Britain’s Secret Customer Service Army: Unsupported and Undertrained 310 Filed under - Archived Content, 8x8 Britain has an army of customer service workers who are stretched to breaking point as companies fail to invest in technology or training. There are currently 766,000 people working in contact centres in the UK. However, research from 8×8 has found that there are more than 4.6 million additional staff dealing with customer service enquiries who don’t work in a traditional contact centre. These ‘informal contact centre’ staff aren’t getting the same support as those who work in customer service full time. One area lacking in investment is technology – more than two-fifths of informal contact centre staff (43%) say they don’t have access to customer service technology that would assist them in their role. This is despite their jobs becoming more complex as businesses offer customers more channels to get in touch. Over half (51%) of these strained support staff say there’s been an increase in customers getting in touch via social media, email and webchat in recent months. But only around a third (34%) are very confident handling multiple service enquiries across different channels. Despite the diversifying range of communication channels, more than four in ten (46%) say they haven’t had enough training – or any at all – on how to deal with clients over the phone. Staff are most perplexed by the world of social media, with 60% saying they would like more training in this area. Which channels do staff want training in? (all businesses) 1 Social media 60% 2 Webchat 57% 3 Phone enquiries 47% 4 Email 43% According to the research, it’s the staff in smaller firms (250–499 employees) that are most likely to call out for more help. This could be because they are expected to perform a wider range of job functions, whereas those in larger companies have more specialised roles. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of staff from these smaller firms want further support on how to communicate effectively via social media. On which channels do staff from smaller firms (250-499 employees) most want training? 1 Social media 71% 2 Webchat 63% 3 Phone enquiries 57% 4 Email 50% Many of the invisible contact centre workers are interested in how the development of artificial intelligence, such as chatbots, could help their role. More than four in ten (41%) say they would like AI to take care of simple, routine customer service queries. Kevin Scott-Cowell Kevin Scott-Cowell, UK MD of 8×8, commented, “When people think of customer service, they instantly think about aircraft hangar-sized contact centres full of headset-wearing agents. This research confirms this is a complete misconception. “There are more than six times as many people working in ‘informal contact centres’ than there are in official ones. This secret army is still having to communicate professionally with customers across multiple channels, but in most instances they haven’t been trained and don’t feel confident doing so. “With the right specialist technology and training in place, staff can be supported, even if this is only a small two- to three-person team. “With the advent of cloud-based contact centre technology, this doesn’t have to be a huge investment, but it will undoubtedly improve overall customer service.” Below is a video containing even more facts and figures that highlight how the needs of customer service teams are not being met. For further information, visit: www.8×8.com Author: Robyn Coppell Published On: 1st Aug 2017 - Last modified: 29th Aug 2017 Read more about - Archived Content, 8x8 Related Reports Guide: Contact Center Buyer's Guide Report: 2030 Customer Experience Vision eBook: Embracing eXperience Communications as a Service (XCaaS) eBook: The Real Costs of Doing Nothing Contact Centre Reports, Surveys and White Papers Get the latest exciting call centre reports, specialist whitepapers and interesting case-studies. Choose the content that you want to receive. Contact Centre Reports, Surveys and White Papers Invites to exclusive Webinars & Events Weekly Newsletter