Never underestimate the power of recurring cost savings. Even tiny improvements to contact center operations may seem deceptively small, but will save you big in the long run.
For example, our continuous improvement practice recently recommended a change to a client’s IVR system that will result in an automation rate increase of a fraction of one percent. The higher automation rate will save the client about $4000 a month by reducing transfers to agents. On the scale of operating a large contact center, $4000 in savings sounds like a drop in the bucket.
But look at what happens over time if you have a real continuous improvement program in place. Make just one improvement every six months that generates only $4000 a month in recurring savings and soon those drops will have your bucket overflowing. After five years, you will have accumulated over a million dollars in cost savings for your contact center.
This is the value of a mature continuous improvement program for the call center, but it doesn’t come easily. Our continuous improvement team has been at it for nearly a decade and we’ve accumulated our expertise by analyzing hundreds of applications for improvement opportunities each year.
Yes, it takes a lot of work to keep raising the bar on performance, but you should demand just that. If your IVR performance hasn’t improved in years, many may argue that you’ve long since reached the point of diminishing returns. Don’t fall into that trap--it could cost you millions.
