A funny thing happens when you set out to do something differently with the way your contact center interacts with callers—not “ha ha” funny, but funny as in odd. I mean, you'd think that the prospect of augmenting a cost effective way for contact center agents to interact with their callers would be embraced and seen as exciting. And if not for the contact center, then at least for those on the business end... right? Well, sadly, that's not always the case.
Hopefully, as the telecom manager of an enterprise contact center, you will never have to experience it yourself, but there's a pretty good chance that you will be disappointed by how the people you work around react to the pioneer inside of you trying to get out. For some, it is downright brutal. They question what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and of all the times, why now? “Why can’t you just be happy with what you have,” or “the way things are?”
For others, it’s less aggressive, but still painful.
- No public signs of support for your initiatives
- They won’t even acknowledge that your initiative is an initiative
- If they do, they’re critical about everything you do and always have “a better way” for you to do it
- They’ll make you feel guilty about the amount of time you spend on your initiative versus time with what is already in place (as if you didn’t feel guilty enough on your own)
- They won’t make the effort to try and use this new tool and provide feedback
- And if they do provide feedback, it’s somewhat sarcastic
This all leads to the question: Why? Why is it so hard to get everyone on board with a project you’re working on, or for that matter, support it and give it a try?
There are lots of possibilities, including: fear of change, fear of embarrassment, jealousy, and insecurity. Maybe they just don’t quite get what how it will help, and have a hard time understanding even when you try to explain. These are all things we’ll discuss specifically and in great detail in the future.
But sometimes it all boils down to one thing…
Some are so blinded by what you have always done that they can't see what you are trying to do.
Because it's revolutionary!
They'll never tell you this to your face, and some don't even realize it, but the truth is that sometimes we mortals have a hard time accepting something that makes life better. Even the most technologically savvy of us have a hard time breaking the barrier at times, because we are creatures of habit; it has always been done a certain way, and maybe there is no need or way to improve it.
Don't waste your time trying to convince them otherwise—that would be a study in futility. Success speaks louder than your voice (or text message) ever could. Instead, invest your time cultivating those people who get it and embrace ideas that will improve everyone's lives right now.
Not sure where to start? Try here. We are hard at work empowering contact centers to augment text messaging into their existing ecosystems. Greenbot offers a platform that will help contact centers improve the customer experience, as well as deliver significant cost savings for enterprise contact centers from the ground up—by assisting in everything from coming up with ease of implementation strategies and interactive text scripts, to the best ways to let everyone know a service is now available.
You won't be alone as you join some of the largest contact centers in North America. This is our way of bringing voice and text messaging together.
Can you think of a telecom manager in your network that needs this kind of service? Share this post with them. It may change their life—and their business.