Skills-Based Complaint Routing: Definition, Process and Best Practices

In today's customer-centric world, providing efficient and personalized customer service is essential to the success of any business. Skills-based routing (SBR) is a powerful strategy for improving customer support and streamlining ticket management. This article explores the principle of SBR, how to implement it and best practices to maximize its benefits.

Understanding skills-based complaint routing (SBR):

Skills-based routing (SBR) is a strategy used by customer support teams to direct customers' requests and inquiries to the most appropriate group of agents based on their skills and expertise. Unlike traditional routing methods, SBR ensures that complaints are assigned to the agents best qualified to handle them, rather than distributing them randomly among available employees.

The SBR process 

Implementing skills-based routing involves a well-structured process to distribute complaints efficiently. Here is how it generally works:

Assessing business needs and agents' skills:

The process begins with the system administrator assessing the company's needs and each agent's skills. Operators are then assigned to specific skill groups based on their expertise.

Ticket routing:

When a customer requests assistance, the SBR system automatically routes the complaint according to predefined rules. The AI-powered tool analyzes the customer's needs and matches them with the skills of the appropriate agent.

Benefits of skills-based routing 

Increased agent productivity:

With  skills-based routing in place, customer service representatives can focus on the complaints that match their expertise. This targeted approach enables faster resolution and less time spent escalating them, which increases agent productivity.

Streamlined workflows:

Skills-based routing removes the complexities associated with complaint handling, resulting in smoother, higher-performing workflows. Agents benefit from overall visibility that allows them to match their skills to the complaints they handle, which simplifies the resolution process.

Cost-effectiveness:

By eliminating the need for manual sorting, skills-based routing optimizes advisors' time and energy. This optimization in turn reduces costs, as a larger number of complaints can be resolved in a shorter time without requiring additional resources.

Types of skills-based routing 

Queue-based routing:

Queue-based routing suits smaller companies with fewer technical support requests. It directs customers to the next available agent, whatever their skills. This method is simple but can lead to longer waiting times for customers.

Omnichannel routing:

Omnichannel routing works well for companies present on several communication channels. It uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology to assign complaints to agents based on their skills, availability, workload and ticket priority.

Value-based routing:

Value-based routing prioritizes complaints according to the customer's value to the company. AI assesses factors such as customer lifetime value, risk level and relationship dependency to determine priority.

Best practices for skills-based routing 

Regular skills assessment:

Carry out periodic assessments to make sure agents' skill profiles are up to date and aligned with the company's needs.

Flexible routing rules:

Configure routing rules that allow easy updates and adjustments to adapt to changing needs.

Personalized customer experience:

Use customer data to offer personalized support, directing high-value customers to experienced agents.

Data-driven decision-making:

Analyze customer data and feedback to refine the routing process and improve customer satisfaction.

Skills-based routing is a powerful tool that modernizes customer support by efficiently matching customer requests with competent agents. By streamlining workflows, increasing agent productivity and improving customer satisfaction, skills-based routing plays an important role in enhancing the overall customer experience. Adopting best practices and implementing an intelligent SBR system can transform your customer support operations and help your business succeed in a competitive environment.

Learn more about skills-based routing with Complaints Manager.

 

Abdelilah EL ATTARI

Expert in Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence (AI): Procurement Digitalization (S2C, P2P), HRIS, Civic Tech and Participatory Democracy, Marketing and Customer Relations