I recently had a conversation and demo with Playvox, a quality and workforce management solution provider that has a strong focus on agent engagement. Playvox has targeted agent engagement since the firm’s inception, and has also been a cloud-native provider from the start. These are two areas that many contact center technology companies needed to make a pivot to before and after the pandemic, but Playvox was already well positioned.
Playvox was built from the ground up for a digital-first omnichannel approach, and offers both Workforce Management (WFM) and Quality Management (QM). Its QM was developed to efficiently manage digital interactions like support tickets, live chat, and email. The solution is tightly integrated with CRM data to get a well-rounded data view, and is leveraged to not just unearth problems, but to support agents in a variety of ways.
“We are seeing contact centers struggle with the challenges of managing a remote operations model, in addition to facing recruitment and retention struggles with agents and experiencing low customer satisfaction. We take the approach of – if you elevate and engage your employees, these actions will improve the customer experience,” says Michelle Randall, CMO of Playvox.
VP of Product, Siobhan Miller shares, “Quality is a way to better engage employees and help them grow in their roles. We really focus on trying to review the right interactions so that patterns and issues can come to light. This includes leveraging insights to surface agent, team, and organizational strengths, not just to help solve problems more proactively, but to support agents with the tools and coaching they might need so that they can be set up for success. And we help managers do that by automating opportunities for coaching as well as learning, recognition, reward, and community.”
Miller points out that Playvox is likely the only organization that started its Workforce Engagement (WEM) journey with agent engagement, rather than QM or WFM. “Engagement is key. Ensuring that agents are empowered and motivated is the key to delivering better customer experiences,” she adds.
Gathering KPIs, scores, and metrics is an important activity for any contact center, both from an operational standpoint and an employee development view. For the agent receiving this information, whether it be a suggestion for coaching or data that shows a downturn in a certain area, those conversations can be difficult. However, if the process is consistent and information-based, and if agents have a voice, these interactions can be set up for success. And in turn, they can have a direct effect on customer experience.
Jetson Gospel, Director of Technical Solutions and Delivery at Playvox, walked me through a demo focused on performance and the way agents can receive feedback and coaching.
Says Gospel, “The Playvox solution is focused on identifying opportunities for improvement, as well as areas of success. If an agent is struggling in a certain area, it can quickly identify it and deliver a way to correct and improve this behavior. If an agent is going above and beyond, that can also be determined and rewarded.”
In the example Gospel walked through, a manager has a view into an actual interaction. Perhaps the agent did not show the correct amount of empathy needed in a situation. The manager can highlight the exact area in the interaction and show the agent where they might need some improvement. Suggestions can be made and/or a coaching session can be initiated by the manager. This is not just a one-way conversation, though. The agent is very much in the mix of this interaction and can ask questions and provide their own feedback. There are processes in place for rebuttals and disputes. For managers, data can be viewed at both a micro (by person) or macro (team) level, and agents can be given visibility of their own metrics to understand their performance in real time.
What was impressive in the demo was the appropriateness of the communication, the information presented, and the complete transparency in the process. These interactions can also occur very close, timing-wise, to the actual event, enabling a strong feedback loop. Playvox also provides products that build community and motivation, two areas that have been a struggle in the move to remote/hybrid work.
These types of investments in employees can have a solid effect on customer experience. Playvox worked with Scotts Cheap Flights to help prioritize quality issues, as well as train, coach, motivate, and engage employees. After implementing the Playvox Quality solution, the company reported an 86.2% overall QA score, an NPS of 100, and average evaluations increasing by 350%.
Quality is just a slice of Playvox’s offering. The company is on a technology journey, and Miller says the company has an aggressive product roadmap that will focus on further extending AI to continue to drive better customer outcomes.
Author Information
As a detail-oriented researcher, Sherril is expert at discovering, gathering and compiling industry and market data to create clear, actionable market and competitive intelligence. With deep experience in market analysis and segmentation she is a consummate collaborator with strong communication skills adept at supporting and forming relationships with cross-functional teams in all levels of organizations.
She brings more than 20 years of experience in technology research and marketing; prior to her current role, she was a Research Analyst at Omdia, authoring market and ecosystem reports on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and User Interface technologies. Sherril was previously Manager of Market Research at Intrado Life and Safety, providing competitive analysis and intelligence, business development support, and analyst relations.
Sherril holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from University of Colorado, Boulder and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers University.
