Everybody’s talking about going back to the office – but not in the way we were before. The way we collaborate at work has changed forever, and so has the way customers interact with brands. 

This presents us with many opportunities to craft environmentally-friendly policies, Payne suggests, but broad sustainability issues need to be deliberately included in the conversation, to ensure they are prioritised and kept central to rethinking.

“We’re seeing organisations like BT shift from having over more than 300 offices to 30 super hub collaboration centres. So that’s a massive opportunity for everyone to really think about, do we need all this travel and all these people in offices? Do we need all this energy consumption?”

And when it comes to serving customers, “We’re conditioned to think about the word sustainability in the context of saving the planet and being environmentally friendly. But actually, one of the biggest things, if you think about it, from an organisational point of view, is how do you sustain the contact centre? Or how do you sustain good customer service?”

Sustaining the Delivery Chain

This might mean rethinking the entire supply chain, from sourcing products to last-mile delivery. Just as one big boat stuck in a narrow waterway can have a knock-on impact across the world months later, and even getting goods to your door in the face of today’s consumer expectations, is a challenge.

“The gig economy has brought so much outsourcing”, he pointed out, reflecting on a recent disaster waiting for a scheduled white goods delivery. “I had to speak to the contact centre about four times, because usually when you log in you can see exactly where the lorry is and how many stops there are to go – but not this time. I suspect what really happened was they subbed the job out to a contractor who wasn’t logged in to their tracking system, and no one could tell me where my goods were or when to expect them.

“In the end, I cancelled the order and went elsewhere, and will think twice before buying anything else from them again – so their brand is damaged by this.”

Organisations will have to work with the gig economy to be sustainable though, Payne reflects, as part of the big reset.

“People are reshaping the way they’re going to live and work, wanting to work on their own terms around their home life and their kids and the money they need and the quality of life and the social interaction… So organisations will need to become equipped to support and deal with that, in a better way, or they’re going to find their business becomes unsustainable.”

It means rethinking the whole approach.

Digital by Design

“You have to design your approach around a joined-up customer journey, and think about that customer journey first – how do I get things to work as quickly as possible,” with the least investment of time from the customer. 

“That forces you to think about automating wherever you can, to reuse information you already have wherever you can, so you’re not wasting the customer’s time asking them stuff you should already know. Smart use of data and analytics.”

So we have the technology to make the ‘new normal’ better and greener than the old one – for customers, agents, and enterprises. That’s a sustainability strategy worth pursuing, that will truly be a win-win-win.

 

 



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