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Trends in the Contact Center Space Include Social Media Growth

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

The use of social networks has taken an interesting path over the past several years. Not too long ago, teenagers were flocking to Facebook (News - Alert) to stay connected with friends. As more and more businesses showed up and grandmothers launched new profiles, the younger sect decided it was time to make a shift and picked up the pace on Twitter (News - Alert).

While this shift is common, it is not the only activity going on in the social space and it is not necessarily the rule. Plenty of young people still like and use Facebook, but the profile of the average user is changing. As social media picks up the pace in the contact center space, companies will have to stay abreast of the latest trends to ensure they are using the right channels to stay connected to the customer base.

According to a Deloitte (News - Alert) Consulting 2013 Global Contact Center Survey, social media use in the contact center will rise over the next 24 months. In fact, all contact centers are expected to grow within the next 12 to 14 months. The top three channels contact center leaders expect to see experience the most growth are e-mail at 46 percent, social media at 38 percent and voice at 32 percent.

The size of the contact center is also expected to grow, based on answers from 25 percent of respondents. While another 52 percent have no plans to expand, 15 percent actually expect a decrease. A small 8 percent indicated they were unsure as to the future of the contact center over the next one to two years. The majority, however, at 92 percent reported that the customer experience was the key differentiator when offered through multiple contact channels.

When capturing customer feedback, monitoring calls proved to be the most effective for 55 percent of respondents. Direct customer feedback via e-mail or web-based surveys is still a popular method, while social media was at the bottom rung in terms of capturing feedback at 13 percent. And while social media appears to be the lowest priority right now, it is expected to grow within the next two years.

In fact, the top 10 insights from Deloitte’s report shows that contact centers continue to grow both in size and strategic importance for the organization; location strategies continue to shift; volume is growing across all channels; the customer experience is the key competitive differentiator; multi-channel contact centers are expected to increase; a struggle to balance quality and cost continues; contact center leaders continue to balance multiple reporting relationships; call monitoring is the top customer feedback mechanism; integrated reporting continues to grow in importance; and the highest turnover rates are found at large, outsourced contact centers.

Overall, there are some big changes expected in the contact center space, where other elements will stay much the same. The key is to understand the role that social media, monitoring, feedback and customer satisfaction play in the overall strategy. When that is fully grasped, the contact center is better poised for success.