As we reflect on the past year, it’s clear that employee engagement and customer experience reigned supreme.

With customer expectations on the rise, companies scrambled to develop customer journeys that stood apart from the competition. We also discovered the importance of human nature in customer loyalty, with 74 percent of customers stating they are more loyal to a company if they can speak to someone. So, while AI has made big strides, the need for a strong human connection is still alive and well in the contact centre.

This increased focus on improving the customer experience means that agents are being challenged to manage call volume better and faster, while also needing to solve more complex customer inquiries. To better support agents and keep turnover low, companies are investing in workforce engagement tools and strategies for their contact centres.

Take a look at our top 10 blogs of 2018 to find out what topics caught the attention of your peers:

1.  A Guide to Call Centre Sentiment Analysis– It’s not enough to analyse and understand what customers say, organisations also need to understand what the customer means. Learn how Sentiment Analysis, Calabrio’s powerful new analytics tool, can help you gain deeper insights about your customers.
2. How to Use Call Centre Games to Improve Agent Performance– When your agents are at the top of their game, so is the customer experience! Find out how to launch a gamification programme for your contact centre.
3. Calabrio’s Commitment to Customers Shines in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Workforce Engagement Management– We do things differently, and our nimble, feedback-driven approach has allowed us to break away from our competitors in the market. Read why Calabrio was named as the only “Visionary” in the 2018 Gartner Workforce Engagement Magic Quadrant.
4. Make Sure Your Contact Centre Agents Know You Love Them– Your agents have a greater impact on customer experience than any other factor in your contact centre. Are you doing enough to show your agents that you appreciate them?
5. How to Use Agent Follow-up to Increase Customer Retention [Video] When a customer has had issues with your organisation, it can be hard to get them back on board. This Calabrio Academy video walks through five steps agents can take to impact customer retention.
6. The Calabrio ONE Awards: Recognising Customer Experience Success in the Contact Centre– Calabrio’s annual customer event in Nashville was a huge success! Take a look at this year’s ONE Awards recipients, recognising high-achieving companies using Calabrio ONE to drive innovation in the contact centre and beyond.
7. 4 Tips for Resolving Inbound Complaints Faster– Learn how insurance contact centres are arming agents with the right tools and processes to deliver the best experience for their customers, in the shortest time possible.
8. 3 Must-have Types of Workforce Management Scheduling Tools [Infographic]– Scheduling your contact centre is always a challenge. Learn how three different WFM tools can make it easier to give agents the flexibility and freedom they crave—while still making sure you have enough agents to meet customer demands.
9. What the GDPR Means for Your Contact Centre– Even if only one customer of yours resides in the EU, your contact centre has to understand and comply with the new European Privacy laws. GPDR was a hot topic in 2018. Take a look back on the impact it made.
10. 16 Telling Questions that Reveal How Well You Really Know Your Customers– How well do you know your customers? Let’s find out.

Customers want to know their voices are being heard, and in 2019, companies will do a better job listening in order to meet the changing needs of their customers. Interested in hearing what our executives predict for the contact centre in 2019? Check out our latest report, The Future of the Contact Centre, Key Predictions for 2019