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Let’s Watch a Movie

Peter Lyle DeHaan

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

When someone says, “Let’s watch a movie,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Do you immediately think of a group outing to go watch the latest flick? Perhaps your preferred viewing venue is the more cozy environment of your living room couch. Could it be that watching a movie is a solitary experience for you, one that is enjoyed parked in front of your laptop computer? Whatever it may be, there are a multitude of options for watching a movie – and a diverse list of business enterprises that support those variations. Consider the following:

What does all this mean? Plenty — and it can apply to any industry or business, especially call centers.

The movie distribution business is highly fragmented with many competing variations. Each of the options listed has a threatened existence. Some of them are arguably obsolete, requiring innovation and determination to remain viable. Many are feeling competitive pressures that endanger their existence. For those on the leading edge, technological advances could render them obsolete in an incredibly short time.

Let’s revisit the list again, with these issues in mind:

The call center industry is likewise fragmented. There is in-house and outsource options. There is onshore and offshore. There is live and there is automated. There is centralized and decentralized. There is office-based and there is home-based.

There are call centers stuck in the past. I recently received a call from one such entity. They needed to update their equipment, which was obsolete and unrepairable, but didn’t want to have to use a computer database – they preferred writing everything by hand. And though I haven’t run into it for a while, I am sure there are still centers out there who are yet to embrace the headset, never mind ACD, IVR, QC, call recording, and all the rest. These centers, mired in obsolescence, are still in business because they have done what the drive-ins and single screen theaters have done: somehow they reinvented themselves, found a niche, and marketed effectively.

Then there are call centers that are trapped in their business plan, traveling down a narrowing road. Perhaps their distinctive advantage is their staff, but they can’t hire enough qualified agents. Maybe they have staked their future offshore and are stymied by communication issues, management challenges, or an unstable local government. Other call centers are loaded with technology, but the next competitive technological innovation could render all that they have as something that no one wants.

This analysis is not unique to movie distribution and call centers. It exists in every business, in every industry, and in every economy. Some will survive and some won’t. The key is taking what you have and using it to your advantage, perhaps in a way that no one else has thought of. It could be your location, your staff, your technology, your niche, your management team, your leadership, or something else. If you have none of these options, then perhaps it’s time to morph into another line of business, be it within or apart from the call center industry. Regardless of your situation, with determination and innovation, there’s always the opportunity to reinvent your business. The one solution that won’t work is to do nothing at all.

Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Connections Magazine, covering the call center industry.

Read his latest book, Call Center Connections.

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