How Data Can Be Leveraged to Improve Customer Service

In today’s customer service industry, best practices and innovations are not driven by guesswork. Instead, the industry is powered by data. Every customer interaction can be leveraged to generate useful insights to elevate the customer experience (CX). From direct contact to feedback forms, to response times, each of these can be interpreted as valuable data for your business. The key is to know how to use this data. Here are some of Arema Connect’s greatest tips for collecting and utilising data to improve your CX. 

Track Relevant Metrics

Before you can improve your operations, you first need to measure. It’s important to focus on key customer service metrics that will provide you with a clear picture of your team’s performance and customer satisfaction levels. Such relevant metrics include: 

• Response Time - How quickly your agents are responding to queries
• Resolution Time - How long does it take for agents to fully resolve a query
• Customer Satisfaction - How happy customers are with the support they receive
• Common Query Types - What types of queries consistently arise for customers 

Tracking the above metrics will allow you to monitor where improvements can be made, identify any issues, and measure the result of any operational changes introduced. Just as data can be helpful for your operations, so too can unnecessary data prevent you from highlighting valuable insights. Be sure to know what areas of your operations you are looking to collect relevant data to improve your CX offerings.

Analyse Customer Feedback

There is significant value to be found in combing through the qualitative data you collect. Be sure to analyse your data for repeated questions, complaints, or suggestions, trends in sentiment, or any specific product or service feedback. 

Predict and Prevent Problems 

Predictive data and analytics can help your team not just be reactive, but also proactive. Looking at data can help you identify peak times for high contact volumes, common issues faced by customers, and any other operational issues. By preparing in advance for certain queries or issues that are likely to arise, you can minimise negative customer experiences before they happen, thus using predictive data to improve your CX strategy. 

Use Data to Personalise Your Support

We take pride in our tailored solutions here at Arema Connect, designed specifically for each of our clients. Part of providing these bespoke customer solutions is gaining a comprehensive understanding of what processes and protocols best meet the needs of certain client accounts. By tracking, reporting, and analysing key data, we are best able to make informed decisions while developing tailored solutions to each of our clients. 

Train Your Team in Line with Data Insights

Data collection and analysis can be highly useful as a training tool for your staff. The insights gained can inform best practices, help identify weak points, and set realistic targets. This, in turn, lends to a workplace culture of continuous improvement. 

Act on Insights

Collecting and analysing data is important, but only insofar as the data is leveraged into actionable insights. Make reviewing and discussing data a part of regular operations, whether that is monthly check-ins, goal planning sessions, or implementation reviews. Pairing data analysis with feedback from frontline staff provides context and evidence to support designing more practical, effective CX solutions. 

"Transforming raw call data into actionable insights empowers contact centres to move beyond reacting to customer issues and proactively design a superior customer service experience. The future of customer service in contact centres lies not just in friendly agents but in analysing data to anticipate needs, personalise interactions, and resolve issues faster. Using data for analysis allows us to proactively mitigate potential issues, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and overall efficiency, as opposed to simply reacting to incidents/issues that may occur." 

- Conor Higgins, Data & Business Analyst, Arema Connect

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Conclusion

Data may be numbers, but it’s also about building bridges to people. When used efficiently, data can empower your customer service team to be faster, smarter, and more responsive to the needs of customers. Obtaining relevant, predictive, and actionable data can highly improve your CX strategy across industries. Keep in mind, every interaction is a chance to learn something valuable to your business. See our upcoming blog on how Arema Connect is progressing with AI integration and our new telecoms platform.