Three-pointers to help unleash your workforce with the power of analytics

by Paige McCaleb “One of the strongest messages to come out from the research carried out for this report was the long-term view that solution providers have of the integral role of customer contact analytics as an enabler and optimizer for other solutions. Many analytics vendors have a complete workforce optimization suite, and are constantly working to automate and integrate findings and actions from the analytics solution into their overall WFO suite.” - Inner Circle Guide to Customer Analytics

This quote from Inner Circle Guide to Customer Analytics is so important because of the simple fact that interactions happen all the time. From the cashier at the grocery store, the cable installation technician, to family dinners - humans are constantly interacting. But in today’s world, we don’t simply interact face-to-face.

Gone are the days where a customer’s only option was to pick up the phone. Email, chat, text, and social media are all platforms for valuable customer interactions – all opportunities for customers to become brand advocates. And a good workforce optimization (WFO) suite allows your organization to gather up all the data from ALL of your channels and deliver it straight to the frontline as actionable data.

Helping data gathered from interactions analytics transform your business into a performance-driven organization might be overwhelming. To help you on your way, here are three pointers you may wish to consider:

1. Coach to change behavior: Performance-driven environments enable coaches to look into their team’s performance. They can uncover the root of a service issue and take a deep dive into turning around a pinpointed issue rather than painting with a broad brushstroke of general improvements. When a coach has the information to identify the source of an agent’s struggle with customer interactions they can create individualized goals and motivate behavioral change.

2. Motivate employee accountability: A good WFO suite delivers data straight to the fingertips of every employee. Each person can track their own performance and own their improvement. A great WFO system goes one step above – allowing employees to share insights and learn from one another in best practice libraries. Gamification is another way that leading companies are choosing to help their employees own their own performance. Challenges and quests use interactions analytics to track employee’s performance in real time. Deliver rewards and recognition for a job well done, and encourage skills that wrap to larger organization-wide initiatives.

3. Drive Alignment: Analytical data gathered from customer interactions exposes the truth behind what behaviors truly impact customer experience. The rich insight gained from this data streamlines company priorities and goals to maximize impact. Aligning the whole organization around common initiatives will drive simple changes that make a world of difference.

Interactions are deeply engrained in life, and they aren’t getting any simpler. Customer experience relies on an ability to understand interactions and take action. We believe that all interactions should have positive outcomes…and while I can’t make your teenagers open up at the dinner table, I can tell you that using data to drive coaching, accountability and alignment will create a performance-driven culture that results in happy customers.

Paige McCaleb A millennial through and through Paige is a resident Gamification fanatic and social platform maven. She's passionate about crafting new ways to tell the stories of organizations with off-the-charts engagement.