Article
Transforming Contact Centers from a Cost Center to a Value Center
Once Viewed Primarily as a Cost Center, Contact Centers are Now Being Transformed into Value Centers
The role of contact centers in today's business environment is evolving. Once viewed primarily as a cost center, contact centers are now being transformed into value centers. The focus for contact center's today is on delivering an exceptional customer experience that drives customer loyalty, increases business contributions, and empowers agents to become super agents. To achieve these goals, companies need to embrace new technology trends, establish measurable KPIs, and create a culture of engagement and empowerment.
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One of the most important trends in the contact center industry is the increasing use of technology. AI, automation, and analytics are being used to enhance the customer experience, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. The industry is also evolving with mobile and smart devices, remote work, and new technology like CCaaS, UCaaS, and voice authentication. To stay competitive, companies need to embrace these trends and adapt to changing customer expectations.
Transforming from a Cost Center to a Value Center Involves Shifting Focus from Cost-Cutting to Delivering an Exceptional Customer Experience
Transforming a contact center from a cost center to a value center involves shifting the focus from cost-cutting to delivering an exceptional customer experience. This can be achieved by implementing customer satisfaction scoring systems, creating a culture of engagement and empowerment, and embracing new technology trends. Measuring the success of this transformation can be challenging without clear metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Establishing measurable and actionable measurements is essential to communicate the outcomes, impacts, and trends.
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An Intelligent Transformation Model
An intelligent transformation model can help transform contact centers from cost centers to value centers through three strategies: customer loyalty, business contributions, and super agents. To achieve these strategies, certain initiatives need to be implemented such as personalized service, actionable business intelligence, and compliance management. Measuring progress through actionable reports related to customer sentiment, business intelligence, and agent compliance is also important. Technology-based solutions like AI-driven hyper analytics and automation can help implement these initiatives.
Challenges with Implementation
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However, there are challenges that businesses face in implementing this transformation model. Data chaos, process chaos, and vendor chaos can make it difficult for management to connect and take action. It is important to have processes in place that work together effectively to provide actionable insights that can deliver bottom-line results. Finding a vendor who can help optimize data and turn it into a competitive advantage is key.
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What is Needed for Transformation
To have a comprehensive hyper analytics platform for a contact center, it should include interactions between front-line agents and customers utilizing text and data analytics as well as desktop analytics for a holistic view of overall employee performance. Customer survey analytics is also essential to understand how different interactions affect customer feedback. A hyper automation platform is needed to augment employee processes with intelligent virtual agents, attended and unattended robotic process automation (RPA), and a business process automation (BPA) platform. The deployment model should be flexible, offered as Software-as-a-Service regardless of location.
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Selecting a Vendor of Choice
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Choosing an experienced vendor with the right solutions is crucial for success. Vendors should offer a suite of Intelligent Automation building blocks that work together, along with free consultation and a try-before-you-buy option. They should also fit solutions to the specific needs of each customer and provide free onboarding. Post-sale customer loyalty programs should also be made available to help customers use the solutions effectively.
In conclusion, transforming contact centers from a cost center to a value center involves embracing new technology trends, establishing measurable KPIs, and creating a culture of engagement and empowerment. The intelligent transformation model can help achieve these goals by focusing on customer loyalty, business contributions, and super agents. However, challenges such as data chaos, process chaos, and vendor chaos must be addressed to ensure success. Choosing the right vendor with the right solutions is essential for achieving measurable business contributions, customer loyalty, and a highly productive, cost-effective, and compliant operation.