Keep it Simple, Silly

My daughter, taught by her Kindergarten teacher not to use the other ‘S word’, recently scolded me for calling something ‘stupid’, so we’ll stick with ‘silly’ lest she physically unpeel herself from the Sponge Bob video long enough to read my blog.

I just got back from VoiceCon 2009. I saw many interesting exhibits, sessions and presentations, but there’s one session in particular that really stood out.

Unfortunately, it stood out for all the wrong reasons.

I’m referring to a demo presented by a big— as in major— technology player. The demo was supposed to impress the heck out of us. The UC solution was chock full of bells and whistles and did everything except slice julienne fries. Problem was, it was too complex, and it bombed.  I have never seen half a room that size clear out IN THE MIDDLE OF A DEMO.

What went wrong here? This was an innovative giant demonstrating their latest whiz bang UC solution.  Shouldn’t the audience have hung on their every word, already preparing the speech in their heads they’d use to beg the CIO and CFO for money (‘Your Highness, this UC solution will change the world as we know it!!”)?

The problem was the demo, and the functionality it demo’d, was overkill – if it takes a super scientist and his helper 20 minutes to give the demo, how well is it going to be adopted back at the office after the 3^rd failed attempt at using this solution that over-delivers on their needs anyway?  And if it’s only adopted by the tech weenies, then the productivity gains are lost, which misses the whole point.  The entire audience knew that, and the bolder ones stood up and headed for the door.

Contact Center managers face the same dilemma.  Of all the whiz bang self-service, multi-channel options they could offer their customers (CTI, speech recognition, Twitter self-service options, outbound calls and texts, analytics tools that predict customer needs, personalized IVR options, hold time announcements, call backs…and that’s just half the options), which will give them the most bang for the buck?  How will they budget for it, or ever find the time to deploy it all, much less monitor and optimize it?

Here’s the answer.

Pick a vendor whose business is doing all that, and pay them per transaction, so the incentive becomes theirs to find and implement the options that your customers will use the most.  Avoid giving your customers more than they asked for so they don’t walk out on you.

Keep it simple, Stup…ah, I mean, Silly.