Large business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations are “shifting the focus of their call centers to become revenue generators rather than simply answering customer queries or executing transaction requests,” according to researchfindings from Portrait Software, a provider of customer interaction optimization software and now a part of Pitney Bowes Business Insight (News - Alert).

"Organizations are realizing that traditional, outbound marketing, particularly via the telephone, offers diminishing returns for the business," says Luke McKeever, CEO, Portrait Software. "As such, the future of the customer relationship resides in sustained, informed and tailored customer service and the call center is a critical factor in this process.

Conducted by Loudhouse Research, the study surveyed strategic decision-makers at UK and US in-house call centers and found that “69 percent of large B2C organizations view their call centers as business-critical revenue generators.”

To meet this demand for call centers to deliver revenues, study officials say, 60 percent of respondents cited “the need for better integration of inter-departmental customer data” as a key focus for the next 12 months. In particular, “the need to integrate call center data with online customer service” was seen as a primary focus for the next 12 months, with 54 percent of decision makers citing this as a key challenge for the year ahead.

“With more and more consumers opting out of outbound marketing (mail, e-mail and telephone), organizations are looking to maximize all inbound customer interactions,” the study found. “Call center staff are increasingly expected to pursue new real-time cross sell and up sell opportunities; however, 86 percent of respondents stated that call center staff need a broader range of skills to deliver these revenues.”

A further 85 percent of respondents claimed that call center interactions with customers are drivers for conveying their organization's brand values, making the role of call center staff even more critical in developing profitable relationships with customers.