Call centers have come a long way from just telemarketing. They are in nearly every industry; whether the calls are inbound, outbound, in the energy industry, or healthcare. Each sector has their own specific service and compliance needs for call centers to fulfill. Below is a summary of a Press Release from Best Practices, LLC describing the changes in customers in pharmaceutical and healthcare call centers.
Healthcare Call Centers are facing a changing customer landscape.
Customers are increasingly mobile, increasingly connected, and increasingly impatient with slow service. Consequently, contact centers are modernizing their technology and expanding connectivity options to support a growing variety of customer service channels and tools.
To help pharmaceutical companies better understand the changing needs of customer call centers, research and consulting leader Best Practices, LLC recently conducted a study around best practices for healthcare call centers.
Some of the insights uncovered in the study revolve around:
- INVESTMENT: Differing rates of technology adoption across call centers may be driven in part by the extent to which executive leadership values a healthcare call center’s rich pool of customer data. Those companies that leverage the data to feed other corporate functions are more likely to invest heavily in technology acquisition and upgrades.
- SELF-SERVICE: Call center leaders are exploring ways to increase self-service for customers with common call center queries. Knowledge bases and artificial intelligence will expedite this process, increasing consumer access and, potentially, reducing costs.
- GLOBALIZATION: Study participants anticipate increased globalization of call centers in the next few years – a trend that portends a push to provide standardized services to a global customer base. Those who have already begun globalization noted that a common technology platform and centralized leadership are basic requirements. Regional variations in regulations, however, will continue to create globalization challenges.
The study is based on a research project involving a benchmark class of 40 call center leaders from 35 pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, diagnostic, OTC (Over the Counter), and consumer packaged goods companies. The 84-page report provides industry metrics and trends insights that can serve as a reference point on healthcare call center budget levels, budget allocations, program operations and services, complaint resolution processes, technology, and service levels.
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