How does anyone really find a customer service partner today?
For as long as I can remember, the RFP process (Request for proposal) is how most B2B (business to business) contracts start out. This has certainly been true for a long time in the area that I track in most detail – the customer experience (CX) specialists. When one company needs to buy a CX service from a specialist, or they want to transfer from an existing specialist to a new supplier, they will create an RFP that summarizes what they need.
Traditionally, this may focus on the volume of customer interactions or calls. It might state that we need a customer service solution that can cope with 10,000 customer interactions per day. There may be some other metrics attached and it may even specify how many people are needed to handle this work at present. The number of full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) working in customer service is a common way to calculate how much a service will cost.
But there is a major change taking place in the business process outsourcing (BPO) world at present. Several factors are at play, but they can be summarized as:
A Need For Transformation
The traditional approach to customer service was led by the RFP, the number of FTEs, the expected number of calls per day. What we now need is CX specialists to look at an existing situation and then to be proposing a future roadmap… how could automation or AI change the entire approach a company is using within the next couple of years?
Transformation is now an expectation. Nobody expects a CX solution to stand still. A smart CX specialist will be delivering rock solid reliable services today, but constantly exploring the future and new ideas for innovation.
Artificial Intelligence and Automation
For the past couple of years there has been less talk of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), as AI has taken up most of the business media attention, but a smart combination of both RPA and AI can boost productivity for the human employees that are engaging with customers. It can also create much better self-service options – such as chatbots powered by Generative AI.
It may not be perfect, but that is why you can keep humans in the loop for when they are needed. Your chatbots can be there 24/7 handling a good percentage of customer questions with human support ready to troubleshoot more complex issues.
CX Expertise
For the past couple of decades, outsourcing has largely been seen as a cost reduction strategy. Companies that are eager to reduce fixed costs are happy to offload property and other assets in favor of just paying monthly fees to a CX service provider – usually based on the FTE headcount.
This “cost first” approach is being challenged by the complexity of the other points mentioned here – it’s getting harder to service customers without specialist technology, advice, and expertise – but also there are now many strategies that can be applied to customer interactions to generate greater loyalty, increase sales, or retention.
Customer service is no longer limited to post-sales customer service – handling returns or complaints. You are managing a brand to customer relationship and this means keeping customers on board and earning more from them – where possible. If your only driver is cost to service then you will miss the chance to explore all these more positive outcomes.
This complexity means that finding a trusted partner is getting harder. The RFP process feels clunky. The reality is that most executives already have a preferred CX partner in mind – even as they issue an RFP. There will be someone out there that they know and trust. Or there will be someone they don’t know well, but they know well enough to swap messages on LinkedIn.
This means that the CX specialists need to show that they have ideas. They need to demonstrate expertise and be where those executives turn to for advice. A modern CX specialist can no longer just sit back and wait for the RFPs to arrive – most of the time those companies already know who they are going to work with.
CX specialists need to be proactive. They need to demonstrate knowledge and ideas. They need to show that they understand how customer expectations are transforming, how AI is creating new opportunities to interact with customers, and how their role is about offering CX expertise today – and next year. CX specialists need to be telling their clients what customers will be expecting next year – and beyond.
How do you become the trusted CX advisor that brands turn to when they need help, simply because you have the best ideas in how to manage customer expectations?