily available, brands risk alienating customers who may resort to risky storage options outside of platforms (think USB sticks) or visiting outside forums like Reddit and Twitter where there is an increased likelihood for scams or misleading information.

Educating customers about investments, trading, self-custody of assets, transformers, and the digital assets space in general is crucial to increasing brand loyalty, customer welfare, and future use. 

CX solution:
Associates cannot help customers effectively if there are static systems and disperate sources of information. An innovative knowledgebase needs to capture all the data within your organization to be readily available to associates. A single source of truth, powered by content curation, can equip your customer service organization with highly relevant and up-to-date information. That’s why it is critical to empower associates by automating their knowledge systems.

An automated knowledge systems break down silos and eliminate hierarchical roadblocks to spread information more efficiently with a blend of innovative technology, socially infused processes, and collaborative practices. This empowers assocites by giving them easy access to the information they need to do their job well.

A successful knowledge base for digital asset platforms will let your associates hit the ground running with incredibly accurate information when customers need help.

2. Lack of channel support
Fintech’s often believe that digital-first means a lack of voice. This is not always the case. Customers prefer highly skilled human support for stressful situations that require empathy and urgency. Limiting your customer support to a single automated channel or static FAQs can be a red flag for users who need help immediately.

Customers want to be met where they want, when they want. Businesses need to understand that all channels are not built the same, and when a user’s account is hacked a two-hour wait for email versus a two-minute wait for text can mean all the difference.

CX solution:
Conversational messaging is key for successful omnichannel engagement with digital assets. The non-reversable and sometimes volatile nature of tokens like cryptocurrencies requires a seamless and consistent point of communication for customers.

Human associates that can be reached asynchronously via messaging can also help provide emotionally powerful support when it is needed most while a crisis is being escalated.

But note, while implementing messaging is a sign of good-will it needs to be done purposely and strategically. Technology thrown in for technology’s sake will simply harm a customer service interaction. Instead lead with customer experience strategy and design.

To quote TTEC’s Paul Ignasinski when he debunked messaging myths, “Don’t be so quick to offer a tool to your customers that is not in good hands. Customers use messaging apps because they are easy and familiar to use, so don’t risk your brand’s reputation with a rushed product solution that hasn’t been designed to meet specific customer needs.”

Ask yourself, regardless of the severity of issue, will customers dealing with impactful digital transactions want support now or later? A negative customer experience can severely damage your brand perception and increase customer attrition.   

3. Cybersecurity risks
Cybersecurity is a tremendous concern in the digital asset space. The Chainalysis 2022 Crypto Crime Report, stated that cryptocurrency-related crime rose to $14 billion in 2021, up from $8.7 billion in 2020. Fraudulent activity and phishing accounts are constant threats that can harm your customers’ well-being and your brand reputation. 

Customers that choose your financial platform to invest in digital assets place faith in your brand security. They expect safeguards in place to prevent the worst from happening and readiness if it does.

CX solution:
Proactively prevent fraud and keep data secured 24/7 by deploying the best of human and technology capabilities. A tacitful approach to fraud prevention involves authentication platforms, AI and machine learning, and trust device identification techniques all working in tandem with human decision-making.

These associates superpowered with resources to identify and act in real-time can help ensure customer safety and cultivate trust with these simple actions:

  • Prioritize: Automated tools flag risky transactions and interactions based on recency, cost, impact, etc.
  • Analyze: Complex processes assess critical data elements and uncover patterns that signal fraudulent or offensive behavior.
  • Investigate: Trained experts scrutinize anomalies and define required actions.
  • Resolve: Teams take necessary actions to resolve the issue, and machine learning allows automated systems to identify future occurrences.

Prevention will always be key in the security space, especially in a developing field like digital assets, but acting fast and precisely can help minimize customer damage and ensure future trust.

Make humanity + technology your biggest asset
In the financial services space, improving customer experiences has always relied on brand reputation. Users want to trust the brands they do business with and ensure they have a healthy future together.

Brands need to bolster their reputation in an increasingly digital future by acting on communication, accountability, and proactiveness to show customers they care and are ready to guide their growth.

Worried about retaining employees? Embrace a home-based approach

There’s no question: the increase in employer vaccine mandates – or “no jab, no job” policies – is a hot-button issue with strong opinions on both sides. But feelings about mandates aside, employees’ hesitancy to get vaccinated against COVID-19 presents a huge challenge for many brands, making an already-tough labor situation even more difficult.

Even without a vaccine mandate, employers face major hurdles when it comes to luring workers back to in-person work. Research from Prudential, Envoy and Jabra show:

  • 1 in 3 workers don’t want to work for a company that requires them to be 100% in-office
  • 66% of workers are worried about returning to the office
  • 77% of workers want more flexibility in how and where they work

Now, on top of all this, a growing number of companies want employees not only to return to the office but to get vaccinated before they do. A growing number of brands are requiring workers to get vaccinated but many are hesitant – or flat-out refusing – to do it.

If it was hard for companies to get workers back in the office before, mandates are only making it tougher. At the same time, brands still must deliver the amazing experiences customers expect. After all, while so much has changed one thing hasn’t: the need for talented employees to deliver an excellent customer experience.

So, now what?

Look at-home for the long term

If the pandemic has taught anything, it’s that employees want flexible and supportive work environments. By and large, the work-from-home model is here to stay for many contact center associates.

But there’s no need for brands to lose the expertise of long-standing employees, or the seamless CX they deliver, just because those workers don’t want to get vaccinated or return to in-person work. A remote work option is a great solution that has quickly moved from a nice-to-have to a must-have for savvy brands. Companies that don’t embrace work-from-home opportunities risk losing talent to those that do.

That’s where TTEC’s Retain 2.0 solution can help. It lets companies transition associates who previously worked in contact centers to TTEC’s proven @home model.

What does this mean? Companies can retain top talent that may otherwise leave simply by migrating them to TTEC @home. And CX and EX will both improve along the way: customers continue to get the great experiences they expect, from knowledgeable associates who have experience serving them; and associates get the flexible work environment they crave.

The right CX partner is essential

For many companies, the move to work-from-home will mark a big organizational shift. That’s why partnering with experts is key. Why try to do it alone when a partner has the expertise to make the transition seamless for employees and customers alike?

With Retain 2.0, TTEC works with companies every step of the way through – and beyond – the employee transition process.

One of the biggest benefits of Retain 2.0 is that is works quickly. Employees are efficiently transitioned within weeks to TTEC @home and set up for success starting on Day 1. Onboarding ambassadors ensure workers are fully supported and have everything they need to jump directly into the work they do so well – delivering experiences that delight customers.

Another important aspect of Retain 2.0 is the data security it offers. Some companies may be hesitant to transition to a work-from-home environment; they might have concerns about the security VPNs offer, or worry that employees won’t be as careful to mitigate risk at home as they would be in the office. But Retain 2.0 has PCI-compliant processes and checks in place that help ensure security and compliance, while giving employees the flexibility they want.

TTEC @home combines the quality management and security of our brick-and-mortar operations with the flexibility and cost structure of a variable tool. Our partners benefit from the experience and best practices of an industry leader, while cutting costs and improving CX.

For more on how Retain 2.0 can benefit your business, check out our latest strategy guide, “Innovate, engage, retain CX Excellence: Solve the CX talent challenge with flexible remote-work environments.”

Beyond frictionless: Re-humanizing your customer experience

Over the last two years, the COVID-19 crisis has motivated businesses all over the world to jump-start their digital transformations and find ways to better automate their customer experiences. 

The result was a dramatically accelerated volume of e-commerce, online communications, and direct-to-consumer transactions, as companies everywhere engaged in a frantic effort to replace the human-to-human, face-to-face interactions that were suddenly no longer possible. And this rapid technological surge proved highly beneficial for most businesses, because the path to delivering an ever more frictionless customer experience involves, first and foremost, flawless automation – streamlining all the business processes so they can serve the needs of each customer, smoothly, routinely, and efficiently. 

But as efficient as e-commerce and online interactions are, they cannot fully replace human-to-human, face-to-face exchanges. Any teacher could tell you this, because no matter how good the Zoom connection is, you still can’t engage very well with individual students. You can’t look a student in the eye, or read their body language, or gauge their enthusiasm. And the same limitations apply to a business seeking to better understand its human customers via online clicks and chatbot conversations.

Now that COVID-19 may finally be receding in importance, businesses need to think about how they can best “re-humanize” their customer experience. Yes, by all means we should continue automating and streamlining our routine and repeatable processes, and we shouldn’t let up on our efforts to eliminate any friction or obstacles in the customer’s path. But beyond friction, we should find ways to re-introduce human-to-human interactions, because many of the qualities our human employees bring to the business enable them to engage with customers in a uniquely human manner, and this kind of engagement cannot be automated. 

Wisdom and judgment, creativity, empathy, sharing, community, purpose, common sense – all these uniquely human qualities represent vital assets for a business trying to maintain and improve its relationships with individual customers. The objective of re-humanizing our customer relationships should be to connect with each of them emotionally, one customer at a time. 

Research has consistently shown that customer loyalty is not well correlated with customer satisfaction, although disloyalty does have a high correlation with dissatisfaction. This is why the first requirement in designing and delivering a high-quality customer experience is to make it entirely frictionless for the customer – an experience that will pose no obstacle and provide no reason for dissatisfaction.

Less well known, however, is that emotionally connected customers are even more valuable to a business than highly satisfied ones. According to one Harvard Business Review study, “On a lifetime value basis, emotionally connected customers are more than twice as valuable as highly satisfied customers.” And a study cited in Forbes found that “Companies that provide an emotional connection with customers outperform the sales growth of their competitors by 85%.”

So while removing friction in the customer experience is an indispensable first step, it is only the first step. Once your customer experience is relatively frictionless, connecting emotionally with your customer is the most effective way to improve the customer’s loyalty and patronage. In a post-COVID world, businesses need to provide their human workers with opportunities to make these kinds of connections – connections that would never be possible for a chatbot, an algorithm, or an AI-driven online interaction.

Naturally, this requires that your employees be engaged in their jobs and enthusiastic about interacting with customers. You want them to be motivated by a strong sense of purpose – and not just a purpose to improve sales or profits, but a purpose linked to some sort of overriding customer benefit. If your employees are truly engaged with such a sense of mission, then you won’t have to require them to connect more emotionally with the customers they serve; just let them.

3 ways retailers are adapting to higher customer expectations

Smiling woman looking at her phone while shopping
Smiling woman text messaging on smart phone. Happy female customer with curly hair is wearing casuals. She is shopping at supermarket.

From a massive ecommerce shift to curbside pickup and store floors converted into fulfillment centers, the retail experience has rapidly changed. In response to these changes, consumer expectations are higher than ever—not just for merchandise but for convenience, personalized customer service, and an excellent customer experience.

At NRF 2022: Retail’s Big Show, retailers and industry experts outlined the future of retail experiences and the challenges they face in meeting consumers’ raised expectations.    

1. Evolve stores to complement digital journeys
Even before the pandemic, retailers knew that as digital and physical worlds collided, stores needed to adapt the in-store experience to stay relevant. As retail brands figure out how to adapt their physical spaces to fit in an omnichannel strategy, they should consider what purpose their stores serve, said Jeff Bradbury, senior marketing director at Hughes Network Systems.

“Every brand needs to decide how to [adapt their stores] in a way that’s unique to them,” Bradbury said. “Do you want a high-touch immersive experience or is it about efficiency and convenience, or something else?” The challenge, Bradbury added, is for retailers to not only create digital-enabled stores but to integrate them into buying journeys that work no matter which path a customer takes.

2. Fill labor gaps in non-traditional ways
An army of employees is needed to carry out the tasks that keep the retail experience humming. However, more than 90% of retailers are facing talent shortages. And at a time when there are more job openings than candidates, would-be employees are looking for more reasons to work in retail, noted Best Buy CEO Corie Barry at an on-stage interview.

“They ask, what is my career path? What are my benefits? What does my development look like,” Barry continued. This leads executives to ask, “How do I offer this suite of things to my employees that will help them stay sticky to me as a company?” While Barry did not provide a remedy, she indicated that employee experience and retention were a priority for retailers.
 
Retailers are also looking into upskilling and/or cross-training employees as another way to increase retention and fill roles. At a breakout session, Will Eadie, CRO of WorkJam explained how companies are doing exactly that.

“One of the things we’re seeing is this idea of employees hiding in our own companies,” Eadie said. “What if we could gigify inside our own stores and distribution centers to fill those gaps? Instead of searching for new employees, by providing more training and flexible scheduling, retailers are beginning to provide part-time employees with more hours and higher wages, for instance.”

3. Scale retail experiences with AI
In addition to finding more innovative ways to hire employees, the future of retail will be increasingly defined by artificial intelligence, according to retail and technology experts. In a keynote session, IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna estimated that even if retailers and other companies hired more aggressively, there still won’t be enough people to fill the roles. Instead, he predicted that companies “will use more automation and AI to take care of repetitive tasks.” Increasingly, the question that companies ask will be, “how do we improve the experience for customers using AI if we can’t find enough people?”

Indeed, the “customer experience that retailers provide needs to be dynamic to adapt in real-time and provide information, products, and services on-demand,” noted Raghu Ravinutala, co-founder and CEO of Yellow.ai. “This kind of real-time personalization can only happen at scale by leveraging AI.”

As an example how retailers are using AI to improve the customer experience, Ravinutala pointed to Sephora. “Sephora launched conversational engagement using AI and beauty assistants collaborating to provide product recommendations [via in-app messaging and platforms like Whatsapp] and now this has become a core channel for customer engagement.”

Future-proofing retail
While retail continues to face numerous headwinds in the form of supply chain challenges, inflation, and labor shortages, the industry has made enormous progress in advancing the customer experience. Customers have more options than ever to purchase and receive products from brands seamlessly through multiple channels. And some trends, such as consumer expectations of inclusive, sustainable brands, are still gaining steam. But as much as things change, some things remain the same. Notably, the brands that succeed are the ones that stay customer-focused, no matter what challenges arise.

Contact center workforce 101: IVR vs. chatbots vs. agents

Customer service interactions can quickly evolve, requiring different channels and tools. A quick live chat with a bot, for instance, can rapidly escalate to an emergency call with an agent, which we refer to as an associate, and vice versa. The same is true for a call that begins with an interactive voice response (IVR) system. Leading contact centers understand that each person and tool has its strengths and weaknesses, and create a better customer experience when combined appropriately.

To better understand this, let’s dive into the human and robotic makeup of a modern contact center.

What is an IVR?

An IVR is an automated phone system technology that allows incoming callers to access information via a selected prompt of prerecorded messages without having to speak to an associate.

This tool is mainly used with touch tone keypad selections or speech recognition to get a call routed to a specific department or specialist. An IVR can also collect information from the caller, saving the associate time during the conversation.

The best fit

During times of high call volumes, for example holiday rushes, an effective IVR system can help avoid hold times by helping customers find answers and perform simple tasks. And in cases where a customer needs or requests to speak to a person, the IVR can route the call quickly and seamlessly to an expert associate.

A well designed IVR can increase customer satisfaction and improve contact center operations and KPIs greatly by decreasing user effort with digital interfaces.

What is a chatbot?

A chatbot is an automated software that simulates a live chat conversation with a user in natural language through messaging applications, websites, mobile apps, or through the phone. It allows customers to quickly receive answers to simple or common questions. Chatbots are primarily text-based and scripted to answer only specific questions.

The best fit

Chatbots resolve simple tasks quickly and save associates time by eliminating manual tasks that can be easily solved by automation (and are low stress for customers). Users don’t always want to speak to a human and being directed to self-service right from the start can reduce unnecessary friction.

Deflecting low tier operations, 24/7, can improve average handle time and customer satisfaction ratings by giving associates more time to tackle complex questions while the easy issues are handled swiftly by automation.

What is a contact center associate?

Contact center associates are the people that make customer service human. Contact center associates or agents manage phone, email, live chat, and support tickets for a variety of industries. These interactions vary from simple transactions to complex support inquiries.

Contact center associates operate in various industries across the globe, whether it be onshore, offshore or nearshore. And the flexibility of at-home work has enabled new members of the workforce to enter the customer service space.

The best fit

A well-trained associate or agent is suited for both simple and complex interactions, but the human touch is always needed for the latter. By the time a customer has reached an associate they may have already bypassed an IVR or chatbot, particularly if the situation is severe, and will want an answer as soon as possible.

In these emotionally charged situations, associates rely on powerful management tools and real-time insights from voice and text analytics to identify trending issues and customer sentiment. All the while the tools mentioned above handle simple, time-consuming tasks, that would eat away at an associate’s ability to focus on understanding and resolving the issue.

Humanity and technology, the best of both worlds

Effective contact centers equip associates with the right technology and tools to handle difficult situations. The key here is to ensure that each tool is connected to a complementary channel creating a symbiotic relationship. Nothing is more frustrating for a customer, for example, than feeling trapped by an IVR or chatbot and unable to speak with a live customer care associate.

Building an empathy-driven customer service organization means knowing that intelligent automation tools can empower the human touch for low- and high tier interactions.

Learn more

Top customer service AI and automation trends for 2022: Discover the trends and innovations for customers and employees with intelligent automation.

5 ways to increase customer satisfaction using IVR: In this tips & takeaways guide, learn 5 ways contact centers can deploy meaningful IVR systems that go from zero to hero.

CX experts share chatbot mistakes (and remedies): Learn key takeaways for AI in this blog covering The CX Tipping Point event.

Outsourcing: Which shore is right for you: Explore this ebook to learn the benefits of recruiting talent across the globe.

4 work-from-home resiliency strategies for the contact center: These takeaways focus on the strategies needed to weather uncertainty and maintain a healthy work environment.

2021 hindsight: What the market got wrong about CX this year

It’s that time of year—to take stock and reflect on the last 12 months and look ahead trying to predict what 2022 will bring. 

But if the past couple of years have taught anything, it’s that predictions can be tricky. A year ago, still in the throes of the pandemic, many turned hopeful eyes to 2021 expecting the world—and the customer experience landscape—to largely return to “normal.” With 2022 on the horizon, though, that hasn’t been the case. 

Predictions that didn’t materialize 
Here are few predictions for 2021 that, in hindsight, missed the mark:

2021 prediction: The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on businesses will end.
What really happened: Despite the vaccine rollout, the pandemic continues to affect people’s—and businesses’—daily lives as we head into 2022. Vaccine hesitancy and the formation of new variants like Delta have kept COVID at the forefront of many conversations and business decisions. 

Now, compounding the uncertainty, many companies are grappling with a complex set of logistics around vaccine mandates. Public sector employees and contractors, health care workers, and private-sector workers at companies with more than 100 employees face mandates under which they must get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

This brings an entirely new set of challenges to businesses: Helping employees schedule vaccine appointments, verify whether workers are vaccinated, and comply with testing requirements. It’s also forcing companies to rethink their employee experience models, leading with empathy when it comes to this emotionally charged topic.

2021 prediction: Employees will be eager to return to the workplace.
What really happened: With the devastating financial toll the pandemic took on so many families, including job losses, many expected workers to eagerly return to the workforce—and the office—once it became safe to do so. 

Instead, there’s been a Great Resignation. Workers continue to quit jobs in record numbers, in search of opportunities that offer better pay and more flexibility. The pandemic spurred a lot of people to consider whether they were truly happy in their jobs; and for many the answer was a resounding “no.”

Additionally, the pandemic has made it clear that work-from-home options will be here to stay. 

Employees enjoy the flexibility and productivity working from home offers, and employers can tap into a larger talent pool when they’re no longer constrained geographically. But this shift means companies now must redefine their employment engagement strategies and invest in tools that make it easy for remote teams to collaborate. 

A big question looms for 2022 and beyond: How will employers create a feeling of unity and loyalty among workforces that are no longer coming together to work in the same physical spaces?

2021 prediction: The economy will bounce back post-pandemic, just as quickly as it declined.
What really happened: The V-shaped economic recovery that many forecasted has not come to fruition. Instead, labor shortages, supply chain problems, and rising wages are hindering growth and creating new challenges in many areas. 

Businesses find themselves having to manage an increase in contact center volume – when an item is out of stock, for instance, due to supply chain delays – with a smaller workforce, which can lead to frustrating experiences for employees and customers alike. And when new workers are hired, businesses need to ensure they have an easy, agile, and quick onboarding process.

In the new normal, companies must try to prioritize EX and CX while navigating unforeseen market conditions.

Where there’s more work to do
Not all predictions made for 2021 were bad. Some simply have left more work to be done as 2022 begins. Here are a few predictions that weren’t wrong, but weren’t fully realized either:

2021 prediction: Customers will increasingly want digital interactions.
Room for improvement: Consumers’ embrace of digital channels is nothing new, but demand for digital options soared during the pandemic as more customers sought the ease and safety of online, mobile, and chat-based interactions over visiting brick-and-mortar businesses. 

Mid-year, 22% of global purchase influencers named accelerating their shift to digital as their top priority, up from 18% pre-pandemic, according to the CallMiner report, “Conversational Intelligence to Shape Your Brand Experience.” But have companies been investing enough in digital, and in the right offerings?

In the same report, more than half of respondents (57%) said their top technology initiative over the next 12 months would be investing in digital experience technologies, which suggests many brands haven’t yet mastered delivering seamless digital CX. 

2021 prediction: Artificial intelligence will play a bigger role in CX.
Room for improvement: Embracing automation with a human touch was poised to be a widespread trend in 2021, and some brands have made great strides, but many companies still haven’t harnessed the full potential of this powerful tool.

AI solutions make associates’ jobs easier, which results in better experiences for associates and customers alike. TTEC’s RealPlay bot, for instance, combines AI and machine learning technology to simulate real-world customer scenarios. Employees learn by completing the job and getting real-time feedback and coaching. Tools like RealPlay, which is completely digital, on-demand and asynchronous, will play a major role in the future of CX.

Innovate, adapt, and act in 2022
After the last couple of years, it can feel difficult to predict what 2022 will bring. But some things are clear: Consumer expectations keep growing, and they’re becoming increasingly digital – and the brands that truly stand out will be those that strike the right balance of technology and people to deliver seamless, omnichannel experiences across all points of the customer journey.

A focus on CX and EX helped Citizens Bank thrive amid pandemic

Businesses across all sectors were sent scrambling as the world largely shut down in the pandemic’s early days, but banks – where brick-and-mortar locations historically were the cornerstone of day-to-day business – faced some of the biggest changes and challenges.

As global economic uncertainty began to spread with COVID-19, customers flooded banks with questions about their finances. At the same time, a workforce that was unaccustomed to remote work had to quickly learn how to navigate this new environment and manage volume surges while working from home.

At Citizens Bank the changes spurred by the pandemic, while jarring at first, have led to long-term shifts that company leaders say will benefit customer experience, employee experience and the bottom line for years to come. The evolution is a work in progress, said Citizens Bank Senior Vice President of Business Solutions Jonathan Bicker.

Bicker recently appeared with Chris Condon, TTEC’s senior vice president of business development, at The Conference Board’s Ultimate CX Conference. They spoke about TTEC’s partnership with Citizens and how the right mix of people and technology helped one of the country’s oldest banks deliver amazing customer and employee experiences even through and unprecedented time.

The right technology is key

It’s one thing to know your workforce needs to quickly shift to a work-from-home model; it’s another to have the technology to do it.

When banks were forced to shutter their brick-and-mortar branch locations during the pandemic’s early days, Citizens had to ensure its employees could work very differently than they ever had before. And the change needed to happen; the company was inundated with phone calls and associates couldn’t keep up, Bicker recalled.

“What we needed was more of a multipronged approach,” he said, including additional channels customers could use to engage with the company.

With decades of experience helping financial services clients, TTEC was able to help the company stand up a program in less than a month that diverted many IVR inquiries to SMS, allowing associates to help more customers more quickly. Customers appreciated having the additional option of using SMS, Bicker said, which improved experiences.

With TTEC’s guidance the company also began harnessing the power of artificial intelligence. Based on early successes, Citizens aims to increase its use of AI-enabled chat bots and conversational bots to makes associates’ jobs easier and customer interactions more seamless.

“We are in the infancy of our AI journey,” Bicker said. “It’s still an evolving journey for us.”

With these systemic technological improvements, Bicker said Citizens is now better prepared to function in the new normal. The bank can meet customers where they are, via their preferred channel, resulting in better experiences – and ultimately, a healthier bottom line.

TTEC’s expertise and guidance when it came to identifying gaps and providing scalable solutions enabled the company to adapt quickly, Bicker said.

“Being with the right partner and having the right technology configuration made going into this very easy,” he said.

Intelligent automation can provide many benefits to companies, Condon said, since automating menial tasks free associates up to focus on more complex interactions. But embracing automation doesn’t mean a brand should automate every interaction. Rather, companies should focus on making the customer journey the best it can be, and automate where it makes sense along the way, he said.

Employee experience matters, too

Having the right technology is critical to adapting quickly in a new business landscape, but the employee experience is equally as important.

As soon as COVID-19 struck, Citizens started examining what employees needed to do their jobs well. A big part of that was technology; associates suddenly needed laptops and headsets to enable them to work from home.

But beyond technology, a broader shift in employee experience was jumpstarted. Given the current labor market, bank officials realize that associates want the option of working from home, at least part of the time. Enabling hybrid or work-from-home employment is key to attracting and retaining good talent these days, Bicker said.

“I don’t ever want to lose the rhythm and ritual of being able to have the workforce work from anywhere,” he said. “Today we have a workforce that is primarily work-from-home, but they are equipped to work from either home or office. It’s really been quite the transformation.”

As associates’ work environments and expectations continue to evolve, communication is paramount, he added. At Citizens, associates were used to synchronous chat channels pre-covid, and moving to asynchronous channels was a big change. To help ensure employees were successful and felt supported, supervisors met with associates twice a day to check in and help when needed.

Amid so much change, Citizens also prioritizes retaining the culture of Citizens as much as possible. Supervisors continually check in with their teams via virtual meetings and, after about six months of adjustments, workers soon settled into their new norm, Bicker said.

“Communication is key,” he said, adding supervisors often discuss with their team members “how they can live the brand, and how their contact with a customer can positively impact that customer.”

In today’s labor market, when many people are re-evaluating whether they’re truly happy in their jobs, removing friction from employees’ jobs whenever possible is crucial to finding and keeping top talent, Condon said. Banks, like many brands, face a big challenge: navigating a difficult labor market while, at the same time, customer expectations are growing faster than ever. Companies must evolve to thrive.

“The industry has changed forever,” Condon said.

Watch an on-demand video of Condon and Bicker’s conversation here.

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