How to Reduce Agent Effort

Companies have finally started to recognize the importance of agent experience (AX). Although, customer centricity continues to be a top priority for many organizations, making sure agents are happy and satisfied at work has also become a fundamental pillar. After all, these employees are the face, heart, and voice of your company, and if you take care of them they will sure take care of your customers. 

Many studies have shown that happy agents translate to happy customers, however, improving AX does not just mean to have happy, friendly and engaged agents, it also means to have a low agent turnover rate that will reduce company costs (hiring, training, etc.). So, what should be done to improve that AX? The answer is simple: “minimize agent effort”. 

Everyday, agents are overwhelmed with heavy workloads, lacking both the knowledge and the tools to help solve customers’ queries most effectively. Here are five ways you can reduce agent effort to improve the overall agent and customer experience. 

1. Automate Repetitive Tasks → Identify which tasks can be done without the need of a human in order to lighten agent workload, that way these support reps can focus on those interactions that are more complex. Chatbots and helpdesk articles are both good strategies, and you can employ them in those complete low-value repetitive tasks, such as running authentication checks, changing password and gathering basic customer information.
2. Use AI → AI can help connect customers with the right agents based on their needs, helping reduce not only agent but also customer frustration and stress. Macros of frequently used responses can enable faster and more consistent responses for customers, making those interactions way more efficient.
3. Decrease the Number of Tools and Views → Having to master and manage across many tools to serve customers is inefficient and frustrating for agents, especially when multiple channels can be consolidated easily into a single platform. Invest in an integrated interface that brings all of your tools and views under one umbrella.
4. Empower Agents with the Correct Knowledge → Agents should be able to find the documentation needed to assist their customers in a single knowledge base, and have this information available to them at their fingertips, without having to go through multiple views and sources.
5. Measure Agent Effort → ask your agents regularly how they feel about their job, where are their pain points or where are they experiencing frictions and difficulties when assisting customers. Give your agents the freedom to share with you what needs to be improved in order to reduce their effort and the customers. This shows your agents that you are not just listening and appreciating their hard work, but also that you’re making an effort to improve their work experience.