To eliminate any problem, one should work on its root cause. This approach helps to weed out every problem permanently rather than solving it on a temporary basis. If we talk about business communications, calls are one of the primary sources that people use to contact a brand or its customer service or support agents.
In a way, we can say that Incoming calls are an important source for generating business leads, but this is possible only when a firm can handle every incoming call efficiently.
For this, the first thing to focus on is to reduce the incoming call volumes. The more calls an agent handles in a day, the poorer the quality of customer service over calls. And this happens for several reasons.
That’s where CTI for Salesforce comes into play. It helps in countless ways to reduce and manage high call volume effectively. CTI integration can help businesses in countless ways, due to which computer telephony integration demand is increasing.
According to a market report on Computer Telephony Integration, the total value of the Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) Solution Market is estimated to be USD 5547.4 Million in the coming times.
In this blog, we will discuss why it is important to focus on reducing incoming call volumes and how CTI for Salesforce can help you achieve this goal efficiently.
Why Should You Care about Reducing Call Volumes
Before talking about how CTI for Salesforce can help you manage call volume effectively, let’s discuss the consequences of long call queues in business.
Increased Stress and Burnout
When it comes to agent’s performance, they shouldn’t be stressed, and their energy should be high. When incoming call volume is high, They have implicit pressure from the managers to take more calls on a daily basis, which leads to back-to-back call handling by the agents.
This hampers their ability to manage inbound calls effectively.
Handling a high volume of calls for extended periods can increase agents’ stress levels. They may feel overwhelmed and fatigued, contributing to burnout and negatively impacting their mental and emotional well-being. This makes CTI for Salesforce crucial for businesses.
Reduced Quality of Service
When calls are involved in a business operation, business owners emphasize attending more calls on a daily basis. When the parameter to measure the agents’ productivity is the number of calls attended by them, it becomes more difficult for Agents to handle calls effectively as they are always under pressure to take maximum calls daily.
Consequently, the chances are high that agents handle calls in a rush to attend more calls in a day, which can reflect in a way of poor customer service. This further leads to customer dissatisfaction due to inappropriate query resolution and call handling from agents. You can easily handle this with the capabilities you get with CTI for Salesforce.
Longer Wait Time for Callers
When call queues are long, callers must wait longer to get connected with an agent.
Sometimes, callers come with complex issues, and agents take longer time than usual to solve such complex issues, which further adds up to the waiting time of the callers.
This can create a backlog of calls in the queue, increasing customer wait times.
As a result, this leads to customers’ frustration, poor experience with a brand, and missed opportunities.
According to Salesforce’s 2022 Report, 88% of customers admitted that customer experience and business offerings are equally important.
Missed Opportunities for Business
Potential customers’ longer wait time to connect with the brand over a call is the biggest reason for their frustration. Callers call for different reasons, and many of them have a high purchase intent. Therefore, calls need to be addressed faster so that no new business opportunity is missed.
Otherwise, they may end up switching to other brands or competitors. In addition, when your existing customers call, agents can also miss opportunities to cross-sell or upsell, leading to missed opportunities for repeated sales.
Inefficient Use of Available Resources
When resources are limited and the workload is more, agents’ focus is on dealing with the workload instead of doing the task in the best manner. This restricts resources from performing at their best. High call volume can strain resources, leading to inefficient use.
Also, they are left with no time to be creative and improve their customer-handling skills. You may need to invest in additional staff, technology, or infrastructure to manage the workload effectively.
CTI Integration in Salesforce for Managing High Call Volume
After getting acquainted with the consequences of high call volume, let’s talk about the solution to overcome the challenges of long call queues with the help of Salesforce CTI integration.
Intelligent Call Routing
This is an important feature that users get with CTI Salesforce integration. It helps businesses to distribute the load of calls evenly among the agents. That helps you reduce customer wait time, as only a few agents do not have to deal with high call volumes. Instead, calls are distributed equally.
This feature allows you to pre-define criteria based on skills, language, availability, etc., based on which the calls will be routed.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
CTI for Salesforce allows you to configure IVR to offer self-service to your callers and reduce call queues.
IVR systems allow callers to interact with automated menus and perform actions like selecting options or entering account information using their keypad.
IVRs can handle routine inquiries, gather caller information, and direct callers to the appropriate department or agent without the need for human intervention, thereby reducing the workload on agents.
Call Transferring and Conferencing
One important factor that contributes to high call volume is the ability to resolve customer queries over a single call. Because when queries stay unresolved, callers make repeated calls until their query is resolved. Salesforce CTI integration allows you to transfer calls or perform call conferencing to add experts or the desired department to the call to resolve the queries over a single call, improving first-call resolution.
Foster Better Call Handling with CTI for Salesforce
Call volume is one of the crucial reasons that hamper agents’ productivity and also lead to customer annoyance and dissatisfaction. With CTI for Salesforce, you can get various advanced features to reduce and manage high call volumes effectively. From offering self-help options to improving first-call resolution, you can do everything required to reduce new and repeated customer calls. This gives your agents more time to handle calls better. So, do you also want to be innovative with your call operations, getting the advanced capabilities? Turn to our experts at care@360smsapp.com or click here to contact us.
CEO Siddharth Sehgal is CEO & Salesforce Communication Guru. He helps businesses grow exponentially by putting their Salesforce CRM on steroids with his unique techniques. He is on a mission to help businesses build deeper relationships with their customers.
Siddharth Sehgal
