Terry Pruner

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Seneca College Faculty of Business Centre for
Financial Services The Changing Face of Contact
Centres

• Terry Pruner
• Industry Director
• Contact Centre Industry

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Welcome!
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Whos this Guy

• Terry Pruner is a Business Professor and Industry
  Director for Seneca College. He is also the CEO
  and Principal Consultant for CRM Connections Inc.
  
• Has served as Executive Director of the Customer
  Relationship Management Association of Canada,
  President of The Call Centre Consultants
  Association, (in Ontario), Past Community
  Director for the Customer Contact Strategy Forum
  and presently serves on the Advisory Council of
  the GTMACC
• Terry has served a number of clients in Alberta
  and is a long standing member of the ACCA
• He is known to be an industry expert in
  assessing, designing and improving customer
  contact centres. He has designed and engineered
  contact centre environments for more than thirty
  of North Americas most recognizable Banking,
  Telecom, Automotive, Retail and other fortune 500
  companies and government organizations.

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Seneca College

• Seneca, Canadas largest college, with a
  registered student population of over 100,000
  students
• One of the most globally recognized names in
  career related learning educating students from
  countries around the globe
• Senecas reputation is built on the relevance of
  its programs, the industry experience of its
  superb faculty, the dedication of its staff and
  the capabilities of its graduates.
• Senecas size and diversity give students the
  advantage of partnerships with industry leaders,
  in applied arts, business, health sciences, and
  technology.
• Seneca Contact Centre Programs transform contact
  centres by giving their managers the skills,
  experience, and resources needed to become
  leaders in their organizations.
• More people choose Seneca than any other College
  in Canada!

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Whats an Iclicker?

• You probably have one in your hand ?
• Audience participation technology
• Please return them at the end of the session.
  They cost me 40 bucks each if I come home
  without one! ?

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How Long have you been working in contact centres?

• Less than 5 years
• More than five years and less than 10
• More than 10 and less than 15
• Longer than I'd like to admit....
• Whats changed?

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What is Your Role?

• Contact Centre Senior Leadership
• Contact Centre Manager
• Supervisor or Team Leader
• Vendor
• Was just passing by and saw the food...

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What Was The Original Need for Contact Centres?

• It may be hard for some of us to remember that
  far back...

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The Changing Face of Contact Centres

• Never before in our history has it been so
  imperative that Canadian private and public
  sector organizations and their staff are
  empowered and equipped and to offer truly
  remarkable and innovative services.
• Managing customer relationships has become a core
  function of business within society. More than
  84 of the Canadian workforce is directly or
  indirectly working in the provision of service

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What Have Contact Centres Become?

• Strategic Asset
• CRM - As part of a customer centric strategy
  contact centers and their employees represent the
  face of the customer, the hub of the
  organization, and an indisputable strategic asset
  to the organization
• Represent the organisations brand to external
  customers
• Key environment for performance management
  standards and measurement
• Key role in change management especially with
  marketing and IT

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What Have Contact Centres Become?

• People and Processes
• Face of the customer within the organisation
• Training ground for the organisation at large
• Development environment for front line and future
  leadership
• Role model for teamwork and collaboration, and
  embracing cultural diversity
• Set the standard for documentation of process and
  efficiency
• Call handling processes, scripting, escalations,
  contingency planning and knowledge sharing

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What Have Contact Centres Become?

• Communications Technology
• Test environment for new IC technologies
• IC resource for customer focused technology
  needs based on customer requirements provided via
  call process mapping
• The keepers and managers of the knowledgebase and
  self service channels
• Hub for customer channels including inbound and
  outbound voice, e-mail, web collaboration and now
  text chat
• Critical resource for first hand customer
  experience data

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As you look to the future, what concerns you the
more?

• Customer retention
• Business Continuity
• Managing change
• Globalisation Reaching Global Markets Global
  Competition

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As you look to the future, what concerns you more
on this list?

• Employee acquisition retention
• Succession planning for your staff
• Keeping With Career Demands - Continuous Learning
  for you!
• Profitability
• Other

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What is The Future of Contact Centres

• First lets look at trends and factors that can
  impact that future and the
• Changing Face of Contact Centres

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Trends and Customers

• Customer are busier, have higher than ever
  expectations, and have no problem letting us know
  when they arent being met
• They are looking for respect
• They want personalized solutions to their needs
• They expect services and products that deliver
  beyond what is promised service that's
  remarkable!
• More demanding and educated customers
• Baby boomers seniors with lots of money and
  power
• Gen Y knows their rights, techno-savvy, brand
  disloyalty, connected

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Trends and Customers

• Customers want to use differing media types,
  based on
• Type of contact - complexity, urgency
• Situation - where, when
• Comfort with alternative technologies
• Integrated assistance remains a key component for
  many applications
• Privacy rules and legislation having significant
  impact
• Biometrics Voice print, ID Print, Retina scan
• A new generation that don't understand the
  importance of privacy

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Trends Customers

• Cost vs. Quality
• Increased customer expectations for quality, and
  low cost
• Providing consistent service across existing and
  new customer channels
• More pressure on companies to create profit while
  working with what they have, while dealing with a
  cautious and demanding consumer especially
  these days!
• Hey want to be part of the product and service
  development- AKA Wikipedia

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Trends The Workforce

• Educated, demanding, less loyal and rights savvy
  employee
• Increased costs of attrition
• Increased demand for higher skilled workforce
• New working models
• Consulting and global freelancing
• Bidding or distributive co-creation (outsourcing
  components of the business process to individuals
  or partners who work together on networks)
• Increased specialisation
• Fewer skilled entry level employees
• Increased dependency on immigration

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Trends Globalisation

• Increased competition and higher than ever
  service levels and standards
• Global customer - embracing other cultures and
  their values
• Lowered tolls and even accent modification allows
  companies to serve from anywhere in the world
• Outsourcing and increasing capabilities of second
  and third world countries while contending with
  China and European Union powerhouses
• Technologies have improved efficiencies in
  logistics for product fulfillment

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Trends Globalization

• Domestic demand for voice services in China,
  India and Southeast Asia will climb dramatically.
  Western-owned service providers will lag in
  meeting this demand because of management
  hesitation and cost issues.
• Several of the largest Indian outsourcing service
  providers will set up facilities in Pakistan to
  serve clients in the U.S., UK and the Gulf States
• In the world, population is soaring, resources
  are declining, communication is getting cheaper,
  homes more expensive.
• Continuing corporate consolidations

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Trends Globalization

• Remote agents will increase as gas prices and
  congestion make commuting impractical in many
  areas of the world.
• Aging workforces and special needs employees in
  the U.S. and the UK will provide additional
  opportunities for home agents as companies seek
  to reduce turnover and control costs.
• All these trends represent opportunities, and in
  some cases, will create a crises as well.

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Trends The Environment

• We have the choice, to sustain, to grow, or to
  destroy the environment that feeds us.
• Its not easy being green
• A green business is an ecologically-friendly
  business.
• It is not limited to any particular market it
  could be any kind of product for any market.
• Characterizesd by being run in such a way as to
  conserve natural resources, eliminate waste and
  remain ecologically in balance.
• Eco-Capitalism holds that organizations must be
  accountable for their performance in the
  consumption and production of natural capital, an
  economic term for the goods and services
  available from nature
• Is everyone bought in?

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Trends Technology

• Changing exponentially along with social change
• Access to knowledge becoming increasingly mission
  critical Use of complex knowledgebase
• CTI more important as agents are required to
  access more data and applications
• Increased use of hyper linked web tools
• Text Chat, Video Communications
• Customer Contact Centres are reaching out to all
  departments within the organization and
  vice-versa

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Trends and Technology

• Improved speech recognition and speech automation
  systems will allow call volumes to increase
  without concurrent increases in agent
  populations.
• Small chips can carry an identify tag which can
  remote, wirelessly identify you.
• How about a Security GPS in your credit card?
• The company database can store your credit card
  or bank account as tied to your identity.
• With the above, you can buy a product, and leave
  the store by just waving the wireless ID device
  across a scanner
• No line-up, cash, credit card, or pins!

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Trends Technology

• Convergence Access a companies web site
  wirelessly via your big picture television
• Vote for your favorite dancer online while you
  watch the television show
• You tube providing short video on every possible
  subject including what is? how to and where
  do I find provide opportunities for marketing,
  research, training, and more
• A world becoming increasingly wireless
  practically everyone now has a wireless device
• Unrelenting search for the next super application
• Expanding the frontiers of automation new and
  innovative strategies for self service,
  fulfilment from CTI to RFID

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Trends Life Online

• Social Networking
• Facebook
• Group Apps
• Twitter
• Business Networking
• LinkedIn
• Plaxo
• Text messaging what's with today's teens! ?
• Second Life An avatar social networking site
• There are creative opportunities in each of these
  for contact centres to improve service to
  specific channels.

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Trends and Life Online

• Real-time Internet-based feedback techniques are
  becoming popular, enabling customers to rate
  agents from Web sites with click-to-call
  capabilities.
• Blogs or online diaries, are expanding from
  personal thoughts into a community exchanging
  ideas on some topic.
• Huge progress in visual technology
• More 3D graphics and additional features for
  wireless devices
• App Store 99 cents an app for communications,
  GPS, games, productivity tools and more
• Use simulations to train staff on handling
  difficult customers, or clients on using complex
  products and without the expensive manuals.
• How about avatars?

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Trends and Life Online

• Avatar is a simulated personality, a cyber-agent.
• As programmers respond to the demand for more
  realistic human behaviour in avatars, they will
  necessarily create the technology to manipulate
  human trust via the results.
• An avatar commanded to end a conversation can nod
  its head, wave, and break eye contact.
• Users of such systems found them natural and more
  engaging, and they found their conversation
  partners to be more expressive.
• Your avatar is part of your
• personalization, and
• remembers your preferences.

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Trends and Life Online

• Virtual Shopping American Apparel opened
  its clothing store back in June. As well as
  browsing or buying the fashions on display you
  can also order a pizza or a case of beer!

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How do we manage all this change?
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Lets ask the group - In the following areas,
where do you have current active projects

• Training and Retention
• Telecom
• CRM
• Knowledgebase
• Self Service

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What Is Your Current Planning Cycle?

• 5-10 years
• 1-4 Years
• 3 months to 1 Year
• Not part of my job
• Planning, who has time?

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The opportunities are only bound by our
individual and organisational creativity, the
ability to understand the present and future
direction of social and technical change, and the
desire to be proactive in planning to capitalise
on these changes as a competitive advantage
So How Do We Manage All This Change?

• Here are a few considerations...

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Strategic Considerations

• Become Truly Customer Centric
• Know Your Market Well
• Lead with Values
• Consider customer privacy today and in the future
• Continuously Learn
• Constantly Innovate
• Embrace Change

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Strategic Considerations

• CRM hang on to the customers you have by
  strengthening the relationship make it
  remarkable!
• We can expect life-spans to increase with new
  technologies which means the value of CRM grows
  exponentially.
• What is your customer lifetime value and does
  everyone get it?
• Refine your target audience
• Recognize and empower ourselves and our teams to
  represent the customer within the organization
  don't accept any more excuses
• Consider foreign markets what are they doing
  over there and are we leaving the door open for
  future competition

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People Considerations

• Recruit for values Teamwork, Excellence,
  Respect, continuous learning, etc.
• Teach leaders how to lead
• Supervisors need to be Leaders
• Recognise individual differences and needs
• Create a coaching culture
• Communicate clearly, honestly and through the
  right internal channels at the right time
• Create a climate of pride in service excellence
• Inspire people to excel through modelling and
  enthusiasm

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People Considerations

• Agents need to be more technology-capable than in
  the past find the right ones to grow with and
  give them reasons to stay.
• Values and training must support the need for CRM
  skills required to interface with customers on
  and offline (through phone, Internet chat pages,
  collaboration programs, Web call-me pages,
  etc.), while updating company databases,
  answering phones, receiving faxes (at the
  desktop), etc.
• In their efforts to hire the best talent,
  companies need to consider a succession planning
  strategy Start working on this now!

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Process Considerations

• Develop a process for managing change and share
  it with your team and other departments get
  their buy in
• Get a reputation in the organisation as the
  customers Champion youve got the power!
• Complete Call Process Mapping and supporting and
  back office processes
• Effective Document Management
• Leverage information in creative new innovative
  ways
• Eg Ideagora.com, Amazon.com, CapitalOne
• From call types to contingency planning, Create a
  Playbook that captures all of your processes
  and policies into one electronic resource that
  you can update easily and regularly

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Technology Considerations

• Non Technical Managers Take the time to know
  and understand what you have that will help
  you, to help IT
• Use what you have, better
• Skills routing (Skill set routing Vectoring)
• CTI (Computer Telephony Integration
• Web integration
• Educate and prepare yourself to be the Business
  Expert on
• Internet tools and sites for communications and
  collaboration, along with other technology
  innovations
• Understand the challenges of IT and partner with
  them add value through your understanding of
  the business
• Buy what you need

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Whats the bottom Line?

• Creative leaders can use a broad spectrum of new,
  socially influenced technology-enabled options to
  craft their strategies. These trends are best
  seen as emerging patterns that can be applied to
  contact centre's in a wide variety of business
  verticals. Managers should reflect on which
  patterns may start to reshape their markets and
  industries nextand on whether they have
  opportunities to catalyze change and shape the
  outcome rather than merely react to it

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Please Take a Brochure About Our On Site Contact
Centre Training Programs E-mail me with any
questions or for a copy of this presentation!
terry.pruner_at_senecac.on.ca 416-435-6387
Thank You!
Thank You!
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References

• Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks How
  Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom,
  Cambridge, MA Yale University Press, 2006.
• Henry Chesbrough, Open Innovation The New
  Imperative for Creating and Profiting from
  Technology, Boston Harvard Business School
  Press, 2003.
• James Surowiecki, The Wisdom of Crowds Why the
  Many Are Smarter than the Few and How Collective
  Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and
  Nations, New York Doubleday, 2004.
• Eric von Hippel, Democratizing Innovation,
  Cambridge, MA MIT Press, 2005.
• C. K. Prahalad and Venkat Ramaswamy, The Future
  of Competition Co-Creating Unique Value with
  Customers, Boston Harvard Business School Press,
  2004. Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams,
  Wikinomics How Mass Collaboration Changes
  Everything, New York Portfolio Hardcover, 2006.
• Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class
  And How Its Transforming Work, Leisure,
  Community, and Everyday Life, New York Basic
  Books, 2004. Daniel H. Pink, Free Agent Nation
  How Americas New Independent Workers Are
  Transforming the Way We Live, New York Warner
  Books, 2001.
• Bradford C. Johnson, James M. Manyika, and
  Lareina A. Yee, The next revolution in
  interactions, mckinseyquarterly.com, November
  2005.
• Scott C. Beardsley, Bradford C. Johnson, and
  James M. Manyika, Competitive advantage from
  better interactions, mckinseyquarterly.com, May
  2006.
• Thomas W. Malone, The Future of Work How the New
  Order of Business Will Shape Your Organization,
  Your Management Style, and Your Life, Boston
  Harvard Business School Press, 2004.
• John Hagel III, Out of the Box Strategies for
  Achieving Profits Today and Growth Tomorrow
  through Web Services, Boston Harvard Business
  School Press, 2002.
• Claus Heinrich, RFID and Beyond Growing Your
  Business with Real World Awareness, Indianapolis,
  IN Wiley Publishing, 2005.
• Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David C.
  Robertson, Enterprise Architecture as Strategy
  Creating a Foundation for Business Execution,
  Boston Harvard Business School Press, 2006
• Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris,
  Competing on Analytics The New Science of
  Winning, Boston Harvard Business School Press,
  2007.
• John Riedl and Joseph Konstan with Eric Vrooman,
  Word of Mouse The Marketing Power of
  Collaborative Filtering, New York Warner Books,
  2002.
• Stefan H. Thomke, Experimentation Matters
  Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for
  Innovation, Boston Harvard Business School
  Press, 2003.
• David Weinberger, Everything Is Miscellaneous
  The Power of the New Digital Disorder, New York
  Times Books, 2007.

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Seneca Contact Centre Leadership Workshops

• Managing Change and Project Management
• Departments and Managers typically struggle with
  todays exponential growth in the rate of change
  and resulting requirements for continuous
  learning.  Identifying organisational impacts and
  human factors are commonly overlooked, while
  communicating project details can get lost in
  other organisation priorities.  Students learn
  how to identify opportunities, build a convincing
  business case, plan the details, communicate and
  successfully execute change.
• Optimizing Contact Centre Performance
• This interactive workshop shares with you the
  Fundamentals of Performance Management including
  management Strategies used in optimizing todays
  contact centres. Using the data from your ACD as
  well as industry best practices it outlines
  what should be measured and how to use this
  information to optimise quality and efficiency in
  your business. Performance Optimisation guru and
  Guest Lecturer Paul Wignal will provide the key
  to unlocking the complexities of performance
  metrics.

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Seneca Contact Centre Leadership Workshops

• Managing and Working with Different Personalities
• Join Sangeeta Bhatnagar, Human Behavior
  Specialist and GTMAA President in this invaluable
  session on understanding personality differences
  and the impact it has on behaviour, communication
  and leadership styles. Learn how this knowledge
  can have a tremendous impact in communication
  skills and leadership effectiveness. Upon
  completing this course students will be able to
  apply personality principles in interacting with
  others, practice and develop new insights into
  people along with realizing different
  perspectives and approaches to solving problems
  and handling situations.
• Recruiting, Hiring and Retaining Good People
• We have entered into times where finding the
  right people with the right skills has become
  more challenging than ever!  Learn about leading
  practices in recruiting, hiring and retention

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Seneca Contact Centre Leadership Workshops

• Creating Remarkable Service
• For customer facing, customer support, or
  managers looking to brush up on their internal or
  external customer service skills. Good customer
  service has become table stakes in this new
  order of global competition.  To retain and
  attract customers, every touchpoint has to be a
  remarkable event which leads customers to tell
  others about the great experience of dealing with
  your organization! This motivating and empowering
  one day session will challenge students to
  understand themselves, their customers and the
  dynamics necessary to create remarkable
  service!
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• Leadership Communications
• For recently promoted or existing supervisors or
  managers who are looking to expand their
  understanding of leadership requirements in front
  line customer care operations. This course
  provides a comprehensive understanding of
  leadership skills from goal setting and coaching
  to communications and decision making.
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• Process Documentation, Design and Improvement
• This hands on session focuses on the importance
  of documentation standards, developing a virtual
  playbook and tools that you can use immediately
  to document and improve the efficiency and
  consistent delivery of quality service.  The
  session includes an overview of Microsoft Visio,
  an exercise in call process mapping, and other
  leading practice analytical approaches to process
  design and improvement. Efficiency expert Turaj
  Seyrafiaan will share a lifetime of process
  analysis experience techniques and tools.  

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Seneca Contact Centre Leadership Workshops

• Strategic Planning for Contact Centres
• More than ever, the customer is truly our most
  important asset.  Strategic Planning for Contact
  Centres focuses on the critical importance of
  managing customer relationships and how to
  develop and communicate a customer centric
  strategy that will influence your organisation to
  think customer!  During this session students
  develop a customer centric strategy that reflects
  your organizations goals and values and keeps
  your contact centre team focused during
  challenging economic times.
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• IT for Non IT Managers
• You know your business well and yet you depend on
  technology experts to develop and implement your
  ISIT business solutions.  You dont need to
  program the software, or configure the network,
  but having a high level understanding of many
  communications and information technologies can
  help you to work with the Techs to select or
  optimise relevant systems.