Call Centers Must Move Away from Cost Center Mentality to Achieve Success

Automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics are steadily transforming today's contact centers, pushing them to be smarter, leaner and more efficient. And yet for all the technological advances the industry has enjoyed over the last several decades, it remains bogged down by the same old problems that ultimately impact the quality of customer service and the bottom line.

It doesn't have to be this way. Call centers have too often been viewed as "cost centers" with constant pressure and emphasis on cutting costs and operating more leanly. While every call center wants to save money and increase productivity -- at what cost? Constant pressure to be tighter and leaner has taken its toll on the industry, and the result is unhappy agents and disgruntled customers.

Despite all the advances in automation and technology, designed to help agents and increase customer satisfaction, call centers still have a relatively bad reputation. Agent turnover rates range from 30 to 45 percent, some of the highest rates of churn of any industry. Agents are under intense pressure to resolve customer issues in tight time windows, which is often simply not possible. The result is agent frustration and high turnover rates as well as poor customer outcomes.

The industry needs to steer away from its cost cutting mentality and focus on making improvements for workers and customers alike. The infrastructure is in place in many cases, with the technology tools readily available. Investments in the customer experience and providing better overall customer service are not wasteful, and should not be seen as such.

Call centers that get bogged down by expense management and trying to contain costs are ultimately hurting themselves in the long run by creating an overly competitive, toxic work environment that will drive agents away. Customers will be the true losers however, as they get handed off and dismissed without their issues being resolved, all in the name of shortening call times.

Customers simply won't stand for poor service and are demanding intelligent, omni-channel customer interactions. If a company can't provide satisfactory service, they will move along to one that will.

As long as businesses view their call centers as cost centers, they will never be able to provide the high levels of customer interaction and service the marketplace demands. By moving away from that attitude and actually investing in the right agents, technology and a positive work environment, call centers will begin to reap the numerous benefits of providing a truly satisfactory customer experience.

Edited by Luke Bellos