4 Ways Contact Centers and Marketing Go Hand-In-Hand

Positive customer experience requires leadership teams to understand every point a customer engages with an organization. The information gathered from each of these departments is critical to a full understanding of the customer experience. With regards to customer interaction, there are few departments that will engage as frequently as the contact center. For this reason alone, contact center teams and marketing teams must work together to ensure smooth end-to-end marketing campaigns.

This pairing may not seem logical at first. After all, it is the marketing team that builds the messaging, delivers campaigns and drives awareness of a company brand and its products. However, it is up to the contact center to answer questions, resolve issues and ensure that the promises made are delivered to the customer’s satisfaction. It does not have to stop there.

By ensuring these two teams communicate regularly, not only is there an opportunity for customer experience to be improved, there is also an opportunity for the contact center to up-sell or cross-sell for the company. Furthermore, marketing teams can learn a lot about existing versus new customer behavior by reviewing the various analytics and reports generated by the contact center.

To ensure that these two teams can work toward positive customer experience, consider implementing the following:

1. Regular Team Meetings – review trends in the contact center, provide information on upcoming marketing efforts and find other ways to partner to better serve the customer.
2. Analyze Channels –marketing will utilize various channels to spread brand and product awareness, and contact centers will utilize these same channels to communicate with customers. Taking time to analyze the interaction by channel to determine if the contact center is receiving increased interactions is worth the time. You may find trends you did not realize were there, and it’s the right time to ensure appropriate communication from a company perspective.
3. Work Together – create cross-functional teams to brainstorm ideas based on existing customer interaction. The information regarding how customers are interacting with the contact center can be invaluable for the next marketing campaign.
4. Communicate Brand Values – marketing lives and breathes the brand, but not every department is as in touch with the message. Reiterate to the contact center and other departments the brand values so that they can be incorporated across all customer interactions. Also, work together to ensure a consistent message. Whether it’s developing new web pages or recruiting new agents, having marketing involved keeps the message tight and the customer experience strong.

The contact center is the front-line, so having the agents also be the communications hub will only strengthen the message delivered across all channels and throughout every department. The information that will be shared between these two departments will not only improve the brand experience, but also ensure that better customer information is gathered so that preferences, buying habits and overall customer satisfaction are documented and shared. This new marketing / contact center partnership will readily improve the brand and customer experience, keeping both positive.