Sectors impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown

The business landscape is rapidly changing due to the influence of COVID-19. Here we take an at-a-glance look at which sectors have been positively and negatively impacted over the past few months.

Read our blog from Marketing Manager Ewan McKay for more in depth insight and look out for a new Whitepaper exploring the operating models of the future.

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by Webhelp

How the game is changing for CX markets and channels

As part of our Game Changers series, Helen Murray, Chief Customer Solutions Officer for the UK region, looks at how current events are influencing the Customer Experience sector and how brands must evolve their channels and embrace optimism to create fresh new strategies and opportunities.

In global business circles, the phrase “unprecedented times” has been repeated so frequently that it has now become almost meaningless, especially when measured against the human cost of COVID-19. However, a period of extraordinary transformation is certainly upon us – and how brands respond, across all channels, will set the pace for recovery and future development.

Broadly speaking, brands could take several courses - maintain current levels, adjust under pressure or take radical steps to stay in front of the curve.

The award-winning consulting and transformation business, Gobeyond Partners - part of the Webhelp Group, has developed an insightful overview of the typical response phases to a crisis, and the take back control phase they identify may be critical for businesses currently experiencing an increase in ‘contact’ from anxious customers

I firmly believe that CX Leaders, who want to confidently transition to the new normal, must identify the best contact channels for both marketing and CX communications – and consciously strengthen and develop them.

Before the world changed, primary brand goals were loosely based around the three principles of product penetration, share of market and customer attraction.

However, many business are now sharply focused on connecting with and preserving the customers they currently have, which I would agree is imperative – but so is building for future growth. As Mark Ritson, former marketing professor and award winning columnist, writes:

“It might seem superficially mercantile to discuss brands, pricing and customer behaviour as we stare down the barrel of a pandemic. But the practical reality of global economic trade means that we need to market now for the good of all mankind.” Source: Marketing Week

Behaviourally people are creatures of habit and any channel shift now is likely to continue when the new social norms are established. Brands must be ready to take back control by acting on this change.

Social channels are booming, Facebook alone is nearing 3 billion platform users, and is seeing a sharp increase in the consumption of news and insights. Social Media Today highlights that LinkedIn has added 15 million members since January, and reports growth of 26% this quarter.

Webhelp Marketing & Communications Director, UK region, Polly Ashdown realises that:

“To maintain high visibility in their sectors, it’s now imperative that business be proactive in the way they position and represent themselves online. And, this must be reinforced with grass-roots cultural clarity, a strong brand identity and clear top tier thought leadership.”

And the conversation shouldn’t stop there, casual social customer feedback can be very telling, and inform brands of major customer service issues, which can then be driven back into solutions development, tackling challenges before they become ingrained.

Unsurprisingly, the current climate has dramatically increased the desire to communicate. Voice as ever remains a prominent channel for CX, and we know that person to person contact is preferred by customers when they have a complaint and as a platform for issue resolution. The coronavirus pandemic has created a larger homeworking pool of advisors, for voice, working in a more personalised space – and brands need to stay ahead of any possible impact.

As the business-like hustle and bustle of the contact centre is being replaced by the gentle and familiar hum of the neighbourhood and family life, we may see greater connection and advisor focus on the customer wants and needs. Early indications are good but it will be extremely important to measure the relative success, differences and advantages and pitfalls which the shift brings and create future channel strategies around these points.

The influence of the humble chatbot is growing too, with the World Health Organisation recently launching one to combat misinformation and keep the world better informed. As media magazine, The Drum reports, to adapt to the current reality, some companies are rapidly being forced to adopt chatbots and messaging platforms, as frontline CX.

Thinking positively, as brands recognise the advantage this platform brings in cost effectiveness, engagement and personalisation, we could see adoption increase over the long term.

Similarly, with the decrease in the brick and motor outlets, many businesses are now choosing to dip a toe into the e-commerce space for the first time, with the retail sector likely to undergo a significant transformation – something to be discussed in depth later in this series.

With the way forward starting to crystallise, the importance of flexibility, adaptability and early adoption, something we pride ourselves upon, will become more important across all channels.

As Webhelp Group MD and UK Region CEO, David Turner reflects:

“In this undeniably testing time, the CX industry must maintain optimism, think long term, and continue brand building for their clients. Honouring their values, protecting their staff and creating new avenues for future success.”

Discover how our services can help can you find the best channel strategy for your business, read the Gobeyond Partners article for more information on the Crisis Curve and the impact it will have on your operations.

by Webhelp

Can the Crisis Curve create a roadmap for CX transformation and stability?

As well as the tragic cost in human lives, the COVID-19 crisis continues to create instability at every level for global industry. While it is too early to accurately forecast the full implications and severity, Group MD and CEO for UK, SA and India David Turner suggests that senior-level insight combined with informed and decisive action could be the key to better outcomes for CX providers.

To steal a timely phrase from JRR Tolkien; it's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.

It has never been more important for our industry to maintain a firm footing during the turbulent environment created by COVID-19. It’s clear that, along with the catastrophic impact on global health and radical curtailment of our social freedoms, the pandemic has brought a series of rapid changes and challenges in the delivery of CX, impacting our clients, their customers, and of course, our people.

As businesses begin to take their first tentative steps out of this extraordinary crisis, Gobeyond Partners, part of the Webhelp Group, have created a succinct analysis to identify and explain the key stages we should expect to encounter.

Mark Palmer, Gobeyond Partners CEO, recognises that the political, social, and economic rules for business have been radically altered and that:

“Although the impact of the crisis, and this associated shift, will vary across country, industry, and organisation, we are seeing a distinct phasing of business and operational responses as we slowly make this transition. We call this ‘The Crisis Curve’.” 

Mark further identifies five clear phases resulting from crisis; rapid crisis response, take back control, business as unusual (BAU), transition to new normal and finally crisis futureproofing.

My personal view is that companies will be able to utilise this model to inform strategy and predict future trends, something that could be invaluable at this point, when it’s obvious that many brands and business are still struggling at the first hurdle.

In term of rapid response, at Webhelp, we have been transparent about the significant challenges we met to mobilise our resources at breakneck speed. Within two weeks we created a safe and stable home workforce of 7,000 connected individuals, which is growing as more clients reach out to us for rapid off-site solutions.

Our response to this problem was both ethical and agile, as Helen Murray, explains in her COVID-19 response blog:

“As a people-first business, taking a human approach to this crisis has been a logical step, which has meant rapidly looking at ways to increase our infrastructure to support homeworking where possible. While this solution won’t be suited to every operation, it is something that we will continue to look at and develop in the months ahead, in partnership and responding to the needs of our clients.”

The next stage Mark addresses, centres on taking back control – which could prove to be the economic tipping point in many sectors, as the financial impact of COVID-19 really starts to bite. This will be an especially difficult time for those brands or sectors, which either lack knowledge and expertise, or refuse to adapt. The exception to this rule will be companies that are sitting comfortably in the black financially, who can afford to make a choice to wait it out.

Operations will face considerable stress as they adapt to employee issues like furlough, self-isolation and remote working plus the inevitable changes in stock and supply. But, I believe that flexibility and access to skilled human resources will be the true factor in enabling successful business transformation.

It may not have been a straight path, but at Webhelp, we have now confidently taken back control for our clients, both on and off site. And encouragingly, the new homeworking operations are performing better than expected, in a very short time frame, which is a compliment to the resilience and adaptability of our people.

In South Africa, the Customer Engagement Industry has worked together in a unique collaboration with clients, industry bodies and the government, to create a robust CX platform and to safeguard jobs and their economy. Our passionate teams have been at the forefront of this endeavour.

The forthcoming BAU phase could benefit those companies who need to successfully pivot their service structure, to sustain and generate new revenue streams.

Gobeyond Partners believe that crucially, this is the point at which operating models start to permanently shift, which will require a renewed focus from leadership teams on performance optimisation, transformational programmes and some medium term investment. If done well this could be key to creating competitive advantage.

And customers will be carefully watching this stage too, as Craig Gibson, Chief Commercial Officer for the UK region comments in his recent blog:

“Companies will also be remembered for the way they adapted ways of working to support their people, during a time when the public focus is (understandably) on unity and standing together.”

I believe that by considering and responding to the parameters of the crisis curve, we can begin to create an informed roadmap. Watch this space for a new series of blogs, interviews and studies, exploring how CX transformation can help customer experience providers ride the curve, navigate changing forecasts and guide their customers safely through the storm.

Read Mark’s article here, find out more about our stance on the COVID-19 crisis, and read my further thoughts on how this challenge will create a radical shift in the future of homeworking. 

by Webhelp

The importance of emotional connection with customers during the Coronavirus.

Craig Gibson, Chief Commercial Officer for the Webhelp UK region, reveals how brands can use emotional connection, integrity and unity to draw us closer, as the distance between us increases due to the Coronavirus.

Emotion. Unity. Connection. 

These themes are everywhere we look at the moment. From the heartfelt children’s rainbow pictures in our windows, and chalked onto our pavements, to the frequent government communications that urge us (young and old) to curb our social interactions and stay home for the good of all society.

And across the UK, every Thursday, millions of us have been clapping alone, but together. We stand united in our universal support of the hardworking NHS and emergency staff. Our passionate applause and shouts spread positivity and illustrate the power of the very human desire to connect – across the physical distance that separates us.

Emotions are high, and rightly so – and in the business arena we have begun to see how this tide of feeling can quickly turn against brands and companies who misjudge the force and direction of the national view-point.

It’s hard for brands to find the right way through this, as they are in the unenviable position of balancing customer benefit against operational stability, and with the growing media attention it’s easy to fall foul of public opinion.

Dave Pattman, Managing Director CX Services at Gobeyond Partners, a Webhelp company, reminds us that in the pre-Covid world, discussion of how brands should make emotional connections was focused on the emotional state of the customer and how brands should detect and empathise with this, and that:

“An interesting impact of Covid is that organisations themselves have become much stronger emotional entities in their own right. They are now judged by how they have cared for their people, and how they have transformed themselves to support the community and frontline services.”

However, he concludes that this surge of emotion does not always lead to positive outcomes:

“There will also be ramifications based on how they have reacted to the fear of not being able to survive economically with fight or flight. This includes how pro-active or protracted the process has been for customers to cancel subscriptions or get refunds.”

He goes on to say that these emotional reactions will certainly have been strongly felt by customers, who have been facing stresses of their own.

In many respects the current crisis has revealed the depth of emotional sincerity in the connections between brands and their customers.  It is at times like these that the difference between deeply held values and more superficial marketing activities is revealed.

But there are some positive stories, and the Forbes Coronavirus Champions list makes interesting reading, as it documents the global brands that they feel are getting it right during this crisis.

And, companies closer to home have risen to the challenge, like Pret a Manger who are providing NHS discounts and food retailers like Sainsbury’s and Asda, through their work  prioritising vulnerable customers.

Webhelp CEO for the UK Region David Turner; believes that the emotional and financial turmoil brought by COVID-19 brings a tipping point in customer relationships for companies, and urges them to look at the bigger picture by saying:

“In the panic brought by the Coronavirus, brands could easily become caught up in the demands of the moment – and to forget that they have long-term relationships to maintain with their customers and employees. I’d encourage brands to step up during times of need, as this can really make a difference… and unfortunately for brands that can’t – it won’t go unnoticed!”

Interestingly, the in-depth research in the Webhelp Whitepaper on Emotional Connection provides us with a pre-COVID-19 benchmark for the level of emotional connection with sectors – and it will be very revealing to see how new relationships evolve in the post pandemic world.

It is already becoming clear that some industries will come out of this crisis with a different and more meaningful relationship with their customers - for example the technology sector.

Our original research showed that the technology sector was an area in which a third of us had emotionally connected with brands, and it is easy to speculate that this figure will continue to grow.

In fact, as more people work from home and maintain social distance, the pandemic has increased reliance on services from the technology sector, with the New York Times concluding that:

“While the rest of the economy is tanking from the crippling impact of the coronavirus, business at the biggest technology companies is holding steady — even thriving.”

Source: Big Tech Could Emerge From Coronavirus Crisis Stronger Than Ever

We expect that this reliance will extend into telecoms and media, as connectivity becomes so much more important to communities in lockdown.

Andrew Hall, Director: Strategic Engagements at Webhelp, an industry specialist in innovation and strategy in customer engagement, hits the nail on the head here, saying:

“There is no doubt that the pandemic has radically shifted online behaviour, with a rapid increase in the use of news and social channels, as people look for connection, reassurance and information during the pandemic.”

He goes on to explain that:

“With this societal shift to online communication, conversations with brands will increasingly move into the digital realm, radically altering how people communicate – which could have a lasting impact. Brands will have a unique opportunity to build emotional connection as they react and respond to this new conversation!”

As online content increases, so will the need for swift and professional moderation, which Andrew recognises, commenting:

“We are likely to see a boom in content moderation services, but the companies who will really succeed in this area are those who use insight to understand and act on the current level of heightened emotion and respond with empathy alongside speed and accuracy.”

With capacity to create good online experiences and positive associations, these sectors will gain by increasing amounts of emotional connection across demographics - and brands that support this sector well, will reap the benefits.

In a nutshell, brands that inspire human emotion during this difficult period will build better relationships.

Moreover, emotion has been linked to heightened learning and memory,* especially in areas of motivation and attention, so any positive experiences customers have during this difficult time will affect their decisions long after this crisis has passed.

Companies will also be remembered for the way they adapted ways of working to support their people, during a time when the public focus is (understandably) on unity and standing together. Helen Murray, Chief Customer Solutions Officer, has shared our efforts on this front in her recent blog, where she comments:

“As the reality of the pandemic hit home, the most important and challenging task was to ensure the safety of our people.”

And, as a people-first business, committed to supporting essential services, we want to open a conversation on the value of connection and to encourage brands to communicate and act for their customers and employees in the most human way they can.

Over the coming months our new game-changers series will be looking at how emotion can be used to create mutually beneficial bonds between customers, employees and brands, whilst exploring the data and dynamics that can reinforce and create these connections, and the lessons we can learn from the impact of the Coronavirus.

In addition, in collaboration with Gobeyond Partners, part of the Webhelp Group, we will taking an in-depth look at the expected phases of the pandemic for business, with a guide to the Crisis Curve and what it will mean for the future of CX.

Find out about our stance on the COVID 19 crisis here, and read UK Group CEO, David Turner’s thoughts on how this challenge will create a radical shift in the future of homeworking.

*The Influences of Emotion on Learning and Memory - NCBI

by Webhelp

Industry collaboration during the Covid-19 crisis in South Africa

South Africa is approaching the end of four weeks in lockdown during a time when the Coronavirus has shaken the world’s health organisations and financial systems to the core as well as altered the face of the global BPO sector. Here Brandon Aitken, Chief Commercial Officer for Webhelp South Africa, reflects on the groundbreaking level of industry collaboration that has occurred, which may be unique to South Africa. 

As the impact of COVID-19 began to hit home, BPO leaders quickly realized that swift and decisive action was urgently needed to prevent devastating ramifications for the sector, a critical pillar of job creation for our country. This industry creates tens of thousands of jobs and contributes billions to the nation’s economy. In fact, over 50,000 young South Africans work in BPO for international clients, with significantly more supporting the domestic market.

We knew that the impact from COVID-19 was inevitable, but that protecting our people and minimising the loss of business and jobs was absolutely critical. As the stakes were high, our actions would be fundamental to both the future of the industry, and the economy.

Unique industry collaboration

At Webhelp, we were incredibly heartened to see the willingness with which key players, including competitors and their stakeholders swiftly came together to address and resolve the challenges faced - to make sure that the industry comes out of this crisis in the strongest position possible, safeguarding the people at the heart of the sector, and their jobs.

This unique collaboration has not just been limited to BPO providers and industry bodies such as Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA), the Cape Town and Western Cape tourism and investment agency (WESGRO) and the national trade association for the hospitality industry (FEDHASA). There has also been strong and active support for the sector from all areas of Government, including the Presidency, national, local and provincial authorities and law enforcement.

Some of the industry problems that we are trying to solve together include trying to activate home working in the Western Cape, for nearly 8000 young people providing non-essential services. This would add to the nearly 3000 people delivering essential services already for international and domestic clients.

Keeping our people safe and responding to change

One of the first tests we faced was how to deal with the frequency of the  changes the regulations issued and how to best interpret these for our sector considering the levels of ambiguity, not least of which was the accurate qualification  of essential services.

However, the most urgent piece of work was undoubtedly to protect our people on site, by stringently adhering to all the government guidelines. Followed by the logistical challenges in the transportation and connection of IT assets as we enabled our non-essential people to work safely from home.

Inevitably, there have been a variety of challenges raised toward the industry which have impaired how quickly we have been able to sustain our delivery of essential services and attracted some negative press. ,We do however realise that the intentions have been to hold us to account collectively, something that we appreciate and have responded to.

South Africa First approach

The problems we have faced are not unique to our industry; but I believe that the collaborative effort has been a unique differentiating factor that we should be proud of.  We must recognise the significant contribution that BPESA has made in bringing us together, under a “South Africa First” approach. They have worked tirelessly to make connections, inform decisions and safeguard both job sustainability and our people.

They have aided stakeholder collaboration across the private and public sectors in several key areas: gaining clarity on the interpretations of directives, and subsequent revisions, obtaining support from law enforcement to allow the free movement of our essential services workers and facilitating the supply of essential goods to maintain compliance to protocol, including facemasks and sanitizer. Finally, the BPESA teams have driven collaboration with enabling services, such as data provision for home workers and with the FEDHASA to help create a temporary home working environment for teams providing essential services.

The pace at which BPESA mobilised to support and generate engagement was pivotal in creating a unified effort aligned to policy and government directives, and the whole industry owes them a huge debt of thanks.

Building integrity and trust

Some other positives can be drawn from these unusual circumstances. BPO business leaders have made themselves available, at all times, to act as a mutual sounding board on the fast moving issues as they have arisen. The openness, collaboration and accountability shown has helped to establish industry integrity, as has the introduction of a comprehensive self-certification process.

Suppliers that have embraced flexibility have seen new opportunities arising with clients that are heavily reliant on other traditional BPO regions and which have experienced a loss of supply during this crisis. Working together, our prompt response has created enhanced trust in BPO in South Africa through our ability to offset some of that disruption.

The swift and stable rise in homeworking bodes well for the future of this operating model for our sector, and early indications are that it is working well.

Looking ahead to the future

However, as a sector we must continue be alert to the pace of change, in order to maintain this positive momentum. We must avoid complacency at all costs and look carefully at the wider issues affecting both our communities and the industry.

There are many potential ramifications if the lockdown extends past the end of April. Further disruption to the national workforce could create new social, economic and community tipping points and our industry must continue to be conscientious in creating timely and relevant support to put our people first in these areas.

On a personal level, I am extremely proud of our own people who, where possible, have kept providing exceptional service to our clients and their customers. Their resilience has proved that home working works; paving a way for the future. In particular, those who continue to provide essential services, both from home and from our offices deserve exceptional admiration as those services continue to run at a relentless pace.

We thank all of the stakeholders and industry peers who have worked so tirelessly with us to help BPO in South Africa to continue to thrive. Most of all, we thank our people for staying positive and representing South Africa so well during this time.

One thing is certain, sadly, this crisis is far from over, and the way we continue to approach these future challenges together, will set the pattern for industry growth and resilience into 2021 and beyond.

by Webhelp