Sometimes executives fall into the trap of looking at their business environment through a narrow lens, only seeing what they want to see. When this happens, it is important to take a step back and evaluate the landscape from a more objective perspective. During the course of daily business, I’m always surprised when we meet executives who view the at-home customer care model as something new or not appropriate for complex call types. It got me wondering why an industry that has clearly been adopted into mainstream business culture is perceived differently depending on who you talked to and what implications this has for future sales and marketing strategies. To help answer this question, I turned to the philosophies of Geoffrey Moore, author of the widely read book “Crossing the Chasm.” 

 

In his book, Moore explains how a product or service moves through the adoption lifecycle and the factors that motivate each target audience. He purports that for a company to be successful, it must be savvy enough to adapt its business strategy to where it is within the lifecycle. For example, initially a new product or service is purchased by what he calls “the early adopters.” This is a group of visionaries who enjoy trying something different and aren’t afraid of taking risks. When selling to this audience, companies want to position themselves as new and cool innovators. However, to move to the next stage, and the real money, requires a completely different strategy.

 

The next group in the lifecycle is called the “early majority.” They demand stability and want to know the company they buy from will be around for a long time. They want references and recommendations from their friends. Switching from hip and trendy to stable and reliable is what Moore defines as “crossing the chasm” It’s a jump so wide that most technology companies or industries never make it. Yet, approval by the “early majority” leads to mainstream adoption and a lucrative business. There is no doubt the virtual call center industry has seen an increase in sales over the last few years, but has it been enough to propel the model over the chasm?

 

 

As an executive at a leading virtual call center, I can confirm there has been a definite increase in demand for at-home services. We are seeing an increasingly full pipeline of prospects and are adding new customers on a regular basis. However, we are occasionally confronted with executives who have reservations about the at-home business model. In general, their concerns fall into two categories: 

Fear of losing control. Although unfounded, some of executives fear that outsourcing to a virtual call center equals a loss of control. For them, the comfort of knowing an employee is sitting in the next cubicle is worth the higher cost, even though it likely means customers are receiving a lower level of service.

 

Skepticism or disbelief. When a new client decides to outsource its customer service operations to a virtual call center, the program typically begins with a small pilot or trial. The executives want proof that at-home agents can truly deliver a higher quality service from a remote location at a lower price. For them, the benefits of the model are simply too good to be true.

 

The characteristics of these executives – conservative, traditional, hesitant – places them into what Moore categorizes as the “late majority.” The majority can only be convinced to purchase a product or service after it has crossed the chasm of the adoption life cycle. Upon further analysis, there are many other indicators that prove virtual call centers have indeed crossed over to the early majority. These include:

 

Increased competition. Alpine Access has been in this business for over eleven years. Initially, we were the lone evangelist trying to convince people a remote workforce was feasible. Over time, more players have entered the market. A few years ago, there were five to seven competitors. Now, there are more than 20 companies offering at-home services.

 

Acceptance of at-home option. In a recent Frost and Sullivan report, 90 percent of companies surveyed said they are already using or considering using at-home workers. More specifically, 30 percent of the companies surveyed said they were already using at-home workers, 15 percent said they were piloting it, 13 percent said they were planning to trial it and 35 percent are considering it. Only 10 percent said they were not interested in an at-home solution.

 

Complex call types. Virtual call centers are not limited by geography, so they can literally hand pick from across the country agents with the perfect match of skills and experience. This makes them well-suited for calls requiring high touch interactions such as travel and hospitality reservations, retail orders, financial transactions, collections and information technology support.

 

Top-tier industries. The largest companies in today’s business community do not use any outsourcing service without extreme due diligence. Another proof point to show virtual call centers have hit mainstream is the wide variety of businesses that now utilize at-home agents. From Fortune 100 credit card providers and telcos, to wireless carriers, financial institutions and Fortune 50 media companies, these corporate giants understand the value provided by the virtual model and are enjoying the economic benefits. 

The low cost coupled with the higher quality service makes virtual call centers too compelling to ignore. Similar to the way low cost pricing drove off shoring in the 1990s, so too have the strong economic benefits of at-home overcome any reservations early majority adopters have had. Virtual call centers provide a complete customer care solution – quality service, low cost, higher revenue, reduced environmental impact and easy deployment. These universal benefits will continue to drive adoption throughout the business community. So, if you aren’t yet partnered with an at-home call center, I’d suggest you start looking into it now because it’s likely your competitor already has.

 

Rob Duncan is COO of Alpine Access, Inc., a Golden, Colorado-based provider of contact center services using exclusively home-based customer service and sales employees.Duncan can be reached at 303-279-0585.

Edited by Erin Harrison