It’s Time to Shape the Future for Contact Centers

What an amazing few days I spent at the ICMI Conference in Orlando Florida. Normally I’m one of the vendors at an event educating people about what I’m services I offer and how my solution will have a positive impact on their business. ?

?In a world where customers expect a personalized experienced, in a timely manner, with instant resolution, what customers seem to get is the complete opposite. For anyone who has called into a Call Center I know we can all agree that the experience isn’t always a good one and in many cases it can be painful. ?

?So, I took a different approach this time and decided I wanted to put myself in the shoes of my customers to view what it’s like to be in their world. Afterall if I’m going to solve their problems, I really should understand the magnitude of what they are facing. ?

?The greater part of my day was spent attending breakout sessions to hear experts and employees in the industry share their concerns and frustrations on the limitations they have in order to truly provide the level of service us consumers expect. ?

Challenges and how the decision they are making or not making are impacting their ability to keep employees, retain new customers, and simply expand. I heard from experts in the Telco, Insurance, Banking, Retail, Travel & Tourism etc. field. Although all the industries are different the challenges were all real and the same across the board. Call Centers are frustrated from:?

1. ?Retaining employees – agents are burnout?
2. Employee engagement?
3. Lack of training ?
4. Inability to provide FCR (First Call Resolution) Too many platforms required to get key information they need to service customers?

Logically, my next step was to visit the exhibitors and ask three simple questions:?

1. What does your company do??
2. What ROI are you delivering to your customer??
3. Why wouldn’t a customer buy your product??

Everyone had great answers to each question and to be honest I was blown away at how far technology had come since my experience with call centers seemed so disconnected and outdated. The answer was simple, people and companies don’t know what they don’t know. There are too many options to pick from and without understanding the true root cause of the problem it’s so hard to know what solution is required to solve the problem. ?

?So, what stood out to me the most you might ask? Everyone from the vendors to the consumer were genuinely interested in helping one another. I heard vendors recommend other vendors to help solve specific problems, I saw partners walk customers around the event helping them see the benefits of deploying new systems and processes, I saw competitors all celebrate each other's achievements! I walked in knowing a handful of people and walked out making some amazing friendship with people who truly want and are making a difference in the Call Center World. To my new mentor Bob Oliverie, MBA thank you for going out of your way in helping others when sometimes it’s easier to walk away. Greg Avallone for being an amazing partner and providing such great insight into new possibilities. Patrick Wild , you’re like an encyclopedia or what the new youth would call GOOGLE. I don’t think there was a single thing you couldn’t answer, experience, understand. Last by not least to one what started as a partner turned friend Heather McAnally for reminding me that women like you pave the way for women like me and for that I’m grateful.

What a wonderful tribe of amazing humans I had the pleasure of meeting this week! And if things couldn’t get any better, I’m delighted to say we won two awards at the ICMI conference. ?

??? Best Digital Customer Experience?

?? Best Strategic Value to the Organization

Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives!

Discover more about Grypp, and see how we can help you deliver a shared visual experience that delights customers, empower agents and offer immense ROI – no matter what industry you serve. https://grypp.io/platform/#industries??