22 2.3 Introducing the contact-center conduit
2.3.1
2.3.2
2.3.3
If the contact center is a conduit, then it needs to have special relation-
ships with key parts of the organization. In Figure 2.1 we see the contact
center located at the center of information flows from four key constituencies.
I'm not suggesting that these are the only four parts of the business with which
the contact center has a relationship~there will be many more. However,
they are the key relationships that are often overlooked and are critical in
terms of the contact center's having a key role within the organization.
The contact center and product marketing
The relationship between product marketing and the contact center is one
that is invariably overlooked. Most product marketing staff in many compa-
nies have never visited the contact center--never mind having a synergistic
relationship with it. Or rather with them, the contact-center staff. These
people have day-to-day customer contact and know at first hand the defi-
ciencies of the product portfolio, errors in technical documentation, or prod-
uct features that need to be amended. In few companies are there formal
methods for the product marketing staff to update contact-center staff on
new product releases or to elicit feature requests or product changes from
such staff.
External experts
Contact center staff are often the last to receive critical information about the
company. Even if this information is provided, however, there will often be
instances where outside experts (i.e., outside the contact center) need to be
involved to answer a customer query. However, mechanisms for eliciting such
help from external experts are often absent. Often, call-center staff are not
even enabled with e-mail so that they can poll other employees. It is remark-
able that the front-line staff in an organization~people who deal with
customer queries constantly~typically have no means of directly engaging
with fellow employees who can address customer issues.
Customer data
It's a fact. Often, the call-center is an island, cut offfrom all key sources of cus-
tomer information. As a result, contact-center staff cannot retrieve the key
information required to deal with a customer query.
Many organizations establish standardized middleware platforms for the
exchange of corporate information, but the middleware mysteriously stops at
the door to the contact center. After all, why give some student who's
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