“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. Here is a real-world example of how the contact centers within this 100 plus year old product and services based organization have transformed from being an inbound, order taking, issue resolution environment to predominantly an outbound center generating over 95% of the company’s total revenues. Imagine your primary product is declining in usage due to other cost-effective options. Consumers still use this product but at a much slower rate. The overall organization strategy must change; your consumers know you have other offerings that would help them but your business model needs to radically change to leverage the feedback and promote and an end to end one stop shop supply and proactive model. In order for this transformation to occur a key individual must be an integral part of the team and strongly influence with data that the contact centers are a strategic weapon. This individual was the vice president of customer experience.
Another famous quote “Rome wasn’t built in a day” applies to this example. Several conversations with the consumers happened, promoting both success stories and opportunities from the contact centers were shared throughout the organizations. Other tactics were used to continue to promote the value of the contact centers and equally as important was that the customer service consultants, supervisors, managers, and site leaders continued to deliver the goods as the organization was developing the transformation plan. Moreover, as the organization underwent the transformation, the contact centers continued to deliver an unparalleled customer experience.
Until next time…
Roger Lee aka Dr. WFO