How Can the Contact Centre Be a Leader in Customer Experience?

Roger Lee discusses the importance of becoming a market leader in terms of customer experience and introduces the WFO 2017 Video Series.

“Do or do not. There is no try.” ~ Yoda
If you are a Star Wars fan as I am, then Yoda’s quote should resonate with you.

So, why do I quote Yoda when thinking about this third question posed to our distinguished panel of WFO (workforce optimisation) analysts and practitioners for the OpenText WFO 2017 Video Series? Well, let me explain with a real-world example.

I recently spoke with an executive from a 100-plus-year-old product- and services-based organisation that has transformed itself from being an inbound, order-taking, issue-resolution company to one that now thrives with an outbound contact centre which generates over 95% of the company’s total revenue.

Think about this for a moment and imagine that your primary product is declining in usage due to competition from other more cost-effective options. Consumers still use your product but at a much reduced rate.

To reverse this trend, your overall go-to-market strategy must change. Yes, your consumers know you have other offerings that could be of value to them, but your business model needs to radically change to leverage the feedback and promote an end-to-end supply and service model. Yet cultural and infrastructure transformations of this magnitude are not easily undertaken.

In the case I mention above, this transformation was accomplished because one executive sponsor, the vice president of customer experience, had the vision and determination to advocate within the C-suite for leveraging his organisation’s contact centre as a strategic weapon.

Donna Fluss, President of DMG Consulting, and offering advice in the first of two short commentaries on this topic, fully understands that “if you want to consistently deliver an outstanding customer experience, most organisations are going to need to change their culture.”

Easier said than done, of course, but in a second clip Donna offers seven critical steps that contact centre leaders and business executives should undertake to seriously pursue the goal of delivering a truly outstanding customer experience. After listening to her first commentary, you’ll find it easy to view this second clip, so I will let Donna speak for herself.

However, let me offer up one other well-known quote: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” It took time for the company I mentioned above to achieve the desired outcomes.

Many conversations and interactions with consumers had to take place in order to better understand their expectations, and then, as the changes were made based on customer feedback, success stories from the contact centres were communicated throughout the organisation. New opportunities were identified. A continuous effort was made to promote and celebrate the value of the contact centre’s accomplishments.

Significantly, while the transformation initiative was taking place, the customer service representatives, supervisors, managers and site leaders all continued to provide the best possible customer experience as they worked to reach their ultimate goal of exceeding customer expectations.

There are more inspiring examples and words of wisdom to hear about from the other expert speakers on this year’s Video Series. Follow the link to view the WFO 2017 Video Series

WFO Video Series

In all, our speakers answer eight important questions about driving awareness of the contact centre within your organisation and explain why this should be of interest to every contact centre agent, supervisor, manager and executive:

These eight questions are as follows:

1. What defines a positive customer experience?
2. Why should customer experience be a top enterprise goal?
3. How can the contact centre be positioned as a leader in customer experience?
4. How can the contact centre align with the top priorities of executive leadership?
5. What’s the best way to coordinate contact centre goals with other business units?
6. What performance goals resonate most with executive leadership?
7. What other tools demonstrate contact centre impact to the executive team?
8. What are some lessons learned about reporting to the executive team?

For more from OpenText, visit: www.opentext.com