Decisions for the Contact Center Manager
Decisions for the Contact Center Manager by Bill MacKay
Each year, every business organization faces any number of key business decisions that will have an impact on the overall operation. Budgets are reviewed, capital projects discussed and updated. The challenges that face the Contact Center Manager are complicated because decisions will be either CAPEX or OPEX but often times both. The impact can be significant.
In reviewing a number of the “key trends” for the contact center from a number of sources, there are some conflicting ideas that are presented. Those key trend ideas can be dependent on the technologies that various suppliers use to compete in the contact center space.
Among the commonalties that can be considered universal, are the need for an improved customer experience and improved customer service. These can be viewed from a couple of different perspectives.
Improved customer service has been at the forefront of the contact center since forever. At the core of this key trend is the need for the Contact Center manager to invest the dollars required to deliver on the promise of an improved customer experience. When all the Key Performance Indicators, voice analytics, and whatever other metrics are used, it comes down to one basic principle – the ability to look after the customer.
In the past, some referred to this as “one and done”, but that type of resolution has changed. Some of the initial contact is made through social media with additional follow-up required, making it difficult for one and done.
Improved customer service is based on making an investment into contact center personnel to have the skill sets required to handle this type of transaction. All of the technology available will never address people problems and skill set needs.
Another key trend that is getting some attention is “Improving the Customer Journey”. I’ve often wondered what would happen if some contact managers actually spent some time navigating the labyrinth - Press one for this, get four new options, enter client card number, get to an agent and the first question asked is, “May I have your client card number?”
I will also say that sometimes the unexpected can happen and a recent personal experience was a great example. One call, a single point of contact, straight to a client care agent that was able to resolve a complicated issue. It doesn’t get much better than that. The customer journey shouldn’t be a journey that could add to the level of frustration in dealing with an organization or brand. It should be a journey that re-enforces the brand and the reason why someone would deal with your organization.
A third trend of interest for the Contact Center Manager is the impact of social media. UC Strategy colleague Blair Pleasant in a recent UCStrategies article “Using Analytics to Get Closer to the Customer” (See https://ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/using-analytics-to-get-closer-to-the-customer.aspx ) touched on this very issue; there is a need to effectively monitor and provide the contact center with the tools necessary to deal with issues in real time.
The potential for a social media firestorm is very real; it might be an email, a press release or perhaps a Tweet. Whatever the source, the Contact Center Manager’s ability to effectively react, will go a long way to protecting the brand.