Skills-Based Routing is a feature of a call centre ACD that enables you to direct calls to the most appropriately skilled and experienced call centre agent.
Benefits of Skills-Based Routing
There are really two key benefits to using Skills Based Routing in a call centre:
1. SBR increases efficiency
By connecting the customer immediately to the person best equipped to handle their call it saves having to transfer the call to a more appropriately skilled agent.
Also, as the agent has the necessary skills they will be far more efficient in handling the call so you will have much lower talk times – one of the best ways to reduce the costs of running your contact centre.
2. SBR improves the customer experience
Again, by enabling the call to be connected to the appropriately trained and skilled contact centre agent, it will lead to a better customer experience. Customers won’t be frustrated by talking to someone who doesn’t understand what they need, there will be less need for them to be transferred and so on.
Applying Skills-Based Routing in a call centre
The key to being able to apply any form of Skilled-Based Routing in a contact centre is firstly being able to determine what the call is actually about.
This can be done by:
- An IVR where the customer selects the appropriate options
- Speech or Natural Language IVR (same thing but using their voice to explain what they need)
- The telephone number the customer called
- The identity of the customer (if you have a linked CRM)
You also need to ensure your telephony platform enables skills-based routing.
Most modern contact centre platforms do, so if yours doesn’t it might be time for an upgrade – find local suppliers here >
It’s also important you prepare to have a multi-skilled call centre agent model as handling multiple types of calls or channels can be difficult and can involve changes to your training, coaching, metrics, quality programs, pay scales and more.
Type of Skills-Based Routing
There is practically an endless amount of ways you can apply SBR in your call centre.
The key is choosing the best model for your contact centre and broader business objectives.
To give you some ideas I’ve listed a few examples below.
Simple Skill-Based Routing
In its most simplest form, you can use SBR to split key functions in your contact centre like sales and service. But you can also use it to separate calls by product groups, easy and hard calls and so on.
Advanced Skill-Based Routing
Towards the more advanced Skill-Based Based Routing you can route calls based on:
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- Directing callers to the highest ranked agent. – By ranking the quality of each agent in your centre you can route calls to the highest ranked available agent to ensure your customers receive the best possible service.
- You can also use the same principle to direct the easier types of calls to your newer agents.
- Matching a customer profile to an agent profile to drive better performance. In a sales environment, you could match an elderly customer with one of your more senior agents as opposed to connected a pensioner to a 20-year-old student. This can improve customer satisfaction and in a sales environment, improve sales conversion rates.
- Connecting customers to the last agent they spoke to.
Find suppliers in Australia who can help:
- Suppliers of call centre technology with Skills-Based Routing >
- Consultants who are experts in call centre technology >
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