The Power of Collaboration: Enhancing Your Amazon Connect Customer Experience

More and more companies today are transforming their customer service and support solutions with cloud-based Amazon Connect. It’s not hard to see why: Amazon Connect has significant power to boost agent and operational capabilities while taking advantage of newer technology. Smart companies will find it much easier to fully leverage all the features and benefits available through Amazon Connect by working with an experienced partner with an AWS (Amazon Web Services) Service Delivery designation for Amazon Connect, like CTG.

Amazon Connect releases dozens of enhancements quarterly, too many for most companies to keep up with if they’re not in the know. Partners with a designation for Amazon Connect keep a pulse on new releases and understand their nuances and impact, allowing them to efficiently educate their clients rather than leaving them to figure out everything on their own.

For instance, Contact Lens, one of Amazon Connect’s many features, is often used for its ability to create real-time transcripts of agent-caller interactions––but it can do more, including sentiment analysis reports. Plenty of call centers conduct manual sentiment analysis by listening to a small sample of random calls, but the process is time consuming, and the small sample size means missing out on analysis on the majority of calls. With Contact Lens’ sentiment analysis capabilities running on 100% of your contacts, call centers can actively set up their systems to retrieve transcripts that have sentiment scores of a certain rating. That way, they’re able to select and review any contacts that need more attention instead of merely hoping that their randomized listening will provide value.

I think we can all agree that Amazon Connect and its features hold a lot of value, so why are some companies hesitant to use it on their own? Well, not all companies have the internal staff or training to best leverage this cloud-based contact center platform and all its nuances. However, companies like CTG do. In fact, we consider it part of our role at CTG to not just know about existing and up-and-coming features, but to teach our clients how to use them with ease and confidence.

The Value of a Strong Partner

Becoming an AWS Select Tier Services Partner with an AWS Service Delivery designation for Amazon Connect isn’t a pay-for-play exchange; these experts undergo a thorough partner certification process that validates a company’s depth and understanding of AWS’ solutions. The process feels a little like getting a driver’s license at the DMV––there’s less time spent in waiting rooms, but the level of verification is stringent. There’s quite a bit of upfront learning and training that needs to happen. Plus, these types of partners have to run through mock customer engagement calls to prove their merit. For instance, at CTG, we had to build an interactive voice response (IVR) product as a scenario to prove our programmatic skills met AWS’ standards.

Thanks to AWS’ rigorous certification expectations, companies that work with partners like CTG can enjoy several key benefits. The first is a vast knowledge of Amazon Connect and of all the products that the partner is able to support. Case in point, CTG has in-house experts who are well-versed in complementary AWS products that can be combined with Amazon Connect (such as machine learning modules). We frequently identify other AWS features that best meet our clients’ needs because we have the experience to help implement a diverse range of services.

One key perk to working with a partner with an AWS Service Delivery designation for Amazon Connect is that they help companies avoid common mistakes often made during the early days of implementing and using the platform, such as lack of testing or enunciation issues in the popular text to voice feature. Like any system, Amazon Connect needs to be set up strategically to avoid system loops or dead ends. Designated partners like CTG have been through enough call flows to proactively identify stumbling blocks and properly test-run all applications. Pairing with the appropriate organization and utilizing the right tools to achieve company goals can ultimately save you time and money and give you peace of mind.

Tips for Maximizing Your Amazon Connect Customer Experience

Companies eager to optimize their chosen partner's performance should consider employing the following strategies.

1. Find a designated partner who actually utilizes Amazon Connect within their own business.

You know you've found a true partner when they already use AWS’ services to their full extent within their own organization. At CTG, we have more than 200 agents taking customer calls, and we rely on Amazon Connect day in and day out. For example, our agents’ scorecards are created by Amazon’s Agent Evaluation feature and contain a sentiment analysis element handled by Contact Lens. Part of an agent’s monthly review is a discussion of the sentiment score and how it relates to their expectations and goals.

Working with the right partner is like learning business etiquette from a professor who’s actually been in the corporate trenches instead of one who’s been stuck in academia.

2. Make sure you and your partner agree upon what success looks like.

Confirming that you and your designated partner are on the same page regarding goals and expectations is crucial to building momentum and success together.

When CTG takes on new clients, our team conducts a discovery process to gain an in-depth understanding of each client’s operations. Basically, we want to walk alongside our clients. Through discovery, we’re able to strategize which Amazon Connect features are most relevant and impactful to your company’s goals and make a plan to implement them. Beyond Amazon Connect, our strategists also consider any other AWS services like Lex and Polly (AI solutions) that could reduce costs, increase speed, and improve customer satisfaction.

A templated solution simply doesn’t work for everyone––the right partner will create a custom solution that fits your unique goals and embraces your company’s vision of success.

3. Bring all problems to your chosen partner immediately.

Rather than waiting for something to get worse, companies should always discuss current or anticipated problems with their partners right away. Ideally, this could be done during routine biweekly or monthly status meetings.

Constant and proactive communication is critical because it translates to better and faster outcomes––or even avoiding the problem entirely. For instance, if a company hasn’t been running its reports because of a problem, the company is missing out on that valuable reporting; the sooner your partner can troubleshoot, the sooner you can get back to making data-driven decisions.

Organizations should never feel hesitant about asking about their options. Often, their designated partner will have ideas based on prior experience with other clients or other AWS services. Their deep understanding means they can suggest a realistic and efficient fix so you can breeze past any roadblocks.

Amazon Connect is one of today’s most powerful assets for any corporate call center. But to get the most bang for their buck, smart companies and customer service departments are reaching out to partners with AWS Service Delivery designations for Amazon Connect like CTG. Check out their experience and contact CTG today.

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