By: Brynn Palmer – Customer Experience Doctor

The promise of Workforce Optimization to improve enterprise performance and lower operating costs makes it the new darling of the contact center world.  And why not?

The ability to collect and act on enterprise data validates the contact center’s role as a strategic business unit.  For those of us who have lived the contact center life of being considered “a cost center”, this is a victory long in the making.

While I celebrate the opportunity Workforce Optimization holds for the transformation of the contact center, the greatest victory is reserved for the customer.  

According to a recent American Express Global Customer Service Barometer, nine in ten Americans (91%) consider the level of customer service important when deciding to do business with a company.  But only one-quarter (24%) believe companies value their business.  In essence, the majority of customers have no faith in a company’s interest in a long term relationship; although 86% indicated they would “stick around” after a bad experience if their prior experiences had been positive. Nine %, the study shows, will even spend more with companies that provide excellent service.

A Workforce Optimization suite is uniquely positioned to answer the consumer’s cry for a personalized experience that fills the loyalty gap.  A typical WFO suite includes tools for workforce management, quality monitoring, coaching and eLearning, performance management, surveying and speech analytics.   These elements allow the contact center to move away from the traditional, “How long did you talk?” Average Handle Time and “Were you nice?” Quality Score mentality to an actionable insight environment that can nurture a long term relationship regardless if the consumer is purchasing from a Boomer, Gen-X or Millennial perspective.

Through the power of analytics, customers are no longer forced through the well intentioned labyrinth of a company’s “best educated guess” of service.  Companies now have the power to service customers based on how the customer wants to be served.  This is the new secret sauce for contact center success in a multi-channel consumer market.

For those fearful Workforce Optimization may be the next CRM trend or wreck havoc on your IT budget and career, relax.  Industry giant Avaya recently launched Avaya Aura™ Contact Center to “help a business understand the full context of a customer interaction – including the customer’s mode of communications, history and present needs”.  That’s WFO folks.

The foundation for the Avaya Aura™ Contact Center WFO Solution is based on technology from Verint.  Long before it was trendy, Verint was evangelizing a 360 degree view of the customer experience and incorporating what at the time were non-traditional elements such as customer feedback and analytics into the contact center environment.  This marriage of an industry workhorse (Avaya) and its nimble, forward thinking partner (Verint) validates WFO isn’t a trend, but a high-value migration for companies who want to remain competitive.

Customers are waiting and eager for long term relationships and are chanting for companies who are willing to deliver.  They are even willing to pay more for the experience.

The question you must answer:  Will they be chanting your name or the name of your competitor?

Data Source:
American Express Global Customer Service Barometer