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The Evolution of Customer Relationship Centres: A Parallel with Ford and Toyota?

Henry Ford is one of the fathers of mass standardized production. At the beginning of the last century, faced with the challenge of producing cars in large quantities at the lowest price, he invented new production methods with F. W. Taylor. Together, they forever changed the way work is done in factories. Later, their methods were adopted by other industries, including call centres. 70 years after Henry Ford’s death in 1947, it’s time for call centres to shed the image of assembly line production that sticks to them.

The Industrial Revolution of Ford and Taylor

In 1908, Henry Ford took an interest in the “cheap car” market. He then needed to simplify the craftsmanship manufacturing process. His challenge: to produce vehicles in large numbers while reducing costs. Ford invents the assembly line. He divides the work, standardizes parts and products, allowing him to produce large series with unskilled labour. This is mass production.

“People can have the Model T in any colour, as long as it’s black.”

Henry Ford

Frederick W. Taylor develops the Scientific Management: tasks are divided, standardized according to strict standards of time and pace. Thanks to him, anyone can do the work, only manual labour counts.

The results are there: productivity increases and costs decrease. In 1914, Ford doubled his employees’ wages (from $2.5 to $5) and introduced bonuses. Outside, workers queued to work in his factory; inside, employees disciplined themselves: turnover and absenteeism decreased. And production increased. It’s a great success.

The Toyota Revolution

Following World War II, the Japanese sought to rebuild their automotive industry. They studied practices in the United States and noted the perverse effects of mass production methods:

  • Customer dissatisfaction related to:
    • Lack of flexibility regarding customer demand
    • Significant quality issues
    • Longer delivery times
  • High costs of storing manufactured but unsold products
  • Employee demobilization

Ironically helped by Americans such as Deming or Juran, they prioritize the customer and quality and adopt a more global and systemic view of production. This period marks the birth of the Toyota model.

This led to profound changes in work organization:

  • Production according to customer needs
  • Minimizing stocks
  • Employees have the right to stop production
  • Employee participation in continuous improvement of processes and products
  • Development of teamwork in small cells
  • Versatility to promote mutual assistance

It’s a real revolution, which contrasts with Ford’s approach:

  • It seeks to satisfy customers who are no longer satisfied with a standard product but want a product that meets their preferences. It’s a customer-centred approach.
  • It aims for the productivity of the entire system, not just the productivity of labour. It’s a systemic approach.
  • It values employees not just for their manual contribution but for their knowledge, problem-solving abilities, and improvement ideas. It’s a more humane approach.

From the 1980s, factories worldwide were amazed by the Japanese’s global success and adopted, not without difficulty, their methodologies. This paved the way for factories as we know them today.

The First Call Centres Modelled After Factories

What does all this have to do with call centres?

The first appeared at the end of the 20th century, with the goal of serving many customers at the lowest possible cost. They sought mass service: it’s the industrialization of services.

Pursuing the same goal, call centres naturally adapted Ford’s industrial methods to their context:

  • Adoption of standard call scripts,
  • Limitation of employee autonomy,
  • Second-by-second employee control,
  • Motivation through bonuses

Same causes, same effects!

They had the same perverse effects as in factories:

  • Customer dissatisfaction with:
    • Wait times
    • Quality of interactions,
    • Call transfers
  • Rising service costs
  • Increasing customer acquisition costs
  • Employee demobilization

The Evolution of Call Centres

Call centres have been experiencing their Toyota revolution in recent years. Organizations, noting the evolution of customer preferences and expectations, adopt new principles:

  1. They seek to create customer experiences that develop their loyalty and allegiance. They are customer centred.
  2. They consider contact centres within customer journeys and in interaction with other channels. They have a systemic view.
  3. They empower employees and involve them in process improvement. They are more human.

Today’s contact centres contribute to branding reputation, customer experience, revenue, and profitability.

To achieve different results, different actions must be taken

These new principles lead to new expectations for agents who are asked to go beyond scripts to:

  • Understand customer needs,
  • Offer them tailored products and services,
  • Definitively solve their problems,
  • Be proactive to prevent them from needing to call back,

It results in better business outcomes, but also in engaging workplaces where employees enjoy working.

Call Centres Can Be Different

Modern call centres are very different from the public’s image. Or rather: call centres have the potential to be very different from the public’s image.

Even today, many contact centres continue to be organized like factories. Indeed, technology has improved, facilities have modernized, working conditions have been enhanced, but control and standardization often remain omnipresent.

By Guillaume Delroeux

Guillaume is president and leader of customer experience practices at Prométhée consultants and helps organizations with customer relationship centres make the most of their technologies to maximize their impact and create legendary customer experiences.