The following Q&A is part of a series on creating a sustainable work-from-home contact center. Each post examines a vital technology that supports contact centers in the transition to a permanent remote-work model. Below, Panviva’s Stephen Pappas outlines the benefits of a cloud-based knowledge management solution. He also discusses the work-from-home (WFH) challenges that knowledge management solves, along with key features, how to get the most out of the technology, and valuable advice on making a successful transition to a permanent WFH model.
STEPHEN PAPPAS
Senior Vice President, Head of U.S. Operations & Chief Marketing Officer, Panviva
Panviva Knowledge Management
Q. What WFH challenge(s) does it solve?
Panviva has always been an instrumental part of allowing hybrid remote and in-building contact center employees to flourish. It accomplishes this by providing all the answers they need at their fingertips in an online cloud-based solution. But more than providing just answers, it is a task-based tool that gives them context—what to do, what to say and how to guide the call—without ever losing the rhythm of the call. Ultimately, the customer has a smoother and better experience, and the employee feels empowered and confident in always having the ability to help every customer.
No longer reliant on binders or share drives, agents have the information they need within three clicks or less.
Supervisors can publish updates to agents within seconds, virtually eliminating the need for in-person huddles.
Q. How does it add value for end customers?
Every customer’s goal when calling a contact center is to have a quick and efficient call that provides the help they need. But the reality is that most agents spend 25%-30% of their time searching, not finding information. Many times, they can’t determine if they are finding the right document. And once they do get to it, they must open it and find the answer they need.
All that goes away with Panviva. Your content in Panviva allows each user can get to their answers within the context of a call, providing the task steps and information they need in seconds. By giving the employees the tool that allows them to serve their customers more effectively and efficiently, the interactions can take far less time, improving your customer’s experience exponentially.
Q. Tips for getting the most out of this tool?
Since Panviva is known for its methodology, we start there—training our customers in the methodology as well as the tool itself. Panviva has a very robust training program available online at university.panviva.com. Customers have access to the full set of online courses as well as best practices, but also a full library of templates. Whether you are a hospital, bank or credit union, roadside assistance, utility company, retailer or technology, there are templates to get our customers on their way to a successful knowledge management strategy.
Our approach to making our customers successful is to be there for you. Every customer gets a Panviva Pro session every month to work with our experts on anything you need at no additional cost. That’s our way of guiding you to success.
Q. Advice for making a successful transition to a permanent WFH model?
Encourage your training department to train employees within the tool the agents will be using on the job. This evolves training from a memorization process to an access process. Teach agents exactly how to access the critical information they will need when they are helping customers. It becomes their aid as they are learning the ropes, and it greatly reduces training time and time to competency. It gets them to the information they need faster every time to provide great customer experiences. All these create better employee experiences and limits turnover—and that translates into better, happier customers.
Next up in the WFH tech series: Online learning & development
