The term “powerhouse” can mean a person, team, or organization that has a lot of energy, strength, or skill. In the world of business, a Contact Center has the potential to be a true “powerhouse.”
I have been in the Contact Center industry for decades and have watched it grow and evolve. What started as a new and often resisted part of business has become a critical component of how companies operate and connect with customers. The rise of Contact Centers coincided with the development of digital “voice” technology and the deregulation of industries like banking. These changes allowed companies to expand their services nationwide, creating a perfect match between business needs and new technology.
“I like to say it’s an attitude of not just thinking outside the box, but not even seeing the box.” —Safra A. Catz, Oracle CEO
Deregulation also led to interstate marketing, mergers, and acquisitions that forced companies to centralize operations. As a result, the emerging “Call Center” (now known as “Contact Center”) technology of the time became essential. In the early days, executives were excited about this new technology and invested heavily in it; this laid the foundation for the long-standing importance of Contact Centers within businesses.
Over time, enthusiasm and support from executives for Contact Centers has diminished. While there was a renewed interest during the pandemic, that excitement has faded. Many Contact Center leaders today lack strong executive advocates who can support and represent them. In some organizations, there are multiple layers of management between senior Contact Center leaders and executives, even though Contact Centers interact with and support many different business units.
To change this, Contact Center leaders must strengthen their relationships with executives and change the way their departments are viewed. Here are my thoughts on building your Contact Center into an operational powerhouse!
Building a Strong Foundation
A strong business foundation is built on operations, outcomes, and reputation, or what I like to call “visibility.” How others perceive your operation influences nearly every aspect of Contact Center management within the enterprise. We have all heard the phrase, “Marketing never told us!” This phrase highlights the importance of being closely connected to business drivers and the outcomes they produce. A well-designed set of outcomes not only supports growth and scalability but also ensures that the Contact Center’s value is recognized at the executive level.
To appeal to executives, you must go beyond simply reporting metrics. Include elements that illustrate business impact such as Customer Experience, efficiency gains or losses, and the relevance of technology systems. Instead of just presenting numbers, tell a story that illustrates how your operations contribute to the organization’s broader business goals.
Foundational Elements
A strong foundation is based on several requisite initiatives.
- Tie Outcomes to Customer Experience – Ensure that your stated outcomes and goals are closely linked to the Customer Experience. If these elements have not been clearly defined, take the initiative to do so. Gather a team for an hour to identify the top five Customer Experience elements that matter most, such as knowledgeable agents, accurate systems and information, single points of contact, and first-call resolution. Include this list in your next report and ask executives to approve your assumptions.
- Align with Business Goals – Assure that your Contact Center’s objectives align with the overall goals of the business. Show how your operations contribute to key outcomes (e.g., revenue growth, customer retention, brand reputation) to elevate the Contact Center from a “Cost Center” to a “Value Center.”
- Invest in Employee Development – Staff performance and morale directly impacts the Customer Experience. Implement comprehensive training and development programs to keep your team skilled and motivated. Happy and well-trained employees are more likely to deliver exceptional service that reflects positively on the entire organization.
- Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement – Encourage ongoing innovation within your team. Review processes regularly and look for opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the Customer Experience. Involve your team in identifying and implementing these improvements to boost both engagement and ownership.
Organizational Model
Once a strong foundation has been developed, it is critical to examine the Contact Center’s organizational model. Is it exactly as it has always been? The answer to this question demands a close evaluation. A typical or traditional Contact Center is structured via a wide variety of titles.
Typically, there is a Contact Center Director who oversees a Contact Center Manager, Workforce Manager (WFM), Quality Assurance (QA) Manager, and Training/Learning Manager. While this model has been effective in the past, it often falls short in terms of contemporary needs. These include scalability, collaboration, analytics, technology, and strategic alignment with broader business goals.
What started as a new and often resisted part of business has become a critical component of how companies operate and connect with customers.
Many Contact Centers have grown significantly with agent populations exceeding 100. Extended hours have become standard practice for many businesses and the rise of multiple locations and hybrid workforces has introduced new demands. Despite these changes, the traditional Contact Center organizational model has barely evolved.
No matter the size of the Contact Center, you can adopt a new model that determines the number of actual positions staffed vs. use of shared roles to accomplish contemporary operational goals.
It is time to take a hard look at whether your current organizational model is poised to support the future. The growth of Contact Centers and the increasing complexity of their operations call for a more robust structure that can accommodate ongoing changes and drive the Contact Center toward becoming an operational powerhouse.
Operational Structure and Processes
Contact Center leadership must optimize the operational processes that make the Contact Center a true powerhouse. I will define this view at a high level and focus on the operational aspects of the Contact Center organizational model.
Centralization of Key Functions
Regardless of Contact Center size, its operations encompass essential activities and processes that define the essence of Contact Center management: “getting the right number of people in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.” These operations shape the Customer Experience. So why separate them organizationally? Doing so often leads to more conflict than collaboration. Centralization allows for more focused oversight and better alignment of daily operations with strategic goals.
Business Operations Group
The Business Operations Group (BOG) centralizes operational activities and tasks and allows for improved analytics and collaboration. It typically houses Workforce Management (WFM), Quality Assurance, Training, and Technical Support units. Larger Contact Centers generally have a Senior Manager and a Manager for each unit, though that varies by size. The Business Operations Group Senior Manager reports to the Contact Center Director as does the Contact Center Senior Manager.
By centralizing critical functions under one leader, the Contact Center can more effectively tackle operational challenges, drive continuous improvement, and support scalability within and beyond the Center. While the internal benefits are clear, the most significant advantage is the ability to enhance Business Analytics cross-functionally. Traditionally, Workforce Management (WFM) has used analytics to interpret Contact Center metrics. This is important, though it is time to expand this perspective.
A strong business foundation is built on operations, outcomes, and reputation, or what I like to call “visibility.”
When Quality Assurance (QA), Training, and WFM work together, the ability to identify business processes, system issues, handoffs, transfers, and other friction points in the customer journey increases exponentially. This positions the Contact Center to provide specific and actionable recommendations for improvement both internally and cross-functionally.
This model offers numerous benefits, including enhanced communication and collaboration among units. It also establishes a single point of contact for all enterprise business units that rely on Contact Center services.
To Do List
I have highlighted several high-level “to do’s” to move you closer to powerhouse status.
- Encourage a Culture of Ongoing Innovation – Review processes regularly to find opportunities for improvement, whether via better Workforce Management, enhanced Quality Assurance, or more effective Training.
- Leverage Information – Focus on using collected data to provide relevant insights that are actionable across different departments. Contact Center currency is the valuable information you gather. Historically, Contact Center analytics has been provided by WFM analysts that traditionally focused on forecasting, staffing, scheduling, and intra-day queue/agent availability. While this focus is valid and needed, it is limited. Today’s Centers are ripe with unharvested information about the business. The power of WFM, QA, and Training working together is the ability to analyze the business itself. Who calls/contacts? Why? Contact duration? Levels of frequency/complexity? Required agents? Training demands? Market response to campaigns? The Business Operations Group works together to provide genuine business insights.
- Optimize Technology – Evaluate and improve how technology is deployed, utilized, and controlled in the Contact Center. Focus on how technology can positively impact the Customer Experience, improve operational efficiency, and ensure that reporting and information-sharing are as robust as possible. The BOG in larger Contact Centers really needs to get control of its technology. Make it a mission to get the WFM team trained and certified by whatever vendor tools they are using. IT departments are often reluctant to yield control of the ACD, call recording, or even the WFM tool itself. (I find this ridiculous as it often results in a lack of system optimization opportunities.)
- Advocate for Advanced Analytics – Invest in advanced analytics tools that allow you to predict customer needs, optimize staffing, and personalize customer interactions. Showing how these tools can enhance business outcomes helps solidify Contact Center value.
- Build Strong Cross-departmental Relationships – Strengthen your connections with other departments such as Marketing, Sales, and IT. Collaboration across departments ensures that the Contact Center is fully integrated into the company’s broader business strategy and can respond quickly and nimbly to changes or challenges.
By focusing on both organizational structure and operational excellence, Contact Center leaders can transform their operations into a powerhouse that drives business success and garners recognition as an essential asset to the enterprise. Reframe your Contact Center as a powerhouse of scalability, capability, and profitability!