Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) or cloud-based phone systems have been the big news. You can’t throw a rock without hitting an existing or brand new cloud VoIP provider in the market. They’re everywhere! And it’s becoming a commodity. How many seats of cloud voice can a provider sell? More importantly, how quickly can they race to the bottom on price? How many phone features can be jammed down your throat for $20 / month?
But we predict that, over the next three years, the fastest growing segment of cloud-based Unified Communications will be in the Contact Center.
We feel that we’re just entering the largest paradigm shift as it pertains to technology and the customer experience. Consider these facts:
- Fact #1: The demand for an effortless customer experience is growing. Consider these statistics:
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- By 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator (Walker Information)
- Consumers who quit doing business with a company because of a bad customer experience (Harris Interactive – A Market Research Company)
2007: 59% ….2015: 86% - 82% of Customers say resolving their issue quickly is the #1 factor in a great service experience (ICMI)
Consumers no longer have a tolerance for waiting on hold, getting dropped, getting transferred around five times, or not being given options for accessing service via other channels like web chat, text, and Social Media. VIP customers will demand priority treatment or they will get it somewhere else.
- Fact #2: The supply of superior service is very low. It’s criminally low. We don’t need statistics to back that up. Just call your credit card company to dispute a charge. Or call a hotel chain to inquire about business services.
- Fact #3: Basic economics would suggest that his substantial gap between the supply and demand curves presents a substantial opportunity for companies that want to differentiate themselves by providing innovative, effortless customer experiences. It would be fair to say that those nimble, eager companies who can figure this out stand to decimate their lethargic, complacent, arrogant competitors.
- Fact #4: The Contact Center is still the primary mechanism for delivering service. Hence, the Contact Center offers the most opportunity to provide an improved, innovative, and a differentiated customer experience. Your Contact Center can be your biggest asset or biggest liability in the customer experience race.
- Fact #5: Never before has Enterprise-Class, multi-channel Contact Center technology been available and AFFORDABLE for the small to mid-sized company. Enter the cloud contact center. Prior, companies had to pay hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to acquire this type of technology. Generally only the larger companies could afford it. And most of them still provide horrible service. Interesting.
It’s happening. More and more companies are seeing the opportunities in their business by moving to the cloud. In fact, companies that traditionally didn’t have contact centers are seeing the opportunity and building an enterprise class contact center in the cloud.
Still on the fence? Stay tuned for our next blog and we’ll cover all the benefits Contact Centers are seeing when they switch to the cloud.
About Inflow
Founded in 1997, Inflow is one of the nation’s top Unified Communications and Contact Center consultants in today’s market. Pioneers in cloud unified communications and cloud contact center success, Inflow is the first company to provide contact center consulting and training focused solely on helping you elevate your customer experience.
With over 200,000 endpoints supported under Inflow’s innovative success programs around the world, Inflow built its brand and reputation around providing unrivaled customer support. Inflow is in Mitel/ShoreTel’s top 2% in global customer satisfaction, and quickly acquiring a top spot with RingCentral, Genesys PureCloud and NICE inContact.
By partnering with Inflow, you can expect the highest level of strategic consultation, execution, and optimization available in the industry.
