Workflow automation seems a no-brainer tool choice for companies looking to increase efficiency and improve productivity within the contact center, but Metrigy’s Customer Experience MetriCast 2024 research with 1,566 companies worldwide shows that only slightly more than half are putting this technology to use for their customer interactions. That leaves too many presumably suffering under the burden of mundane, manual work that chews up an agent’s time, prolongs the duration of customer interactions, and introduces the chance of error.
More’s the pity for all the various ways workflow automation can come into play for customer interactions. Companies can build automated workflows for handling routine requests like password resets, appointment scheduling, and filling out forms, for example. Or, they can create automated workflows for sharing information among interaction channels, following up with customers via email or text message, or sending customer feedback to agents and supervisors… and the list goes on.
Among the benefits of using workflow automation for customer interactions is improved efficiency and productivity. Toward this end, Metrigy delved into workflow automation’s impact on average handle time (AHT), one of the most common key performance indicators for agents addressing customer inquiries coming in via phone call or text. With workflow automation automating manual processes, the most successful companies in the above-mentioned CX MetriCast study, as determined based on measured improvements in select CX metrics, have an AHT of no more than 14.4 minutes.
We also examined workflow automation’s effect on the rate of agent attrition—the rational being that agents are happier with their jobs and less likely to leave a company when they’re not spending their days with time-consuming and mind-numbing manual tasks. With our research showing attrition once again on the rise, after a dip in 2022, addressing this pain point is critically important. For the most successful companies using workflow automation, agent attrition rate clocks in at 32.4% or less.
A wide range of vendors offer WFA tools for use with customer interactions, including contact center platform, customer relationship management, and standalone tool providers. Those companies already using WFA have generally positive sentiment regarding these tools: In Metrigy’s CX MetriCast study, the overall average customer sentiment score for WFA tools is 8.19, based on a 1 (extremely poor)-to-10 (outstanding) scale.
Technical features and reliability earned the highest scores, of 8.29 each, while value—bang for the buck—and ability to generate leads earned the lowest scores, of 8.11 and 8.12, respectively. Response time to problems also was on the low end, with an 8.13. Companies just now exploring the use of WFA should use these sentiment scores in mind as they question potential vendors on their products and proven value.
