Recession coming? Prepare with an on-demand workforce.

Based on recent news, the New Year—and the predicted economic slowdown—could be a wild card for businesses. Just consider these stories:

• Another Warning That A 2019 Recession Is Coming – Forbes reports: “Studies show that forecasters are generally blindsided by recessions, precisely because they tend to be preceded by economic strength. There is little reason to believe that it is different this time.”
• Will the hot economy and job market go cold in 2019? – USA Today’s take: “If the economy were a jet that finally reached cruising speed in 2018, it will throttle back moderately next year before slowing further in 2020, economists say.”
• US Economic Outlook for 2019 and Beyond – Echoes The Balance: U.S. GDP growth will be 3 percent in 2018. It will slow to 2.3 percent in 2019, 2 percent in 2020, and 1.8 percent in 2021.”

 

 

All of this occurs against a backdrop of rising interest rates, tariff wars and stock-market gyrations. Tea leaves, anyone? Tarot cards? Ouija board, maybe? Heck, why not all three?

Perhaps not. In the contact center industry, let’s forego the psychics and hand-wringing. Best to plan ahead of the predications, factoring in the most critical aspects of your operations to weather upticks and downturns.

Whatever happens, businesses that rely on quality customer sales and service should consider a few relevant questions in the New Year:

• How do your call center processes stack up against varied outlooks? Best to be resilient.
• Can you ramp up or scale down your workforce as demand changes? Need to be flexible.
• Are you able to ensure nonstop customer service, whatever occurs? Have to be reliable.

   

And yeah, as a seasoned call center leader, you’ve done this work for a long time. You anticipate and plan—but every year is different. Is it not? Or say, you’re in a new customer care position, experiencing different challenges and opportunities for the first time. So, a little do-this or try-that guidance would be useful. Yes?

Either way, we’d like to offer some thoughts from a few blogs to help you succeed in 2019, from complementing your workforce with on-demand agents to reducing call center costs. They might give you an idea or a leg-up for forecasting and fortifying your call center operations this year.

Please, give them a read. Can’t hurt. Might even help. They are:

1. Improving the Travel Customer Experience with On-Demand Call Center Solutions – For customer-service operations, keeping up with travelers is taxing as expectations climb. Why not try a personalized strategy?
2. How to Reduce Call Center Overhead Costs with On-Demand Customer Care – As call center costs rise, large companies with significant resources struggle to keep up—as small businesses lag behind.
3. 5 Lessons Digital Retailers Can Learn from the In-Store Customer Experience – In-person customer experiences offer digital retailer valuable lessons. They should be part of any omnichannel marketing efforts.