Is a contact centre simply a cost centre, or can it become a growth engine for the business?
In this week’s World of CX Breakfast Conversation, we explored what it takes to rethink the role of the contact centre, from how performance is measured to how frontline teams are supported and how customer conversations can inform the wider business.
Here are 10 lessons from the conversation:
🌟 Measure more than activity. Calls answered, AHT and service levels tell us what the contact centre is doing. We also need to ask what those interactions are achieving for the customer and the business.
🌟 Help agents understand the business. Contact centre teams need more than communication skills. Understanding the products, processes and bigger picture helps them solve customer problems more effectively.
🌟 Your contact centre is a source of customer insight. Agents hear customer frustrations, questions and recurring issues every day. That knowledge can help the wider business identify what needs to change.
🌟 Give frontline teams a voice. The people closest to customers often know what is working and what isn’t. Creating space for their feedback can surface issues leadership may not see.
🌟 Don’t let KPIs work against the experience. A shorter call isn’t always a better call. Sometimes taking a little longer to properly resolve an issue can prevent repeat calls and create greater value.
🌟 Use AI to enhance human capability. AI can support speed, efficiency and repetitive tasks, while people continue to bring empathy, judgement, communication and relationship-building to the customer experience.
🌟 Agent experience matters. It is difficult to expect great customer experiences from people who are exhausted, unsupported or constantly under pressure. How we treat our teams shows up in how they serve customers.
🌟 Design work with wellbeing in mind. Breaks, reasonable shifts, rest and employee support are not extras. They help contact centre teams stay effective and deliver consistently.
🌟 Create room for growth. People should not feel that their future is limited to answering calls. Building communication, problem-solving and business skills creates opportunities to grow beyond the contact centre floor.
🌟 Make the value visible. The contact centre can contribute to retention, revenue, loyalty and business improvement. The conversation needs to move from simply asking, “What does it cost?” to “What value does it create?”
