... YOUR AGENTS MUST BE PREPARED FOR EMOTIONALLY CHARGED CONVERSATIONS...
LOCAL, STATE GOVERNMENTS MUST BE PREPARED
The Trump Administration has promised, and has begun, shifting federal functions to state and local governments. This means that the volume and complexity of calls to their contact centers are likely to increase, and there will be confusion around whom to contact.
As the allocation of financial resources and the administration of services across local and state governments evolves, consumers will be looking for the current“ rules of the road”: in a world where there will be lots of“ road under construction” signs.
The states and local governments must prepare – including with their contact centers – for the big volume of inquiries from confused and worried citizens. Coordination across agencies and clear communication of whom to contact will be essential.
One example is the potential elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency( FEMA) where the Administration is looking to drive ownership of traditional FEMA functions to the states. It plans to make them responsible to bear the burden of providing resources and covering the financial cost of disasters.
Empathy training of agents and having very robust knowledge centers will be critical. The upside is the agents will have local knowledge and understanding that will enable them to connect effectively with the callers.
For example, if someone ' s Social Secu- For example, if someone’ s Social Security check is late or delayed and they cannot get ahold of the SSA, they will call their bank for assistance to get support. And, while the banks may or may not be able to help, they will have to have scripts in place to manage the calls.
For customer experience( CX) and contact center leaders, this moment presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Here’ s what to expect.
1. PREPARE FOR INCREASED VOLUMES AND COMPLEXITY
As live support directly from government agencies becomes harder to reach, consumers will turn to whomever will pick up the phone.
36 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE
... YOUR AGENTS MUST BE PREPARED FOR EMOTIONALLY CHARGED CONVERSATIONS...
That means calls directed to banks, as noted earlier, but also to healthcare providers, insurers, and even retail customer service centers. These will be often from people who are confused, frustrated, or looking for information they can’ t get anywhere else or have traditionally called a government agency to receive.
Action: Audit your current call routing and escalation paths. Can your teams handle an influx of off-topic or government-adjacent inquiries? Do you have the voice and data handling capacity: and the ports and agents to handle the load? If not, then plan now.
2. RETHINK TRAINING FOR EMPATHY AND KNOWLEDGE
With expectations for first contact resolution( FCR) high, your agents must be prepared for emotionally charged conversations and equipped with the right context to help or redirect effectively. That’ s especially critical in sectors where government services and private offerings overlap, like healthcare and finance.
Action: Expand training to include context on government programs, typical pain points, and emotional de-escalation techniques. Consider scenario-based training that reflects this new reality. And provide agents with quick access to online resources to answer questions.
3. STRENGTHEN AUTOMATION BUT DON’ T FORGET THE HUMAN
Consumers- especially younger ones- expect robust self-service options. But even they will escalate to live agents if digital tools fail. Automation must be integrated seamlessly, not just bolted on, and needs to be intelligent enough to escalate appropriately.
Action: Invest in Conversational AI that can handle tier-one inquiries and escalate with full context. Use analytics from call center and chat interactions to continually refine automation strategies.
4. GO BEYOND SURVEYS BY INTEGRATING FEEDBACK CHANNELS
Survey data is helpful: but it only captures a sliver of the story. Today’ s CX strategies need to ingest and analyze both structured and unstructured data from different channels: call transcripts, chat logs, agent notes, online reviews, and more. An integrated approach helps connect CX data from every touchpoint, channel, and perspective for a complete view of consumers.
Action: Implement tools and platforms that can integrate multiple feedback channels, and that can mine and interpret that data at scale, identifying emerging issues and sentiment shifts in near real time.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 39