The document discusses a conversation between a contact center manager from the year 2020 named Zen and someone from 2014 about what contact centers will be like in the future. According to Zen, contact centers in 2020 will be much improved over 2014, focusing on customer experience metrics rather than antiquated metrics like handle time. Agents will work remotely making an average of $35 per hour and receive extensive training. Contact centers will have unified omni-channel systems to efficiently manage all customer contacts. They will be strategically important and respected parts of the organization.
Why Contact Centres are Costing More than They Should & How to Fix This!Hilario Fiandeiro
I share SIX insights on why contact centres are costing more than they should.
1. We're not embracing self-service automation to the max.
Often, it's because we think customers prefer to speak to a human. As it turns out, most customers actually prefer interacting with well-designed self-service systems.
2. We're dealing with too many repeat + transferred + escalated contacts.
Research shows that nothing erodes customer loyalty more than instances where customers have to make 'more than one contact' to resolve an issue.
3. Most of our 'first-time' contacts could be prevented in the first place.
We're getting good at reacting to service failures. We need to get much better at preventing service failures from happening in the first place.
4. Our contact centre group structures are unnecessarily specialised.
We tend to split our contact centres into smaller agent groups not because we should, but because we can. This means we're not benefiting, as much as we should, from 'economies of scale'.
5. Our 'slim-fit' AHT's (Average Handle Times) aren't as healthy as they appear to be.
We tend to look at AHT purely as a number that needs to be met, not as a behaviour that needs to be managed.
6. Our people aren't as productive as they should be.
We tend to rely too much on 'offering juicier carrots' or threatening with 'bigger sticks' to improve performance. Our focus needs to shift towards creating a culture that is intrinsically motivating.
Now here's the thing…
Not only do the above factors cost more they also more likely to damage customer loyalty.
So this has a 'double-negative' impact on an organisation's bottom line.
Slides from the latest Engage Business Network seminar on "Customer Service Delivery". Guest speakers included Jo Moran (Marks & Spencer) and Nicola Millard (BT).
We asked 15 of our great Call Center Week speakers: What are your most innovative ideas? We’re proud to share their insights in our complimentary Call Center Innovation | Speaker eBook. Their answers touch on employee engagement, customer service, new technologies, sales tactics and what the call center of the future will look like.
Why Contact Centres are Costing More than They Should & How to Fix This!Hilario Fiandeiro
I share SIX insights on why contact centres are costing more than they should.
1. We're not embracing self-service automation to the max.
Often, it's because we think customers prefer to speak to a human. As it turns out, most customers actually prefer interacting with well-designed self-service systems.
2. We're dealing with too many repeat + transferred + escalated contacts.
Research shows that nothing erodes customer loyalty more than instances where customers have to make 'more than one contact' to resolve an issue.
3. Most of our 'first-time' contacts could be prevented in the first place.
We're getting good at reacting to service failures. We need to get much better at preventing service failures from happening in the first place.
4. Our contact centre group structures are unnecessarily specialised.
We tend to split our contact centres into smaller agent groups not because we should, but because we can. This means we're not benefiting, as much as we should, from 'economies of scale'.
5. Our 'slim-fit' AHT's (Average Handle Times) aren't as healthy as they appear to be.
We tend to look at AHT purely as a number that needs to be met, not as a behaviour that needs to be managed.
6. Our people aren't as productive as they should be.
We tend to rely too much on 'offering juicier carrots' or threatening with 'bigger sticks' to improve performance. Our focus needs to shift towards creating a culture that is intrinsically motivating.
Now here's the thing…
Not only do the above factors cost more they also more likely to damage customer loyalty.
So this has a 'double-negative' impact on an organisation's bottom line.
Slides from the latest Engage Business Network seminar on "Customer Service Delivery". Guest speakers included Jo Moran (Marks & Spencer) and Nicola Millard (BT).
We asked 15 of our great Call Center Week speakers: What are your most innovative ideas? We’re proud to share their insights in our complimentary Call Center Innovation | Speaker eBook. Their answers touch on employee engagement, customer service, new technologies, sales tactics and what the call center of the future will look like.
Contact centre presentation en webinar versionFuturelab
This is the webinar that goes with our Whitepaper we announced here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-worthless-priceless-transforming-your-contact-centre-kolle/
We will happily give you a private webinar presentation. Let us n know
Customer Service: A human-shaped manifestoDesignit
At Wipro Digital and Designit we have been working for more than ten years in applying the principles of Human-Centered Innovation to many customer service projects in a great variety of industries.
And the elephant in the room is, there is a growing gulf between the needs and expectations of customers, and the everyday realities of customer service.
These are five things we have learnt. We believe applying these learnings can help you close the gap, and build a next-generation, human-shaped customer service.
The Future of Contact Centers Artificial IntelligenceJim Iyoob
It is not possible to have your company everywhere all the time, right? But today’s customers want it fast, they want it good and they want it their way. Your customer will leave you if it’s not their way; you can expect up to 95% of them to tell their friends, family and co-workers about their bad experience. Matt Rocco and I have put in a lot of work together to write “The Future of Contact Centers”.
Connect2020 is a single app that finds the service provider phone, email, txt, Instant Messenger contact details and in 1 click your connecting!
Connect with the company via whatever medium suits you at whatever time suits you.
Getting you the help you need faster.
Making you a happier, stickier customer.
Connect2020 - The power to connect and get things done when and how it suits you. Not them!
REVOLUTIONIZE CUSTOMER INTERACTIONS WITH CONVERSATIONAL AIEnterprise Bot
Know how industry leaders are leveraging AI to improve
efficiencies, cut down costs and boost revenue.
With this whitepaper, we aim to help global enterprises recognize the power of cutting-edge conversational AI solutions in transforming their customer experience. Our next-gen digital assistant will help enterprises solve real business problems with greater ease and efficiency without losing the human touch.
Boost your NPS in 30 days. Share your use cases with us: https://hubs.ly/H0NXCxL0
Although they’re still considered to be newer tactics in the world of marketing, live chat, messaging and chatbots are here to stay. As more companies continue to implement various types of conversational marketing on their websites and social platforms as well as throughout their content, customers will expect bots to be highly valuable and efficient. So, how do you keep up and develop your conversational marketing strategy to grow better in 2022 and beyond? While the technology we use to communicate has changed, the core elements of communication have stayed the same. People always have and always will expect conversations to be helpful, personal, and empathetic. The only difference now is we have the technology to have those conversations at scale. That’s the power of conversational marketing.The story of live chat is about convenience. This is an inflection point for your business -- set up live chat the way buyers want to use it, and you have a shot at finally breaking down the walls between internal teams. That’s a bigger upside than live chat could ever offer by itself, and it’s why we’re so excited about it. Let’s talk about conversational marketing and its benefits, how it will help your business grow, and what you need to build a successful conversational marketing strategy.
The ultimate guide on hiring a virtual assistantDavidJohn60
Technology has seeped into myriad business channels today. Ironically, this doesn’t mean that people prefer robots over human interaction. Albeit technology has the upper hand over several areas, it is yet to tackle empathy as one of the prerequisites to effective communication. Hence, until this limitation is rectified, it looks like people will not be losing their jobs to bots anytime soon.
ReFrame: Customer Experience is the new MarketingJaylineKarusi
A frank discussion into the hard realities of Customer Experience delivery in Kenya, including immersion into methods and tools to use in creating proactive forward thinking customer solutions.
Contact centre presentation en webinar versionFuturelab
This is the webinar that goes with our Whitepaper we announced here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-worthless-priceless-transforming-your-contact-centre-kolle/
We will happily give you a private webinar presentation. Let us n know
Customer Service: A human-shaped manifestoDesignit
At Wipro Digital and Designit we have been working for more than ten years in applying the principles of Human-Centered Innovation to many customer service projects in a great variety of industries.
And the elephant in the room is, there is a growing gulf between the needs and expectations of customers, and the everyday realities of customer service.
These are five things we have learnt. We believe applying these learnings can help you close the gap, and build a next-generation, human-shaped customer service.
The Future of Contact Centers Artificial IntelligenceJim Iyoob
It is not possible to have your company everywhere all the time, right? But today’s customers want it fast, they want it good and they want it their way. Your customer will leave you if it’s not their way; you can expect up to 95% of them to tell their friends, family and co-workers about their bad experience. Matt Rocco and I have put in a lot of work together to write “The Future of Contact Centers”.
Connect2020 is a single app that finds the service provider phone, email, txt, Instant Messenger contact details and in 1 click your connecting!
Connect with the company via whatever medium suits you at whatever time suits you.
Getting you the help you need faster.
Making you a happier, stickier customer.
Connect2020 - The power to connect and get things done when and how it suits you. Not them!
REVOLUTIONIZE CUSTOMER INTERACTIONS WITH CONVERSATIONAL AIEnterprise Bot
Know how industry leaders are leveraging AI to improve
efficiencies, cut down costs and boost revenue.
With this whitepaper, we aim to help global enterprises recognize the power of cutting-edge conversational AI solutions in transforming their customer experience. Our next-gen digital assistant will help enterprises solve real business problems with greater ease and efficiency without losing the human touch.
Boost your NPS in 30 days. Share your use cases with us: https://hubs.ly/H0NXCxL0
Although they’re still considered to be newer tactics in the world of marketing, live chat, messaging and chatbots are here to stay. As more companies continue to implement various types of conversational marketing on their websites and social platforms as well as throughout their content, customers will expect bots to be highly valuable and efficient. So, how do you keep up and develop your conversational marketing strategy to grow better in 2022 and beyond? While the technology we use to communicate has changed, the core elements of communication have stayed the same. People always have and always will expect conversations to be helpful, personal, and empathetic. The only difference now is we have the technology to have those conversations at scale. That’s the power of conversational marketing.The story of live chat is about convenience. This is an inflection point for your business -- set up live chat the way buyers want to use it, and you have a shot at finally breaking down the walls between internal teams. That’s a bigger upside than live chat could ever offer by itself, and it’s why we’re so excited about it. Let’s talk about conversational marketing and its benefits, how it will help your business grow, and what you need to build a successful conversational marketing strategy.
The ultimate guide on hiring a virtual assistantDavidJohn60
Technology has seeped into myriad business channels today. Ironically, this doesn’t mean that people prefer robots over human interaction. Albeit technology has the upper hand over several areas, it is yet to tackle empathy as one of the prerequisites to effective communication. Hence, until this limitation is rectified, it looks like people will not be losing their jobs to bots anytime soon.
ReFrame: Customer Experience is the new MarketingJaylineKarusi
A frank discussion into the hard realities of Customer Experience delivery in Kenya, including immersion into methods and tools to use in creating proactive forward thinking customer solutions.
Driving Revenues + Guest Satisfaction: A Collaborative EffortJohn Beatty
This presentation was given as a 2020 Lighting Round General Session at the Hospitality Sales + Marketing Association International’s (“HSMAI”) 2017 Revenue Optimization Conference (“ROC”) in Toronto. A video of the presentation may be viewed at http://hsmaioncourse.hsmai.org/products/driving-revenues-and-guest-satisfaction-a-collaborative-effort
The traditional idea of the agency is a relic. The days of clients willing to spend their marketing budget on a "let's throw some creative ideas at the wall and see what sticks" strategy are long gone. Digital has changed the landscape. Clients want predictable and measurable results. And they should. But agencies have been slow to adopt Digital. And by that, I don't mean slow to adopt digital technologies (tactics and executions). I mean slow to adopt the digital culture (collaboration, strategy and planning). And this, friends, is where the tale begins.
Everybody have their dream job and a dream to establish their career. It may sound easy but is not, an individual has to go through a long difficult process to reach their destination. Firstly when you apply for any job, a perfect resume has to be created. Nowadays paper resumes have been taken over by Digital CV. A Digital CV is a way for job seekers to showcase their abilities beyond the capabilities of a traditional paper resume. The Digital CV allows prospective employers to actually see and hear the applicant’s capability and how he presents themselves. Digital CV is growing in popularity because of the modern capabilities of transmitting streaming video via the internet. If you want to stand out in the competitive job market and shine ahead of the hundreds of other applicants lining up for the job that you are gunning for, you should consider updating your traditional text resume and creating a Digital CV to go with it. It needs to be appropriate for the target industry and particular career.
1. A Glimpse Into the 2020 Contact Centre (It’s closer than you think!)
By Olimpia Mazza December 9, 2014
What a difference a decade makes, not only with the tools we use to remain productive, but also in how
we live our daily lives. Who could have imagined the profound changes of the past ten years? Do we
have any valid reason to believe that changes during the next ten years will not be just as profound?
All the major factors that will define this 2020 Contact Centre are already in motion. The Super Agent of
the future is now in their middle school years, the technologies that will define the 2020 Contact Centre
are on the drawing board today. The Contact Centre of tomorrow is being shaped today, driven
predominantly by globalisation, new ways of working, the shifting demographics of the workforce, and
growing customer expectations. The best organisations are already preparing their strategies to win the
quest for top talent, recruiting strategies, customisable employee development and benefits, agile
leadership, and L&D structures that are nimble, support the business, and are digitally compatible to
leverage their human resources in a cost-effective manner. These organisations understand that each
customer is unique and to give them the experience they deserve, it’s necessary to understand them, to
step into their shoes and feel what they feel.
Organisations nowadays have a challenge, they need to stand out to be competitive, survive. For many
years the prize was the most important part of a product, later it became the service and quality, but
now it’s about the experience. To do something different, so your customer remembers you and comes
back, and they will tell their friends and family
With this backdrop, the Contact Centre is potentially transforming from a transaction-processing factory
into a strategically important resource. The issue remains whether organisations actually realise this and
respond to it in time. We know that customers are more willing to help themselves as long as it’s easy to
do. However, it’s the human advisor that customers reach out to when self-service fails, when they are
angry or as a last resort. It’s also not just about taking “calls ” anymore either, rather about becoming a
“relationship hub” for omni-channel contact, it’s the hub for both customer insights and the guardian of
the “cus tomer experience”. So let’s take a fun, imaginary leap in time to see, hear and feel what it may
be like in the 2020 Contact Centre.
2. While at an annual Contact Centre Awards event I met a Contact Centre Manager from the year 2020.
Yes I too thought this was rather absurd, until I started chatting to him and it all seemed somewhat
familiar and above board. His name was Zen and he sounded very sincere and convincing, plus he had
a driver’s licens e with a 2020 is s ue date, and what looked like an ID chip implanted on his left ear.
Either Zen was actually from the near future, or he knew a great hypnotist, a fake ID guy and a persona
prototype engineer.
Unbeknownst to him, I recorded our entire conversation on my iPhone. I asked him al l sorts of questions
about his Contact Centre, the s tate of the “future” cus tomer care indus try in general, and where I could
get an ID chip.
Below is the transcript (minus the ID chip stuff) from that conversation:
Me: Why did you come back to 2014?
Zen: I like to vis it the pas t whenever I’m feeling a little depres s ed or frus trated at my job. When I come
back to 2014 or some earlier year and see how Contact Centres are putting so much emphasis on the
wrong metrics, using disconnected and disparate systems, treating agents like entry-level workers, and
not getting the respect they deserve from the rest of the organization, it makes me realise how good I
have it at home in 2020.
Me: So, the Contact Centre has moved on and is much better in 2020?
Zen: I don’t want to s ound pompous, and yes . Firs t of all, all that talk about the “cus tomer experience”
is n’t jus t talk in the future, organis ations are actually and authentically customer-centric. Those that
aren’t, aren’t around any more. Contact Centre metrics like First Contact Resolution, Customer
Experience, Retention and Employee Engagement rule the roost. In fact, you can actually go to prison
for obsessively measuring antiquated metrics like Average Handle Time at the Agent level.
Also, the average Agent makes about $35 per hour in 2020 and works from home so Contact Centres
are able to attract, and retain very talented and enthusiastic professionals who deeply care about
customers. E-learning and virtual training in the form of games are all the rage, so agents continue to
learn and develop throughout their long tenure. With such sharp and engaged agents in place,
customers receive the service and support they deserve, which leads to high customer advocacy and
revenues, and a lot of love from the Executive s uite. It’s not unus ual for executives to invite Contact
Centre agents and Team Supervisors out to lunch or to play a round of golf. The poor people over in
Sales and Marketing are always trying to get a job in the Contact Centre, but positions rarely open up.
Me: And what about multi-channel management, is the Contact Centre of the near future better at
handling the wide assortment of contact types?
Zen: Absolutely. And by the way, nobody s ays “m ulti-channel” any more, we say, “omni-channel.” Now
back to your question. Just about every Centre has a single unified system in place through which calls,
emails, chats, social media contacts and video calls are received and managed. These systems feature
advanced skills-based and personality-based routing, robust reporting capabilities and customer
experience management features like interaction analytics and customer survey/feedback applications
that enable the Centre to very quickly react to customer needs and issues.
Me: Wow, that’s pretty forward thinking.
Zen: Not really, just practical. Oh, one more thing I wanted to point out about multi -channel
management in the “future”: Becaus e we now have a clear view of the customer across all the various
channels, agents can quickly uncover needs and make relevant product and service offers, resulting in
lots of revenue. Executives often applaud the Contact Centre by saying, “when it rains it pours”. We’re
pretty much the rock stars of the organization.
3. Me: And so humble, too. So, tell me about what the typical 2020 Contact Centre looks like.
Zen: 2020 Centres are all located in outer space.
Me: What?
Zen: Just kidding. But they have advanced quite a lot. Most Centres today function as central command
posts where Managers, Team Supervisors and Workforce Management Specialists keep things running
smoothly while agents handle customer contacts from the comfort of their home. There are still some
onsite agents in most Centres, you know, thos e employees who’d feel too is olated and lonely working
remotely, and those who need to work close to their Supervisor. As for facility design, most contact
Centres in 2020 look pretty much like they do here and now, only with fewer agent workstations, as well
as fewer helium balloons and corporate motivational posters.
Now, I don’t mean to cut our convers ation s hort, but I mus t go and recharge in preparation for my trip
home tomorrow morning.
Me: I wish you a speedy journey and a safe re-entry. If I give you my email address, do you think you
could send me pictures of your Contact Centre?
Zen: I’ll be happy to s end you a picture of awesome Contact Centres!
Me: Gee, thanks.