By
Brad Cleveland
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Date Published: December 09, 2024 - Last Updated December 09, 2024
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Comments
The contact center landscape is undergoing rapid transformation as we enter the new year. Customer needs and expectations continue to evolve, and technology is reshaping how we engage with and serve customers. Those who understand and act on emerging trends will be better positioned to deliver exceptional customer experiences and produce significant value. Here are five trends to watch:
1. A new wave of work
Much of the conversation on AI has been around the work it can do and jobs it might displace. I expect AI to reduce existing workload in many contact centers. It already is, and in some cases, dramatically. AI can sit alongside our agents to pull together knowledge, draft replies, guide and document conversations, and handle more interactions without agent involvement.
However, we can't miss the larger story. When browsers fueled the rapid adoption of the Internet in the 1990s, many pundits predicted an overall decline in contact center work. Similar predictions came with smartphones a decade later. What they didn't anticipate were the new types of work, customer demands and entire new industries these disruptions would enable.
"Once again, the contact center will be asked to step in and provide the customer service and support needed for a new generation of products and services."
AI is impacting every colleague, department, customer, industry and stakeholder. It is creating new customer demands. Once again, the contact center will be asked to step in and provide the customer service and support needed for a new generation of products and services.
2. A renewed focus on omnichannel
One of the surprises to many researchers and practitioners this past year was finding that Gen Z is often more likely to call contact centers than Millennials or Gen Xers. Yes, they start with self-service or chat, but they quickly move to phone if need be.
Gen Zers are calling, Boomers are using chat and video is bringing face-to-face interactions back in areas such as healthcare, banking and retail. All of this highlights the importance of rolling out the channels that make sense for customers and making things easy for them.
While most contact centers are multichannel, omnichannel (where channels work seamlessly together) is far less common. According to ICMI research, only 25% of contact centers are omnichannel. We're hearing whispers from many contact center leaders that it will be a priority in the months ahead.
3. Deep AI integration
Most contact centers are now using AI in one form or another. The question is not whether you are using or will use AI — it's how effectively you are harnessing its potential. Key steps include:
- Defining your goals for AI
- Updating your customer access strategy
- Integrating AI tools with other systems
- Managing data and privacy protection
- Training your team
Knowing the differences between AI and humans may sound like common sense, but the best contact centers will not take it for granted. They will work on defining clear roles for AI and employees to optimize their combined potential.
4. Culture-driven change management
The rapid transition to work-from-home staffing was just the beginning of changes that have included supply chain challenges, the rapid adoption of AI-fueled technologies and economic upheavals that will continue to impact customers. Contact centers have had to continuously adapt.
Gartner research finds that only 34% of organizational change initiatives are considered a "clear success." However, according to O.C. Tanner's 2024 research, the odds of successful change in people-centered organizations are 11 times better than in others.
Change rides on the shoulders of your team. Focusing on employee experience — and building a culture around the understanding that change will be constant — is the secret sauce. Leading contact centers will be powerful agents of change in the days ahead.
5. Leveraging strategic insight
Contact centers have the opportunity to serve as a set of eyes and ears for their organizations. When you capture and use the contact center's insight, you enable the entire organization to see trends, identify improvement opportunities, and innovate. This is especially important in seasons of significant change.
Leading contact centers are using robust voice-of-customer programs, AI-powered analytics to spot patterns in customer interactions and creating formal feedback loops with product development, marketing and other departments. They're also empowering agents to flag emerging issues and share customer feedback directly with decision-makers.