Member Article

Adapting contact centres for the younger generation

The Millenial Generation are easily the most demanding generation yet. They expect their needs to be met instantly. They communicate via numerous and “non-traditional” channels. A voice call is often the last thing they would use their smartphone for.

That’s because they are comfortable serving themselves instead of calling someone up for a simple task. They can often resolve limited technical problems far more quickly through Google than speaking to a technical expert.

The challenge for organisations of all sizes, both private and public sector, is to evolve their contact centres to stay relevant and of use to this increasingly important customer base. My advice, based on my 25 years’ experience of helping firms stay relevant to their customers, is below:

• Firstly, offer multiple channels of communication and find a way to keep a unified view across these. Call centres, online chat, social media venues, even smartphone apps should all form part of the channel mix.
• Ensure you provide the most applicable methods for customers to serve themselves. This is a win: win for the organisation and the customer, since self-service is the preferred method for Millenials anyway, and is generally more cost-effective to deliver.
• Don’t’ f*** it up! Call centres are often seen as the last resort for Millenials. So if a customer is calling in, it is because they have been unable to fix the problem themselves. Call centres therefore need people on the other end who can think on their feet, and/or have support scripts that are comprehensive enough to solve even the most complex of problems.
• Respect the data that customers may share. Internet natives are active sharers – they are used to sharing their shopping habits, photos, and even location with companies they know very little about. They are naturally very trusting. It is very easy for companies to over-step the mark and exploit this data. A culture of respect must be fostered in the call centre, backed up with safeguards to ensure data breaches don’t happen; otherwise unhappy customers and angry regulators will result.

Organisations who fail to adapt how they serve and support their customers risk becoming irrelevant to Millenials. Offering good levels of customer service means survival, but innovation means competitive advantage, so those who make the changes fastest have the best chance of reaping the rewards.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Azzurri Communications .