Scott Watson, performance director of Yorkshire-based Summit Consulting & Training claims that the biggest threat to the survival of the UK's call centre industry is not India or other cheap labour markets, but the UK itself.
In a recent BBC radio interview, Watson claimed that the UK's call centre industry has developed an ability to consistently underperform, annoy customers, push costs through the roof and, as a consequence, put thousands of jobs at risk.
His comments are supported by recent research by Mintel, which claimed that 60% of callers are frustrated with having to wait in long queues before speaking with someone.
The research also established that 50% of callers become annoyed with the piped music played while they are held in queues.
Watson, who has helped some of the UK's largest call centres improve their performance by more than 40%, believes that under-pressure executives needing to slash costs and maximise profits will find it easier to decide on transferring their operations overseas unless some big improvements are quickly made.
"Much is written about the threat to British call centres from abroad, but executives need to look much closer to home if they are to identify the real source of their problems. Lots of time and money are invested in poor quality recruitment and staff training initiatives that just don't add value, but leaders seem to keep investing in these activities more through habit than the achievement of improved performance," Watson.
Watson argues that executives need to take responsibility for the current problems and focus on creating new, improved levels of management expertise and staff loyalty that genuinely benefits customers.
"Poor quality management has a massive impact on employee’s willingness to do a good job and stay with their employer long term. There definitely needs to be a big change in thinking if the situation is to improve," he said.
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