Four Questions Chief Customer Officers Should Be Asking

As the majority of global business is approaching a full month of disruption from Covid-19, leaders responsible for customer care are facing many challenges, especially so for those who serve customers via contact centers and back office sites. The speed at which the global restrictions and lockdowns were imposed in March 2020 raise many questions and will spur strategic shifts. As we enter the next month of a continuing disruption, it is not too early for the Chief Customer Officer (CCO) to begin seeking answers to four key questions.

How should we interact with our customers going forward?

Customers reach companies through multiple channels and typically a disruption to a physical site can be easily directed elsewhere – phone, web, apps, etc. Contact center disruption is generally mitigated through routing to another site. But what happens when all the traditional alternatives are disrupted at once? Many companies have simply resorted to long hold times, rescheduled appointments, or simply telling customers to wait. Current events mean the CCO should be thinking about how to diversify contact channels forever. If a fully diversified contact portfolio is in place, companies can use multiple resources to keep service in place. Think replacing disrupted calls with chats, closed stores with online contacts, deploying self-service mechanisms via web or device, and handling repeatable processes with automation over live contact – such as travel booking cancellations, event refunds, etc.

From where should we serve our customers?

This question is especially important in the context of contact and business process centers. Over the past 25 years, many companies have moved millions of jobs to locations overseas, getting both a cost and effectiveness advantage. They have also adopted work-at-home service channels, but more conservatively so in comparison. The question to be asked, however, is whether you are overly dependent upon one specific geography; and overly reliant on bricks and mortar. The current situation makes it clear that companies need to develop a balance between physical sites and proper work at home solutions, and between a variety of locations versus a single geography. Many if my clients are already talking about rebalancing their global footprint and a significant number are planning to keep a healthy percentage of their contacts in a work at home capability.

Who should be serving our customers?

Even with the dynamic growth of the customer care service industry over the past 30 years, the majority of contact center and business services jobs are still held internally within the company. At a seminar earlier this year I asked a CCO expert panel “why use an outsourcer to help serve your customers?” The consensus was: 1) expertise; 2) scale; 3) capacity; 4) flexibility. The Covid situation is bearing out those answers and requires the CCO to think about the proportion of work they keep internal, and the proportion they outsource. There are distinct advantages to using third party suppliers as they specialize in geographic diversity, have large interconnected networks, a suite of channels and solutions, and offer rapid response for business continuity. I’m already talking to companies who feel the time is now to find the right balance between internal and external and are preparing to adjust their percentages accordingly.

What do I need in my service provider partner?

While companies evaluate all parts of their supply chain for the future, I will stick with the contact center and business process partnerships here as it’s my area of practice. While many companies use a blend of large and small outsourcers to help handle their customers, this current climate will help the CCO truly understand what to look for in whatever post-crisis world we get to. While single solution or smaller partners have their place, many will fail to withstand the financial challenges ahead, or lack a diverse enough suite of solutions to avoid breakage. The provider landscape will change significantly over the course of 2020 as outsourcers will thrive or disappear depending on their financial strength and their solution sets. The CCO should look for several key things in selecting or growing with a partner going forward. 1) financial viability; 2) diverse portfolio of services they can offer you, including engagement services, self-service capability, data and analytics to measure your customer experiences, and critical intelligent automation capability to balance those things humans need to do, with those they don’t. 3) geographic diversity, through a wide global footprint that is interconnected and 4) a well designed, process driven and properly established work at home solution for the long term, versus the rapid deployment of a temporary work from home solution all companies had to put in place in March. Converting to a more permanent work at home delivery model will require an experienced player.

The time to question your direction is here, even as the situation continues to evolve. The key lesson so far is that customer care in the future requires balance - in how your company uses channels, locations, capabilities and in finding the right partner.

Jim Farnsworth has been helping companies around the world create outstanding customer experiences for nearly three decades and currently serves as Executive Vice President for SYKES. He can be reached via LinkedIn direct message.