What is Contact Center CRM Software?
Customer service expectations continue to rise. See how implementing effective CRM software can help you deliver for your customers.
Customer service expectations continue to rise. See how implementing effective CRM software can help you deliver for your customers.
Contact center CRM software, also known as customer relationship management software, is a tool used by contact centers to improve customer experiences. The software stores information about customers, tracks customer interactions, and simplifies communication and customer service channels — all in one place. In short, it helps businesses resolve issues faster.
As poor service is the #1 reason consumers stop purchasing from a company, getting customer service right has never been more important. But is contact center CRM software the best option for your business? Let’s tackle the most common questions to help you decide.
Investing in contact center CRM software can help you in a few key ways, including:
High-performing service organizations are using data and AI to generate revenue while cutting costs — without sacrificing the customer experience. Find out how in the 6th edition of the State of Service report.
Although some people use the terms call center and contact center interchangeably, there are important differences. It’s important to understand how CRM software may be used for each.
Call centers focus on resolving customer issues via the phone only, so they require fewer resources than contact centers. This means call centers can be more cost-effective while still providing excellent customer service (especially if your customers prefer using the phone). The downside: due to their sole focus on calls, they’re limited in other service options. Even so, teams using the call center model can still integrate CRM solutions for services like on-call agent assistance, coaching for service teams, and real-time call transcription.
In contrast, a contact center manages much more than calls. In a contact center, agents use emails, live chat, screen sharing, social media, text messaging, video conferencing, and more. Businesses often use this approach to communicate with more customers across more channels in less time.
The right technology makes that possible. For example, contact center CRM software includes workflow automation and AI tools like chatbots — common ways to provide proactive customer service across multiple channels. In addition, CRM’s AI-powered analytics can help you understand customer needs and behavior, while voice recognition software can quickly identify customers by their speaking patterns. And predictive AI can also be used to help agents answer common inquiries faster and with greater accuracy.
Selecting the best contact center CRM software for your business is a big decision — and requires careful consideration. When deciding between solutions, think about:
It’s also important to assess a CRM vendor’s reputation, AI and automation capabilities, customer support options, and pricing to ensure a good fit for your contact center’s needs.
CRM tools can help you connect with customers quickly and easily in a number of ways, but there are still a few steps to take to really see the results you want — faster. How you use the software ultimately depends on what customer service problems you’re trying to solve.
Here are some common ways to make a contact center CRM work for you:
Investing in a new enterprise technology — even one like contact center CRM software that can have an immediate impact — can seem daunting. To dive in even more, learn more about contact center strategy on Trailhead.
Your contact center should be a modern, omnichannel engagement center that both agents and customers love. Learn how to maximize ROI with contact center software built into your CRM, powered by AI and automation.