Call Centre Expo Preview: The show must go on

customer dissatisfaction with call handling and a constant battering by
the mainstream press. It all adds up to an industry struggling in a
slowing market.

Now that the call centre boom is as good as over, the needs of the
market are changing. As a result, Call Centre Expo, to be held at the
National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on 3 and 4 October, has been
given a makeover.

Earlier this year, the show's organiser, CMP Information (CMPi),
invested a six-figure sum in an extensive research programme to find out
exactly what visitors to Call Centre Expo were looking for. The results
showed people wanted a wider emphasis on skills such as strategy and
personnel management, as well as more opportunities for networking. "We
needed to make sure that visitors' reasons for coming had evolved," says
Mark Snell, portfolio director at CMPi.

The show will not disappoint those looking for technology and operating
solutions: visitors can expect stands from more than 200 leading call
centre suppliers. But this year, the educational programme has been
developed to offer a wider spread of topics, with the introduction of
the Management Academy, an amphitheatre-style centre located on the show
floor, which will offer business management training over the event's
two days. The academy is also where visitors can hear the four keynote
speeches planned during the show - double the number of last year's
event. Speakers confirmed so far include Brad Cleveland, president of
the International Call Centre Institute, and Will Carling, the
ex-England rugby captain, who will speak on the subject of management
and leadership.

People, technology and strategy are the themes of this year's programme
of seminars and workshops. Visitors can mix and match sessions to meet
their needs, and there are four half-day masterclass workshops included
in the programme.

Most of the major issues in the industry are covered within the three
themed strands, with workshops on subjects such as offshoring and
exceeding customer expectation, as well as on cutting-edge technology,
including customer relationship management using internet protocol
technology and voice recognition.

Highlights from the seminar programme include a focus on the European
Call Centre of the Year, Barclays' Gadbrook Park centre, which has
increased levels of staff satisfaction. There will also be a session on
video-enabled call centres with Cisco Systems and Significan't, which
provides video technology that helps deaf people access local services.
Both of these seminars take place on the first day of the show.

The show has also increased its networking facilities, a development
welcomed by many visitors and exhibitors, including Ken Wheeler, UK
sales and marketing director at outsourced contact centre provider
Sitel. "The organisers definitely needed to reinforce the networking
opportunities at the show because that is the main reason why people
come," he says.

To that end, CMPi has added an online 'day planner' tool that will
enable visitors to arrange to meet others attending the show and plan
the rest of their visit. In addition, a team-meeting facility will be in
place for the duration of the show.

So does this focus on wider topics mean the event is in danger of losing
its edge? "What we've done is added more value while meeting people's
needs and requirements," says CMPi's Snell. "The needs of the audience
have evolved along with the industry and we are reacting to that."

Alongside the conference programme, customer management consultancy CM
Insight will hold a series of free workshops and a contact centre clinic
at its hospitality suite on the show floor. The workshops will be on the
topics of 'call centre heaven', boardroom and shareholder value, and the
real cost of offshoring.

Elsewhere, Sitel will have live video conferencing links with its call
centres in India and the UK, focusing on its work with Nectar.

The show is an important event for companies such as Converso Contact
Centres. Dino Forte, director at Converso, is pleased with the event's
change in direction. "Three years ago, we wouldn't have exhibited
because it used to feel like a show for technology providers. However,
we did so for the first time last year because we felt it had become
more service related."

Others are keen to see how this year's changes will be received. Robert
Wint, marketing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at call
centre software provider Verint, is interested to see how the new format
will work but is wary of changing a successful formula. "The market can
be very segmented so only those immersed in the day-to-day business will
come," he says. "If they can get to more people within marketing that's
great because more marketing people need to understand the
idiosyncrasies of the industry."

According to Ruth Long, marketing manager at voice technology provider
Eckoh, the broadening of the show's agenda will serve the industry
well.

"Contact centres and the services they provide are no longer of
peripheral interest to companies that want to win and keep customers,"
she says.

"These issues are now being discussed in the boardroom and at the
highest levels."

While the show's change in direction is crucial, the motivation behind
it remains the same. "Whatever people need, it's there," says Snell. "If
visitors want to boost their call centres, improve themselves as
managers and enhance their performance with customers, bosses and staff,
then they should come."

It remains to be seen whether the changes will be enough to halt the
decline in visitors - the number of attendees fell from around 8,000 in
2001 to 6,000 last year. CMPi's Snell is optimistic but cautious. He
says: "We do not believe for a second that this will definitely deliver
higher visitor numbers but it means that those who do come will get what
they want from the show."

SPEAKERS' CORNER

Speakers: Nik Philpot, chief operating officer and deputy chief
executive officer at Eckoh, and William van Rest, controller of ITV
Play

Session: Channel optimisation - knowing your audience. Interactive
programming and building customer loyalty for the UK's newest television
channel

Time: 13.30-14.30 Tuesday 3 October

In this seminar, visitors will learn how to use automation creatively to
manage unprecedented call spikes and generate revenue. Attendees can
also discover how ITV Play managed its multichannel customer data
consolidation challenges.

Speaker: Paul Miller, contact centre director at Prolog Connect

Session: Expectation versus experience - the importance of listening to
customers

Time: 9.30-10.30 Wednesday 4 October

This session will discuss the importance of serving customers correctly
and the benefits of getting it right. There will be a case study and
presentation from Neil Stevens, UK business manager at Tearcraft, the
trading arm of Tearfund, the UK's largest relief charity.

Speaker: Clare Hollett, head of talent management at Blue Sky
Consulting

Session: Recruitment and retention: finders keepers. Talented staff and
leaders - hard to find and even harder to hang on to

Time: 11.00-12.00 Wednesday 4 October

Attendees will learn about best practice in recruitment and retention
and gain practical ideas of how to hold on to staff and leaders.

DONE DEAL - They met at the show

THE EXHIBITOR - Sally Stevens, business development manager, Converso
Contact Centres

"The first day of last year's show was quiet but the second day was a
complete contrast. In the end, we didn't do too badly out of it.

"I met Go Business Mortgages last year. They spoke to us on the stand
for quite a while and we built up a rapport instantly. Since last
October, we have been working with them on lead generation for the small
to medium-sized enterprise commercial mortgages market. It's led to a
fair amount of business for them and has been a very successful
partnership.

"I've done bigger Expos but no two years are the same. This year, we've
got a slightly larger stand and an extra person on board, so we're
hoping for more quality leads than last year, although there's always an
element of luck involved."

THE CLIENT - Henry Brown, managing director, Go Business Mortgages

"When I went to the show last year I was in the process of setting up a
new company in mortgage provision and we were looking at various
marketing channels - one of which was going to be outbound calling.

"We didn't really want to build the capacity in-house - we were a
start-up and did not have the resources to make it happen on our
own.

"But we wanted to be familiar with what was available and we came across
the show at the last minute, decided to go and met Converso as a
result.

"Visiting the show was certainly useful in helping us understand what
technology was available.

"Outbound was an efficient channel in terms of results. We've gone from
a start-up to a staff of around 20. Business is growing very rapidly and
we are seeing continued and steady month-on-month growth from both push
and pull channels.

"Outbound lead generation telesales is a core channel within our
integrated marketing strategy, and outsourced remains the most
cost-effective means of delivering on that basis.

"I had no idea there was such an industry in the UK or that it was so
massive. It was a big event without a doubt - I will be going back this
year."

VISITORS' VIEWS - I go to Call Centre Expo because ...

- Andy Grant, head of channel marketing, Avaya (network supplier)

"We recognise that Call Centre Expo is one of the biggest and most
important call centre shows in Europe, with a potential footfall of more
than 7,000 people. We are particularly excited about this year's event.
Avaya has had a presence at the show for the past four years and this
will be the first time that we are speaking at the conference. We also
have the opportunity to speak to executives at the right level within
the call centre industry."

- Ian Munro, managing director, Contact- centres.com (call centre
consultancy)

"There is always a need to see the latest solutions and hear the views
of the industry in order to keep up to date with what is going on. While
the show will not necessarily give us all the answers for a particular
call/contact centre need, gaining a better insight assists in planning
what changes and improvements should be done and why. This has never
been more important than now, when customer complaints about call
centres are increasing."

- Chris Jones, channel manager, Exony (software company)

"Call Centre Expo does present the best opportunity for industry
practitioners and suppliers to get together and talk about the
challenges and opportunities we face. It's great to catch up with
people, exchange ideas and talk about developments in our industry. This
is my main reason for attending annually. As a marketing tool, it offers
great exposure within the industry, so it is important to be there in
some capacity."

- Sally Wells, managing director, Tele- resources Consultancy (call
centre recruitment)

"The event is a great opportunity to organise meetings with call centre
operators and service users, and generally keep abreast of developments
in the sector. There is so much new technology that stands to change
where call centres are located and the staffing models they use - which
is our own business focus. Despite the sector's status as a major
employer in the UK, there are still very few events that represent the
needs of the various stakeholders."