The 5th Generation Call Center Is A Network

As the world changes so has the call center industry, traditionally a brick and mortar operation now we are seeing the industry dealing with disruption from the move to work from home strategies of many businesses. Brick and mortar are becoming a liability instead of an asset. Intellectual networks are becoming the new asset. Let’s discuss what the fifth-generation call center looks like compared to a 4th Gen center of 2019. 

First let’s define what a network model in the call center industry looks like. Rather than focusing on brick and mortar a network model focuses on the participants within the network, this is the intellectual assets of the network. A traditional call center model focuses on brick and mortar assets and consider the people not to be an asset of the company. Networks only survive and grow to feed the participants not to feed investors or meet management or ownership goals. 

Traditional call center models require large investors and a large investment in assets such as the building, computer equipment and fixed costs. The network model has no physical assets and needs no investors, no equipment and has little to no fixed costs. The network model is also much easier to start up since there is no large capital outlay. The world has been moving to networks for the last decade in many industries, taxis and hotels would be a perfect example with the move to Uber and Air Bnb in those industries. It addition those networks are perfect examples of companies with large evaluations and very little assets. 

Air BnB uses assets that were previously unused, and extra bedroom or condo. The assets are owned by the participants of the network not by the network itself. This allowed AirBnB to grow globally quickly as all they needed to have more assets to rent was to get more participants, they did not have to acquire one piece of real estate property. Uber has done the same thing in the taxi industry by using personal cars to transport participants of the network leaving traditional taxi drivers losing money. And Uber owns no cars. 

In the service industry and retail, networks have been outperforming traditional supply chains for some time, look at Amazon versus Walmart. Amazon is a network of buyers and sellers that has outperformed Walmart over the last few years, yet Amazon has very few assets in comparison to Walmart. This is further reinforced by Walmart’s’ entrance into digital marketing to try and compete with Amazon. 

Networks can also grow at lightning speed since no assets are required only increasing the size of the network is required and that is done by the network just increasing participants. This has allowed companies like Uber to grow very quickly. The problem lies in how traditional brick and mortar business value their assets verses a network model. Networks serve the participants not a board or group of investors. 

When your culture is aligned with the people not with the investors something special happens and the network begins to thrive and as it thrives it grows with no effort, it grows by its mere ability to satisfy its participants. Its participants are its culture. 

4 Gen call centers see assets as things on a ledger sheet, networks see its participants as the assets. 

4 Gen Call centers see people as the work force and networks see participants as the network. 

4 Gen call centers see clients as income and networks see clients as participants.

4 Gen call centers see technology as a costs and networks see technology as an asset. 

4 Gen call centers see costs as fixed, hard and soft costs, networks see costs as crowd wealth sharing. 

Networks rely on the participants to provide assets, growth, ease of scale and participants. The old model relied on investors, Boards and management to provide all the above. This does not allow for alignment with the people. Management from the top is just that the team doing what one person directs. Networks only survive if they service everyone who participates, the workers, sales group, administration team, clients, technology and much more. 

Intelligence Capital VS Tangible Assets 

Traditional business wants to grow tangible assets general accounting principles support this showing software as a costs and computers as an asset. Networks want intangible assets; people are the asset and the technology to connect the people is an asset. This does not show up on an accounting balance sheet giving many networks low evaluations in a sales process. Whereas traditional companies have big balance sheets and may not have intellectual capital but get larger evaluations. 

Schools teach traditional assets as growth strategy. Schools and Universities have long taught the search to obtain assets was the goal of business, more buildings, more computers, more cash in the bank. Networks cannot work in that manner that are not concerned with the assets of the network they are focused on the participants in the network. When you name a traditional business, you manage the physical assets. When you manage a network, you allocate the intellectual assets. Intellectual Allocation is a much different skill set than asset management. 

Allocation; an amount of a resource assigned to a particular recipient or the action or process of sharing out something

So Networks provide resources for its participants (an allocation of assets). The network manager is task with putting the right assets together, its network match making. In networks there are no assets to manage so traditional mangers are lost as to what to do. Managing a network is the work of the whole network not the actual network manager. This is what creates that magic alignment. 

So if you apply the network strategy to a call center you have a different looking beast. You have a group of participants (clients, workers, sales teams, admin, HR, IT) that are all after the same goal. Alignment allows for better resource allocation and better work quality and work ethic. Happy participants want to share their experience and that grows the network. Clients see and feel the difference and so do the workers. All the participants of the network see the opportunities provided by the network and that grows the network in size and quality. 

Ring & Respect has applied this network strategy to the call center business and we want you to come participate in the network with us. We promise alignment with our participants goals, proper allocation of assets and quality work at low costs. We accept participants who just need one or two agents or just don’t want to sign a long term commitment. You can jump in and out of my network call center but I bet if you participate you’ll never leave.