The culture of client relations is undergoing an ample transition process. Until recently it was enough for companies to just answer client requests, but presently expectations are much higher – they must be extremely proactive in their efforts to offer memorable brand experiences and increase client loyalty in the long term.
Starting from these premises, the Competence Call Center company, the European leader in the Contact Center sector for over 14 years across 7 countries, organised its first ever press conference, bringing to the attention of the business community relevant trends, studies and statistics regarding outsourcing for 2013. Moreover, they also launched “Best Customer InterACTion – Creating Exceptional Experience in the Contact Center”, a version of the original book edited specifically for the local market. The volume brings to the spotlight valuable techniques and insights from renowned experts in Customer Service, and more.
The conference presented, for the very first time, news and strategic predictions in the Contact Center and Customer Experience sectors. Mystery Shopping Agency (a company founded by Expo Media) offered participants exclusive access to a 2012 study on benchmarking in Romanian Call Centers, focusing on seven important industries: telecom, banking health, insurance, cable, IT, retail and pharma. Here are some of the useful findings of the study:
Just one in four IT retail suppliers does not own IVR technology;
The first call to a self-care IVR center takes double the time to get connected to an agent compared to the usual call-in scenario.
Personal interaction with customers represents an extremely appreciated aspect even when positive reviews on the quality of the services and products were under 80%.
Telecom, banking and cable industries have recorded the best results.
In Europe, ECCCO (European Confederation of Contact Center Organizations) communicated in an official study the fact that there are 32.250 Contact Centers in Europe and presented some strategic insights for the Call Center industry for the next few years, such as:
Eastern Europe will record a significant increase of over 12%.
Central Europe will record a constant increase of over 5%.
The south of Europe will have growth potential of over 8% per year.
Wester and Northern Europe will record a 1 to 2% growth.
As speakers at the CCC conference, top specialists from Romania and abroad were present and had an important say in the conversation around the growth of the Contact Center industry:
• Maria Hoffrichter-Zanetti – Communications Management at the Competence Call Center
• Mădălina Vilău – Managing Director at Expo Media and Managing Partner at the Customer Service School
• Vincent Vanden Bossche – President of ECCCO and Managing Director at Call Communications.
“Best Customer InterACTion” showcases key externalization models of renowned brands across 7 industries. Here are just some of the brands presented in the CCC guide: Ryanair, SKY, Vaillant, Zalando etc.
Moreover, remarkable personalities, like Bill Price – former Amazon Manager, Arne Gillert – bestselling author or Thierry Muller – Senior Partner at Ernst and Young France have endorsed the project, alongside Customer Service leafders like Robert Murray, Manfred Stockmann, Vincent Vanden Bossche or Mădălina Vilău, which complete the CCC guide, offering valuable insights and concrete solutions for optimizing the Customer Experience journey.
