A Recession is Coming. Is Your Contact Center Ready?

What does the current economic climate mean for contact center leaders? It’s an important question to answer as we all evaluate and prepare for the impacts of a possible recession.

As a former contact center leader, I know all too well what happens if the contact center isn’t recession-ready. A downward spiral of reactive decisions can hurt team culture and morale, diminish customer satisfaction and loyalty, and lead to a prolonged and painful recovery. Nobody wants to be in that situation. 

We all want to feel prepared for whatever lies ahead. But what does a recession-ready contact center look like? 

That’s exactly what we’re exploring over the coming weeks. 

We’ve developed a series of resources that were designed to help contact center leaders deliver clear and meaningful value amid a financial downturn. Most importantly, these tools and insights are proven to deliver value far beyond the times of recession, which means you’ll be prepared no matter what happens in the days, months, and years ahead. 

Here’s a look at what you can expect to learn in the coming weeks:

1. The leadership habits of a recession-ready contact center

A recession-ready contact center leader effectively establishes their teams relevance and impact throughout business. They understand how the contact center contributes to business strategy and clearly articulates this to their employees and key stakeholders. They’re rooted in sustainable practices and a measured approach to people, processes, and technology. 

In this collection of materials, you’ll hear directly from contact center leaders on the lessons they’ve learned, decisions they’re making, and advice they’ve leveraged to be recession ready.    

2. How recession-ready contact centers expand their value

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned came from my mentor, friend, and colleague, Brad Cleveland. As the founding partner and former CEO of the International Customer Management Institute, Brad has a deep understanding of contact center principles and decades of experience working with and sharing his insights with business leaders. 

In his first book, Call Center Management on Fast Forward, Brad introduces the Three Levels of Value, which are pillars of understanding and delivering contact center business impact. They’ve shaped the way I think about the contact center's value and I’ve seen the profound impact they can have when implemented correctly.

In this collection of materials, we’ll dive into each of the three levels, Cost Efficiency, Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty, and Strategic Impact, and share how to measure your performance in each of these areas, drive meaningful improvements, and bring visibility to your success.

3. Where recession-ready contact centers invest their resources

The bulk of a contact center’s budget is spent on two things: people and technology. But when a recession is looming, it forces tough conversations on both of these investments. 

Despite the loud and increasingly common narrative in mainstream contact center circles, the answer is not as simple as cutting staff and deploying more automation. 

In this collection of materials, we’re looking at the intersection of people and technology and the strategies that resilient, recession-ready contact center leaders use to maximize the impact of both of these resources.  

4. What recession-ready contact centers do post-recession

If history taught us anything, it’s that recessions end and recovery comes. Recession-ready contact centers never lose sight of this and recognize how to use their leadership capacity, value creation, and resource investments to accelerate their rebound and establish their place as a strategic business contributor.

What’s Next?

The DNA of a recession-ready contact center is not dissimilar to that of one that delivers significant impact outside of an economic downturn – they have strategic leaders, they deliver multiple levels of value, and they deliver powerful returns from their investments. 

But, the harsh reality is that many contact centers struggle with this type of value creation when times are good, let alone when challenges come. If nothing changes it almost certainly spells long and difficult times ahead. 

That doesn’t need to be your contact center's story.

Over the next several weeks, we’ll be publishing tools and insights that are designed for long-term improvements to make contact center leaders not only collaborative business partners, but also cultivators of clear and necessary value. These resources will help you ensure that your contact center is a better steward of resources, both during recessions and times of economic growth. 

Whether you realize it or not, right now is a pivotal moment for your contact center career and UJET is here to help you every step of the way. 

Subscribe to the UJET blog on the sidebar above to get instant access to our recession-ready resources as we release them over the coming weeks! 

Justin Robbins is a researcher, educator, and advisor who’s spent the past two decades helping businesses define and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Justin is currently the Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Evangelism at UJET, where he leads the Public Relations, Analyst Relations, Customer Marketing, and Thought Leadership programs.