Top 10 Cost Reduction Strategies

Contact centers are always under the microscope to ensure a balance between customer experience and operational expense is maintained. The fundamental responsibility of most inbound "customer service" contact centers is to support and retain customers, ensuring that customers are satisfied and that the associated revenue is protected. The challenge for most service contact centers then becomes determining which strategies to leverage to reduce contact center operational expenses, while still maintaining customer satisfaction, while protecting both revenue and reputation.

Below is a list of my "Top 10 Cost Reduction Strategies" for inbound customer service contact centers. These strategies were developed from my personal experience of both leading and supporting over 75 contact centers with 9 different companies (GTE-Internetworking, Cleartel Communications, IDS Telecom, NII Telecom, Supra Telecom, NOW Communications, Comcast, and MetLife). These strategies are based on the assumption that labor costs represents the majority of an inbound customer service contact center's operational expense line, and represents strategies that represent the largest return on investment to reduce labor costs.