A look at the future role of contact centres buy one of Australias most experienced industry participants

1. The Contact Centre
Becoming the Voice of
the Company
Presented by Steve Mitchinson
Partner, TeamRed Solutions
National Chairperson ATA
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2. The Contact Centre Becoming
the Voice of the Company
1. Why do Managers “Think What They Think”
2. Recognising Strategic Value
3. Gathering and using customer data
4. The Challenge
– Developing links between the centre and other business
units
– Proving the strategic importance of the centre to the
business
– Presenting a common message to Customers
5. The role of Contact Centre Leadership
6. The Need or Evolution -the Contact Centre Managers role
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3. Why do management think
what they think?
Call centres were born out of a basic need to answer customer
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questions.
In 1972 Rockwell developed the first ACD for Continental Airlines,
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effectively launching the contact centre industry
In the 1990‟s the endless list of possibilities for contact centres
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started to emerge
From contact centre to interaction hub
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Today‟s contact centre also serves „customers‟ other than
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consumers, including business partners, employees, and field
agents.
Sadly, many contact centres, suffer from executive
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mandates that reflect 1970‟s thinking -the focus
to reduce costs and improve efficiency is still routine
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4. The Evolution.....
Steps Triage Containment Exploitation
Quality Function Location Media Consolidatio
Service Neutral Neutral Neutral n
Technologies ACD
PBX/Key Skills based Call blending & Network-based Web enabled, Workflow Strong process
system routing, IVR< scripting, routing, web chat, e- transaction re-engineering,
Predictive integrated distributed mail response, recording, change
Dialers, CTI, front office switch/CTI, speech ERMS, management
Call recording applications, distributed recognition, integrated and knowledge
data mining, workforce, ATM switch, front management
video
multi-skilling, remote agents, office/back emphasis,
quality advanced office, cultural
monitoring transition
management integrated
and tools management
Capabilities Answer the Answer calls Route calls to Collect and use End of distance Customer Integration, Pro-active
phone efficiently, most able information impediments, choice of control, revenue
control costs, agent, once about improved contact and efficiency, generation,
call queuing call that’s all customers at resilience, media; understanding customized
focus, point of efficient emphasis and support optimum
improved contact, support for the moves to the for more response to
service global business every contact
defensive transaction, complex
revenue not the call transactions
generation
Phases Call Handling Call Centre Contact Centre
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5. Why do management think
what they think?
The contact centre has always been scrutinized for performance and ROI.
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The range & amount of data and metrics that are available-yet typically
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management focus on those that shed light on the cost equation.
To many the contact centre seems a calculable formula of seats, calls and
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resources, all of which are the focus of reduction, streamlining, or
automation
Accountability and proof of return on investment will always affect the
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decisions of contact centre leadership
The modern contact centre can play a strategic role in managing the
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customer, one that directly and indirectly affects lifetime value, retention
rates, and advocacy.
As centre managers progress forward, they will have to understand and
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embrace new ways of accounting for their contribution and value within
the enterprise to change these attitudes.
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6. Intense Competition &
Saturating Markets
Trends revealed in Frost & Sullivan‟s latest
research included:
Reducing Brand Loyalty
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Increasing price sensitivity
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Increasing customer knowledge, scepticism & power
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Diminishing barriers to (market)entry
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A drive to achieve an unparalleled customer experience
–
Never has there been a better time to promote the
Contact Centres strategic value – provided we
understand it, measure it and can manage up!
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7. The Most Likely Scenario
Contact centers must increasingly fill a role as the primary channel for
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customer relations, including support, sales and marketing activities.
They must be the central source of data for management and decision-
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making that involves the customer, serving as the entry or go-to point to
and from other company touch points Further advances, particularly in
Web-based channels will expand effectiveness, making them far more
productive and cost-effective as technology removes the burden of routine
tasks. It delivers a capacity for consistency & cost reduction
Highly trained and empowered service reps must have at their disposal a
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vast, multimedia and integrated network of customer data leading to
endless possibilities. Customers will no longer accept “hand-offs”
Contact centers will be the key to competitive advantage and the revenue
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maximisation going forward
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8. A tip from Amazon.com
Spend 70% of your time building a
great customer experience and 30%
of your time shouting about it
Source - Jeff Bezof, CEO at Amazon.com
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9. The Crux of an Interaction:
The Contact Centre
Smart companies want to build strong bases of loyal, profitable customers
who are also advocates for the company.
In order to drive sustainable, profitable organic growth and competitive
differentiation, they must better integrate and align the way they treat
customers at each touch point
Achieving this is a continuum of:
Unrepentant brand marketing and well-publicized customer-focus programs are on the rise
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Competitors increasingly raise the stakes.
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Customers‟ expectations continue to rise based on their experiences elsewhere
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Given the vast number of experiences companies have to
manage, the key challenge is to create desirable
experiences consistently, at the right time in a seamless
real-life operational model.
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10. The equation is P2T = A3
People, Process, Technology
delivered
Anywhere, Anytime, to Anyone
How effectively your enterprise is able to:
• Attract, leverage and develop its‟ people
• Improve its processes to exceed customer expectations -not yours
• Implement the right technology
• Deliver your products and services anywhere, anytime to anyone may well
determine the ultimate success of the business
• How well are you doing?
• How well are you promoting it?
• How well would you like to be doing?
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11. The Challenge Starts Here
 The ranks of contact centre management are
heavily weighted to operational excellence
 To truly become the voice of the company this
needs a quantum shift to strategic excellence
 CC‟s create a pool of future talent and typically
deliver vastly improved career paths for a
multitude of roles across the organisation
 CC‟s typically do not adequately prepare CC
Managers for the strategic role of today, let alone
the future
 Only we can change that......
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12. Some interesting
numbers....
• Recent research by across 250 contact
centres revealed :
• 150 “traditional” KPM‟s
• 55 Customer satisfaction measures
• 50 Employee satisfaction/engagement measures
But how many:
• Do Senior Management understand
• Actually measure or drive strategic value???
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13. Essentials for Contact Centre
Optimisation & Respect
1. Define a customer strategy that goes beyond merely delivering functions
and good service at low cost.
2. Justify and put in place infrastructure that uses technology and/or
outsourcing in a judicious way
3. Ensure the best possible execution by agents in all interactions by
investing time & money in knowledge management, coaching an in-
house performance management systems
Based on research by Mckinsey Group those that choose this approach
typically deliver revenue growth in excess of 30%, and cost reduction in
the order of 20%
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14. Recognising Strategic Value
Centre Managers must know and successfully
promote:
The contributions their center is making to other business units
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How the centre is, or could be, favorably impacting revenues,
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marketing initiatives, product innovations and other primary
business objectives
Customers to the Rescue!
Contact Centre managers have a valuable corroborator in their
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cases for improving the contact centre: the customer.
Capturing and expressing the „voice of the customer' can be a
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critical tool in framing operational decisions and building cases for
change in the contact centre and the strategic role it can play
Lots talk about it, but how many do it effectively?
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15. The CCM‟s challenge
In many organizations, the contact centre is still seen as a bureau or vendor
to sales and marketing.
In others, they are the peer that delivers the “service”.
In a select few, as “the centre of the universe”
In every case, the contact centre must be seen as a willing participant in
cross-functional collaboration with marketing, sales, fulfilment, accounts,
self-service, e-channels, and other departments to fully realize the
benefits of all CRM and customer focused initiatives.
They must be able to demonstrate that they are equipped
to deliver (the promised) competitively superior customer
experiences via their contact centres using a realistic,
achievable operational models and performance measures
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16. Challenges for Contact
Centre Leadership
Contact centre leadership has historically been adept at:
calculating costs and margins
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being able to track a myriad of tight knit metrics
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accounting for costs right down to headsets and carpeting square footage.
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The more challenging (and critical) aspects of the contact centre
value proposition that are emerging are:
Truly understanding the upside benefits of customer advocacy and its
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resulting effects on loyalty and new revenue
Developing a strong knowledge of contemporary and innovative strategies
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in other operational areas in order to identify the opportunities for
integration with the contact centre.
Being able to sell that position such that the contact centre
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truly is recognised as a strategic business unit and...
the “voice of the company”
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17. Challenges for Contact
Centre Leadership
The more challenging aspects of the contact centre
value proposition that have emerged are: (cont‟d)
Promoting the contact centre as being far more than the default
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mouthpiece and ear for the company
Reinforcing the need to integrate across business units and functions.
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The imperatives of contact centre leadership must
be to :
Drive the further integration of the contact centre with other key business
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functions
Demonstrate that poor integration between the contact
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centre and the rest of the organisation results in countless
missed opportunities to drive up revenue and productivity
Highlight the benefits of improved operational performance
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and contribution through strong linkages to between
back-office and front office.
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18. The CCM‟s challenge
At a tactical level, it involves negotiating jurisdictions, authority levels and
SLA‟s, leading cross-functional teams and formal problem solving
processes
At an operational level it involves offering the contact centre as a controlled
test bed for new initiatives, proving the benefits of customer focused
programs and making the case for enterprise-wide adoption
At a strategic level, it involves implementing in your contact centres into the
advocacy-building, higher-order emotive attributes that brand messaging
often promises, such as being innovative, responsible, reliable, caring,
attentive, considerate, or empathetic
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19. Thank You
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