Traditionally, contact centers have been pure cost centers – a necessary expense on the balance sheet to maintain a post-purchase customer service and product support presence. The quality of the customer experience itself was generally treated as an afterthought. Instead, companies focused on cutting operating costs through outsourcing: without profit expectation, slashing operating costs seemed like the only way to improve efficiency and productivity. However, contact centers have since come a long way in shaking off the image of being balance sheet ballast.
