Are you ready to dive headfirst into the future of customer experience? In the latest episode of the ACP podcast, host Tom Morgan is joined by co-host Alex Baker and special guests Eliza Taylor (Change Director at CloudInteract) and Nick Seagrave (CTO at CloudInteract). Together, they discuss how technology, people, and smart strategies are reshaping the way contact centres operate - and why now is the perfect time to embrace change.
With customer expectations shifting faster than ever, businesses can no longer rely on the same outdated processes and technology they used five or ten years ago. As Tom and his guests point out, the traditional “press 1 for sales, press 2 for service” IVR isn’t cutting it anymore. If your contact centre still feels clunky, you risk losing customers who have grown used to seamless, intuitive experiences from the likes of Amazon, streaming services, or online banks.
While technology is crucial, Eliza Taylor emphasises that organisations must also focus on the human side of transformation. Employees are not automatically excited by new systems - many are wary of losing the expertise they’ve built with current, familiar tools. This is where the concept of negativity bias comes into play: people naturally focus on potential threats and downsides instead of benefits. According to Eliza, leaders need to address employees’ fears early and often, showing empathy and providing clear training and support. Successful change management starts with understanding that employees are your first adopters. If they don’t embrace the new system, you can kiss those big ROI figures goodbye.
Want to know how companies like CloudInteract are enabling real, data-driven change? Enter Apollo, the new solution introduced by the team. As Nick Seagrave explains, it’s all about turning mountains of call data into actionable insights. Many contact centres record thousands of calls every day, but very few have the resources or technology to analyse them at scale. That’s exactly what Apollo does: it harnesses cloud-based AI to transcribe calls, measure sentiment, detect trends, and categorize interactions far more accurately than humans ever could.
Once organisations understand what customers are really talking about - and how agents handle those queries - they can start building self-service portals, chatbots, and even specialised training programmes to address the most common issues. For example, if Apollo’s data shows that 30% of your customers are calling about billing questions, you might design a user-friendly billing bot. Not only does this reduce call volume (cutting costs), but it also shortens wait times for complex inquiries that require a human touch.
Of course, raw data is only part of the story. What truly matters is how companies use these insights to deliver better customer and employee experiences. Alex Baker points out that the flexibility of solutions like Apollo means you can refine precisely what you’re looking for - whether it’s reducing after-call work for agents or uncovering new product-feedback trends. The result is a smoother, more personalised interaction for your customers, and a more efficient, streamlined workday for your agents.
If your organisation is grappling with outdated processes, high call volumes, or simply struggling to meet sky-high customer expectations, tune in to this special podcast episode. You’ll gain a deeper appreciation for the balancing act between technology and the human side of change. You’ll also learn why the journey toward better customer experience starts by analysing what’s really going on in your contact center - and how a tool like Apollo can reveal insights you never knew were hiding in plain sight.
Don’t miss out on this exciting glimpse into the future of customer service.