Customer Experience rises to the top of the priority for contact centers
Mark Fischer

Customer Experience rises to the top of the priority for contact centers

Deloitte recently published their 2017 Global Contact Center Survey and it contains a lot of interesting statistics and observations. After reading the report and absorbing the information Deloitte has provided, I’d like to offer a few observations on some of the key findings.

The first observation is that there is now a significant change in the drivers for contact center growth. In 2015 contact center growth was mainly driven by the rate of business growth. Today, however, this has changed. Deloitte now says that 88% of organizations are focused on contact center growth due to the need to improve the customer experience as customers are actively demanding a better experience.

This approach is reflected in a further observation. When Deloitte asked executives to prioritize the importance of cost, revenue, or customer experience when organizing the contact center, there was a clear move towards customer experience (compared to 2015). In fact, 46% now say that customer experience is the most important factor in deciding how the contact center is organized compared to just 3% indicating revenue. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for a successful contact center have changed dramatically.

Customers are also prioritizing their own needs differently today compared to just two years ago. Sixty-six percent of survey respondents state that accuracy and quality of information is now the most important attribute that contributes to a quality experience. Ease of interaction and access to the contact center are now the second and third placed factors that customers consider important.

Channel preferences are also changing fast. Voice calls are expected to fall from 64% of interactions today to 49% in 2019, with chat and email being the next most popular communication channels. However, despite dropping in percentage, voice and email are set to remain the most popular channels over the next two years. This is particularly interesting because it goes against a growing belief and suggests that the human element in customer care will not be completely replaced by automation. In fact, from my experience working for the world’s largest outsource provider who supports the customer care functions of the world’s largest brands, we’re observing a re-balancing of the channels (not necessarily a replacement of) and that customer demand for human interaction remains strong. And as automation increases, so too does the complexity of the phone call when it’s finally time to talk to a human being. So as I try to connect the dots on a rapidly changing landscape, I believe that as automation becomes more widely adopted, it too will become a commodity in the customer’s eyes. And when this happens, human interaction will thus be further elevated as a pivotal piece of the customer experience and if done properly (personalized and heavily leveraging technology), even a key brand differentiator.

Deloitte suggests that the emerging capability most contact center executives are looking to invest in over the next two years is advanced analytics. It seems that many contact centers struggle to focus on the data they have – what are the top call drivers or peak hours during the day? These insights can dramatically improve the way that customers can be managed and therefore it’s no surprise that two thirds (66%) of managers said that this is their spending priority.

To my mind, the broad message from this Deloitte research is that we still need to focus on the quality of voice interactions. Although social networks are becoming more important, voice will still remain at least half of all customer service interactions into the foreseeable future – and the importance and complexity of those voice interactions will continue to grow. Organizations are focusing much more on the quality of the customer experience as a service differentiator and I believe this is responsible for the focus on analytics. Companies want to understand their customer needs better so service can be improved.

What do you think about the Deloitte research? Please leave a comment here or get in touch directly via my LinkedIn.

Photo by Mark Fischer licensed under Creative Commons.

Russell Graham

I help people live fulfilling lives and rewarding careers by challenging them to think differently

6y

A good summary of the Deloitte survey. As with most things, balance is key. Customers will naturally gravitate to the channel/form of interaction that they find to be most effective. That may mean that for simple requests they might find an automated channel to be optimal whereas for more complex issues they may find it more effective to speak to a knowledgable, well equipped CSM. This will differ by industry as well as by the culture and social dynamics of the customer. Given the vast number of variables that will make up the customers' choice of channel/form of interaction, the key for companies is to deliver a channel neutral customer experience that is consistent, connected, and continuously developing to meet changing customer needs.

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