The Contact Center Technical Divide

The Contact Center
Technical Divide
Presented by
Barry C. Collin, IDSA
CEO, Collin Group, Inc.
© 2016 Collin Group, Inc. www.CollinGroup.com
“Connecting Islands” and the island logo are trademarks of Collin Group, Inc.

What We’ll Cover
• Origin of the Connecting Islands™ Approach and
System
• Challenge: Science and Tech Everywhere
• Results: Contact Center Alignment Issues
• Customers: Users vs. Experts
• The Tech Proficiency Alignment Matrix
• Leadership in Non-Alignment
• The Five “R’s” of Communicating Tech
• Simulation
• Moving Forward and Your Next Steps

Our Goals
• Understand the growing stresses technology,
science and complexity place on the contact
center
• Learn new techniques for getting greatest
success from all agents in any tech situation
• Improve your management capabilities for the
contact center of today and tomorrow
• Test your new understanding
• Begin thinking about your next steps

Origination of Methods
• Developed by Barry C. Collin at the Institute
for Security and Intelligence (Stanford, CA)
• Created to connect hyper-technical personnel
with less-technical operations professionals
• Originally for real-time, ultra mission critical
• Needed consistently effective methods
• Then refined/proven over 19 years in business

Challenge: Science & Tech Everywhere
• Explosion of technology, science, and overall
complexity in products and services in both
the B2B and B2C markets
• Fragmented markets
• Interconnected vendors with loose standards
• Complex platforms including mobile, cloud,
Internet of Things and artificial intelligence
• Issue is growing exponentially

Piloting Controls of …?

What You’d Expect

The Amazing Reality

It’s Not Just Things. It’s People.
What You’d Expect The Amazing Reality

Results: Contact Center Alignment Issues
• Growing bilateral disparity of technical proficiencies
between contact center agents and customers
• Customers and Agents Out of Alignment
– some of whom can dive deeply into an issue thanks to
training and experience
– others simply dropped into a complex, technical or
scientific transaction for which they are not prepared
• When disparity between agent and customer is not
handled well, results are frustration on both sides
• Frustration creates a very negative image for the
company the agent represents

Results: Science and Tech Everywhere
• Customer frustration caused by this disparity will
occur whether the customer is more or less
technical than the agent
• Plummeting understanding between contact
centers and customers
• Hammers contact center effectiveness, costs and
ability to sell
• New requirements for connecting with sales,
marketing, product management and
development, operations, web and social media
teams, and more

Customers: Users vs. Experts
As technology, science and complexity
proliferate in products and services,
customers increasingly will be split
between users and experts

• We can all drive cars without knowing what’s
under the hood
• Explain a mechanical problem to a repair shop?
We try to create sound effects!
• Expert customers: frequently the product or
service’s specifics and details are tightly
integrated into their work
• E.g., a customer for a specialized performance
auto part is likely know better than that parts
dealer what they need

Tech Proficiency
Alignment Matrix

Tech Proficiency Alignment Matrix
• For our purposes here, “tech” can be
technology, science or anything of complexity
• Examples:
– levels on a video game
– how to use a piece of exercise equipment
– temperature tolerances of a polymer sealant

Tech Proficiency Alignment Matrix

• Relationship between agents and customers based on
their tech proficiency
• When customer and agent proficiencies aligned,
customer satisfaction (leading to potential for
increases in efficiency and revenue generation) can be
achieved
• Key is understanding the roles played by the agent in
each of the four alignment situations

Tech Proficiency Matrix
Alignment “Journeys”

+ Agent, + Customer

+ Agent, + Customer
• Where Customer and Agent both have a higher
tech proficiency, the role of the agent is a peer
• Effectively speak the same language; thought of
as equals
• Agents can be effective, quick, and provide
“relatability”
• Experience for customers is like communicating
with a co-worker; there are no barriers

+ Agent, + Customer
• Sales are easier as product applications are
clear
• Support is efficient and effective as both
customer and agent understand the issues
• Agent’s message is “we know where to go.”

+ Agent, - Customer

+ Agent, - Customer
• Agent’s role is a leader
• Issues at hand can be over the head of the
customer
• Customer may be a home user of a piece of
computer hardware, or a user who doesn’t
know intricacies of the industrial device you’re
supplying
• Stressful situation for customer; frustrating for
agent

+ Agent, - Customer
• Agents frequently fail because they and the
customer effectively speak different
languages
• Urge for agent to speak at their own level of
proficiency rather than the customer’s is very
strong
• The agent’s message is “I’ll take you there.”

- Agent, + Customer

- Agent, + Customer
• Agent’s role is a facilitator
• Not as fatal as many believe
• Remember customers simply want their
problems solved
• Agent who can quickly point the customer to
the right kind of resources can be as effective
as an agent with much higher proficiency

- Agent, + Customer
• The agent must recognize this misalignment in
tech proficiency and shift to facilitator
immediately
• Agent’s message is “I’ll point you there.”

- Agent, - Customer

- Agent, - Customer
• Agent’s role is a collaborator, finding the
solutions together
• Does not have to be a case of the blind leading
the blind
• Transfer to a next-tier agent isn’t necessarily
required
• Moving the customer along in the process to
where they need to be
• Use procedures and right kind of metaphors to
make comprehension easy for both the less-tech
agent and less-tech customer

- Agent, - Customer
• Often the solution can be found in a
reasonable time and to the customer’s
satisfaction
• If problem not solved, then pass to more-tech
next-tier agent
• Agent’s message is “we’ll get there
together.”

Leadership in Non-Alignment
• When agent and customer are in alignment, the message
begins with “we”:
– “We know where to go” and “We'll get there together”
– A benefit of alignment is an instant rapport and a partnership
can be formed
• When agent and customer are not in alignment, the
message begins with “I”:
– “I'll take you there" and “I'll point you there”
– Whether the agents are at the technical advantage or
disadvantage, they must lead the process
• Agent leadership is critical to maximizing success and
opportunity in cases where there isn’t alignment

• Where Agent > Customer, lead the less-tech
customer because customer is at a
disadvantage:
– Agent can take customers exactly to where they
need to be
– Alleviates the stress and frustration the customer
is likely experiencing
– A less-tech customer can easily feel overwhelmed
and agent leadership will likely be most welcome

• Where Agent < Customer, lead to prevent the
“Why am I wasting time talking to you?”
feeling in the customer
– Assess what the customer needs, point them in
the right direction
– If not lead by the agent, the onus is dropped on
the customer; destroys credibility of the contact
center/company.

The Five “R’s” of
Communicating Tech

Research
• Tech to less-tech audience: can appear you’re
speaking a different language
• Know your audience – the range of knowledge
• At start, will be experiential – adjust quickly
• Get as much info as possible from product
management, sales
• Can’t build a program without research

Relate
• Once you have researched your audience, you
need to relate to them
• Mold your material to the interests,
background, and experiences of the customer
tech capability range
• Present the material from a perspective they’ll
appreciate
• The more you can relate to your audience, the
greater the connection you can make

Reduce
• Something complex by definition is made up
of interconnected or interwoven components
• Almost always helpful to break topics down
into smaller parts
• Topic may be overwhelming, but the
components may be more easily understood
• In reducing topics into components, evaluate
which ones add value for your audience and
which do not

Reduce
• Don’t reduce further than you need to in creating
easily-understood blocks
– Too many sub-components are more complex than if
you had left it alone in the first place
• Avoid the dreaded MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over)
syndrome
– MEGO is almost assured by audiences overwhelmed
by too much complex or technical subject matter
• An advantage of reducing is once you’ve
discussed the necessary blocks, you can then
bring them together for a full picture

Raise
• In some cases, breaking things down into
components will only add complexity
• Then do the opposite: raise perspective of the
discussion
• Raising is the equivalent of viewing the topic
from 10,000 feet
• If audience doesn’t need to know every feature
or element, a grander view might be better
• Amongst excessive detail your message can get
lost

Raise
• You can zoom in on detail when you want or if
the audience is interested
• Be cautious about too much (and too quick)
zooming and raising. Your audience can easily get
lost
• Be careful not to zoom out so far that the
landscape becomes unrecognizable
• Keep a balance that aims for a comprehensible, if
not comprehensive, overall perspective

Replace
• Technical jargon and excessive terminology destroys
communication when agents and customers are not in
alignment
• Replace some of the terms with metaphors
• Wide range of metaphor types, ranging from similes
(“gasoline is like rocket fuel – powerful, but
inefficient”) to full allegorical discussions (“consider a
spaceship that rides on air, runs on air, and whisks you
off to your destination silently and cleanly”)
• Replacing jargon and complex concepts with
metaphors makes concepts easier to understand

Replace
• Creativity is required when replacing jargon
and complex terminology with metaphors
• Don’t use tired metaphors and imagery
• Relate to your audience and choose
metaphors they would appreciate and have
meaning
• The very best metaphors provide instant
understanding for listeners

QuoteTrek
• A navigational device for travelers and truck
drivers
• Integrates with or replaces GPS unit
• While driving, automatically gets best pricing
for fuel, food, accommodations and other
services along route
• Connects to a website so expense forms can
be produced

+ Agent, + Customer
• Customer Contacting: Logistics IT Manager
with tech issue
• Issue: Integration with Customer’s Tracking
System
• “How does this integrate with and impact our
current systems?”

+ Agent, - Customer
• Customer Contacting: Consumer on Vacation
• Issue: Understanding screens (UX)
• “I don’t get how to interpret these quotes.”

- Agent, + Customer
• Customer Contacting: Accountant for Trucking
Company
• Issue: Expense form output
• “The IRS requires a bifurcation of transport
filings that support best-attempts of at-time
requests and Form 722-4A filings from
previous years if amortized over one or more
years. Where is that information?”

- Agent, - Customer
• Customer Contacting: Long-Haul Truck Driver
• Issue: Quote not matching merchants
• “All the information is wrong on the unit and
the screen is flashing.”

Moving Forward
• As products and services continue to become
more technical, scientific and complex, the
technical divide between customers (users
and experts) and agents (more- and less-tech
proficient) will grow
• The days of simple tiered support and sales
being sufficient are over
• Use the Tech Proficiency Alignment Matrix
and the communications tools in this
presentation © 2016 Collin Group, Inc. www.CollinGroup.com

Moving Forward
• You can create an environment that serves
every type of customer better by every type
of agent
• Keep in mind the roles the agent plays in each
scenario and what the message of their
“journey” should be

Your Next Steps
• Begin thinking about:
– Your customers and agents – where are they on
the Tech Proficiency Matrix?
• Begin planning training agents:
– on their Roles: Leader vs. Partner
– on their various “Journeys”
– How to use the 5 R’s
• Rethinking scripts and processes

Questions?
collingroup.com/contact
or
Tweet @barrycollin

The Contact Center Technical Divide

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