Contact Center Employees Warn Increasingly Complex Customer Problems and Lack of Support Will Impact the Brand Experience

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 13, 2017 -- While customer experience continues to be the top priority for businesses, a new report announced today, “The Health of the Contact Center: Agent Well-Being in a Customer-Centric Era,” reveals that 56 percent of contact center employees cite complex customer problems as their top challenge. A full 60 percent admit their company has left them ill-equipped to handle these problems, leaving agents stressed and unengaged.

Commissioned by Calabrio, a leading provider of customer engagement and analytics software, the study surveyed more than 1,000 contact center employees in the US and UK to uncover the true health of today’s contact centers, including agent confidence in the ability to be successful in their jobs, the challenges they face and how technology will dictate the future of the contact center.

Empowering contact center employees is more critical than ever as 32 percent of respondents believe that customer problems will only become increasingly difficult over the next two years, and 45 percent worry customers will expect even more from companies.

The well-being of contact center employees continues to decline and, if not addressed, it can ultimately affect their ability to deliver the desired customer experience. A quarter (25 percent) of respondents say they feel stressed multiple times a week, and more than half (52 percent) agree that their company isn’t doing enough to prevent teams from feeling burned out.

“Creating loyal customers starts with the contact center and its ability to deliver on the promise of a great customer experience,” said Tom Goodmanson, president and CEO at Calabrio. “With the proliferation of communication channels and the rise of self-service, agents are dealing with more complex customer demands. It’s clear that today’s contact centers need a greater focus on people, alongside changes in technology. In doing so, employees become empowered to quickly make informed decisions and deliver on the service their customers expect.”

Download the full report, “The Health of the Contact Center: Agent Well-Being in a Customer-Centric Era.”

Methodology
Commissioned through VI.GA consulting. Study of 1,027 contact center agents in the US and UK, carried out in September 2017.

About Calabrio
Calabrio is a customer engagement software company that provides analytic insights to catalyze growth through customer service contact centers. The Calabrio ONE® software suite empowers everyone in an organization, from contact center agents to the CEO, with easy-to-use tools that provide a better understanding of the customer. Every customer interaction yields insights that expand customer-consciousness, which is how leading companies now drive growth and long-term corporate prosperity. Find more at http://www.calabrio.com/ and follow @Calabrio on Twitter.

Calabrio, Calabrio ONE® and the Calabrio logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Calabrio, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:
Kelsey Quickstad
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