Original Publication: Customer Management Insight - June 2008
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No call center is an island — at least, it shouldn’t be. Most of us remember a time when the majority of centers functioned primarily in a silo, working in isolation from marketing, IT, R&D, finance and even senior management.
Today, while the contact center is much more visible to C-level execs, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s getting the support it needs. A recent ICMI survey found that one in three call center leaders feel that they are insufficiently supported by their executive leadership when it comes to getting the resources the center needs to perform at a high level. While most executives seem to have a better understanding of the call center’s value and impact on the organization, the majority tend to spend very little time in the center and are not actively involved in its operation.
If this sounds like your senior management, it’s time for you to recruit key individuals and groups across your organization and create a collaborative partnership. Partnerships within the enterprise are advantageous, as CMI’s Layne Holley points out in her article on contact center and IT partnerships (see Contact Centers and IT: The Power of Partnerships).
Partnerships carry great promise — and if the contact center is going to continue to evolve, its leaders must take the time to develop strategic relationships with the other internal groups that directly or indirectly touch the customer. As the custodian of key data about customer trends, the contact center offers significant value to these areas. By combining the skills, knowledge and resources of each group, the center gains the ability to address issues, achieve objectives and develop a more customer-centric operation.
Building successful collaborative partnerships takes time and effort. A critical first step is to educate potential partners on the inner workings of the call center and the impact that its performance has on customer satisfaction and revenue. One of the best ways to enlighten other leaders is to invite them into the center to spend time walking the floor with your supervisors, talking with agents and, importantly, listening to live customer calls.
But to realize the full potential of your collaborative partnership, the relationship must be sustained over time — through constant, meaningful communication, feedback and trust.
