The high costs of cutting corners

Cheap solutions are tempting, but seldom do what’s required of them. A one-size-fits-all approach offered by the vendor of a product cannot take into account the many variables that exist from company to company, so there will be gaps left. These can result in decreased efficiency and productivity, and there may not be a standard fix available to plug the gaps.

A more flexible solution is to use a business partner.

Scenario planning helps to address the variables within the individual company and ensure that exorbitant expenses aren’t unexpectedly incurred. Since companies may not have the predictive or analytics insights for this scenario planning, a business analyst should be consulted to consider all technical and business eventualities.

Strategy and implementation

The business analyst must investigate all of the various elements of the business across all working environments to find out what the company wants from a business solution, what pain points exist and how workflow and key processes are managed. As part of a partnership, then, a business solution can be designed and implemented that speaks more directly to that company’s specific needs and also be flexible enough to adapt as those needs evolve.

In the contact centre environment the business solution isn’t limited to the contact centre floor; what the agents do on the floor is directly related to other departments and their processes, so the solution must address how information is routed throughout the company through key customer contact points.

Working with a partner offers agility, if the business solution needs updating to accommodate changing requirements, the partner will have an existing knowledge of how things are being done vs. how these things need to be upgraded. Improved solutions can then be incorporated that enhance existing solutions – but at the right pace and in line with the businesses’ objectives. This prevents the need for an entirely new business solution, a costly undertaking.

That last point is of primary importance, given the speed of change in any professional environment. Any technology solution is moving towards obsolescence if it is not tweaked or enhanced on an ongoing basis, so the once-off, out-the-box solution may seem attractive at the time of installation, but as soon as the market shifts slightly and changes need to be made, it will become apparent that it cannot keep up with new, more complex and unique business requirements.

Now, more than ever, there is a need for an ongoing partnership between supplier and customer – one that lives beyond technology and relies on a shared understanding of a business’s unique requirements and objectives.