Current Trends in Business Process Outsourcing

Current Trends in Business Process Outsourcing December 2016 in association with Silver Partner

Contents Executive Summary... 3 The Research... 5 What is your biggest customer service challenge?... 8 The view from commissioners: working with an outsourcing partner... 10 View from the outsourcers... 20 Customer experience: issues and frustrations... 27 Conclusions and recommendations... 30 2

Executive Summary Business process outsourcing (BPO) has played a critical role in supporting organisations through the economic downturn and a maturity has now emerged in many partner relationships. In addition, CCA has seen an increase in enquiries in the capacity and competency about BPO providers in the last 6 months and we are looking to support any strategic business decisions for organisations to best source their customer service offering. It is estimated that around 15-20% of customer service activity is currently outsourced however this figure has remained relatively static for a number of years now. That poses the question, if it works for some why doesn t it work for more? With increasing customer expectations around mobile and digital service, an opportunity exists for the BPO and outsourcing market to showcase capabilities and expertise. For this research, conducted in association with Silver Partners Agilisys, we surveyed both BPO operators and in-house providers on their views on some critical issues related to the outsourcing agenda. Key findings The majority of organisations expected their proportion of outsourcing to stay the same or increase (90%). The motivations for outsourcing were largely seen to be cost related. 81% of respondents considering outsourcing as offering the potential to lower costs of service delivery as a key benefit from working with an outsourcing partner. Other key benefits related to flexibility (76%), access to the latest technology (76%) and the ability to access skilled workers (62%). In terms of the key capabilities state of the art outsourcing providers should offer, respondents reported that building their own staff s capability and knowledge to solve customer problems at front-line was essential (86%). Providing quality management with closed loop feedback and continuous process improvement was also considered essential (81%). Offering the latest technological capability was clearly very important in the decision of appointing an outsourcing partner and this was reported to be very important or quite important by 90% of respondents. Finally, when respondents were asked how important it was for their chosen partner to have shared values with their own organisation, the most important factor was employee engagement (90%). When asked what the most challenging areas during the outsourcing process were, respondents reported that the pressure to base the outputs on cost reduction rather than improvements to customer experience as a key issue (noted by 76%). Closely following this, respondents reported that culture was a major issue with 71% of those surveyed reporting that matching the culture needs of their business with the culture of their partner was a key challenge. 3

The most common issues facing customer experience reported by respondents were the recruitment of skilled workers (80%) and the integration of channels to provide omnichannel/digital experience (80%) From the end customer s perspective, the factors that respondents thought they find most frustrating when contacting an organisation included, their enquiry not being dealt with first time round (100%) and being given inconsistent information across different channels (eg email, phone, website) (100%) Ordering of the report The following chapter gives further details of the research approach of this study. Next, the respondents views of their biggest customer service challenges are explored to help identify some of the central issues. After this the views of both contact centre professionals providing views in-house or already in a partnership with an outsourcer are outlined, highlighting both the advantages and challenges of outsourcing and their future plans. Next, the responses provided by BPO providers and outsourcers regarding their core capabilities and current trends are examined. Following this, the views of customer experience issues and frustrations are set out before the final section draws together some key conclusions and makes several recommendations based on the findings. 4

The Research Outline of Research Business process outsourcing (BPO) has played a critical role in supporting organisations through the economic downturn and a maturity has now emerged in many partner relationships. In addition, CCA has seen an increase in enquiries in the capacity and competency about BPO providers in the last 6 months and we are looking to support any strategic business decisions for organisations to best source their customer service offering. It is estimated that around 15-20% of customer service activity is currently outsourced however this figure has remained relatively static for a number of years now. That poses the question, if it works for some why doesn t it work for more? With increasing customer expectations around mobile and digital service, an opportunity exists for the BPO and outsourcing market to showcase capabilities and expertise. For this research, conducted in association with Silver Partners Agilisys, we surveyed both BPO operators and in-house providers on their views on some critical issues related to the outsourcing agenda. Methods The research comprised several phases: Member Survey: CCA conducted a survey of member organisations to determine current. Responses were received from 71 organisations. They included BPO operators and in-house contact centres, responsible for different-sized operations in a wide range of sectors. The survey findings were analysed and interpreted in a desk research phase alongside contextual information from other sources including CCA s research archive. Confidence in results The results included responses from BPO operators (28%) and in-house contact centres from a wide variety of industrial sectors including financial services (20%), central government (10%) 5

and utilities (11%). See 28% 20% 1% 1% 1% 1% 3% 6% 7% 10% 10% 11% Figure 1 for more details. In total, 60% of respondents were in-house operators and 40% were BPO or outsourcers (Please see Figure 2). 28% 20% 1% 1% 1% 1% 3% 6% 7% 10% 10% 11% Figure 1- Which business sector best describes your organisation? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 6

I am from an in-house operator I am from a BPO/outsourcing provider 40% 60% Figure 2- Please select the option that best describes your organisation (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 7

What is your biggest customer service challenge? Respondents 1 were asked what they regarded is their current single biggest service challenge. A selection of their themed responses are presented below: Consistency Delivering consistently brilliant service on every customer interaction Consistently delivering a superior customer experience Regional and global consistency for customer servicing Digital transformation Shifting to digital Digital shift Channel shift and digital transformation Omni channel communications Moving customers to digital channels Digitisation Online IT Digital optimisation Meeting customer expectations Following customer demand through our multi channel process - adopting tech to meeting the increasing expectations Increasing client expectations against decreasing budgets Recruitment Recruitment Quality of applicant Selling call centre as an industry to candidates Adviser attrition Single view of the customer Single view of the customer and system integration 1 Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016 8

One single view of the customer when you have different technologies and system integration The inability to see the full customer journey across all channels Offering seamless, connected service Raising profile of BPO Getting access to contacts interested in creating outsourcing partnerships Raising awareness of our organisation as a BPO provider Cost reduction versus need for investment Cost for system change and development Reducing the cost and impact of avoidable contact Contract profitability in the face of rapidly rising employee wages Balancing quality and cost as volumes of contacts rise Reducing cost whilst offering better service Complaints Complaint management Complaints Cost reduction versus need for investment Cost for system change and development Reducing the cost and impact of avoidable contact Contract profitability in the face of rapidly rising employee wages Balancing quality and cost as volumes of contacts rise Compliance and regulation Compliance with internal policy Pensions regulations 9

The view from commissioners: working with an outsourcing partner This section reviews the responses provided by customer contact professionals providing services in-house or already in a partner arrangement with an outsourcer or BPO provider. Outsourcing Arrangements Of those who currently already had a partner arrangement and outsourced some of their activities, the most common activity outsourced was inbound call handling (85%), followed by outbound call handling (65%) and email management (60%). See Figure 3 for more information. 85% 65% 60% 50% 45% 45% 35% 20% 10% Figure 3 - If you do work with an outsourcing partner currently, which of these functions do they manage on your behalf? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) The Advantages of Outsourcing The motivations for outsourcing were largely seen to be cost related with 81% of respondents reporting this as the potential to lower costs of service delivery as the key benefit to be accessed from working with an outsourcing partner. Other key benefits related to flexibility (76%), access to the latest technology (76%) and the ability to access skilled workers (62%). Please see Figure 4 for the full results. 10

81% 76% 67% 62% 57% 38% 10% Lower the costs of service delivery Flexibility to expand and decrease capacity Get access to the latest technology platforms Get access to skilled workers Enable in-house management to focus more on strategy and performance Improved customer service Other (please detail) Figure 4 - What key benefit(s) do you think you can access from your outsourcing partner? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) In terms of the key capabilities state of the art outsourcing providers should offer, respondents reported that building their own staff s capability and knowledge to solve customer problems at front-line was essential (86%). Providing quality management with closed loop feedback and continuous process improvement was also considered essential (81%). Two other very important offerings included better understanding of clients customers through the application of analytical and insight tools (64%) and offering new initiatives to improve process and deliver better ROI (59%). See Figure 5 for more details. Offering the latest technological capability was clearly very important in the decision of an outsourcing partner and this was reported to be very important or quite important by 90% of respondents. See Figure 6 for full details. 11

Being able to review, evaluate and improve client business processes Better understand clients customers through the application of analytical and insight tools Build their own staff s capability and knowledge to solve customer problems at front-line Provide quality management with closed loop feedback and continuous process improvement Offer new initiatives to improve process and deliver better ROI Offer best practice deliverables from other contracts Provide transformation-led activities 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 25 33 41 64 59 86 81 70 59 67 36 36 9 19 0 0 5 0 5 0 5 Not important Useful Essential Figure 5 - Thinking about customer service in general, what services do you think a state of the art outsourcing partner should offer? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) Extremely important Quite Important Important Quite unimportant Extremely unimportant 5% 5%0% 33% 57% Figure 6 - How important is it for your business that your outsourcing partner can offer the latest technology capability to support your drive to digital? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) Homeworking Very few of the respondents surveyed offered homeworking as part of their customer service offering (14%) and none of those reported that their outsourcing partner managed their homeworking offer. 12

0% 10% 5% Yes we manage this inhouse 14% 0% Yes our outsourcing partner manages this No Trialling Investigating 71% Planning to implement within the next 6-12 months Figure 7 - Do you have homeworking as part of your service offering? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) Outsourcing plans The majority of organisations expected their proportion of outsourcing to stay the same or increase (90%). Only 10% anticipated a reduction in this. See Figure 8 for more details. In terms of the business options respondents reported being very likely or quite likely to consider in the coming 12-18 months, the most popular were: Outsourcing voice calls (72%) Outsourcing digital/remote contact (61%) Offshoring back office processes (60%) Outsourcing back office processes (52%) By far and away the most common aspect of customer experience that the contact centre professionals surveyed reported that they would consider outsourcing in future was webchat (56%). Following this with significant, but far fewer responses were: voice contact (40%) sales contact (36%) social media contact (32%) and email (32%). See Figure 10 for the full results. The main reason given by respondents as to why they would reconsider their sourcing arrangements related to lower cost. This was reported by 96% of respondents to be very likely or quite likely to make them reconsider. Other key responses reported to make them very likely or quite likely to make them reconsider their sourcing arrangements: Access skilled workers (91%) Access the latest technology platforms (77%) Flexibility to expand and decrease capacity (76%) 13

Homeworking Sharing services with other organisations Offshoring back office processes Outsourcing back office processes Outsourcing voice calls Outsourcing digital/remote contact Consolidation of existing contact centres Offshoring voice calls Offshoring digital/remote contact Bringing voice contact back to the UK & Ireland Bringing digital/remote contact back to the UK & Ireland Other (please detail) To improve customer service (75%) Enable management to focus on strategy & performance (72%) Access skills to handle social media/digital/remote channels (68%) Please see Figure 11 for the full results. Finally, when respondents were asked how important it was for their chosen partner to have shared values around with their own organisation, the most important factor was employee engagement (90%). Corporate social responsibility (58%) and diversity (68%) were also considered important values to share. See Figure 12 for more details. More Less The same 33% 57% 10% Figure 8 - In the next 2-3 years, do you anticipate you will outsource (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Very likely Quite likely Not likely at all Not sure 14

Access skills to handle social media/digital/remote channels Enable management to focus on strategy & performance Lower the cost of operations Access skilled workers Inability to recruit additional in-house staff Access the latest technology platforms Flexibility to expand and decrease capacity For CAPEX reasons To improve customer service Opportunity to serve different customer segments from different sources Ability to access offshore service delivery We would not consider outsourcing Figure 9 Please tell us the likelihood of your organisation considering the following business options over the next 12-18 months. (very likely, quite likely, not likely at all, not sure) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 56% 40% 36% 32% 32% 28% 24% 24% 20% 16% 4% 4% Figure 10 What would you most likely consider outsourcing in the future? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1 = not interested 2 3 4 5 = very interested Figure 11 What will make your business reconsider its current sourcing arrangements? For those reasons that apply, please rate on a scale of 1=not interested to 5=very interested) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 15

90% 58% 68% 42% 5% Other (please detail) Employee benefits Corporate Social Responsibility Diversity Employee engagement Figure 12 How important for your organisation is it that your chosen partner has shared values regarding the following? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) Challenges This section reviews some of the challenges and issues reported by contact centre professionals regarding developing partnerships with outsourcers. When asked what the most challenging areas during the outsourcing process were, respondents reported that the pressure to base the outputs on cost reduction rather than improvements to customer experience was a key issue (noted by 76%). Closely following this, respondents reported that culture was a major issue with 71% of those surveyed reporting that matching the culture needs of their business with the culture of their partner was a key challenge. A further 38% reported issues with the tendering process itself which was regarded in some cases and laborious. 71% 76% 29% 38% 10% Lack of engagement from the senior executives in our business Our procurement team tend to take over and we can lose sight of the customer service objectives The tender process is laborious and could be transformed Matching the culture needs of our business with the culture of our partners Pressure to base the outputs on cost reduction versus improved customer experience Figure 13 - When going through the outsourcing process, what areas do you find most challenging (please select all that apply)? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 16

Respondents reported a mixed picture regarding procurement and legal agreement on performance measures that aligned with their strategic business aims rather than traditional input measures with 38% reporting that this was quite difficult and a further 29% reporting that it was neither easy or difficult. When asked about the biggest challenges they currently face in managing their outsource contracts, respondents reported that high agent turnover (57%), the ability to be agile and change processes (52%) customer service levels (48%) and concerns over quality of agents (48%) were key concerns. Less problematic to most, but still reported were implementing innovations that are perhaps out of contract but could improve customer experience (39%). See Figure 15 for the full details. When asked what the most important issue currently facing outsourced contact centre management more broadly, the contact centre professionals surveyed reported that employee attrition was a key issue (62%). Following this the pressure to implement the latest technology featured (43%) as did the recruitment of skilled workers (38%). See Figure 16 for full details. Extremely difficult Quite difficult Neither difficult or easy Quite easy Extremely easy 0% 33% 38% 29% Figure 14 - How difficult is it to get procurement and legal agreement on performance measures that align with strategic business aims rather than traditional input measures? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 17

Employee attrition Pressure to implement latest technology Recruitment of skilled workers Employee morale Regulatory changes Competition/consolidation/M&A Increase in demand for outsourced services High agent turnover Ability to be agile and change processes Concerns over quality of agents Customer service levels Implementing innovations that are perhaps out of contract but could improve customer experience Time spent on management Brand impact Getting the right proportion of any gain share agreement Contract tie-ins Lack of control 57% 52% 48% 48% 38% 33% 19% 14% 14% 14% Figure 15 - What are the biggest challenges you currently face in managing your outsource contracts? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 62% 43% 38% 33% 24% 14% 10% Figure 16 - In your opinion, what is the most important issue currently facing outsourced contact centre management? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 18

In relation to contract SLA s, what do you think is the biggest challenge you face? Customer engagement with our Outsource Field Staff and Contact Centre Consistency and not compromising to achieve Balancing customer and commercial results Accurate intra-day call forecasting Transparency of KPIs and date sources Focus on the SLA's and their achievement. Getting the vendor to understand the cost impact where they are not met & measuring that impact. Ensuring that our SLA's are achieved with no direct control. Regulation Looking beyond the contract towards aspirations Targeted resource that delivers added value To get quality measures that are reliable Consistent delivery & understanding what impacts outcome based metrics Ability to consider strategic objectives within a contract...not always clear that direction our organisation is going in...in order to ensure appropriate SLAs are in contracts Figure 17 A selection of responses In relation to contract SLA s, what do you think is the biggest challenge you face? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 19

View from the outsourcers This section reviews the responses provided by BPO provider and outsourcers regarding the nature of their operations core capabilities and current trends. Current operations and trends The majority of BPO/outsourcing service providers surveyed had UK and Ireland based contracts (80%) as well as some service provision in India (36%), Eastern Europe (16%) and the Philippines (13%). The most common average length of BPO/outsourcing contract was 5-10 years (31% of those surveyed) or 1-3 years (31%) followed by 3-5 years (29%). See Figure 19 for more information. In terms of the numbers of FTE, 40% of respondents had 501-2000; 34% had 2001-5000 and 29% had 251-500. See Figure 20 for more detail. 65% of those surveyed reported that their BPO/outsourcing contracts had grown over the last three years. See Figure 21 for full details. 80% 36% 16% 13% 11% 11% 9% 4% 4% 2% Figure 18 - From which locations do you offer BPO/outsourcing services? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 20

< one year 1-3 years 3-5 years 5-10 years 10+ years Other (please specify) 3% 3% 3% 31% 31% 29% Figure 19 What is the average length of BPO/outsourcing contract your organisation? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0-50 51-100 101-250 251-500 501-2000 2001-5000 5001+ In the UK & Ireland Europe Middle East & Africa AsiaPac Americas Figure 20 How many FTE are there in your business? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 21

Grown Reduced Stayed the same 23% 12% 65% Figure 21 In the last three years have your BPO/outsourcing contracts? (Based on a CCA member survey of 65 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) Core capabilities In terms of the core sectoral focus of the BPO/outsourcing providers surveyed, 28% were financial services, 16% were utilities and 13% telecoms. Of the 19% who responded other, their activities included multiple sectors. See Figure 22 52% of the BPO/outsourcing providers surveyed reported having multi-lingual capabilities. See Figure 23 for more details. The core service capabilities reported by the BPO and outsourcing providers (Figure 24) surveyed were wide ranging and included: Inbound voice customer service (90%) Outbound voice customer service (68%) Email (68%) Complaints management (61%) Inbound voice sales (58%) Social media (58%) Webchat (52%) SMS (48%) Outbound voice sales (42%) The core technology capabilities reported by the BPO and outsourcing providers (Figure 25) surveyed were wide ranging and included: Workforce management (70%) CRM system (65%) Data analytics (65%) Email management (65%) Knowledge management (65%) Social media monitoring (60%) ACD (55%) Queue management (55%) 22

Blending and routing (55%) Social media management (55%) Outbound SMS (55%) Cloud-based technologies (50%) Multimedia (45%) Inbound SMS (45%) Speech analytics (35%) Voice biometrics (20%) 28% 19% 16% 13% 6% 6% 3% 3% 3% 3% Figure 22 What are the core sectors your business provides customer contact activity for? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) yes no 49% 51% Figure 23 Do you have multi-lingual capability? (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 23

90% 68% 68% 61% 58% 58% 52% 48% 42% 26% 7% Figure 24 What do you think are your organisation s core service capabilities? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 80% 70% 60% 50% 70% 65% 65% 65% 65% 60% 55% 55% 55% 55% 55% 50% 45% 45% 40% 35% 30% 20% 20% 10% 5% 0% Figure 25 What core technologies can you offer to clients? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 24

Homeworking In relation to homeworking, only 30% of BPO and outsourcing respondents offered or were trialling homeworking. In terms of the range of benefits of homeworking reported by survey respondents, these tended to be associated with the opportunity for attracting the best employees and factors related to flexibility (Figure 27). BPO and outsourcing respondents reported possible advantages including: Improved flexibility for our workforce (85%) Opportunity to attract a different/wider skill set (70%) Improved flexibility for resourcing our customer service (67%) Cost reduction (63%) Improved employee engagement/satisfaction levels (48%) Reduced absence rates (48%) In terms of the main barriers to implementing homeworking the most commonly reported factors included: lack of trust (17%) lack of control over individual employees (14%) technology restraints/issues (14%) more challenging to have good employee engagement (14%) and compliance & regulation (10%). See Figure 28 for full details. Yes No Trialling Investigating Planning to implement within the next 6-12 months 0% 22% 26% 4% 48% Figure 26 Do you offer a homeworking capability for clients? (Based on a CCA member survey of 65 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 25

Lack of trust Lack of control over individual employees More challenging to have good employee engagement Technology restraints/issues Compliance & regulation Discipline of staff Security Other (please specify) More challenging for individuals to have career progression/individual profiling Concerns over health & safety Reliance on connectivity ie broadband internet connection/phone connection 85% 70% 67% 63% 48% 48% 41% 22% 7% Figure 27 What do you think are the main benefits of homeworking? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 20% 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 17% 14% 14% 14% 10% 7% 7% 7% 3% 3% 3% Figure 28 What do you think are the main barriers of implementing homeworking? (please select all that apply) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 26

Keeping pace with new technologies Integration of channels to provide omni-channel/digital experience Increase in demand for non-voice channels Forecasting demand for non-voice channels The use of data to capture voice of customer Pressure to reduce cost to serve Employee morale Employee attrition Recruitment of skilled workers Regulatory changes Global sourcing Drive to digital Customer experience: issues and frustrations The most common issues facing customer experience reported by respondents were: Recruitment of skilled workers (80%) Integration of channels to provide omni-channel/digital experience (80%) Pressure to reduce cost to serve (71%) Drive to digital (71%) Keeping pace with new technologies (71%) Employee morale (70%) 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Very important Quite Important Important Quite unimportant Very unimportant Figure 29 What, in your opinion, is the most important issue currently facing customer service? (very important to unimportant scale) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) The factors reported as most important by the contact centre professionals surveyed to get right in their customer service strategy and operations, in the drive to digital, included: Seamless customer experience across channels (82%) Flexible access channel strategy (64%) 27

Integrated technology platform (61%) Skilled and confident workforce (61%) Access to insight and real time analytics (52%) Realistic channel shift plan and savings targets (55%) 82% 64% 61% 61% 55% 52% 49% 30% 18% 3% Figure 30 In the drive to digital, what are the most important features to get right in your customer service strategy and operations (please select all that apply): (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) From the end customer s perspective, the factors that respondents thought they find most frustrating when contacting organisation included: Their enquiry not being dealt with first time round (100%) Being given inconsistent information across different channels (eg email, phone, website) (100%) Having to explain the enquiry more than once (97%) 28

Calling a company and them not knowing who they are Their enquiry not being dealt with first time round Having to explain the enquiry more than once Not having a company get back to them when they said they would Being kept waiting for an unreasonable length of time Being given inconsistent information across different channels (eg email, phone, website) Poor digital-led services eg online, webchat Too many security or ID&V questions Not having a company get back to them when they said they would (91%) Being kept waiting for an unreasonable length of time (88%) 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Very frustrating Quite frustrating Frustrating Not that frustrating Not at all frustrating Figure 31 From the end customer s perspective, what do you think they find most frustrating when contacting organisations? (please select an option for each statement) (very frustrating to not at all frustrating scale) (Based on a CCA member survey of 71 Contact Centre Professionals, September 2016) 29

Conclusions and recommendations This research has shown the diversity of experiences and aspirations of those engaged in BPO and outsourcing more generally. It has demonstrated how outsourcing can offer cost reduction opportunities, flexibility, access to skilled workers and the ability to access current and new technology. This agility is a critical advantage in the contemporary contact centre landscape which in recent years has been shaped by the challenges of the global economic recession and is now to be transformed by further political and economic uncertainty. As noted in the report engaging in such activities is not without challenge, however, and issues such as high agent turnover, concerns over the quality of agents were raised as well as the pressure to base outputs of cost reduction rather than improvements to customer experience, a perennial problem which can result in a race to the bottom. A number of key recommendations can be made: Be clear about objectives and communicate these to all stakeholders during negotiations of terms of outsourcing and throughout Put the best team in place with a diversity of skills and experiences to help drive holistic change Develop useful and comprehensive measures for change which are not solely focused on cost Make sure that new strategies reflect the complexity of the outsourcing arrangement and the ability to realise the benefits Identify and setup benchmarks so that SLAs can be drafted to correspond with the provisions that generate a competitive edge 30

About CCA CCA is the leading independent authority on contact centre strategies and operations. Over 900 organisations currently subscribe to CCA services. This equates to a network of over 5,000 senior practitioners, employing between 35%-45% of the contact centre population in the UK. Around 20%-25% of people working in a contact centre in the UK are working in a centre accredited with CCA Global Standard. For further information visit www.cca-global.com For more information visit www.cca-global.com SILVER PARTNER - Agilisys Agilisys, the digital transformation specialist for the public sector, has been helping to improve public services for millions of citizens for over 15 years and is one of the largest employee owned businesses in the UK. Our strong reputation and deep domain expertise, particularly within local government, has been gained by delivering transformational services through a suite of citizen-centric technology products and transformation consultancy. www.agilisys.co.uk The research, data and views in this white paper are not necessarily those of CCA Global Ltd or Agilisys. The report has been prepared in good faith but neither the partners nor the authors of the reports can be held responsible for any actions or otherwise taken by those reading the paper. 31