Productivity red flags can be hard to spot. Two forces – the transition to remote work and the rise of quiet quitting – tend to keep the source of productivity problems hidden in outsourcing firms, so only the outcomes are visible. We recently surveyed outsourcing companies of all shapes and sizes from around the world and learned that a staggering 80% of companies are facing these kinds of challenges.
Processes and systems are essential for growing an agency. They’re the scaffolding holding the structure in place. But too many agencies mistake scaffolding for structure, becoming overburdened with procedure at the expense of productivity, creativity and collaboration. Process should help agencies scale, not become a straitjacket that belabours daily tasks and prevents knowledge sharing.
Mention the word “timesheets” to someone who has worked at an agency and it’ll probably send shivers down their spine and have them running for the hills. It’ll conjure up memories of frantically going through emails and to-do lists on a Friday, and somehow making things add up to 40 hours for the week. We’ve all been there! For an industry so dependent on good time management for success, it can be difficult to explain why most agencies struggle to do it effectively.
Best-in-class customer service organisations are increasingly using AI as a competitive differentiator, especially as they face economic uncertainty and rising costs. Cost savings are just one benefit of AI in customer service. A recent report from Gartner, 3 Ways AI Benefits Customer Service Organisations,* explains how customer service organisations can use AI to move beyond cutting costs to adding value.
Great service relies on having a complete view of your customers. That means bringing all your support channels, workflows, customer data and apps into a unified workspace so agents have the context they need for every customer interaction. But businesses need to take the idea of a single customer view one step further.
Mark Sanborn once said: "Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers, and business." In the agency world, how you implement change is just as vital as the specific changes you make. It's a classic case of the journey being as important as the final destination.
