cvr2_1 10/29/04 11:50 AM Page 2 cvr2_1 10/29/04 11:51 AM Page 3 s the publisher of the their core competency to high-quali- industry’s Number 1 ty, reputable and domestic outsourc- publication since 1982, ing teleservices companies. which laid the founda- • The future belongs, by and large, tion of the present to the companies that are customer- By: Nadji Tehrani, multibillion-dollar centric and those that focus on cus- Executive Group Publisher, contactA center/CRM industry, here tomer experience management. Technology Marketing are my visions for 2005: • To be successful in 2005 and Corporation LOOKING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL… out having an outstanding call cen- ter: 1. The functionality of an effective The Dawn Of A New sales department is nearly 100 per- cent, depending on the principles of outbound and inbound telemarket- Era In Fast-Growing ing. This is the undeniable fact of business survival regardless of what Contact/CRM Centers! the FTC thinks about it. 2. As we indicated above, the suc- • The future of our industry has beyond, the companies need to be cessful companies of tomorrow are never been better! able to think outside of the box, those that are customer-centric and • I see 10 to 12 percent growth in because innovation is the key to sur- those that focus 100 percent on cus- high-end B-to-B enterprise sector. vival. tomer experience management. As • I see 6 to 8 percent growth in B- • The successful companies of the such, none of these goals can be to-C, mostly in the financial services future are the ones that place far achieved without having a powerful, sector. greater importance on the quality of well-trained and professional call • I see 15 to 20 percent growth in customer service and customer care center. domestic outsourced teleservices as opposed to focusing on cheap 3. No CRM (define - news - growth, inbound and outbound labor. alert) can be possible without hav- combined. ing an effective and reliable call cen- • Early adopters of VoIP Justification For The Above Vision ter. (define - news - alert) (i.e., com- When the do-not-call directive 4. The credit collection depart- panies using IP contact center solu- came from the FTC, many people ment of every company depends 100 tions) will not only save 80 to 90 had the mistaken belief that call percent on having a successful call percent on telecom costs, but they center growth would be reduced center and no company can exist will drastically increase their techno- substantially. As it worked out, without having an effective credit logical superiority and capability nothing could have been further collection call center. over competition. from the truth, because the liveli- 5. In any environment, fund-rais- • Early adopters of speech tech- hood of every corporation, regard- ing is an extremely important part of nology will also benefit not only less of size or type of business, a civilized lifestyle. And…we all from 80 to 85 percent labor cost sav- depends on having an outstanding know that effective fund-raising sim- ings, but also, they will gain consid- call center that will support every ply cannot exist without an effective erable superiority in competitive facet of business. outbound call center. advantage and productivity. In short, no company can exist 6. The American Red Cross has • The other winners are the enter- without the following services, and proven time and again that effective prises that outsource what is not the following is not attainable with- blood donation drives for our sol- 2 CUSTOMER INTER@CTION Solutions® January 2005 Subscribe FREE online at www.cismag.com Go To Table of Contents | Go To Ad Index Digital ) Clear ) Efficient www.gnnetcom.com Introducing the first telephone amplifier to offer incoming noise canceling. With the growing use of mobile phones and open work environments, background noise from customer calls can impede agent productivity. The GN 8210 uses state of the art digital signal processing (DSP) technology to digitize and dramatically reduce the background noise. When paired with any GN Netcom noise canceling headset, the GN 8210 is also the first system to offer noise canceling on both the outgoing and the incoming signal. See all the enhancements that the GN 8210 offers and hear the difference for yourself: visit www.gnnetcom.com/stopthenoise/cs8 or contact us at 866-272-0805. GN 8210 with GN 2100 headset Go To Table of Contents | Go To Ad Index Customer Interaction Solutions magazine Size: full page, 8.125 x 10.875” Account Executive: Karl A. Sundstrom, 203-852-6800, ext. 119, [email protected] GN Netcom, Inc., 77 Northeastern Blvd., Nashua, NH 03062 Creative Services: David Deutsch, 603-594-4722 (office), 617-794-4538 (mobile), [email protected] ■ = Trim ■ = Bleed diers in Iraq and elsewhere, as well as ‘‘ for the civilian population, simply cannot be organized without an The successful companies of tomorrow are those effective call center. In fact, when I that are customer-centric and those that focus 100 was invited by the American Red percent on customer experience management. Cross to make a speech on telemar- keting with the members of the American Red Cross, the keynote 2004. The same is true for the out- duce outstanding call center serv- room where I made my presentation sourcing‘‘ companies (teleservices ices at even lower costs than off- was decorated with signs that read: companies) which are also reporting shore services and thus, they elimi- “Telemarketing is the link to life.” significant increases in business in nate the necessity of going offshore 7. The main ingredient of cutting- the latter part of 2004 and that and sending the lifeblood of our edge marketing today is integrated growth of approximately 15 to 20 companies, such as our customer marketing, and a major part of inte- percent seems to be a reality for 2005 databases and our customer service grated marketing depends heavily on and beyond (barring unforeseen and sales and marketing functions, the call center. developments). to foreign countries. It is unthink- In short, as I have outlined above, able that anyone would want to out- without exception or qualification, The Impact Of New Technologies source such vital functions as sales, no company can exist without all of Perhaps the greatest evolution in marketing, customer service and the above functions, and none of the the call center industry is that of CRM, not to mention parting with above functions are possible without emerging new technologies that have the lifeblood of the company, name- an effective call center. now become extremely functional ly, their customer database, to far- This is what convinces me every and useful for the success, survival away countries with considerable day of the week and every moment and rebirth of the call/contact cen- exposure to geo-political problems, of the day that our great contact cen- ter/CRM industry. not to mention language problems, ter/CRM industry is here to stay, Technologies such as IP contact cultural problems, rudeness, lack of and it will continue to prosper for center (define - news - alert) solu- proper management, fraud and wor- years to come. tions and speech technologies can rying about such extremely impor- The facts behind my predictions not only reduce the cost of telecom- tant matters as privacy and compli- for growth as stated above are not munications and labor by a com- ance with regulatory requirements based on an unemployed college bined 175 percent, but together, they (e.g., do-not-call list, etc.) And dropout who calls himself or herself will substantially enhance the ability above all, without having any assur- a market researcher (in my opinion, of contact centers to conduct their ance that their customers will be the findings of most market business in a far more cost-effective treated professionally. The more I researchers are practically useless to and technologically superior man- think about it, the more that valued those of us who really know what is ner. Both in customer service/CRM conventional wisdom comes to going on). Rather, my conviction and sales and marketing efforts, the mind, which says, “Don’t be penny- for the growth of the industry above technologies will give the early wise and pound-foolish.” comes from the only reliable source adopters a powerful competitive For more information on the that exists in our industry: day-to- advantage that cannot be matched above matters, I urge all of our val- day direct contact with the senior by any conventional technologies. ued readers to refer to my Publisher’s management of the call center Consequently, the most profitable Outlook columns for the last three industry, with whom I have a very leaders and market share dominators years to find considerable in-depth close relationship, since we helped of the future are those who embrace information on all of the above. to pioneer the contact center indus- these technologies immediately and try with our flagship publication differentiate themselves from their New Source Of Growth called Telemarketing® magazine back competitors. Another extremely As I have indicated in the last in 1982. Indeed, most manufacturers important benefit of the early adop- dozen or so editorials, the phenome- are reporting significant increases in tion of the above technologies is that nal business growth of several rep- sales, particularly in the latter half of they provide the capability to pro- utable teleservices companies has 4 CUSTOMER INTER@CTION Solutions® January 2005 Subscribe FREE online at www.cismag.com Go To Table of Contents | Go To Ad Index been so powerful that many are ‘‘ actually turning down business.