Turn your customer service cost centre into a value centre

Insights for Telecommunications Executives

A New Revenue Opportunity: Contact Centres Evolve to Generate Profit

The role of contact centres in the telecom industry is transforming from a service-oriented cost centre to a relationship-driven value centre. The increased customer adoption of remote and digital channels is providing an invaluable opportunity to evolve contact centres into real revenue generation hubs.

Telecom companies are more ready than ever to take advantage of this opportunity. The accelerated digital transformation of recent years has eased this evolution. Contact centre leaders looking to make this shift should focus on three avenues: moving from a transactional to relational-first service approach; scaling AI and analytics for revenue generation; and driving agility with a cloud-based distributed operating model.

1. Move from a Transactional to Relational-First Service Approach

Over the years, customer support and service have generally been viewed as transactional touchpoints rather than as opportunities to improve customer relationships. Performance measures and management attention tended to prioritise cost savings while maintaining an acceptable customer experience.

But accelerated digital change - driven both by customer expectations and by providers' own investments - has shifted the equation. Customers now have a wide range of choices and are exercising this power freely. For providers, new technology means service no longer has to be a 'necessary money-pit' but can become a critical investment to drive human-centric experiences, meaningful relationships, customer loyalty, and measurable revenue contribution.

Salesforce's State of Service research shows that 59% of customers say the pandemic has raised their standards for customer service and 91% of customers say good customer service makes them more likely to make a purchase. These findings reinforce the financial value of relationship-driven service.

2. Scale AI and Apply Analytics for Revenue Generation

AI, automation, and analytics technologies are fast becoming fundamental pillars of contact centres in medium and large telecom companies. Many companies already have established centres of excellence - but the use cases for these technologies still tend to emphasise cost savings and operational efficiencies.

To build a value centre, companies must fully exploit the potential of AI and apply analytics to drive business outcomes such as incremental sales, up-selling, cross-selling, and improved retention. Leaders should also look beyond one-off use cases and tackle advanced technologies with a process-wide strategy.

Two analytics use cases worth prioritising:

Propensity modelling: Helps capture what top-performing agents do differently and identifies the likelihood of a customer being interested in an offer based on historical buying patterns.

Customer interaction analytics: Harnesses customer data and agent conversations to monitor customer behaviours and predict the best product to recommend to each customer.

3. Drive Agility with a Cloud-Based Distributed Operating Model

Building a resilient and agile operating model is key to transforming a contact centre into a value centre. Companies that have adopted remote working and cloud technologies without a sound strategy have found the results inconsistent.

Implementing a cloud contact centre as a service (CCaaS) solution that supports a distributed operating model is one of the most impactful steps a telecom leader can take. A CCaaS platform integrates legacy and emerging technologies and acts as a unified platform for customer service operations, providing a single-window view of customer data while increasing operational agility and scalability.

The global contact centre as a service market is projected to reach USD 45.19 billion by 2035, reflecting the rapid and sustained adoption of cloud-based service delivery models across industries.

A distributed operating model enabled by a CCaaS platform also allows companies to recruit better talent across geographies and enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The contact centre no longer has to be a pure cost line. Treated as a revenue and retention engine, with the right operating model, technology and talent, customer service becomes a measurable contributor to growth rather than a number to be minimised.

Getting Started

The rising adoption of digital and remote service channels has opened a unique opportunity to use contact centres for generating revenue. Telecom leaders must retire the traditional mindset of viewing service as a weak link in the customer journey and recognise contact centres as potential sources for creating additional customer value and revenue.

As a global leader in customer experience and digital contact centre solutions, Firstsource is helping telecom companies accelerate this transformation. For further insights, explore Firstsource's Digitally Empowered Contact Centre solutions or visit the Communications industry services page.