Reevaluating the Term Contact Center in CX Small Teams

Ashley Parada · 2025-05-30 18:42:29.422035+00

A team member of my just said something to me in a 1:1 that really made me step back and think. I often use the term contact center to describe my cx team. We're small, under 20 people, hyper focused on offering a great experience. She expressed that she didn't like that I use the term contact center to describe us, because she associates it with more high volume call centers where the quality is low, and that they are more than just that. I totally agree with her that they do so much more than just answer the phone. But I had a moment of like 'is contact center a dirty word?' or is it just this somewhat cultural impact where people associate cx work as being low skilled? How do others feel about this?

Reevaluating the Term Contact Center in CX Small Teams | ElevateCX

Ashley
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i couldn’t say it’s a dirty word, but i do have a very specific idea of what it is and isn’t.
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Ashley
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it does feel particularly impersonal
Ashley
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it’s more of a thing, than a team
Will Taylor
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What a great topic! And love that you called them a team member Ashley Parada. How do you refer to their role as well? Boldr's a BPO and we call everyone a team member, because we've found "agent" has the same dirty associations that are tied to a BPO. And I think we're pretty different to a typical outsourcing company. For me, contact center is alright and still different to call center (which I imagine your team member really doesn't liek!) -> and if a potential client asks me to build a call center I probably know they're not a fit for us.
Jenny Chudy
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I think, fairly or not, it does carry negative connotations. I've been running a "contact center" for the last year and one of the biggest hurdles I had was getting the organization to not look at it as something other than just the lowest of the low (worse than any support department I've ever run).
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Jenny Chudy
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When I try to point out anything that I'd like to improve to the higher ups on ANYTHING, I would constantly get "well that's just how contact centers run" to which I kept saying, "no, that's how shitty contact centers run" but I've been largely screaming into the void. I've very recently (happily) just left that place but if I could have, I absolutely would have changed the name of the department (among many other things).
Jenny Chudy
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agent" has the same dirty associations
all the yes
Will Taylor
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Jenny Chudy shout it louder! How do you feel about names like Customer Happiness / Delight team etc. ?
Will Taylor
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some people love, others hate it
Jenny Chudy
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So, I might be jaded but I absolutely hate the term "Customer Delight" with a burning passion. lol I find it to be a buzz word that loses it's meaning, similar to "Customer Obsessed"
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Will Taylor
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hehe yep names like these can divide a room!
Jenny Chudy
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I do like Customer Experience because it doesn't have an immediate positive or negative association - it's up to the team/org to deliver on what kind of experience it is so it feels more honest to me.
Toni Keller
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I used Customer Experience, it also translated to other departments
Will Taylor
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CX - I never thought about it that way. it is a literal way to express how your customers feel. Interesting
Jenny Chudy
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I obviously feel it should be positive and that those responsible should attempt to make it as positive as possible, but I find being transparent and honest sets you up for the team to feel it's best and if you aren't truly a customer delight center, that the entire organization believes is at the heart of it's ethos, you're setting yourself up to have to defend it to your team and customers constantly.

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