A preliminary set of results from our annual survey, specifically focused on the Middle East and Africa Region

1. Middle East Contact Centre
Benchmarking 2012
A preliminary summary of the 2012 Regional Results
6th June 2012

2. Copyright notice and disclaimer
• Copyright
•The copyright in and title to Dimension Data’s Global Contact Benchmarking Report 2012 subsists in and belongs solely to Dimension
Data (Proprietary) Limited (‘Dimension Data’) and no part of it whatsoever may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including
photocopying or recording, without prior written authority of Dimension Data. If authorised by Dimension Data, each copy or reproduction
of the material will be marked by you with all proprietary notices which appear on the original and will be subject to the requirement that
you acknowledge on the face of the reproduced material that the material belongs to Dimension Data, who has authorised you to
reproduce it. Any unauthorised reproduction of this work will constitute a copyright infringement and may result in both a civil claim for
damages and criminal prosecution.
• Disclaimer
•The data and information contained in the Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report (benchmarking report) are for information
purposes only. Whilst the commentary and hypotheses in this benchmarking report are based on rigorous data analysis and market
experience, the data and information contained in this document may contain personal views and opinions which are not necessarily the
views and opinions of Dimension Data. Furthermore, whilst reasonable steps are taken to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data
and information provided, Dimension Data accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever if such data or information is incorrect or
inaccurate, for whatsoever reason. Dimension Data does not accept liability for any claims, loss or damages of whatsoever nature, arising
as a result of the reliance on or use of such data or information by anyone.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 2

3. TAKING THE LEAD
• Benchmarking report 2012

4. Contents
1. About the 2012 Report
2. Introduction
3. Strategy & Development
4. Operations
5. Self-Service
6. Work Force Optimisation
7. Technology
8. Summary
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 4

5. Headlines
• Growth
› Only 14% of ME contact centres expect to expand through outsourcing or offshoring v
21% Globally
› 50% expect to expand their own operations v 36% Globally
• Customer Satisfaction
› NPS only being used as primary Csat measure in 3.5% of ME contact centres. The
Global figure is four times higher
› Top three drivers for FCR are Agent Knowledge, end-to-end process and access to
experienced team leaders
• People
› Only 31% of organisations empower their agents to offer financial compensation to
customers on the font line v 40% globally
• Channels
› Social Media has been adopted by 41% of companies as a customer contact channel,
which is 10 percentage points higher than the Global figure
• Location
› 60% of companies see availability or qualified staff as the key driver to their location
selection
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 5

6. About the report
 Annual global benchmarking survey of international contact centre market, with a special regional
focus on the Middle East this year
 Over 13 years of trends, performance data and best practice information
 2012 Report (13th edition) includes 626 contact centres globally of which 133 from the
Middle East and Africa
Six core review areas
Technology Strategy and development Operations
Interaction management Workforce optimisation Self-service
 Analysis possible by geographic region – of which the Middle East represents 5% overall, 33
contact centres in the GCC region
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 6

7. Introduction
› The objective of this presentation is provide participants in the Middle East with a
preliminary summary of the relevant findings and trends from the 2012 report.
- Where relevant we’ve compared the Middle East to Global trends
- The data we are analysing in the this preliminary report has not been fully
validated, so results may change by the time the full report comes out in
September
› Participants will be given access to their own data to undertake their own data analysis in
July
› Participants will also receive a free copy of the full Global Contact Centre Benchmarking
Report in September
› Non-participants can gain access to the data through purchasing the full Report. Please
contact Paul Scott (details at the back of this pack)
› The main sections and relevant topics included are:
- Strategy & development: reporting; customer lifetime value; drivers of contact centre
strategy
- Operations: operating costs; influences of customer satisfaction; sales through service
- Self-service: drivers, channels, customer fall-out, integration
- Work Force Optimisation: attrition, staff satisfaction, employment strategies
- Technology: channel and routing applications, technology trends
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 7

8. Strategy & development (1)
Benchmark Finding
 Customer demand is the
top factor by some way:
27% chose this as the
number one factor
 Process Automation and
Migrating Customers to self
service are Global 3 trends
with Customer demand
 Technology developments
continues to be a significant
strategic driver
Top trends affecting contact centres today
Benchmark Trend
 The top three trends in the Middle East have been the top three for the Global sample for the past
two years. Its worth noting Social Media only appeared as a trend at all, two years ago
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 8

9. Strategy & development (2)
Benchmark Finding
 50% of ME Contact Centres
predict expansion of their
own facilities. Globally this
figure is 36%
 34% of CC’s expect new
facilities to be added. This
is 27% globally
 Only 9% see expansion
coming through outsourcing
How do you see your contact centre expanding in the
next 2 years?
Benchmark Trend
 The Middle East exhibits a far more positive outlook for contact centre development than the rest of
the world, with higher expansion and new centres opening. This might be a factor of the relative
immaturity of the sector in the region, or evidence that there is some growth brought on through
outsourcing or regional development of the industry by government bodies.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 9

10. Strategy & development (3)
Benchmark Finding
 Staff availability, Reducing
Costs and Improving
Service appear in top four
for Global sample as well
(access to skills is third on
the global list)
 60% of ME sample see
Staff availability as the key
location driver (55% for
Global)
 50% regard Cost Reduction
as a location driver (42% for
Global) Contact Centre Location Drivers
Benchmark Trend
 The Middle East seems clear on the key drivers. Staff availability is a challenge, as there are parts
of the region where the only solution for staffing centres seems to be ship staff in from other
countries. This clearly gives countries in the region with a strong work ethic and access to a local
labour pool a key advantage
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 10

11. Operations (1)
Benchmark Finding
 CSat is still the predominant
measure 53% have it as
primary measure, which
mirrors the Global sample
 The big difference comes
with NPS, which is only
equal fifth on the ME list. Its
3rd on the Global list, and
first choice for 10%
What Customer Satisfaction Measures Do You Use?
Benchmark Trend
 Probably evidence of the maturity of the ME market, but the fact that NPS is still not familiar
measure in the region suggests scope for development. NPS has been proven to drive loyalty and
profits through better customer and employee engagement.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 11

12. Operations (2)
Benchmark Finding
 The top three drivers are
the same as the Global
sample
 20% rank Agent Knowledge
or End to End processes as
influencers for FCR, which
mirrors the Global sample
 Where the ME differs is call
routing, which the Global
sample rates 4th most
important
Top three FCR drivers
Benchmark Trend
 First Contact Resolution is a major cost and customer satisfaction driver. The Global trend is
towards empowering agents to fix problems and less reliance on adherence to a rigid process. This
takes a degree of trust and maturity, but the results can be well worth the effort.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 12

13. Operations (3)
Benchmark Finding
 ME is very much in step
with the Global sample, and
indeed slightly ahead in
terms of use of customer
feedback to promote best
practice 63% ME v 57%
Globally implemented
 ME demonstrates a better
than average take up of
schemes that define career
development paths – over
90% do this or plan to v
85% for the Global sample What Performance Management strategies are being
implemented to develop agent skills?
Benchmark Trend
 As contact centre organisations have realised employee engagement is a major success and profit
driver, there has been an increasing focus on programmes which engage staff and provide them
with practical ways to improve the quality of their interactions with customers. Overall the Middle
East keeping pace with this trend.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 13

14. Self-service (1)
Benchmark Finding
 Nearly 60% say getting customers to
self select to sue self service is the
number one issue
 52% are concerned with improving
customer satisfaction to drive more to
self serve
 The top six factors for ME contact
centres are the same as for Global
Benchmark Trend
 Getting customers to self select to
serve themselves became the number
one factor this year.
 In the previous 3 years reducing costs
as the principle concern
 The channel development factor has
risen from eighth to fifth in just one
year Top priority issues affecting the use of self-
service
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 14

15. Self service (2)
Benchmark Finding
 ME is ahead of the Global
sample in use of Social
Media – 41% v 31% for the
Global sample
 The big difference lays in
the use of SMS: in the
Global sample this is just
28% v nearly 44% for our
ME group
Self Service Method Used
Benchmark Trend
 The Middle East is showing a trend for faster adoption of new technology. Certainly the rapid growth
in the use of SMS and Social Media is evidence that the region is outpacing the global community
in the adoption of new technologies for self service.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 15

16. Self service (3)
Benchmark Finding
 Significant differences
between ME and the Global
sample in the use of Social
Media and smart phone
apps for online help:
between 25%-30% able
access information, check
product availability and
send messages. In the
Global sample this range
for the same services is
15%-25%
Self Service Method Used
Self Service Using Online Help
Benchmark Trend
 More evidence of the Middle East’s willingness to try and develop new media and new technology
to help customers serve themselves.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 16

17. Workforce Optimisation (1)
Benchmark Finding
 ME is slightly ahead of the
global sample: Uplift in
quality of performance is
used in 80% of centres and
this figure is 70% in the
global sample
 The same picture emerges
with Uplift in agent
productivity: 67% for ME v
57% for the global
benchmark and Increased
customer sat: 65% ME v
59% for the global sample
Measures for determining training cost benefit
Benchmark Trend
 The Middle East places more importance on measuring agent productivity and quality of their
performance as measures than the global sample. The trend globally is more towards counting
benefit in terms of customer impact. This is supported by the ME scores.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 17

18. Workforce Optimisation (2)
Benchmark Finding
 ME differs from the global
sample: 35% don’t
empower agents at all v
30% for the global sample
 Using their own judgement
to make decisions occurs
31% of the ME sample v
40% in the global sample
 The ME has 20% engaging
a supervisor with an agent
to decide, whereas the 17%
of the global sample do this
Are agents empowered to make financial decisions?
Benchmark Trend
 Empowerment of agents on the frontline has long been known a s driver for improved customer
satisfaction and a major factor in reducing repeat calls. The trend globally is towards greater
empowerment, but increasingly this is done with either clear parameters or systems guidance
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 18

19. Workforce Optimisation (3)
Benchmark Finding
 Globally the top three
factors are Company goals,
direct line manager
relationship and proactive
communications
 The ME group sees things
differently, with
remunerations cropping up
as the third most popular
factor (15%)
Measures for determining training cost bebefit
Benchmark Trend
 Besides the pay factor, ME
is very much instep with the
global trends which focus
on relationships and Factors Affecting Staff Satisfaction?
communications
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 19

20. Technology (1)
Benchmark Finding
 ME doesn't’t differ a great
deal for the global sample
in first three trends: high
availability, consolidation of
applications and
Top Three
technologies
Technology Trends
 The ME puts more
emphasis on cloud
infrastructure, security and
convergence than the
global sample
Benchmark Trend
 Further evidence of the region’s willingness to
try new technologies and improve what they
already have
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 20

21. Technology (2)
Benchmark Finding
 ME and global are very
much in step when it comes
to IT challenges. A third in
each group lacing
integration as their number
one challenge
 Lack of flexibility and poor
implementations continue to
plague many large systems
deployments, as do
expensive upgrades
What are the top three challenges you face with IT?
Benchmark Trend
 SaaS, open source software, hosted solutions and managed services have yet to have an impact
on the trends we measure here, but we anticipate this will be a very different picture next year and
beyond as contact centres shift to Opex solutions.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 21

22. Technology (3)
Benchmark Finding
 The ME has almost double
the number of fully
integrated web and
telephony systems in its
contact centres: 17% v 9%
in the global sample
 In the ‘Mostly’ category ME
is also higher: 20% v 18%
for the global sample
How integrated are Web and Telephony systems
Benchmark Trend
 The fact that both global and ME sample groups show around 40% of their contact centres are still
not integrated shows there is still some way to go to delivering a seamless customer experience,
but the trend towards this is strong and gathering pace.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 22

23. Summary
› Strategy and Development: ME contact centres are expanding and
adopting new media channels very rapidly
› Operations: ME contact centres are on a steep learning curve but
adopting best practices quickly and with considerable success
› Self-Service: adoption of self service and social media channels is rapid
and being done in an innovative way, making a key differentiator for the ME
region
› Work Force Optimisation: the one area the ME could be said to be
slightly out of step with the rest of world; there is scope to implement more
best practice around staff engagement and development
› Technology: not constrained by legacy systems, ME region is rapidly
deploying new technology to good effect, but like the rest of the world, they
still face challenges around integration and improving systems
performance.
Sunday, 10 June 2012 © Merchants 23

24. Contact: Paul Scott,
paul.scott@merchants.co.uk
Tel: +44(0)7812009569
A preliminary summary of the 2012 Regional Results
6th June 2012