Far too many contact centers are operating under the auspices of, “OK, here are the resources we’re willing to give you, and here’s what we want you to achieve …” That is the proverbial cart before the horse.
Consider an analogy. Airlines couldn’t possibly operate a flight without a tangible connection between the results they want to achieve and the supporting resources they need. They 
start with an objective — fly 300 people from Washington to London. The objective is not a wishful goal, but is a specific predetermined outcome supported by carefully calculated resources.
Similarly, the best contact centers first decide on the objectives they want to achieve. They then allocate the resources necessary to support those objective, through informed calculations and disciplined planning.
Excerpt from Call Center Management on Fast Forward, Brad Cleveland.
This blog post is part of a series on the 12 Characteristics of the Best Managed Contact Centers. Read about:
- Characteristic #1: They Produce High Levels of Value
- Characteristic #2: They Have a Supporting Culture
- Characteristic #3: They Know that Their People Are the Key to Success
- Characteristic #4: They Build Plans and Services around Evolving Customer Expectations.
- Characteristic #5: They Have an Established, Collaborative Planning Process.
- Characteristic #6: They Leverage the Key Statistics.
- Characteristic #7: They View the Contact Center as a Total Process.
- Characteristic #8: They Leverage Technology to Support and Further Their Mission.