Critical Thinking

By Andi Anugrah

One of the questions we ask during individual competitions is about operational cost-efficiency. In the moderator’s question, “As a best Contact Center Manager, if you are asked to make operational cost-efficiency. Choose the action you will take, is it reducing the number of agents or providing digital services? Explain 3 reasons for this choice?”

If you were in that position, which would be your priority? Is it reducing the number of agents or providing digital services? Try to explain without connecting the two or try to explain using supporting data. Try to explain by paying attention to the risks and the development process that must be done.

One needs to train oneself to deal with certain conditions and one’s experience is forged from the various conditions one has experienced. It could also be from the references he read or it could be from studying the cases of other companies. The learning process gives us a broader insight into the aspects that must be prioritized when we have to choose.

Choosing to reduce the number of agents, of course, there will be risks. Choosing to provide digital services also has its risks. Of course, with the experience you have as a contact center manager, you will have many ways to reduce risk. When we choose these conditions for operational cost efficiency, we will be faced with calculations and tolerances for possible achievements.

What if you choose to provide digital services, and the impact causes the number of your contact center services to increase. Of course, it causes the need for agents to increase and your operational costs to swell. “Oh, is that so?” It can happen, the cause is because of different customer service patterns. However, many digital services are self-service, there are mobile apps or chatbots. Well, here you have to choose the right steps for services that suit the needs of your customers.

What if you choose “reduce the number of agents”. Well, you certainly have a more precise explanation. “Please. Come on, who’s answering?”

Keep the spirit up to welcome the morning, stay healthy and happy. (AA)