When the world changes, we can either try to deny it, or we can embrace it. The impact of COVID-19 will no doubt be far-reaching, bringing change to all aspects of society. But in the world of contact centres, that change has already taken place.
Let’s face facts, COVID-19 has forced unprecedented change upon businesses the world over. That change has not only disrupted the working day as we know it for many, but it is also likely to have lasting implications for all areas of an organisation. And the contact centre is no exception to this.
Change has already happened, it’s time to embrace it
In fact, the customer contact has already changed beyond all recognition, with 89% of UK contact centre leaders state that the COVID-19 crisis has changed the contact centre industry forever.
Firstly, customers have been forced to use the internet for everything – and it turns out, they like it. Customer experience (CX) is no longer just about answering emails and calls, unless you’re catering to a specific demographic. It’s all about providing a dependable and consistently great customer experience.
Secondly, companies that used to believe that working from home was a euphemism for “bunking off” or an opportunity for employees to slack without supervision, have since embraced home-working – mostly because there wasn’t really an alternative.
During the pandemic, 77% of contact centres had 50% or more of their employees working from home and found that it works. It turns out that if you trust your people, they have a habit of being trustworthy.
Whilst efforts are being made to enable workers to return to offices, with precautionary measures such as hand sanitiser and physically distanced workstations being introduced, the reality is that we won’t all be returning to the office.
Certainly, we won’t all be returning to the contact centre floor – we’re not all going to fit anymore. Contact centre buildings, with high desk occupancy and more people per square foot than general-purpose office space, can’t continue under new guidelines.
