Once upon a time, organisations were either unaware or purposely ignorant of the differential impact of customer experience. While it was ultimately bad for business, at least it made contact centre management relatively straightforward.
That’s because when CX was treated solely as a cost of doing business, rather than as a means of standing out against rival brands, increasing customer loyalty and ultimately growing or maintaining revenues, contact centre leaders were free to evaluate new tools, strategies or solutions solely on their ability to further reduce those costs.
Embracing change as a contact centre leader
But now, things couldn’t be any different. There is universal agreement across B2C and B2B organisations that CX is central to adding value and growing revenues and that, in turn, has completely redefined every aspect of contact centre management. And, as a result, to excel as a contact centre leader today, you have to actively embrace change and meet challenges head-on.
Managing a contact centre means consistently delivering against current KPIs while simultaneously trying to increase efficiencies through efficiencies and innovation and doing all of that while trying to stay aligned with constantly evolving technological capabilities and changing customer expectations.
What’s more, you have to do all of those things with a limited budget and resource allocation.
So many CX solutions
From rebadging to intelligent analytics, there are so many potential solutions, tools, and strategies available today, which, individually or in concert, have the potential to overcome the overwhelming majority of contact centre challenges. However, because of this huge choice — not simply of solutions, but of delivery partners, too — there’s just as much potential to get things wrong as right.
Contact centre leaders are short on time, money, and human resources, yet they need all three to do the due diligence and understand what a strategy or solution can actually deliver, any potential integration challenges, and the potential return on investment.
Making the right choice
To reduce the complexity of being a contact centre leader, we’ve produced a guide that examines seven leading CX solutions:
Rebadging
An outsourcing solution that allows organisations to transfer employees to a third-party provider to maintain continuity of service while reducing costs and sharing risk.
Agent assist
The integration of AI-driven tools that automate routine tasks, freeing agents to concentrate on more complex interactions with a greater potential to add value to the customer relationship.
Robotic process automation (RPA)
A solution for automating any rules-based process to streamline workflows, increase accuracy and eliminate repetitive low-value tasks that would otherwise fall to an employee to complete.
Chatbots and voicebots
AI-powered self-service solutions that offer continuous support can manage high volumes of enquiries autonomously, 24/7 and can be trained and calibrated to accurately reflect brand vocabulary and tone of voice.
Interaction analytics
The ability to harness advanced speech and text mining techniques to analyse customer interactions across multiple channels and, in doing so, extract valuable customer insights.
Training program optimisation
Custom-designed learning pathways that can target individual needs and training preferences so that each customer-facing employee’s skills can be elevated at the same rate.
Operationalised generative AI
The strategic integration of advanced AI technologies into contact centre operations that target sustainable efficiency and accuracy gains.
Each of these solutions is evaluated in terms of its proven benefits, its ease of integration with existing operations and its ability to align with specific business needs. However, it’s not simply a question of the solution’s capabilities.
Evaluating potential partners for CX solutions
All seven of these solutions will move the needle in terms of CX delivery. But how far that needle moves will be directly proportionate to an organization’s ability to assess and select the right delivery partner. So, to ensure you get the right combination of solution and delivery partner, consider the following as part of any evaluation process:
1. Expertise
- Can the potential partner demonstrate specialised knowledge of solution delivery in your industry?
- Do they have previous experience in working with organisations of a similar size and scope?
- Can they tailor solutions to meet specific business needs and objectives, and can they provide case studies or testimonials that demonstrate a successful track record?
2. Delivery
- Can they support and orchestrate delivery models that use in-centre, at-home and hybrid teams?
- Are delivery models flexible enough to integrate onshore, nearshore and offshore elements to accommodate your needs?
3. Operations
- Are they certified in all relevant industry standards?
- Do they have a robust operational framework in place to ensure consistent performance, irrespective of whether a solution or service is delivered onshore, nearshore, offshore or a blend of all three?
4. Scalability
- Can they scale operations, including recruitment and training, quickly enough to meet demand or growth targets?
- Can they support disruptor brands that are characterised by rapid growth and agility?
5. Cultural fit
- How do they ensure a cultural alignment with your organisation, and what steps or processes are in place for ensuring its teams become an extension of your brand?
- How does this approach translate into a service that ultimately enhances customer loyalty?
6. Commitment
- What is the partner’s typical engagement process — transactional or geared for a long-term partnership?
7. Support
- How will the partner provide post-implementation support and guidance?
- Are they equipped to refine and adapt solutions based on ongoing performance metrics?
The role of the modern contact centre leader is already challenging enough. Navigating the CX maze is contingent on selecting the right combination of solutions and delivery partners. And whatever choice you make will have long-term implications for your business, brand perception and customer base.
So, download the whitepaper, “Navigating the CX maze” to explore these solutions in detail and make an informed choice.