3CLogic's Contact Center Blog

Each New Year brings its own set of unique opportunities to the contact center space, both from a technological standpoint as well as an operational one. And as businesses continue to adopt the latest solutions and best practices to support their employees, customers, and organizations as a whole, many continue to run into challenges piecing everything together and making good use of it all. But what are some of the challenges contact centers are anticipating in the coming months? And how can businesses more effectively manage what they have and mitigate the risk of a potential issue? Let's check out the findings of Contact Center Pipeline’s recent survey, “Contact Center Challenges & Priorities”, revealing some of the biggest challenges for organizations today—and how to alleviate them in 2016.

The sales landscape has significantly evolved over the past few years as consumers become more informed and empowered, and alternative touch points continue to emerge. What was previously a process largely controlled by the seller, 57% of the purchasing decision is now made before an individual even contacts a business, something that has presented businesses with a number of challenges. And to keep up with the growing demands of the customers they’re serving, businesses have recognized the need to adopt a number of advanced solutions, from marketing automation, to CRMs and contact center software, in order to more effectively attract, sell, and retain their client base. So what are some of the solutions sales teams should be utilizing in 2016?

The contact center space is changing—so what should one expect in 2016?

1) Businesses will create a stronger alignment between sales, marketing, and customer service—and their corresponding technologies

Stronger alignment between sales, marketing, and customer service teams, and their corresponding technologies, will perhaps be one of the greatest opportunities for businesses to grow and monetize their existing relationships in the coming year. According to Aberdeen group, highly aligned organizations achieved an average of 32% year-over-year revenue growth, while their less aligned competitors saw a 7% decrease in revenue. But despite the astounding potential, only 8% of companies state they have tight alignment between sales and marketing (Forrester). With a heavy focus on understanding the entire customer journey, businesses will likely integrate more aspects of their business, from departmental data to SaaS solutions (marketing automation, CRM, contact center software), to help to ensure their employees are operating efficiently and are working with greater insight into their customer base in 2016. Check-out how our partner, W-Systems Corp., is helping organizations achieve this.

The retail industry has undergone a long list of changes over the past decade, as technology and consumer preferences continue to rapidly evolve. What was once an industry largely centered around brick-and-mortar store locations, the rise of Internet, multichannel communications, and SaaS solutions has quickly expanded retail into the virtual world. To put it into perspective, online retail is currently growing at a global rate of 19% per year. And as this has happened, brick and mortar store locations have slowly diminished—in fact, the amount of retail space opened annually has dropped from over 300 million sq. feet in 2010 to 43.8 million in 2013. And as consumers become increasingly connected, informed, and time sensitive, retailers have been forced to reevaluate their business processes/operations, shopping channels, and technology to meet the changing expectations of today’s tech-savvy shoppers.