How to drive quick ROI in your conversation intelligence program

In this economy, achieving ROI from your software investments is key. AI-powered conversation intelligence is incredibly effective for organizations that want to understand their customer experience (CX) and improve their contact center operations. However, whether you’re considering an investment in such a solution or have already invested in one, you run the risk of challenges without a focused approach. 

Whitepaper

Your 90-Day Conversation Intelligence ROI Plan

Learn how to achieve quick wins and show positive ROI in the first 90 days of your conversation intelligence program.

The key to achieving ROI in the first 90 days is focus. Hone in on areas where you can achieve quick wins that justify the need for conversation intelligence before moving on to other, more ambitious areas. In our latest eBook, we break down the 90-day ROI equation into five manageable parts, with real-world examples demonstrating how to do it.  

1. Create a project charter 

Every great project starts with a plan. Defining a project charter can set your team up for success with conversation intelligence. One area where many companies experience quick wins is by automating some of their previously manual quality assurance (QA) processes. Using random call sampling, companies can only listen to a small fraction of calls (sometimes only 1-2%), leaving the vast majority of interactions untouched. It can be hard to give accurate performance feedback to agents based on such a small sample. Conversational intelligence can help you make immediate gains in areas such as QA.  

In simplest terms, you can cover 100% of omnichannel customer interactions, and use powerful analytics capabilities to understand exactly what’s happening in customer interactions. 

2. Align goals with areas to measure 

Perhaps after deciding on QA as a part of an initial project charter, you’ll decide on the exact KPIs you want to measure. Diving into a specific metric, such as higher-than-usual average handle times (AHTs), can provide your team with an area of focus where you can make an immediate impact with conversation intelligence.   

The benefit of these systems is the ability to drill down into the root cause of certain outlier KPIs. For example, if you dig a layer deeper into higher AHTs, you may find that the percentage of silence is also high. From there, you can determine if the underlying reasons for high silence times are due to a lack of training or a particular process that can be improved.  

3. Dive a layer deeper into basic KPIs to focus on improvements 

The real power of conversation intelligence platforms lies in the ability to identify larger trends, then double-click on certain interactions to learn more about them. For example, your team may decide to drill further into certain contact drivers, or reasons why customers are calling into the contact center. While there are more than a dozen basic types of contact drivers, they typically center around sales, service, collections, or billing. By taking a step back and looking at the largest concentration of contact drivers, you can hone in on areas for improvement within a specific team or department. 

4. Involve agents in process improvements 

Even though the data may tell you one thing, an agent’s story is critical to understand exactly which improvements would be most effective for them. Let’s say you discovered a higher percentage of silence times happening on sales-related calls pertaining to new products. Interviewing agents responsible for sales may help you uncover some flaws in how new product information is disseminated, organized or accessed during calls.   Involving agents in the implementation of conversation intelligence ultimately improves buy-in and reduces fear around the use of AI and other automated systems. Instead of being perceived as a threat or monitoring program, agents understand that conversation intelligence can improve clarity and efficiency in their day-to-day jobs, and even provide a faster path to advancement through data-backed coaching and training.  

5. Evaluate early wins to decide on expansion opportunities 

Finally, present the results of your initial project charter to key stakeholders. When discussing early wins, bring up areas that may be natural extensions to your current project where you could prove more value from a solution within a set time period. Keep your project scope defined and measurable, and you will be able to create a repeatable process for rolling out new initiatives with conversation intelligence.  

Your 90-day conversation intelligence ROI plan Want to work on your own 90-day conversation intelligence ROI plan? Dive deeper into the steps above by downloading our eBook. Discover how Zenylitics and Dunlop Sports approached their own project charter and demonstrated successful results to their stakeholders in just three short months — and how you can do it, too.