Special global call center outsourcing summit highlights.

Rich Tehrani, President and Group Editor-in-Chief, TMC 

William Durr Jr., Chief Evangelist, Blue Pumpkin 

RT: Lately, it's very fashionable for industry analysts to claim that CRM was a huge failure. Do you agree? If not, where do you lay the blame for companies not experiencing what they thought they would with CRM implementations?

WD: CRM a huge failure? No. Did CRM generally meet the expectations set by overzealous vendors? No. Did CRM deliver significant benefits? Yes. The problems with CRM tend to lie chiefly with the users. That said, shame on the vendors for portraying the problem as solvable by technology alone. The truth, as it is perceived now, is that CRM was never a product initiative at all. It was and is an enterprise strategy. Companies that did not realize that the full potential from their investments in CRM technologies fall into one or both of two camps: (1) those who believed that technology alone could transform their operations and (2) those who grossly underestimated the contribution of enabled, trained, motivated agents to a successful CRM initiative. The biggest trap that firms fell into was wanting to believe that they could wrap expensive, complex technologies around quite ordinary agents, and achieve quite extraordinary results.

RT: Though everyone seems to agree that a customer's contact information and history with a company should be linked across all media, we all know from our daily dealings with our banks, insurance companies, wireless providers, etc., that this is not the case. What do you think is the reason for the resistance many companies have toward transforming their call centers into multimedia knowledge centers?

WD: Companies are organic. They grow and evolve over time, like the people inside them. No company ever sets a goal for itself to create functional silos. They just happen as the company grows and changes. Even today we see contact centers creating a separate group to handle e-mail, apart from the voice calling. Why? Running a voice center successfully is, Frankly, hard enough. Adding e-mail processing to a precarious voice center is asking for massive disruption and troubles. So, it's quite natural for these functional silos to appear. After a company gains some experience with and mastery over new processes, the reason why seamless integration still doesn't occur has to do with the costs associated therein. In this lackluster economy, unless the lack of seamless integration presents the enterprise with serious pain, the money required to create multimedia knowledge centers simply will not be allocated.

RT: Why are so many companies and agencies reluctant to begin using home-based or virtual agents? It seems like such an ideal situation and a cost-cutting idea, in addition; but TMC research tells us that few teleservices providers are making use of home-based agents. What technologies need to come on board before companies will be tempted to take the "center" out of "call center"?

WD: All the technologies required to implement virtual contact centers exist and have been proven. A perfect example is JetBlue, which has hundreds of agents handling reservations and related transactions and every one of them works from home. My opinion is that the only reason more companies have not moved in this direction has to do with the archaic attitudes and practices of the management team. It's as if these managers actually believe that if they can't see and touch the agents, that they can't manage them. Totally flawed logic. Even when agents are in a center, most managers assess and manage their performance by staring at computer screens, reading printed reports and performing remote monitoring. Whether the agent is across the room or across the country is irrelevant.

RT: Are the FTC's new rules regarding outbound calling and dialers realistic, and how will this rule affect the business of your customers who perform outbound work? Are the new compliance rules created by the Telemarketing Sales Rule too draconian to comply with?

WD: You can answer this question better by turning the question around. Why would telemarketers want to waste their time calling people who absolutely don't want to speak with them about anything? At the core of this issue is a simple realization. Too many telemarketing programs substitute activity for accomplishment. It's too easy to say that we dialed a million potential buyers but the offer was lousy so we only obtained a "take" rate of half a percent. That is merely activity. Instead, structure highly targeted programs that deliver results.

RT: Collaborative browsing, form sharing and integrated push technology are very sexy technologies, but are they more flash than substance? Are call centers really dedicated to using them (and using them well) or are they the kind of features that appeal initially but fade to the back of the shelf after a few months?

WD: I believe these technologies are compelling, and can yield dramatic results. However, they all depend on a mass market that is enabled with broadband technologies. While broadband has made significant progress, most consumers still access the Web using dial-up technologies. Slow-speed Internet access is simply not conducive to the kind of experience that co-browsing and the rest can deliver. In addition, people are slow to change with respect to shopping behaviors. It will take a little more time and experience for most people to find these modes of interacting compelling and interesting enough to achieve break-through.

RT: How have more sophisticated recording and monitoring techniques improved the contact center experience for consumers?

WD: These technologies enable center management to focus on addressing weak spots in agent proficiency. Let's admit that being a world-class agent is extremely difficult. Even with excellent initial training, agents naturally emerge with holes in skill and knowledge. Monitoring and recording technologies permit management teams to identify those unique holes in each agent and devise targeted remedial training for each. In this manner, the entire agent team becomes more skilled, professional and capable of delivering upon the higher expectations of today's customers.

Rich Tehrani, President and Group Editor-in-chief, TMC

Geoff Burr, President and CEO, Castel, Inc.

RT: Lately, it's very fashionable for industry analysts to claim that CRM was a huge failure. Do you agree? If not, where do you lay the blame for companies not experiencing what they thought they would with CRM implementations?

GB: I agree that most CRM attempts were largely failures because of the premise of CRM implementation that required businesses to reengineer their systems. CRM is great in theory; but in reality these applications largely ignored training and corporate culture issues related to reengineering a business. Employees ended up resenting the solutions because they represented a radical change to the way they were operating. CRM can be successful if its implementation is evolutionary instead of revolutionary. The change has to be a gradual one, or it will likely end up a waste of money and time.

RT: Though everyone seems to agree that a customer's contact information and history with a company should be linked across all media, we all know from our daily dealings with our banks, insurance companies, wireless providers, etc., that this is not the case. What do you think is the reason for the resistance many companies have toward transforming their call centers into multimedia knowledge centers?

GB: "Multimedia knowledge centers" haven't been realized because the theory ignores the fact that different communication media require different skill sets. In concept, having access to information of various media seems to be entirely beneficial to the call center. Most attempts to move in this direction have assumed a seamless flow of agents and information, allowing all agents to handle every kind of call. Again, the process of going multimedia must be a gradual one. You must find out which agents are strong in varying areas and assign tasks accordingly. The information is still in the center, but the way it is handled must be managed carefully.

RT: Why are so many companies and agencies reluctant to begin using home-based or virtual agents? It seems like such an ideal situation and a cost-cutting idea, in addition; but TMC research tells us that few teleservices providers are making use of home-based agents. What technologies need to come on board before companies will be tempted to take the "center" out of "call center'?

GB: I believe agencies are reluctant to use virtual agents for two reasons. First, there is a technology barrier for most centers. Most legacy systems do not provide the technology necessary to enable what Castel calls "agent anywhere" capabilities. If the capability is not built-in, centers will hesitate to upgrade. Secondly, it is difficult to monitor, manage and QA remote agents. It is the same type of issue many companies have with remote employees; management is much more difficult to perform.

RT: Are the FTC's new rules regarding outbound calling and dialers realistic, and how will this rule affect your industry? Are the new compliance rules created by the Telemarketing Sales Rule too draconian to comply with?

GB: I believe the FTC regulations are realistic; they can be complied with instantly with the right technology. Without rules such as the recent FTC regulations, I believe the outbound call center will die from its own weight. Our research shows that 60 to 70 percent of live contacts hang up on calls generated by a machine when they encounter the "dead air" characteristic of dialers. Such a loss of potential business is sure to damage the call center more and more as time goes on. That is a far more compelling issue for call centers than the FTC rulings.

RT: Collaborative browsing, form sharing and integrated push technology are very sexy technologies, but are they more flash than substance? Are call centers really dedicated to using them (and using them well) or are they the kind of features that appeal initially but fade to the back of the shelf after a few months?

GB: The "flashy new" productivity tools can be useful, but they are more icing than cake. Call centers need to solve fundamental plumbing issues in both inbound and outbound realms before worrying about "above and beyond" capabilities.

RT: How have more sophisticated recording and monitoring techniques improved the contact center experience for consumers?

GB: All forms of QA techniques, when properly applied, can improve the consumer's experience. Recording and monitoring capabilities, implemented in a reasonably seamless manner, ensure that agents are aware of the need to abide by company policy. Much as a state trooper at the side of the highway is a deterrent to speeding, the knowledge that monitoring tools are in place deters agents from shading the truth and cutting corners.