contact center Archives - Arise

Cruise Industry Rebound

Tone Stray — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 01:01:18 +0000

Putting wind in cruise client’s “sales” with help from the Arise® Platform

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average revenue per call

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record-setting monthly cruise bookings

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boosts of tailored curriculum close rate

Case Study Background:

From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to the present day, no industry has been on a wilder rollercoaster ride than travel and entertainment, specifically the cruise industry. For one cruise client, they were left without any choice but to lay off 75% of their team as cruising all but ground to a halt in 2020. However, when demand resurfaced, they needed skilled sales-minded Service Partners to help facilitate bookings, and they needed them quickly.

Use case #1

Service Partner on The Arise® Platform nets monthly record $1 million in cruise bookings

Challenge

Solution

Challenge

In 2022, the cruise industry is expected to rebound to 2019 passenger levels on its way to a 2023 forecast of 12% growth compared to 2019. Skyrocketing post-pandemic demand overwhelmed the small remaining fraction of this major cruise client’s inside sales team. As demand continued to explode, they needed specialized and highly trained Service Partners to ensure their sales weren’t lost to a competitor.
Solution

By tapping into the power of the gig economy, The Arise® Platform provides access to over 70K skilled and certified Service Partners, capable of handling high-impact and revenue-generating sales contacts. The Service Partners on The Arise® Platform are, on average, more educated and more mature in comparison to traditional brick-and-mortar BPOs. Many of the Service Partners on The Arise® Network have previous specialized experience in specific industries, making them exceptionally qualified.

Result

Since January 2022, Service Partners on The Arise® Network have consistently exceeded the $4,000 revenue per booking goal, netting an average of $4,400-$4,500. Additionally, a Service Partner also set the monthly revenue record, hitting $1 million in sales, a threshold that had not been crossed in this client’s history.

Use case #2

Revamped Service Partner curriculum generates up to 30% close rate

Challenge

Solution

Challenge

The cruise industry workforce was decimated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 600 thousand jobs removed from the industry. As pandemic travel restrictions continue to ease, the cruise industry is bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels, with 2022 forecasted to be at 101% of the 2019 capacity. With a limited workforce, this multi-billion-dollar cruise client needed assistance ensuring that their inside sales program was staffed with sales-enabled Service Partners, ready to book reservations worth thousands of dollars.
Solution

With speed and quality, Arise launched this new insider sales program in less than 60 days, including certification. As Arise successfully launched this sales program, a need for an even more specialized sales curriculum became apparent, as 90% of calls Service Partners handled came from travel agents, resulting in group sales, rather than individual customer sales. Once this insight was uncovered, Arise reworked the service agent certification curriculum to better suit these call types.

Result

At launch in January 2022, this insider sales program utilized 50 FTE and grew to over 60 FTE by April. Upon discovering the need for curriculum changes to better accommodate customer bookings, Arise tailored those learning journeys, with the Arise curriculum now used by the client’s internal teams. Once this new curriculum was implemented, the average close rate of 90-day Service Partners rose to 28-30%, nearly equal to the 30-32% close rate of those with 5 years’ experience.

Let’s talk!

Each brand has a unique CX need. Schedule a time to meet with our CX experts to learn how Arise can help.

The post Cruise Industry Rebound appeared first on Arise.

How Gig-CX is changing the way your Brand things about quality

Tone Stray — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 14:50:00 +0000

For a CX executive, it’s your #1 problem: a consumer contacts your contact center with a question about a product or service, wants to compare travel itineraries, or needs assistance with a bank transaction.

The agent responding the call does not have the required information or lacks the right people skills. Even worse, the customer is never answered, or after several minutes on hold, the customer hangs up, frustrated. How can you be perceived as high quality and gain customer loyalty when you can’t keep up with your customers’ needs?

Start by taking a closer look at what you consider “acceptable failure.” With a traditional outsourced CX solution, agents are hired locally and pushed through intensive training to convert less seasoned talent into productive workers as quickly as possible. With limited resources, it’s often a challenge to optimize schedules. Unexpected absences or attrition are a fact of life. As a result, contact centers are understaffed. For many BPOs, a good day is when 8 – 10 percent of calls go unanswered. For a traditional outsourced solution, this may be considered an “acceptable failure.”

Brands that want their product or service to be perceived as high quality must deliver a consistent, positive experience across the customer’s entire journey, from product inquiry to ownership.

Turn agents into advocates

As the saying goes, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” Some research suggests that it only takes a tenth of a second to make a first impression1 and to determine traits like trustworthiness and sincere empathy. And that initial impression is long-lasting. While traditional outsourced solutions accept that they will leave some customers unsatisfied, that’s unacceptable for companies in highly competitive markets and for those who prioritize building Brand loyalty.

Gig-CX solutions offer significant innovation in how customer support is delivered, helping companies make favorable impressions—and raise the benchmark from “acceptable failure” to “consistent quality.” Gig-CX offers Brands the chance to hire mature workers with specialized skills, Brand affinities, and other life experiences that can be leveraged to improve customer support and more important, quality.

Our research found that one in four consumers is not satisfied with agent knowledge, and one in five is not satisfied with agent attitude. A Gig-CX solution helps ensure that agents are armed with the proper product knowledge and skillsets to help improve customer satisfaction. Technology-based supports deliver on-demand learning and real-time agent support with on-call subject matter experts so gig workers can outperform traditional outsourcing solutions.

Improving the knowledge and soft skills of contact center agents can positively impact a Brand's reputation.

One financial services leader with specialized software was struggling with speed to proficiency as its busiest months approached. Arise was able to leverage Service Partners capable of answering technical and software-specific questions to handle 158% of the company’s forecasted volume while outperforming internal site metrics. One of these KPIs included the number of times an issue had to be escalated to a more highly qualified agent or subject matter expert.

Equipped to excel

In addition to preparing agents with knowledge and skills, a Gig-CX solution helps ensure that agents who work from home are equipped with appropriate technology and enterprise tools. Today, 77% of service organizations are either adopting or accelerating their work-from-home programs.2 To make this arrangement work, workers need to have an adequate computer and Internet bandwidth. By moving technology center operations to the cloud, agents always have access to the latest information and real-time communications capabilities.

The right enterprise tools enable agents to work seamlessly together. Arise offers a knowledge management toolset that mimics a social media-like experience and on-demand interaction so that gig workers stay engaged and can share knowledge, interact with fellow agents, and connect with subject matter experts when support is needed. Sophisticated agent engagement performance support systems can help to improve average hold time and customer satisfaction ratings. Arise helped one luxury retailer achieve hold times of only six seconds on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, compared with 12 minutes for a competitor!

Softer skills are critical for the agents who represent your Brand. According to Salesforce, 78% of agents say their company views them as Brand ambassadors, and nearly all (99%) say communications skills are very important.3 High pressure and high stress situations are the norm in customer service, and agents must be able to adapt while maintaining a cheerful and helpful attitude. One of the tools that helps them cope and improve performance is artificial intelligence (AI).

AI makes an impact

Artificial intelligence (AI) is viewed as a tool that will revolutionize contact center operations and operations. Research indicates that 79% of contact center leaders plan to invest in greater AI capabilities within the next two years.4 AI-driven enablement systems can help improve agent performance, customer support, and supplement learning and development. For example, one AI application listens in to a call, then suggests follow-up questions or data via screen pop-ups to the agent.

Many Brands are now focusing on delivering a consistent omnichannel experience across the customer journey. Consumers expect to be able to connect with Brands via multiple channels, whether by social media, phone, chat, or in-person, and they want their experience to be seamless. If they connect with a company via its website chatbot, they do not want to have to repeat themselves when transferred to a live agent. As a leading provider of Gig-CX services, Arise helps your Brand optimize the omnichannel experience and keep up with the latest enhancements.

From “acceptable” to excellence

Gig-CX solutions help brands to put their best foot forward with customers. When Arise worked with a Fortune 100 bookseller to improve its contact center operations, Service Partners on the Arise® Platform were able to drive key performance indicators (KPIs) to meet or exceed quality goals, including interactions per hour, answer rate, average speed of answer, and service level.

Learn more about how Gig-CX solutions are changing how Brands think about customer service quality, helping to raise the bar from “acceptable” to “excellent.” Please schedule an appointment to learn how Arise can deliver results for your organization.

Blog Sources:

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/serenitygibbons/2018/06/19/you-have-7-seconds-to-make-a-first-impression-heres-how-to-succeed/?sh=268751a756c2

[2] Deloitte, 2021 Contact Center Survey, June 30, 2021. (press release) https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/press-releases/deloitte-digital-research-determines-contact-centers-will-become-experience-hubs-for-brands-in-2021-and-beyond.html

[3] https://www.salesforce.com/resources/articles/important-customer-service-skills-list/?sfdc-redirect=517

[4] Deloitte, 2021 Contact Center Survey, June 30, 2021. (press release) https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/press-releases/deloitte-digital-research-determines-contact-centers-will-become-experience-hubs-for-brands-in-2021-and-beyond.html

The post How Gig-CX is changing the way your Brand things about quality appeared first on Arise.

There is no labor shortage in the gig economy

Tone Stray — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 17:51:00 +0000

While the gig economy raised its profile since the onset of the pandemic, businesses are still learning how to leverage the gig workforce to improve customer care. Tapping into the growing pool of Gig-CX workers can boost your business, bring flexibility to staffing levels, and deliver the expert attention and experience that clients expect.

We can’t return to where we were

Businesses are beginning to ask their staff to return to the office, but workers are balking. While the pandemic raged on far longer than anyone predicted or wanted, employees proved themselves successful in their roles while working remotely. Consequently, returning to lengthy commutes and working in close-contact brick and mortar call centers is not attractive to most CX workers.

But if the pandemic proved anything, it proved that Gig-CX workers can deliver exceptional customer experiences to major Brands in every vertical while working securely from home. Not only do Gig-CX workers traditionally have more work experience and affinity for the brands they serve, but because they work on their schedule, they bring the very best of their talent and capabilities to every customer interaction.

Arise has spent over a quarter-century perfecting the way of serving gig-economy entrepreneurs so they can provide exceptional service to the world’s leading Brands. With this history of innovation, customers are getting better service while Brands get better productivity, efficiency and cost savings.

Knowledge workers with skills that are easily portable across employers and geographic locations have power…The national labor market is open to [them].”

- Bryan Hancock, Partner, McKinsey & Company

New era for filling customer care roles

While companies are unable to swiftly address staff shortages or market forces beyond our control, they need to meet customer care needs today.

Leaders are faced with a variety of options:

Pursue remote and hybrid work arrangements for existing employees.
Partner with a supporting CX provider to manage demands as they ramp up and down.
Evaluate the root cause of attrition among the customer care staff, making sure to value workers and their needs.
Explore Gig-CX to meet the need, saving costs and increasing quality.

Most times, the answer will be “all of the above.”

Engaging the gig workforce

While business leaders, human resource departments, and recruiters wring their hands about unfilled jobs, 59 million American gig workers are in search of flexible, part-time work.

Instead of commuting to an office for 9-5 work, which is viewed as particularly outmoded by the youngest subset of the workforce, more workers are becoming entrepreneurs or gig workers managing their own business. Between 2019 and the onset of the pandemic in 2020, there was a 20% uptick in the formation of small businesses. This is double the growth rate of any other year in U.S. history.

The flexibility of gig model has great appeal. Individuals pursue opportunities to suit their schedule, operate freely as independent contractors, even on a project basis, and work where and when they want. In 2020, one in three U.S. workers got on board with the gig economy. Experts forecast that number will continue and that by 2023, more than half of all U.S. workers will have participated in some form of gig work during their years of work.

Inflation is increasing the size of the talent pool even more, according to a recent report in Fortune.

About 85% of independent workers have increased their gig work in the past six months.
About 45% said they have done so because of inflation.
Another 13% of independent workers surveyed say they plan to take on more gig work to combat rising prices.

No need to shop around

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COVID-19 rapidly drove an increase in chat volume up an astounding 700% for the leading online grocery delivery company.

After a request to several service providers, Arise was the only platform that could meet the Company’s need by bringing online more than 2,000 certified Service Partners in a matter of weeks.

Who’s on the line?

With the rise in gig workers providing customer care, the profile has changed. On CX platforms, gig workers are highly sought after for the value they deliver.

More than half attended college and they have the maturity to operate independently. They possess more work experience and understand how to adapt their current workspace for remote business.

What’s more, they often have industry-specific knowledge or brand passion for the company they are supporting. That level of connectedness excites them about their work and drives them to excel, often delivering a higher degree of care to the clients they help.

Leveraging Gig-CX can help your organization transform its customer care delivery, ease scheduling troubles, and improve client satisfaction ratings.

Rapid response: Varying customer service demand times

The annual Black Friday period signals a high point in holiday sales where retailers add temporary staff. Customer service and sales support for the e-commerce, store and catalog divisions of a major luxury retailer needed to expand staffing 250% in less than 16 weeks, growing from 250 to 600 full-time equivalent members.

When Black Friday weekend arrived, Arise managed 48% of the retailer’s customer interactions. The retailer’s customers experienced an average speed of only 6 seconds for an answer. That far exceeded other retailers who left customers waiting for up to 12 minutes during the rush.

Knowledgeable, digitally connected, and self-starting gig workers are drawn to alternative work arrangements and innovations of flexible work. During critical periods of uncertainty over the past two years, Arise successfully leveraged its expertise for numerous clients operating across ten key sectors. Our clients benefit from 30 years of experience and a vast network of service partners on the Arise® Platform.

We stand ready with the knowledge, technology infrastructure, service partners, workforce management tools, operational excellence, and measurement models needed to support you too. Please schedule an appointment to learn more about how Arise can deliver results for your organization.

Blog Sources:

https://www.businessinsider.com/workers-opting-to-freelance-in-order-to-stay-remote-2021-8

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/07/25/working-9-to-5-is-an-antiquated-relic-from-the-past-and-should-be-stopped-right-now/?sh=33be88a140de

https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/entrepreneurship-and-innovation-policy-and-economy-volume-1/entrepreneurship-during-covid-19-pandemic-evidence-business-formation-statistics

https://www.zippia.com/call-center-agent-jobs/demographics

https://fortune.com/2022/04/14/inflation-americans-gig-economy-work/

The post There is no labor shortage in the gig economy appeared first on Arise.