Article 2 of 3

Insurers have long since leveraged data and analytics to gain actionable insights and drive operational improvements. After all, data is at the heart of underwriting, pricing and claims management. Advanced analytical techniques are being increasingly used to analyse large volumes of data, identify patterns, and optimise processes. Insurers are employing predictive analytics and AI for claims forecasting, fraud detection, and risk assessment, allowing them to make data-driven decisions and streamline operations. These run hand in hand with the operation itself and it’s critical the teams work closely together, especially when outsourcing is involved. Insurers are gaining strategic advantage in several ways. Here are some examples:

1. Enhanced Risk Assessment

By leveraging vast amounts of structured and unstructured data, insurers can refine their risk assessment processes. Advanced analytics and AI models analyse historical data, market trends, customer behaviours and external factors to improve risk prediction and pricing accuracy. This enables them to identify profitable segments, develop targeted products, and optimise underwriting decisions.

Insurers rarely let go of this core competence and fully outsource, so if the demand surfaces, it’s likely to be augmenting rather than replacing the mother ship’s in-house capability.

2. Fraud Detection and Prevention

Insurers are employing data analytics and AI algorithms to detect and prevent fraudulent activities. By analysing data patterns and anomalies, insurers can identify suspicious claims, behaviours or patterns that indicate potential fraud. Advanced fraud detection models help insurers mitigate financial losses, improve operational efficiency, and protect honest policyholders from inflated premiums.

Typically, outsourcers work across industry verticals and so bring a distinct advantage in terms of sharing learnings from one business sector to another.

3. Personalised Customer Experiences

By analysing customer data, insurers are gaining insights into individual preferences, behaviours and risk profiles, allowing them to tailor products, pricing, and services to specific customer segments. This level of personalisation enhances customer satisfaction, improves retention rates (increasingly important after the pricing reforms) and drives customer loyalty.

In an industry challenged with differentiation beyond brand recognition and price, personalisation is ever more important to the policy holder.

4. Process Optimisation

Of course, the need to identify and eliminate inefficiencies, reduce waste, and enhance operational performance doesn’t go away just because you enhance your technical capabilities elsewhere. Techniques such as Lean Six Sigma continue to be used to analyse processes, identify bottlenecks, and implement improvements. Reengineering processes to simplify and automate workflows, reducing cycle times and enhancing overall operational effectiveness will continue.

Through the use of process mining (we rate this software highly) and analysis, insurers can identify bottlenecks, eliminate inefficiencies, and create a pipeline of opportunities, driven by date, primed for automation.

If you would like to discuss further the challenges in the Insurance sector, the benefits of data analytics, AI and insights or generally about any of the points raised, feel free to contact us hello@contactcentrepanel.com

Watch out for the next article in the series considering the impact of Talent Management and Skills Gaps.

Missed our latest payments webinar? Not to worry, we thought we would provide you with a quick recap of what you missed.

The Panel

We were joined by a super panel of industry experts that included:

Topics Discussed

The panel covered a range of topics during the session, including questions from our live audience. Some of the pertinent talking points included:

  1. Why does PCI DSS apply to contact centre outsourcers?
  2. How does an outsourcer certify their PCI DSS compliance?
  3. What is the downside if the client does not ask about our compliance?

Content to catch up to

Hit the button below to get access to a recording of the session.

Working in collaboration with Insight and Design Group (IDG), we put to you a series of articles to help support your understanding of the potential challenges currently being faced in the Insurance sector. IDG have used their experiences from the strategies they have helped develop and execute in the Insurance Industry, supporting executive teams as they faced into wave after wave of challenges over the last 25 years.

Article 1 of 3

From the ancient maritime trade routes to bustling modern cities, the concept of insurance has been ingrained in society for centuries. While the formal insurance industry as we know it today emerged in the late 17th century, the fundamental principles of risk mitigation and financial protection can be traced back to ancient civilisations. Throughout its storied history, the insurance industry has weathered storms, adapted to changing landscapes, and stood as a pillar of resilience in the face of uncertainty.

But where is the industry today, what challenges are being navigated and where is the C-Suite focussing their attention in the unchartered economic environment we’re all facing into?

Collaboration through partnerships

The industry hasn’t historically been particularly revered for its cutting-edge innovation. However, to give it credit, it has evolved and continues to launch new products and services as customer expectations change, driven by advancements in technology and the rise of a digital native population. Policyholders expect personalised experiences, seamless interactions, and simplified processes. Insurers are embracing customer-centric approaches, enhancing digital capabilities, and delivering tailored products and services to meet these expectations.

At IDG, we have led the charge in collaborating through outsourcing key components of customer and technology fulfilment, both overseas and in the UK. We have identified and deployed the lowest cost territories with incredible success, at scale and, we have invested in emerging territories to service the ever highly demanding UK customer. We did this through partnership with the outsourcing industry, to great effect. Entering a new territory is not easy, it requires a clear vision, strategy and investment in a leadership team that will stay the course. Finding the right partner for a time horizon that will surpass the 5-year mark is not easy, particularly on the back of a desk top exercise and a handful of face-to-face engagements to find the right partner.

An insurer’s search for an outsourcer should focus on a partner with ‘Digital Operations’ at the core of their service – a partner that can build and operate an efficient and effective human operation with a technological core to its DNA. The relationship management optics should shift from a ‘supplier’ orientation to one that forms strategic partnerships and ecosystems to enhance operational capabilities.

Collaborating with insurtech start-ups, technology vendors, and data providers allows insurers to access specialised expertise, innovative solutions, and advanced technologies. These partnerships facilitate the implementation of new operational strategies, enhance digital capabilities, and drive efficiencies. The more you can source from a single provider, the less friction and commercial tension there is – albeit there can be a sacrifice in terms of not sourcing ‘the best of everything’ in one go.

Selecting the right partner to outsource to

We’ve picked our top criteria we would encourage buyers to consider when selecting the right partner to outsource to:

1. Finding the technological edge: many insurers have moved from outdated legacy systems that hinder operational efficiency, agility, and innovation. Other Insurers are currently adopting strategies to modernise their IT infrastructure by migrating to cloud-based platforms, implementing scalable and flexible core systems, and leveraging emerging capabilities. This allows them to streamline processes, enhance data integration, and accelerate product development.

In our experience, these advancements need to run hand in hand with Claims and Customer Operations, and so the insurer must select an outsourcing partner that can seamlessly run the human operation alongside the technology enablers as one ‘digital operation’. It’s not easy to do, and so picking a partner that can reach into their estate vs sourcing ‘too many’ 3rd parties will both increase the prospects of a successful deployment as well as enable a better commercial proposition to be achieved. Here’s a few examples of the capabilities to look out for, having developed and integrated these alongside the core operations ourselves.

2. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Intelligent Automation: insurers have been embracing basic RPA automation to streamline repetitive and manual tasks – like claims processing, policy administration and underwriting – for a number of years now, but with mixed success. Automating the routine tasks reduces errors, enhances operational efficiency, and frees up resources to focus on more value-added activities. But, capability is progressing rapidly and the real gains, through the use of AI and complementary technology, is enabling automation where data is unstructured, decisions are less rule based and the actions needs a level of interpretation. AI-powered claims automation systems can assess claims, validate information, and make accurate settlement decisions.

It comes down to the ‘make vs buy’ quandry and at the pace this capability is evolving, it’s increasingly difficult to stay at the forefront of the capability without buying it in from a partner.

3. Customer Self-Service and Digital Channels:

Insurers continue to provide customer self-service options through digital channels whereby policyholders can access policy information, register claims, make payments and so on. By empowering customers in this way, insurers are reducing the reliance on traditional channels, and as by products, both improve customer satisfaction and achieve cost savings.

It’s not easy though, insurance ‘cases’ aren’t always ‘once and done’ and the capability takes time to develop and pass the stringent standards necessary to satisfy the regulators. Digital transformation for insurers is more evolutionary than revolutionary, given the complexity, so the course can be long and you need to be confident in your chosen partner’s ability to innovate their own capability….they must have a proven track record of innovation themselves.

4. Digital Claims Processing: Insurers are digitising and streamlining claims processing workflows to expedite settlements, reduce administrative costs, and improve customer satisfaction. By implementing digital claims management systems, insurers can automate claims intake, enhance data validation, enable electronic document management, and facilitate seamless collaboration between claims adjusters and stakeholders.

Be mindful of a provider’s offering though: ‘Straight through processing’ of claims is achievable but, in our experience, it is harder to replicate this holy grail across many claims processes.

If you would like to discuss further the challenges in the Insurance sector, the benefits of collaborating in strong partnerships or generally about any of the points raised, feel free to contact us hello@contactcentrepanel.com

Watch out for the next article in the series considering the role of Data Analytics, AI and Insights.

Wednesday 5th July, 11:00 – 12:00 (BST)

Whilst we discuss why the PCI DSS applies to contact centre outsourcers, we will also shine a light on what the benefits are to you in delivering a secure payments capability, including enabling your clients to take more payments from more customers, more often, more easily and at less cost.

Points for discussion include:

• Why does PCI DSS apply to contact centre outsourcers?
• How does an outsourcer certify their PCI DSS compliance?
• What is the downside if the client does not ask about our compliance?
• How creating a competitive advantage for clients will win you more business.

The session will be based on pre-circulated content, shared on event registration, enabling you to get actively engaged in the conversation with our panelists

Meet the panel

Jeremy King

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VP, Regional Head for Europe,
PCI Security Standards Council

[/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”1″ divider_color=”default”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1639756841207{padding-right: 75px !important;}”]Jeremy leads the Council’s efforts in increasing adoption and awareness of the PCI security standards internationally. He works closely with the Council and representatives of its policy-setting executive committee from American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard and Visa. Jeremy serves as a resource for Approved Scanning Vendors, Qualified Security Assessors, Internal Security Assessors, PCI Forensic Investigators, and related staff in supporting regional training, certification and testing programs.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=”padding-3-percent” column_padding_position=”right” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” width=”1/2″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][image_with_animation image_url=”27797″ alignment=”” animation=”Fade In” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”50%”][vc_column_text]

Andrew Barratt

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VP Technology & Enterprise Accounts,
Coalfire

[/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”1″ divider_color=”default”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1687251077941{padding-right: 75px !important;}”]Andy Barratt has over 20 years of experience in IT and cybersecurity assurance. He leads delivery teams across a number of high-risk verticals including financial services, FinTech, and telecoms, advising on the complexities that are involved with the PCI DSS self assessment or audit processes. Andy is also a member of the Forbes Technology Council and a frequent media spokesperson both in the US and internationally.

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John Greenwood

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Director, Compliance3 and
Head of Technology & Payments,
Contact Centre Panel

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John is an innovative, award-winning contact centre specialist recognised for his ground-breaking work in securing telephone payments and his collaboration with the PCI Security Standards Council in drafting the PCI SSC Information Supplement Protecting telephone-based payment card data. He has supported over 50 PCI scope reduction projects, giving him a unique insight into the applicability of the PCI DSS in contact centres, the contact centre supply chain and the technology provider landscape. As Technology Lead and Payments SME at Contact Centre Panel, John will chair our event from a contact centre outsourcers and technology providers standpoint.

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Who should attend?

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Today, it’s more important than ever before that enterprises deliver a world-class customer experience for their target audiences. A great CX builds brand loyalty, adding significantly to total customer lifetime value and turning casual customers into word-of-mouth evangelists.

The challenge is that many businesses still struggle to make effective use of their data to help them understand their customers and deliver a highly personalised, interactive experience based on that knowledge.

Earlier this year, analyst firm Corinium Intelligence surveyed data-focused executives from 100 global enterprises about their efforts to create world-class digital customer experiences. The resulting report, entitled How Data is Driving Next Generation Customer Experiences, revealed the top challenges facing global CX brand managers and how the world’s most innovative business leaders are working to overcome them.

Here’s a summary of some of the key findings from that report.

Macroeconomic Challenges Hamper Efforts to Improve CX

The past several years have been volatile, to say the least. The COVID pandemic had massive implications for the global economy, prompting the closure of many brick-and-mortar stores and accelerating digital transformation and cloud adoption in the retail space.

As companies shift into post-pandemic recovery mode, many of the broader economic challenges that originated during the pandemic persist. Supply chain performance has improved, yet the availability of many products and raw materials remains uncertain. Costs are rising. Many companies find it difficult to hire and retain skilled workers.

As a result, automation and cost savings have been key areas of focus, eclipsing efforts to improve overall CX. The Corinium study found that 79% of global CX leaders viewed cost savings as the highest priority, and 74% were focused on a return to “business as usual” in the wake of the pandemic and its aftermath. Many CX leaders feel as if they are merely treading water, rather than moving forward with initiatives that lend strategic value to their organizations.

Harnessing Data for Next-Gen Customer Experiences

The solution is the intelligent application of data. The Corinium study found that only 37% of organisations surveyed have a well-developed enterprise data architecture capable of supporting high-quality, data-driven, and personalized CX.

The companies surveyed by Corinium rated the quality of their CX at an average of 6.7 out of 10. That means most organisations see plenty of room for improvement. Using data to drive a personalised CX is an obvious winning strategy, but many are still poorly equipped to turn that potential into a reality.

The Corinium report outlined seven key business benefits of a data-driven approach to CX. Better targeting and personalisation capabilities, for example, deliver the right messages to the right people at the right time. When companies communicate relevant, timely information, their messages are simply more likely to get through. A holistic data-driven approach increases conversion rates as well, and it improves the customer journey across multiple channels within a company’s omnichannel landscape.

Data Quality and Data Governance Are Key

The authors of the Corinium report noted that problems with data quality and data governance hamper efforts to move forward aggressively and effectively with key initiatives aimed at improving CX. Data accessibility is the number one barrier to creating data-driven customer experiences. Lack of relevant or current data comes in second place.

Legacy systems and a lack of integration are frequent root causes of these problems. Many organizations also lack the kind of current, high-quality data for enrichment, including mobility and geospatial information that add powerful context alongside existing customer data.

Great CX is dependent on a unified and coherent approach to customer communications, yet 56% of respondents in the Corinium study agreed or strongly agreed that siloed, uncoordinated communications prevent their companies from delivering seamless digital experiences for their customers.

Proactive programs to manage data quality at scale are a necessary precursor to personalised, targeted digital CX. Data governance ensures information can be effectively accessed across the internal organisational boundaries that often stand in the way of effective data access.

CX Investments Are on the Rise

According to the CX leaders who responded to Corinium, most have made significant investments in customer communications over the past two years, or they plan to do so in the near future. The most popular initiatives include text messaging technology, customer relationship management software, and omnichannel communications platforms. Data integrity is also a high priority for top global brands, incorporating enterprise integration to eliminate silos, data quality to ensure accuracy and completeness, and data enrichment to provide richer, more valuable context.

To learn more about trends in customer experience management and next-generation CX, download the full Corinium report today.

As we move into the endemic and markets recover, businesses are looking to optimise their contact centre operations. Selecting the right customer engagement technology solution has become crucial. Cost effective customer acquisition and a reduction in ‘cost to serve’ are both desirable goals but achieving them can be a challenge if you don’t have a true understanding of available technologies and their alignment to your existing environment.

We asked a number of leading industry experts a range of questions on the impact of the Bot and the types of technology that are available to underpin operational performance, including the difference in programmable products vs those that have minimal learning input before effectively replacing their human equivalents.

Will AI and Bots take over from humans as the point of contact for customers?

Natalie Calvert is the founder of CX High Performance, she has worked with over 100 companies to improve results and credits the Covid pandemic with accelerating technological change: “The bot will be the biggest disruptor of customer contact. Covid has driven digital transformation and has turned things around from the pyramid of contact being voice – email – chat before the pandemic to chat – email – voice’. Huge numbers of people have been forced or encouraged to be much more comfortable online.”

Natalie continues: “Hybrid working is also going to change our sector considerably… It has highlighted the massive gap in knowledge management. In the office, agents can put their hand up to request help. At home in the kitchen, there is nobody available to give that assistance. We have seen a rise of complaints and a lot of employee wellbeing issues can be put down to the stress that’s involved in working in isolation.”

She concludes: “The third big disruptor has to be Bots. AI will change how we’re operating. Not just from the customer point of view by making things easier, quicker and faster but also from an employee experience. The routine transactional stuff, which makes up around 50% of the workload for most organisations, will all start to move and the Bot will be the big disruptor. To run a piece of tech at a cost of £2 per hour for a bot, compared to ten times or more than for a human being, opens up the chance to reimagine what we’re doing and how we use our people and technology. This is key for us, our customers and our organisations.”

Nathan Smith is the MD and founder of Gabba, an organisation that builds chatbots to drive leads, handle customer service and reduce costs. He agrees with Natalie:

“If you want to see what’s happening and what the future holds, look at how people are communicating. If you’re under 35 right now, your primary channel is chat. In the next five years, this will only increase, regardless of demographic or location. Chat includes SMS, Whatsapp, Messenger and other apps across the board. Companies trying to engage without a chat provision are going to struggle.”

Nathan explains: “Many of us will remember that there was much argument about what used to be called Digital 2.0, which we now call Social Media. Some organisations wrongly thought it was never going to affect them.”

He adds: “If you are under 18, you might well prefer to peak to a Bot than a human. The keyword now is Omnichannel.”

Up to 74% of users prefer to use chatbots to find the answers to simple questions.

PSFK.com

AI and Bots are not always the same. It’s important to distinguish between linear processes and intelligent design. Linear automated processes are successful in many applications which have a defined start, middle and end, for example obtaining specific data for customers to process a transaction. Delivering a great customer experience in an unstructured environment, however, is less simple and if automation is to be successful, flexibility is needed.

Where AI offers a true glimpse of the future is when it is used to learn from an existing knowledge base and to provide answers to unstructured questions. Louis Halpern is Chairman of Conversations By Ami, an organisation developing AI tools to help organisations power chats and deliver customer and employee conversations based on machine learning. He points out and example of the differences between ‘command and control’ process-led systems and true AI: “We took a company’s knowledge management data and let the AI product read it with no structure applied. It’s not yet perfect but their agents found it useful within a short three-week trial. Agents have been able to find the answers to questions quickly, with the system using the information in the knowledge base in new ways to help agents with the customer conversation.”

Louis continues: “In another example, our tool read 20 CVs provided by a client. We then told it that we were looking for undergraduates and it was able to find examples that met our criteria. It had learned about degrees, Masters and other qualifications by reading the CVs we’d supplied in the dataset. This learning of unstructured information by machines opens up an exciting future for systems-based customer contact.”

Louis states: “It’s what technology can do for you, not what you can do with technology.”

By 2025, 80% of major organisations will need to have a technology focused centre of excellence or skills resource.

Gartner, Chatbot initiatives and enterprise strategy, 2020

Technology will need to be core to organisations in the customer contact space. Louis puts it succinctly: “It comes down to what technology can do for you and your clients, not what you can do with technology. That’s a massive difference.”

Of organisations identified as high performers, 48% had deployed Bots, whereas of those identified as low performers, the proportion using Bots was only 26%.

Salesforce research

By implementing Bots, AI and the right automation technologies successfully, the relative costs of using technological tools mean that in some businesses up to 90% of transactions can be handled by technology at around 15% of the costs of a human agent. This leaves plenty of budget available to support and train teams of excellent agents who will deal with the exceptional cases and deliver the highest possible quality experience to customers.

As automation develops, the opportunities to deploy it across the business magnify. Among many people within our industry, the most common feeling about automation is that it shouldn’t be used in complaint handling. However, our experts all agreed that there is no department or enquiry type that cannot be improved by the right technology. The key is learning when to involve human ‘super agents’ and enabling automation tools to be improved by better design or continued machine learning.

71% of businesses agree that scaling conversational support will allow their organisation to stay competitive or become an industry leader.

Forrester – April 2021

It seems clear that the businesses who want to be successful will be expanding the automated contact capabilities. If your business is falling behind, now is the time to take action.

Who can you talk to about the options?

Contact Centre Panel works with a network of over 200 expert partners including contact centres and technology providers. We find solutions to the greatest challenges facing the customer contact sector, whether that’s finding contact centres with the skills and resources to meet your needs or helping to remove the complexity and risk from technological decisions. We can help.

We offer solutions to help your business and customers. Our independent team of experts are driven to help you to build better partnerships and to improve the customer contact sector’s performance for everyone who works within it.

The continual move of commerce from the high street to online, along with the growth of connected contact centres to support sales as well as service, has meant that organisations are continually having to evolve their supply chain, embrace digital transformation and drive operational efficiency.

If customers are unable to make payment within these evolving ‘customer not present’ digital and voice channels, growth will be stifled and/or data security compromised. Understanding how data regulation and payments data security standards apply to the supply chain, will help service providers meet the needs of their clients, reduce friction in the contracting process and create points of difference in the market.

In this Contact Centre Panel Technology Showcase Webinar, we will explore how service providers, within the contact centre supply chain, can meet their clients existing regulatory and contractual obligations to deliver payments securely. Whilst helping their clients grow their payments capability to deliver more payments from more customers, more often.

The session will be based on pre-circulated content, shared on event registration, enabling you to get actively engaged in the conversation with our panelists.

Meet the panel

Jeremy King: VP, Regional Head for Europe, PCI Security Standards Council

Jeremy leads the Council’s efforts in increasing adoption and awareness of the PCI security standards internationally. He works closely with the Council and representatives of its policy-setting executive committee from American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard and Visa. Jeremy serves as a resource for Approved Scanning Vendors, Qualified Security Assessors, Internal Security Assessors, PCI Forensic Investigators, and related staff in supporting regional training, certification and testing programs.

Candice Pressinger: Director Customer Data, Elavon

Candice is an award winning Data Security leader. She leads on delivery of Elavon’s data security products, services and consulting solutions. She recently launched a Transaction Risk Analysis service to help merchants process payments without friction and low rates of fraud, in line with the 2nd Payments Services Directive (PSD2). Candice works closely with some of Europe’s largest retailers including Inditex, Primark and BP. She has spent over a decade at BT, serving as Head of Group PCI-DSS Compliance.

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Simon Hunter: PCI DSS Advisory Cloud Services & Contact Centres (QSA), BT Plc

Simon is a Qualified Security Assessor and leading expert in PCI DSS compliance and responsible for the setup of payment processes and governance within BT’s global contact centre estate. As a highly experienced technology and telcom leader Simon brings three decades of industry experience to the forefront having worked in numerous highly regulated roles. Working with BT’s most complex customers Simon’s background gives him valuable insights and practical experiences to support cybersecurity, compliance risk management, and governance decisions.

John Greenwood: Director, Compliance3 and Head of Technology & Payments, Contact Centre Panel

John is an innovative, award-winning contact centre specialist recognised for his ground-breaking work in securing telephone payments and his collaboration with the PCI Security Standards Council in drafting the PCI SSC Information Supplement Protecting telephone-based payment card data. He has supported over 50 PCI scope reduction projects, giving him a unique insight into the applicability of the PCI DSS in contact centres, the contact centre supply chain and the technology provider landscape. As Technology Lead and Payments SME at Contact Centre Panel, John will chair our event from a contact centre outsourcers and technology providers standpoint.

Topics for discussion

With most markets experiencing significant post-pandemic growth and levels of opportunity at an all-time high, increasing your contact centre performance and sales conversion should be a key focus. Gaining insight into your contact centre staff conversations and behaviours can give you a head start on your competitors and help increase sales conversion rates, whilst increasing margin and revenue.

In this Technology Showcase Webinar, we will explore how analytics and quality management are helping businesses to transform their sales and service processes, enabling them to increase levels of operational performance and sales success.

The webinar will include an audience Q & A, where you will get the opportunity to ask the panelists question

Meet the panel

Jimmy Hosang: CEO, The Modular Analytics Co

Jimmy has had a long career in data consultancy. He is a former data scientist with expertise in next best action, machine learning and speech analytics. Prior to founding TMAC, his career had focused on driving innovation in a variety of roles at Lloyds Banking Group, Direct Line Group, John Lewis, Sainburys Argos and RBS. TMAC deliver affordable AI and ML SaaS solutions in customer engagement, customer service, coaching and marketing.

Natalie Calvert: Founder, CX High Performance

Natalie helps businesses to put their customers at the heart of their organisation through superb CX employee engagement programmes. Natalie has worked with, empowered and equipped more than 200,000 service & sales professionals and leaders across 100+ global organisations to deliver world class customer service during her 25 year career. Over the past 10 years Natalie has judged the UK Lloyds Bank National Business Awards for The Virgin Atlantic Customer Experience & Loyalty award. Natalie is also a Board Advisor to the National Business Awards.

Robert Hanrahan: Founder & CEO, miPerform Ltd

Robert describes himself as an ‘non techy’ tech entrepreneur. He is an explorer at heart and relishes new experiences and overcoming challenges, such as driving transformation in business or taking on new adventures in the mountains. Having previously worked in senior roles for Capita and Sky, he decided to follow his entrepreneur instinct and found MiPerform – a technology business that helps transform the way teams and businesses use data and technology to power their performance.

John Greenwood: Head of Technology & Payments, Contact Centre Panel

John is a payments specialist and leading authority in PCI DSS compliance and how this applies to customer contact centres and 3rd party service providers. He was the driver and lead content contributor to the official PCI SSC Information Supplement, published in late 2018. John is a technology subject matter expert with over 30 years’ experience working with and within the industry, he has a deep understanding of the technology vendor landscape as well as BPO and contact centre environments.

Topics for discussion

Are there any major pitfalls of switching to a permanent hybrid working model?

With many businesses now accepting that a full-time office workforce isn’t always necessary, more flexible ways of working are being kept in place after more than a year of homeworking arrangements. At first, working from home was viewed as a temporary emergency situation, but time and technology have proved that goals can still be achieved if things are done correctly. Alexandra explained some of the issues businesses are facing, after the period of change we’ve all experienced:

Alexandra responded: “Many businesses have decided that working from home has a place in their operational model moving forwards. They are looking to make the once temporary emergency situations, permanent solutions and there are many benefits of this. First and foremost, businesses need to consider what version of hybrid working their organisation is adopting. If they’ll be offering a fully flexible working environment where staff can choose whether to work from home or not on a day-to-day basis? Or will there be a more structured hybrid working model with a mix of pre-agreed time in and out of the office. Businesses have needed to find ways to keep operations running through the pandemic, but now they need to consider how to optimise work. This means that having people in the office for meetings and training might be preferable to working via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Also, spending time in the office as a team or department can be hugely beneficial and is a way of maintaining bonds within your workforce.”

Alexandra explained: “Technology and equipment will be a big issue for some businesses. In March last year, many people simply had to take equipment home to allow work to continue. So now, businesses need to think about what their team members need to make flexibility possible. Certain roles might use specialist technology that can only be provided in one place. Heavy data processing might need to be supported by high-specification computers or multiple screen set-ups, for example.”

She questioned: “Do your people have the right communications technology at home, supported by reliable software at the office or in the cloud? Do they need one laptop or separate workstation setups for the home and the office? Are home connections, such as broadband, suitable for the systems in place?”

Alexandra concluded: “Once the physical equipment is taken care of, the reality of managing teams remotely needs to be addressed. Your managers and team leaders may be doing a fantastic job, but it‘ll be beneficial to make sure that they’re given opportunities to obtain and hone the skills required to manage teams remotely.”

How will organisations be able to bring new starters on board in hybrid working set-ups?”

Alexandra provided her thoughts: “Onboarding new starters is something which has definitely needed to change. However, the changes might not be as difficult to achieve as you might think. It is a good idea to base new starters from the office for a short time for several reasons. First, making sure that equipment and technology is available and set up correctly is usually easier to do on-site. Then giving your new starters the best chance of fitting into their teams and getting used to the systems is important. While not everyone will be in the office, making sure that guidance is available from people in the workplace is essential if you’re going to get the most out of your new hires.

She continued: “Some time spent in the office is the ideal opportunity to see how new starters are fitting in. Early issues can be dealt with more quickly and questions or concerns can be addressed before your workers are expected to work from home. It’s also a good opportunity to set expectations about how the hybrid working arrangements work in your organisation, as every workplace will be slightly different.”

Alexandra finished by saying: “Finally, make sure time is set aside to check in with new starters after their first few weeks or month. It’s not only a great opportunity to make sure that their new role is going ok for them, but new starters can be a useful source of new ideas and suggestions, especially in relation to their onboarding experience.

Alexandra not only advises her clients about their HR and Employment Law issues but also manages her own teams remotely.

She offered us some practical advice: “For many people, managing teams remotely is a skill set that requires learning and practising. Businesses should check whether their managers and team leaders are trained and experienced, putting training in place where it’s needed.”

Alexandra added: “Consider how you will perform your regular management tasks in future. How will assessments be done? How often will you have team meetings and individual feedback sessions? Will you have these in the office or via Zoom/Teams/phone calls? Also consider your data reporting routines, to keep the right people in the loop about performance statistics: it’s a well-known fact that allowing your people to own their performance can help them to deliver better results. Do your reporting systems allow this to happen?”

She concluded: “When it comes to managing people in any situation, it’s too easy to overlook the quiet and focus on easily identifiable issues. When remote and hybrid workers make up your team, it’s even more important to make sure that you are devoting enough time to everyone, not just those with obvious needs.”

How can you bring about a positive change in your business as you implement hybrid working?

Alexandra explained: “Hybrid working is not an emergency response to the pandemic any longer. To make this a permanent option for staff there are some things that all businesses need to consider:

  1. Your staff may need contractual amendments to suit their new working arrangements. Their place of work will be changing so contracts of employment will need to take account of this. There are also a number of other clauses advised for those hybrid working such as confidentiality and security.
  2. Have a ‘hybrid working policy’ in place. Not only will this make it easier for your teams to understand their new working situation, it will provide a consistent set of guidelines across the organisation. Writing this policy will also force your management team to consider the important issues and develop a common understanding of how they are being addressed in your company.
  3. Set acceptable professional and personal standards. These will vary from business to business, making it important to communicate clearly what is expected of your people. The realities of working from home, whether some or all of the time, mean that making it clear how much privacy is needed for calls, whether interruptions from the household are ok, the level of acceptable background noise and other factors are important to set expectations for your team members. In some cases, this might make it impossible for individuals to work from home, which enables a constructive conversation to happen before problems occur.
  4. Prepare for formal Flexible Working Requests. With over a year of working from home being a reality for many people, it may be difficult to refuse a new request, but each case should be taken on its own merits. Not all roles in your company may be genuinely possible to work flexibly in the long term.”

Alexandra summarised: “Hybrid working, hot-desking and working from home are not new. In some businesses, they have been used successfully for years already. What’s new is the volume of flexible and hybrid working arrangements, and they are new in some environments. With the right help, changes to some arrangements and focused new policies, hybrid working can bring about successful change for a better workplace.”

What final thoughts do you have as we enter this exciting phase of contact centre and customer service working?

Alexandra replied: “Recent surveys have shown us that the impact on work output has not been severe. There have been some minimal reductions in performance in some businesses, but in many cases performance has positively improved.

 She added: “If your business is going to implement permanent hybrid working policies, there are long term considerations beyond getting your set up legally and organisationally correct.”

 Alexandra continued: “Think about the long-term welfare of your staff. How is your organisation going to ensure that your team members are not over or underworked? This might be down to your managers and team leaders but should be supported by your reporting regimes.”

 She said: “How are you going to keep a successful team ethos going? This applies equally to new starters and old hands. With less social interaction inside the workplace, how will you maintain strong bonds in your business? You might need to think about more structured team events, days together inside or outside the office, team social lunches or other ideas to forge relationships and encourage idea sharing. Don’t restrict your team building to just your senior teams.”

 Alexandra concluded: “We’re already seeing that it’s possible to have a successful business using hybrid working. With a few steps taken carefully while you’re reforming your business after the Covid impact, a strong foundation can be used to build high performing teams with a common understanding and shared goals. The coming years are likely to be exciting for customer service operations who embrace the change.”

We’d like to thank Alexandra for her time and her insights. If your business is facing the challenges of making hybrid working successful, contact us.

With economic forecasters predicting the largest growth period since the post-war boom, the importance of converting sales has never been higher, with consumers using a variety of communication platforms to engage with businesses, it can be very easy to miss out on a sale if your channels aren’t set up properly.  

As businesses prepare for growth and look to optimise their contact centre operations, selecting the right customer engagement technology solution has become crucial. Cost effective customer acquisition and a reduction in ‘cost to serve’ are both desirable goals but achieving them can be a challenge if you don’t have a true understanding of available technologies and their alignment to your existing environment.  

In the first of our series of expert panel discussions chaired by John Greenwood, Head of Technology, Contact Centre Panel, we look at the Bot and the differences in the technology underpinning operational performance. We will explore the difference in programmable products vs those that have minimal learning input before effectively replacing their human equivalents. The webinar will include an audience Q & A, where you will get the opportunity to ask the panelists questions.

Expert panel

John Greenwood: Head of Technology & Payments, Contact Centre Panel

John is a payments specialist and leading authority in PCI DSS compliance and how this applies to customer contact centres and 3rd party service providers. He was the driver and lead content contributor to the official PCI SSC Information Supplement, published in late 2018. John is a technology subject matter expert with over 30 years’ experience working with and within the industry, he has a deep understanding of the technology vendor landscape as well as BPO and contact centre environments.

Nathan Smith: Founder & MD, Gabba

Nathan is the founder and managing director of Gabba, an award-winning pioneer in digital and chatbot marketing. He has worked with some of the best-known names in the corporate world, including Microsoft and Siemens. Author of the book Social Media for the Legal Sector (Law Society Publications), he is passionate about sharing his knowledge to empower other organisations.

Chris Kellner: Global VP Sales & Partnerships, Digital Genius

Chris is responsible for leading business development, marketing and partnerships at DigitalGenius. DigitalGenius is the Ai platform that puts your customer support on autopilot by understanding conversations, automating repetitive processes to help guide your customers. The platform is powered by deep learning that understands your customers’ objectives, then drives automated resolutions through APIs that connect seamlessly to your own backend systems.

Natalie Calvert: Founder, CX High Performance

Natalie helps businesses to put their customers at the heart of their organisation through superb CX employee engagement programmes. Natalie has work with, empowered and equipped more than 200,000 service & sales professionals and leaders across 100+ global organisations to deliver world class customer service during her 25 year career. Over the past 10 years Natalie has judged the UK Lloyds Bank National Business Awards for The Virgin Atlantic Customer Experience & Loyalty award. Natalie is also a Board Advisor to the National Business Awards.

Topics for discussion