Customer service is the lifeblood of any organization. Responsible for delivering high standards of service, the contact center managers are those who along with their agents deal with customers on a daily basis. But can contact center managers implement effective decisions at the board level?
New research from cloud contact center vendor NewVoiceMedia and Callcentre.co.uk, has thrown some light on this and has revealed how organizations can significantly improve their customer experience by involving contact center managers in business-level strategic decision making. In fact, NewVoiceMedia’s study found there is an opportunity for the contact center to be more involved in decision making at board level.
Graham Jarvis from the University of Birmingham, which undertook the research, believes that the positive outcome of this would be an increased level of customer engagement, higher levels of satisfaction and loyalty, which in turn will translate into more profitable customers.
“Contact centers are the face and personality of your business at the front line, with agents dealing directly with customers on a daily basis, so there is no question that they must play a major role in the company's decision making. Customers know when a contact center is well-integrated into a business and recognize when a company is listening and looking after its customers; and the feedback from customer-facing staff can be invaluable for creating a wider role in determining an organization’s overall strategy,” said Jonathan Gale, chief executive officer of NewVoiceMedia.
The research was conducted with 118 senior managers and directors, 110 middle managers and 46 junior managers and team leaders from a wide range of call and contact center industry sectors such as dotcoms, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and charities. It found that nearly half of contact center leaders report to a member of the executive team, but may not be involved in any decision making.
Also, the study found that finance; operations, marketing and the board of directors are the functions and departments that are those who have influence over strategic decisions along with a meager 5 percent of strategic decision making occurring in the call centre over time.
Clearly the study indicates that if enterprises of all sizes wish to improve the customer experience, everyone in the company needs to get involved in the conversation regarding best practices.