The survey was held in: May 2022
Industries covered: Retail (14%), insurance (19%), banking and financial (7%), government (3%), telco (7%), manufacturing (21%), and other (29%) sectors
Respondents: 456
Agent tenure
A huge 76% of agents still work from home. Remote or hybrid work has continued even as the pandemic has turned endemic.
eGain take: This means agents require robust knowledge-based guidance since there is no “next cube” for answers.
A majority 63% of agents say they find the complexity level of customer inquiries more complex than earlier.
Banking offers the most guidance to its advisors among all the sectors at 58%, followed by telco at 47%. All the other sectors hover between 32-36%. This is what agents said about knowledge guidance at the contact center:
| Answer Choices | Retail | Insurance | Banking /Fin | Govt | Telco | Mfg. | Other |
| It offers a search capability like Google | 32% | 27% | 23% | 33% | 43% | 27% | 33% |
| In addition to search, the knowledge tool guides me step by step through any customer conversation, advising me what to say next and what to do next | 35% | 36% | 58% | 33% | 47% | 32% | 32% |
| I don’t have any knowledge-base tool. I find answers from documents or ask a colleague | 32% | 37% | 19% | 33% | 10% | 40% | 35% |
eGain take: As queries get more complex, it is concerning that 64% do not have knowledge guidance. This is a problem and opportunity for modern Knowledge Management (KM).
Agents could select more than one option to answer what they considered to be the biggest problems while finding solutions for customers.
Agents were asked, “Can you easily see prior customer interactions that happened on a channel different from the one you are handling at any given time?” They replied:
| Industry | Yes, all interactions are in one place | Yes, but I have to switch to different apps to see | No, I am not able to see interactions on other channels |
| Retail | 53% | 20% | 27% |
| Insurance | 47% | 24% | 29% |
| Banking & Financial | 59% | 32% | 09% |
| Government | 38% | 25% | 38% |
| Telco | 63% | 32% | 05% |
| Manufacturing | 42% | 15% | 43% |
| Other | 39% | 30% | 30% |
eGain take: 360 view of interactions reduces customer effort (no need to repeat context) and feeds more context for faster knowledge-based resolution. Yet 54% do not have 360 view. Problem and opportunity for a unified conversation hub.
When asked, “If your company offers online self-service (e.g., chatbot, other forms of online self-service), are you able to see these self-service interactions that a customer just completed before being escalated to you?” agents said:
eGain take: Standalone chatbots without context-aware integration with live agent chat is a common customer compliant. Yet 56% have no such integration. This is a problem and opportunity for a conversation hub, powered by a centralized knowledge hub.
How do agents feel when faced with a somewhat complex or complex question from a customer? 37% say they are stressed.
eGain take: Agent stress is not good for the agent or the customer. Novice agents experience 31% more stress. 32% of tenured agents are also stressed, which indicates even veterans are getting stumped by query complexity. Modern KM can help agents of all experience levels! Time to equip them with modern knowledge!