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Tim Searcy Keynotes the ATSI Convention and Expo
By
Peter L DeHaan
July 2, 2008
Representing ATA, Tim Searcy gave
the keynote address at the 2008 ATSI Convention and Expo on June 19 in St. Louis
Missouri. He opened the convention with an insightful presentation entitled:
"Futurecast for the Teleservices Industry." Tim shared that, as an industry, we
are at a fork in the road. (He had a great graphic in his PowerPoint
presentation to re-enforce this point.) The two options ahead of us go in
diverging directions; the path we choose could very well pave way towards either
success or failure. Some of his candid and interesting comments included:
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Of all communication channels
available, 64 percent of interaction is via the telephone.
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The benefit of focusing on
high-quality service versus low-cost service is a much higher retention of
clients.
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An added bonus of focusing on
quality is improved agent retention. This is because agents experience
greater job satisfied when they are actually allowed to do what they were
hired to do – help callers.
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Despite a huge decrease in
outbound calling and much of the world's communication shifting to the
Internet, call center telephone traffic has not decreased, but has actually
remained flat. This development is counterintuitive, but, nonetheless,
welcome news.
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Offshoring will begin to
settle. This is due to customer backlash against difficult to understand
agents and a weakening U.S. dollar.
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Other countries are actually
offshoring to the U.S. to save money or achieve quality.
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Since clients will complain
regardless of what rates they are charged, call centers are advised to
charge a premium price (and provide quality service). That strategy is
being used by some of the largest and most successful teleservices call
centers in the United States.
In concluding his presentation,
Tim offered this summary of key concepts:
1. Outsourcing is growing.
2. Live agents are key.
3. There will be more emphasis placed on the phone.
4. Consumers will determine the future.
5. Ignore regulations at your peril.
Some ATA members are also members
of ATSI. ATSI, the Association of Teleservices International, is a trade
association, begun in 1942 to support the then nascent telephone answering
service industry. Much has changed in the 66 years since then. Today,
virtually all viable answering services process calls on sophisticated
computerized switching systems, type caller information into computer databases,
and rely on programmed speed dialing and automated dispatching to relay
information to their clients.
The telephone answering service
industry is currently undergoing a wave of consolidation, as larger, more
technically astute and well-managed centers buy smaller, less able players.
Another reason for consolidation is that, historically, answering services are
family-run operations. Aging owners, who do not have family members interested
in taking over the business, view selling their answering service as the most
viable and profitable exit strategy.
Another development in the
telephone answering service industry is that many are pursuing diversification
strategies by offering other types of call processing services. These include
order-taking, ad response, first-level help desk, class registrations, and
appointment setting. The modern telephone answering services' current level
telephony infrastructure and technological sophistication have nicely positioned
them to pursue and embrace these types of services.
Given the evolving state of the
telephone answering service industry to more fully embrace the teleservice
industry, there are interesting synergistic opportunities between ATA and ATSI.
Peter DeHaan is
Publisher of Connections Magazine,
addressing the teleservices and outsourcing call center industry. At the
website you may read call center articles and whitepapers,
subscribe to the magazine, and read or download past issues. Also, check
out Peter's blog
and
outsourcing
call center newsfeed.
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