In the 1999 blockbuster hit Analyze This, Robert De Niro plays a mob boss who is suffering from panic attacks and consults with a psychotherapist, Billy Crystal, to better understand his recent emotional episodes. Ultimately, to get a grasp on his anxiety and why he was experiencing his attacks, Crystal has De Niro get in touch with his inner feelings. By doing this, they both were able to establish the root causes of his anxiety issues. Many individuals, couples, and families seek out assistance from third party health practitioners to dig deep into certain behavioral traits and reveal the roots. Organizations or businesses also look for answers to the proverbial, and sometimes elusive, “what” and “why” of their business successes and/or are struggles in certain areas.
In call centers, there a lot of moving parts that need to work together collectively in order to provide a great customer experience, but also meet company metrics and goals. When this does not occur, or there is a break down in processes, it is often difficult to determine the root of the problem. Speech analytics can often provide this insight and operate like a psychiatrist for your business. Speech analytics is the process of analyzing recorded calls to extract intelligence and provide better insight into what takes place on call interactions.
Agent performance is the foundation to creating a great customer experience. Speech analytics allows for every call to be analyzed for improvement opportunities, reasons why customers churn and allowing successful calls to become best practices. With speech analytics, you can cut down on training and coaching cost by focusing on specific behaviors by specific agents rather than focusing on the mass which may or may not have the same problem areas.
In her article, The ROI of Speech Analytics for the Call Center, industry analyst, Donna Fluss, found a “rapid three-to 12-month payback, high net present value and high internal rate of return” for adopters of speech analytics. By reducing operational expenses, improving the customer experience which leads to increased revenue and lowering customer attrition rates, speech analytics is clearly a worthwhile investment.
Aside from the clear, frontline benefits, speech analytics provides support for compliance, regulatory and litigation concerns. With speech analytics we are able to confirm, validate and, in some cases, prove that agents are abiding by industry regulations. We can also identify problem areas and training opportunities before an escalated or litigation scenario arises. This technology can save companies on fines and/or lawsuits when utilized as a risk assessment and management tool.
There are many other reasons why speech analytics can be beneficial such as complimentary piece of a robust quality management program. Speech analytics is crucial to helping identify and understanding the “whats” and “whys” of an organization. Like the shrink helped the mafia gangster, once we have “analyzed this” we are able to make changes to correct behaviors and ultimately create a foundation for providing world class customer service.
