As most of us know, the definition of insanity is straightforward: doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results each time. The contact center business has taught me that creativity and innovation are essential to staying relevant and ensuring success. Here are some reasons why:
The Importance of Creativity or Doing Things Differently
Creativity sits right up there alongside other more traditionally valued qualities like leadership and business acumen. Businesses that emphasize creativity in people, processes, and technology can set themselves apart from the competition as unique, different, and engaging. This draws customers to them, including customers who may be willing to pay more for an individual or better experience. It also helps in attracting the best employees.
The Importance of Innovation or Creating Something New
Although both creativity and innovation are interchangeable, innovation can is different in that it is often about the creation of something new, such as new products, features, or software. Companies these days increasingly understand the importance of innovation as a quality that is crucial to sustaining the longevity of a business.
Amplifying Creativity and Innovation with the Guidance of Self-Assessments and Third-Party Intervention
One way to gauge whether you need creativity or innovation in your contact center business is to look at customer feedback. This feedback will often point to things that may need improvement or are missing and need implementation.
Another way to assess how your business is stacking up is to look at what your competition is doing and rolling out. How do their people, processes, and technology compare to yours?
Also, look at your level of growth and results. When you hit a wall for either, it may be time to switch things up. Stagnancy is not a desirable trait in a business.
Doing a self-audit can help you catch issues before they get too big and see what is working in your business and what may need to be improved. Here are some things to consider to make your audits as effective as possible:
Self-Auditing Your Business
- Take a step back periodically to reassess your business objectives and tweak them as needed.
- Be willing to go beyond your perceived limitations or barriers. It’s challenging to push the envelope when you are afraid to try.
- Learn new skills and participate in learning courses that can improve your knowledge and abilities.
- Have an active social life involving interacting with interesting people from different walks of life who can inspire you to new ideas and possibilities.
- Challenge yourself and your employees to develop creative ways to cut costs and leverage growth and profitability.
- Reduce the need to control or micromanage every aspect of your business. Give your employees goals and accountability, and then trust them to achieve results by using their own unique or distinct approaches.
- Create an open-door policy where team members know that they can come to you to share their ideas.
- Create diverse work teams which include team members that have various talents, backgrounds, and skills.
- Taking a break and looking at things from the outside can also help you see things differently. Mind maps are an excellent tool to use for this exercise.
Third-Party Intervention
The importance of periodic third-party intervention cannot be emphasized enough; They can help confirm existing issues or bring light to new problems. It can be a very insightful experience to use third-party consultants who can provide a very objective, unbiased, outside view on what’s working and what’s not within your business.
Resources are available at your disposal to make the necessary changes. It’s up to you to rise to the occasion and capitalize on opportunities to scale your business.
We invite you to take the 360° View Assessment of your organization and its contact centers. This assessment holistically and impartially evaluates your departments and operations from all vantage points, including your people, processes, and technology. This assessment will determine how we can leverage our experienced team and knowledge of industry best practices to optimize your current contact center environment. Let’s connect! Give me a call at (218)286-4006, or fill out a form for a free proposal here.
