POINT OF VIEW
Contact Center Redefined
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By Pat Perdue (Formerly)
Director, Call Center Operations
DRAFT FCB
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Contact centers have been defined as the part of the organization that handles the systematic, one-on-one communication with the customer/prospect base. That’s opposed to PR, which handles the mass communication. With me so far?
But consider this: I can follow the CEO of
BlueFly
on Twitter, and if I have a question, I can Tweet him directly and yep, he'll tweet me back! Cool, huh?
Also, Commodore Dave, from the website
Tripharbor.com, blogs directly from the deck of luxury cruise ships. If I have a question about a cruise (like if I want him to ask the captain something for me), I can reply to his blog and he'll get right back to me—responding directly from the cruise I might be interested in purchasing. Also, very cool.
So given the above definition of contact center, are the two individuals referenced above, whom I contacted using “Social Media,” now part of their respective organization's contact centers? I say, they are.
For smaller companies that may not have a huge customer base, this kind of ready-access to all points of the company is manageable. However, what about larger organizations that handle tens of thousands of customer interactions monthly or weekly? How can they possibly be expected to handle the huge amount of dialogue that is so department-specific via various forms of social media?
This is the challenge, and the opportunity, for call centers today. Thanks to social media, the way customers/prospects contact brands is changing fast, and call centers need to help manage that change or be left out of the conversation. Social media can be considered the “phone” of tomorrow (and increasingly, today), where brand dialogue is concerned, so contact centers need to be leading the charge for customer dialogue using these channels.
What that means for the traditional call center is that portions of their staff will need to go beyond traditional “customer service representatives,” and become genuine brand ambassadors. And no more faking. These folks will need to be fanatics about the brand they're representing in the social media space in order to be considered authentic.
A note about brands
We can Tweet about the brands we love, or love to hate, with thousands of people. We can share the great experiences we have, or the horrible experiences we have. People reply, commiserate, talk about ways brands can get even better. And while it's neat to connect with the legions of people who have relationships with the same brands as we do, has anyone noticed that there's often a very important voice missing from those conversations? Yep. Where are the brands?
Here's what I think: Brands are chicken. They're afraid that if they talk to us, they'll wreck something. Or say the wrong thing. There's plenty of technology that monitors the “chatter” that a brand is getting in blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other online social forums. Brands know who says what about them, when they say it, who they say it to, and how often. But cat's got their tongue when it comes to jumping in and joining the party.
With all the brands I work with, I advocate a policy of participation in the dialogue about your brand from the highest levels of the organization. When you participate in the dialogue, you'll get to experience the meaningful connection people have with your product or service.
I'm not suggesting you become a constant Tweeter. You don't have to be the
Ashton Kutcher of dry goods—but once in a while, say hello. And when people reply, listen to what they have to say. If they have suggestions for your brand, let them know you take what they say seriously, and then have someone reply to their suggestion in a personal way.
Very soon you'll have a connection to your consumer base that becomes deeper and richer. That connection will touch your heart as you reconnect with the contribution you're making to your customers' lives. The connection will challenge you to do what you do better. And finally, the connection will make your company stronger and more competitive.
Oh, and do it today. Your competition might have started yesterday.
About the Author:
Pat Perdue has spent the past 18 years in managing contact centers for organizations such as JC Penny, Bell Canada, and Tommy Hilfiger USA. In Pat’s current role at DraftFCB, he works with clients across a variety of industries, to deliver consistent, engaged customer interactions within traditional and non-traditional platforms. In the spirit of social media, you can follow Pat on
Twitter @patperdue and read more about social media and call center excellence on his blog, Experience It.
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Telvista provides innovative contact center outsourcing solutions and
leading-edge social media services to companies that want more from
their customer relationships. We believe in delivering what matters most
to you. |
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Click here to view Telvista's Social Media
Center in its Dallas, Texas location. The Social
Media Center, which overlooks the 600-seat
contact center, will serve as a control room for
a team of analysts monitoring social media for
its clients. |
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Telvista’s seven PCI-certified locations throughout the U.S. and Mexico deliver optimized support solutions that impact top-line revenue and bottom-line cost. We serve a large client base and a diverse set of industries, including telecommunications, travel, financial services, retail, technology, and many others. Services include customer care, technical support, sales, loyalty programs, social media services and more.
We are proud to be a vital part of our clients' success by offering customized programs that enable you to do more with less while maximizing your bottom line. |
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