zondag 01 november 2009 14:33
In October 2009 Dimension Data's Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report, 2009 has been published. This report is a key resource for decision makers and managers in the contact centre industry. The Report covers the full breadth and depth of managing a contact centre - performance, processes, organisation, technology, as well as strategy, financial and customer management.
Hereunder you find the major themes and findings from 2009.
The Evolution of Customer Contact
This year's Benchmarking results indicate that, as an industry, we are on the cusp of the next stage of evolution. More and more organisations are recognising that the contact centre can play a key role in the creation of value for the business.
Even though we are seeing businesses wanting to shift focus to value generation, it doesn't mean that we forget about doing the basics and optimising costs.
One of the main proof points from this year's results, that this transition is underway, is an increase in the number of respondents who reported that they have implemented initiatives that identify trigger events in service environments that can generate value through cross or up-selling opportunities. We're also seeing an increase in the number of organisations who are tackling CRM at a far more practical and pragmatic level.
From a technology perspective, companies that are making this move to value creation are focusing their attention on integration initiatives to deliver solutions that enable this service and sales capability. We expect to see this transition to value creation to take the next three to four years to fully take hold and it is within this context that we expect to see investment decisions made over the next period. It's not something that happens overnight and we need catalysts to create change; the economic conditions in which we're now operating may well be that catalyst.
Some of the major themes and findings from 2009
A mixed bag for operational performance
Looking at aggregated operational performance data always requires a degree of license. Overall, we would summarise this year's operational performance as 'mixed' - there have definitely been no great strides forward or any significant decline in standards.
Call volumes still on the rise
Overall call volumes have risen slightly this year, contradicting predictions of the demise of contact centres as self service and contact avoidance initiatives are developed. Growth in call volumes is more pronounced in emerging markets. Since the onset of the Global Economic Crisis there has been a clear shift in the reasons for customer contact.
Complexity for agents
Average Handle Times have continued to creep up but we believe that this is largely down to the migration of the simpler, commoditised transactions to self service channels which continues to increase. This obviously leads to front line agents having to handle more complex interactions that often require a greater degree of empathy, communication skills and access to the relevant information.
Still work to do on management information
Management Information (MI) reported at board level under the guise of Strategic MI is still too focused on service levels. Instead of focusing on the inner workings of the operation, strategic MI focuses on outcomes. We believe this is an issue across the industry and we are still measuring the wrong things for the wrong reasons.
Process optimisation remains primary focus
From a customer and agent perspective, the ongoing trend towards more End-to-End Process Automation is good news. Through increasing the number of processes that can be handled within contact centres, hand-offs will reduce as will operational costs.
Outsourcing still a cost decision
While we continue to see the role of outsourcing maturing, the top three reasons for outsourcing are all cost related. Cost remains the biggest driver for adopting an outsourcing strategy, but it is encouraging to see results that indicate a more balanced approach to outsourcing decisions.
Customer lifetime value is back on the radar
Over the past 12 months there has been a positive indicator trend suggesting that organisations are looking to improve the way they show how Customer Lifetime Value is impacted by customer interactions taking place in the contact centre.
Channels are still to siloed
Organisations are still not using customer insight across the organisation. It's a clear and disappointing indicator of the extent of the challenge facing the industry to deliver a joined up end-to-end experience.
Why not measure cost per interaction
A third of all contact centres report that they do not measure the cost per interaction of agent assisted telephone calls. When you consider that this is the most accurate means of determining the cost effectiveness of an operation, it is a worrying trend that we have not seen improve in recent years.
Segmentation becomes more sophistocated (But fewer people are doing it)
More companies are using increasingly sophisticated methods of segmenting and differentiating their customers. There appears to be a very real desire to generate more value from customer interactions. What is worrying though, is the drop in the number of companies using segmentation.
Home-working becomes a reality
The number of home-working agents is generally growing in more mature markets across the globe. A large proportion of respondents are considering home-working, signifying a major shift in approach to employee management, where benefits include lower staff turnover and cost, improved productivity and reduced travel through the use of technology.
Hosting and 'on-demand' becomes mainstream
Most contact centres are still owned and managed within the organisation. The number of centres owned by organisations continues to drop year on year. With hosted technologies more secure and easier to manage than in the past, we expect to see an increase in the number of hosted centres due to the economic climate and convenience of the technology.
Source: Dimension Data
