So Many Solutions, So Little Time
How should contact centers prioritize which new solutions to implement?
Based on our founders’ experience in previous roles building various contact center solutions, from voice and chat bots, to agent assist, to bot analytics, to agent analytics, to now voice augmentation, there are 5 common questions to understand when comparing call center solutions to implement.
The 5 Ways To Prioritize
Each of the 5 questions below requires careful consideration and often data from pilots that can be fed into a business case document.
1) Time to value
What`’`s the time for setup, customization, rollout of a new solution? If it is complex and requires a lot of customization then it might be years before the impact of the solution is felt. Call centers should look at comparable implementations and derive assumptions from those proxies.
2) KPI lift
Can impact be measured easily? In a reasonable time? Sometimes it is hard to measure the lift in key performance indicators (KPIs) because the solution provides subjective benefits, or benefits that are only measurable over months or years (e.g. customer churn). Those types of solutions are harder to justify in a business case compared to solutions whose impact can clearly be measured in hours or days. For example KPIs like average handle time, CSAT, NPS, callbacks, revenue, close rate, or lead transfer rate.
3) Cost
What`’`s the total cost including indirect ones like training, bandwidth? Sometimes in measuring the total cost of a solution certain indirect costs get left out. For example a new agent desktop solution might require training, which has a cost attached to it. Or might require extra bandwidth, which has to be calculated and included.
4) 2nd order effects
What are other benefits beyond the obvious ones? In making the business case for a new call center solution it is important to include additional benefits. For example, in the case of the Tomato.ai accent softening solution, other effects include growing the hiring pool of available in market candidates, reducing the need for accent classes, and (for BPOs) getting new accounts that otherwise would not hire offshore agents.
5) Rip & replace vs new type of solution
If the solution involves ripping & replacing an existing solution then what are remaining financial commitments with the previous vendor? Is there an early termination fee? What groups at the company would resist changing the existing vendors and how to win them over? It is much easier to implement a new type of solution where available.
Bottom Line
Ultimately when comparing call center solutions to implement a detailed analysis should analyze these aspects described above to provide a fuller picture of the benefits. Not putting enough thought into these aspects can make a seemingly lucrative solution in practice result in a much more costly project during the implementation and rollout phases.
