[00:00:00] What if I told you that your business might already be running a contact center, even if you've never hired an agent, installed a headset, or thought of yourself as one? 

But the reality is that if you are a business that takes calls from customers, you answer emails, deal with web chat, or maybe get the occasional Facebook message or even a text, guess what? You've got the makings of a contact center whether you like it or not.

An accidental call center is where everything revolves around the phone. It's usually reactive. the phone rings, you pick it up and you've got maybe a handful of people who take turns answering if maybe you're a little bit bigger. You might have a receptionist or even a small team answering calls.

But the system wasn't really designed for scale. It just grew because customers kept calling versus an accidental contact center, which is where the chaos spreads far beyond the phone. Suddenly it's not just voice, it's emails piling up in the shared inbox. It's texts going to someone's personal [00:01:00] cell.

It's the live chat on your website that maybe the marketing team set up without looping in support, And before you know it, customers are reaching you from every direction and your team is drowning.

So why does this matter? Why should you, as a business leader, or even as a technology advisor who's selling into SMBs and mid-market companies, why should you care if a company is running an accidental call center or contact center? Because here's the truth, customers don't care what you call it. They don't care if you think you're just answering phones or you think you're not really a contact center.

'cause to them, every drop call, every unanswered email, every ignored dm. That's their experience and that is what they remember. And if the experience sucks, well they leave now. Let's make something very clear. We're not gonna just sit here and throw jargon out. we're not gonna sell on buzzwords like omnichannel or AI transformation because.

That's not what we do here. CX without the BS means [00:02:00] exactly that. No bs. And I wanna strip this down to really what's, what's real and what's real is this. Most businesses are already in the contact center game. They just don't know it. And because they don't know it, they're not managing it and because they're not managing it, it's killing their customer experience without them even realizing why.

So here's a quick example. Think about a dentist office. Most of the time they think of themselves. Maybe it's just a small medical practice with a receptionist. You know, the phone rings, the receptionist answers, and that's pretty simple, right? But what happens if that receptionist is out to lunch or if they're already on a call?

Calls go to voicemail. Patients get frustrated. Now what happens when they add online appointment booking? Suddenly they're getting email confirmations and cancellations. Patients start texting back to those confirmations thinking, well, someone's on the other end, and some patients start messaging the office on Facebook because maybe that's easier for them.

And now you've got a mess. You have [00:03:00] voicemails, emails, texts, Facebook, dms. They're all scattered with no process, no visibility. And that's not a receptionist anymore. That's again, the accidental contact center. And here's the thing. This happens to HVAC companies, it happens to credit unions, it happens to retailers, it happens to county governments.

It even happens inside startups anywhere. Customers are trying to reach across more than one channel. You're in the contact center territory, whether you like it or not. If you're a technology advisor listening to this, here's why this matters for you, because your clients might not be asking for contact center solutions.

They might not even use that language. What they will say though is stuff like, ah, you know, I think we're missing too many calls. Or, you know, Hey, our customers keep complaining that they can't get hold of us. my team, they're overwhelmed by emails. We don't know who's answering chats. We feel like customers are falling through the cracks.

When you hear that, you should have this little light [00:04:00] bulb moment. This is an accidental call center or contact center problem. They probably don't think they're running one again, but they are. And if you can help them solve that pain, you are instantly more valuable versus if you're a business leader or an owner.

Hearing this right now, the takeaway is just as important. If you think you are too small for a contact center, think again. If you've got multiple ways that customers can reach you, you're already in that world. The question is whether you're running it intentionally or whether it's just happening to you, and here's why we need to talk about this now more than ever.

Because the stakes are higher, customer expectations are through the freaking roof. And thanks to orgs like Amazon, Uber, Netflix, and basically every app on your phone, people expect instant seamless, personalized service. And if your business can't provide it because you're stuck in accidental mode, well they're gonna go somewhere [00:05:00] else.

They just want the experience that they've come to expect. Now, I'm not saying you need to go out tomorrow and build a Fortune 500 style contact center with AI chatbots and 24 7 coverage 'cause that's not realistic. But what you do need to do is be aware.

You need to recognize when you've slipped into the accidental call center or contact center mode so you can take steps to get control before it controls you. And that's exactly what we're gonna do in today's episode. today we're gonna break down it really into five pillars, five big areas. You need to understand if you want to get out of the accidental mode and start being intentional about your customer experience.

We're gonna talk about the hidden costs of just answering phones. We're gonna look at what happens when voice spills into other channels that you didn't plan for. we're gonna cover the CX risks that nobody's talking about, and we're gonna talk about the right way to think about scaling. By the way, finally, we will show how to turn all this chaos into a system that actually works for you, for [00:06:00] your employees, and for your customers.

So buckle up because whether you're a business owner or you're just, realizing now, hey, our phones are already a mess, or, maybe you're a technology advisor looking for your next big opportunity with clients. This episode is gonna give you the clarity and the playbook to stop being accidental and again, start being intentional.

'cause here's the thing, most businesses. Don't think of themselves as running a call center. They just say, Hey, we're answering phones. And that's, that's a phrase I hear literally daily. we don't need a contact center, Brian, we're just answering calls, but let's peel, back the layers here of the onion because buried inside that phrase is just one of the biggest blind spots in customer experience.

When you're just answering phones, what's really happening now? The phone rings, somebody picks it up, and if you've got a receptionist, maybe it's them. If you don't. It's probably whoever's closest to the phone. Maybe it's a rotating list of employees. Maybe it's an owner who takes calls directly and on the surface it sounds simple.

Phone [00:07:00] rings, you answer, problem solved. But here's the problem. There are hidden costs to just answering phones, and those costs aren't always financial right away. What they will show up as in really three ways is lost customers, lost employee productivity and lost reputation. So let's break down each one.

first lost customers pretty obvious, but when you're just answering phones, you're missing a ton of calls. Nobody ever wants to admit that, but the numbers don't lie. Studies show that small businesses miss anywhere from 30 to 60% of their inbound calls. That's nuts. But why? Well, because you can't always be available.

Phones ring when you're busy, they ring When you're in another conversation, They ring at lunch. They ring when your one receptionist is already in a different line. And what happens when customers call and they don't get through? Well, they'll hang up.

In industries like hvac, dental, legal, retail, you name it, customers have options [00:08:00] and if they can't reach you, they'll go down the next list there and find the next business on Google. And that right there is money walking out the door. And you're probably thinking, ah, well, they're gonna leave a voicemail.

Think about your own behavior. When's the last time you actually left a voicemail for a business you were trying to reach? Probably not often and if you do leave one, well that's still a delay. And in today's world, a delay is deadly. So hidden. Cost number one, lost customers.

Every missed call is revenue. You never knew you lost. Now let's look at your employees, and this goes to lost productivity. 'cause when you're just answering phones, you're actually pulling people away from their core jobs. A receptionist who's answering phones isn't scheduling efficiently. A technician who's taking calls in between jobs isn't doing billable work.

A manager who's answering phones surprise, surprise, isn't managing, and here's the kicker. Every [00:09:00] interruption has a hidden productivity cost. Studies show that 15 to 20 minutes to get back on track after an interrupt. So if your staff is constantly dropping what they're doing to go answer phones, you're killing their productivity all day long.

And this is especially brutal in small businesses where people wear multiple hats. You've got your office manager who's juggling, scheduling, payroll, hr, and then of course the phones. Or worse, you've got your salespeople taking customer service calls, and that's just lost sales time, plain and simple. So hidden cost number two.

Lost productivity. It's not just about the time spent on the phone, it's about all the lost time, lost to interruptions and context of switching back and forth. Let's go to number three here. Lost reputation because every time a customer calls and they don't get through, or they get put on hold for five minutes, or they get bounced between people because no one really knows who should take that call.

That's a ding against your [00:10:00] reputation. Customers don't think, oh, well, you know, they're small. I'll cut them some slack. No, they think this company doesn't value me or my time. They act like they don't have their act together. And the brutal part is that you don't even hear about this. Customers don't always tell you when they're frustrated.

What they will do is just quietly go somewhere else. Or worse, they'll leave a bad review online, and now you've got a public black eye, all because you were. Just answering phones. So the hidden cost. Number three, lost reputation. That's brand damage that you can't measure until it's already too late. Now I know some of you listening are probably thinking, yeah, well, we're doing fine.

We're, we're answering most of our calls, and customers really aren't complaining. Okay, that's great. Well, here's my challenge to that. Good enough. Today isn't good enough for tomorrow. Customer expectations are rising faster than ever. And remember all those companies we talked about before, Amazon, Uber, Netflix, [00:11:00] they have all trained us to expect instant service.

So people aren't comparing you to the competitor down the street anymore. They're comparing you to their last best experience. And if their last best experience was ordering on Amazon and getting same day delivery, sorry, they're gonna expect the same level of responsiveness from you. 

But tomorrow, the gap between what you deliver and what your customers expect will be widening. And once you fall behind in customer experience, it's hard to catch up. Now let's flip this over to the technology advisors out there, because this is where opportunity lies. When you hear a customer say, ah, we're fine.

We're just answering phones. That right there is your opening. That's when you know they're not fine. That's when you know there's a hidden cost. Eating them alive, even if they don't realize it yet, and you don't have to sell them on contact center solutions, that language might scare them, but instead, here's my favorite saying, meet them where they're at.

You can say, Hey, look, you're missing calls and if your [00:12:00] staff's overwhelmed, your customers are frustrated. That's not just about phones. That's about experience, and we can help you fix that. This is where advisors can shine by reframing the problem. Don't pitch seats or licenses. Talk about solving lost customers, lost productivity, and again, lost reputation.

Those are the costs business owners care about. It's the foundation of your customer experience. And if you're not intentional about it, you're already in accidental call center mode. And once you recognize that you've got two choices.

You can ignore it. You can keep missing calls, keep burning out your employees and keep letting customers slip away. Or you can get intentional, put some structure around it and actually turn it into an advantage. And by the way, that's where we're going next because the second you step beyond voice, the chaos, it will multiply and suddenly you're not just an accidental call center anymore, you're an accidental contact center.

Alright, so [00:13:00] pillar one, you talked about the hidden costs of just answering phones. Again, those missed calls, lost productivity, the damaged reputation, all silent killers like a heart attack. But here's where it gets even trickier. The second you step outside the voice, things get messy.

I mean, think about it, for decades, phones were the main way that customers would reach out to businesses. You had a phone number, customers dialed it, someone picked up. Done. But over the last 10, 15, even 20 years, that's all changed. 'cause now customers expect to reach you on their channel of choice and they don't care if you're not ready for it.

This is where we start to see businesses slip from the accidental call centers into accidental contact centers. it usually doesn't happen overnight. It starts with something small. Maybe you set up a shared email inbox like support@abccompany.com. And at first this seems like a good idea. 'cause now customers can email instead of call.

But before too long that inbox is overflowing. [00:14:00] Multiple employees are responding at the same time or worse. Nobody is responding because everyone assumes that somebody else did it. Then maybe you add a chat widget to your website 'cause some vendor says, Hey, it'll increase conversions. You'll never miss a lead again.

And sure it looks nice, but who's actually monitoring this? Marketing sales. The front desk, nobody's really sure. So customers type a message in and sometimes they get answers, but sometimes they don't. Then one of your sales reps starts giving customers their personal cell number to make things easier, and now customers are texting them directly.

I mean, that works fine until that rep is out sick. Or even worse, they leave the company, or maybe they're stuck on another call. Suddenly customer communication is trapped inside of one person's iPhone. And of course, there's social media. Customer starts sending Facebook messages, Instagram dms, maybe even tweeting at you, X-ing you, whatever they call it nowadays.[00:15:00] 

And unless you've got a process in place, those messages just sit there. Or maybe marketing sees them, but they don't respond to them. Either way, the customer feels ignored. It's like water leaking through cracks in your roof. At first, it's just drip, drip, drip, but then over time it's gushing water and now your business is drowning in channels that you didn't plan for.

And here's the part, most businesses miss. Customers don't think in terms of channels. They don't sit there and say, oh, you know, I emailed, so, I'll wait three business days. oh, I texted, so I'll give them a little bit more time. oh, I called. So it should be instant. No, to them it's all the same.

It's just, Hey, I reached out to this company, and if they don't get back to you in a timely response, well, they're frustrated. It doesn't matter if the message came through your phone system, your inbox, your Facebook page, carrier pigeon, this is where the accidental contact center gets into [00:16:00] real trouble because customers expect consistency.

They don't care if your channels are siloed. They don't care that you don't have the staffing or the tools. They just want a smooth experience, and when they don't get it, they leave from the employee side. It's just as brutal by the way. You've got one person trying to juggle calls, emails, chats all at once.

Yeah, that's recipes for burnout. And then you've got customers calling back after sending an email, and now your team is duplicating work because two people are answering the same issue. You've got zero visibility. No idea how many emails went unanswered today or how long customers are waiting for a response.

And worst of all, you've got no record of the full customer journey. You might see they called. You might see that they emailed, but there's no single pane of glass to view everything together. And for small businesses this usually creeps up slowly. as volume grows, the wheels come off and the [00:17:00] impact on CX is massive.

So here's some real world scenarios. Think about the local retailer. A boutique clothing shop adds a chat widget on their site. Customers love it at first 'cause quick questions about sizes, hours, and returns are getting answered. But the store only checks the widget during business hours and half the time nobody remembers the log in.

So customers send messages at night and they don't get responses to the next day. And by then, they've already bought something from Amazon. And let's think about a credit union. they start letting customers email for loan questions. Great idea. But now loan officers are buried under dozens of emails every single day with no tracking.

Some members wait two days for a reply. Others get conflicting answers depending on who responds. And the result, frustrate, frustrated members, bad reviews, and a damaged brand reputation. Or what about the HVAC company where technicians are starting to give out their [00:18:00] personal cell numbers to customers so they can get texts for updates?

I mean, that might sound convenient at first until one quits and then takes half the customer communication history with them. No central record, no continuity, and customers feel abandoned. This is literally happening every single day, everywhere. And if you're a technology advisor. Here's your gold mine.

Listen for clues. Customers won't say we need a contact center, but they will say things like, we're getting tons of emails and it's hard to keep up. Or Customers keep texting us, but we don't really have a system for it. Or What about we added chat, but I don't think anybody's really managing it. These are your entry points.

That's when you know that they're in accidental contact center territory, and that's when you can add value by showing them a better way. This isn't just operational chaos, it's a strategic risk. Customer churn you, you're gonna have people leave when they feel ignored. Brand damage, again, [00:19:00] bad reviews and social media complaints pile up.

Employee burnout. Staff turnover will skyrocket when they're constantly in reactive mode. And what about those lost opportunities? 'cause sales leads will slip away because nobody saw that email or chat in time. And here's the thing, these risks compound. A single missed call is bad, a missed call plus an unanswered email, plus a botch chat, ugh, that's a customer who's gone for good and they're probably telling people about it.

So what's the takeaway here? You can't stop customers from reaching out on multiple channels. That ship has sailed. the only choice you have is whether you're going to manage it intentionally or let it manage you. Being intentional doesn't mean adding every shiny tool under the sun.

It means consolidating where it makes sense. It means creating simple rules of engagement, who responds to what, how fast responses should be, how all interactions get tracked in one place. It means [00:20:00] recognizing that you're no longer just answering phones, you're running a customer communications system, and the sooner you acknowledge that, the sooner you can turn it into an advantage instead of a liability.

So here's a scary reality. When you're in accidental contact center mode, the risks multiply. And it's not just about juggling too many channels, it's about the CX risks that nobody talks about. Inconsistent answers, invisible customer journeys, employees getting fried, and that's where we're headed next.

So at this point, we've talked about two big realities. First, the hidden cost of just answering phones. How easy it is to slip into contact center territory, calls, spill into email, chat, text, social, et cetera. And now we're gonna talk about what this all does to your entirety of your customer experience.

And here's the thing, the risks we're about to cover aren't the ones you'll see in some fancy C CAS vendor brochure or some analyst [00:21:00] report. Rather, these are the risks that nobody really talks about because, eh, well, they're messy, they're not sexy, and it's hard to measure until it's too late. the first one is the risk of inconsistent service.

And think about it when you've got multiple people handling calls, emails, chats, without some unified system, customers are gonna get different answers depending on who they reach out to. one rep is gonna promise a discount. Another says, we don't do that. One says turnaround is in 24 hours. The other says it's 48.

See, this inconsistency is deadly because customers lose trust and once trust is gone, it's damn near impossible to win back. Here's what I always tell business owners, don't measure you against your best day. They measure you against your worst. If they get great service from you on Monday, but garbage service on Thursday, guess what sticks in their head?

Thursday and, and if you're an advisor listening to this, this is perfect for you [00:22:00] because you don't have to frame it as technology. You can frame it as consistency. That's language. Every business leader understands. Nobody wants to be known as the company. That gives customers two different answers depending on who picks up the phone.

And then here's another risk. No visibility into the customer journey. Here's what I mean. In an accidental contact center, interactions are scattered across multiple tools and people. Maybe one customer called on Monday, they emailed on Tuesday, and then they chatted on Wednesday. But because those touchpoint aren't connected, nobody's seeing the whole picture.

So when that customer calls back, your rep has no idea. They've already emailed or chatted to the customer, it feels like starting from scratch, and that's infuriating. Nobody likes repeating themselves three different times to three different people. And from the business side, this lack of visibility means you're kind of flying blind.

You can't measure response times. You can't track how many issues are resolved on the [00:23:00] first touch. You can't even see which channels are eating up the most resources for advisors, You don't have to talk about omnichannel analytics. Just say, Hey, right now you can't see the full story of your customers.

Wouldn't it be nice to know exactly where things are breaking down? And let's talk about the people inside your business. 'cause this goes to risk Number three, employee burnout. When your staff is juggling phone calls, emails, chats, texts, carrier pigeons, without a clear system, they're constantly in firefight mode.

They're reacting, not managing, and the stress adds up. Employees will start cutting corners. They'll stop being friendly. They sound rushed, they sound irritated or checked out, and this bleeds directly into the customer experience and eventually they quit, which means you're back to square one training someone new.

While you're in that transition service gets even worse. This is one of those risks that leaders underestimate. They think [00:24:00] burnout is just an HR problem, but burnout is a CX problem because tired, overwhelmed, employees can't deliver great service. Here's risk number four. This one is brutal. Customers slip through the cracks.

In an accidental contact center, there's no guarantee that every message is seen, much less answered. Calls. Go to voicemail and sit there. Emails get buried, chat times out, social messages go unnoticed. And when that happens, you don't just lose one transaction, you risk losing that customer for life. And not just them, maybe their whole family, maybe their whole business, or everyone in their friend circle that they complain to.

Think about a credit union member who doesn't get a loan response in time, or a patient who doesn't get a call back about an appointment, or a retail customer who never hears back on a return. Those moments might feel small internally, but to the customer, those moments are huge and they can be a difference between [00:25:00] loyalty and churn.

And finally, let's talk about risk number five, reputation. It's a risk that nobody wants to admit. Customers often don't tell you when they're frustrated. They don't fill out some survey. They don't complain to your face. They just leave quietly. And then one day you look up and you realize that sales are slipping.

Renewals are down, and referrals have dried up and you don't know why. or worse they do tell the world, just not you. They post some negative review on Google. They complain on social media. They tell their neighbor, don't bother calling that place. They never get back to you. Reputation doesn't crumble overnight.

It erodes slowly, one missed call or unanswered message at a time. And because it happens quietly, it's one of the most dangerous risks of them all. Now let's zoom out here. Why do these risks matter today more than they did 10 or even 20 years ago? Well, because customer expectations have changed. We live in an [00:26:00] instant gratification world now.

People expect fast responses, consistent answers, and seamless service. And if you can't deliver that, they won't wait around. The bar isn't being set by your competitor down the street. It's being set by the last best experience they had. So whether that, was Amazon, Chick-fil-A, apple, if your business can't keep up, customers will notice.

And advisors. You don't have to scare businesses with AI disruption or digital transformation talk. You just have to say, Hey, look, the bar has been raised. Are you confident that your current setup meets it? here's the bottom line. When you're running an accidental call or contact center, you're not just dealing with operational headaches.

You're stacking up CX risks that quietly eat away at your customers, your employees, and your, so here's the bottom line. When you're running an accidental call or contact center, you're not just dealing with operational headaches. You're stacking up CX risks that quietly eat away at your customers, your employees, and your [00:27:00] reputation.

And the worst part, these risks are compounding. One missed call is bad, plus inconsistent service, plus an overwhelmed employee, that's a churn event waiting to happen. So how do you fix it? How do you actually start to fix this? Well, that's where pillar four comes in because it's not about buying every shiny tool in the market.

It's not about slapping AI on top of your chaos. It's about rethinking how you scale your customer communication, not bigger. Not flashier, but smarter, simpler, and more intentional. So up to this point, we've been talking about the mess, the hidden costs of just answering phones, how voice spills into multiple channels you didn't plan for, and the CX risks that sneak in when you're running an accidental call or contact center.

So the natural question is, all right, Brian, well, what's the best way to scale? Because let's be real, most businesses hit a breaking point, or they just simply can't keep doing what they're doing. [00:28:00] They know it's unsustainable. They know they're losing customers, they're burning out staff, and they're missing opportunities.

But the fear is, if I try to fix this, it's gonna cost me a fortune, or it's gonna mean going enterprise, or it's going to be way more complicated than we can handle. Scaling customer communication doesn't have to be complicated. It does, however, have to be intentional. Most businesses make one of two mistakes when they try to scale their communication 

One is that they throw more people at the problem calls are backing up, okay, hire another receptionist. Emails are piling up, but bring in a temp. Chats overwhelming. Give it to marketing. I mean, that might work for a minute, but it doesn't fix the root issue. It just spreads the chaos. 

They chase shiny tools. I call this shiny object syndrome. Some vendors shows them an AI chat bot or some omnichannel platform demo, and they think this will [00:29:00] solve everything. But if you don't have the basics figured out, like who owns what, what your process is, what your customers actually need, than just layering on more technology makes the mess just simply more expensive.

So scaling the wrong way looks like either adding bodies or adding tools without any real strategy, and both approaches crash eventually. So what's the right way? Well, it starts with this principle simplify before scaling. You don't need enterprise grade everything. You don't need 50 dashboards, five AI bots, and a team of data scientists.

What you need is clarity. One system for communication, clear rules for who does what, visibility into what's actually happening, and that's it. It doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to be consistent. Think about it like building a house. If your foundation is shaky, adding another floor doesn't make it better.

It makes it collapse faster. [00:30:00] Same thing with customer communication. If your foundation is chaos, scaling, it just means more chaos. You've got to pour the concrete first, so let's make this real. If you're a business leader, here are a few practical steps you can take to scale the right way. First, audit your channels.

Make a list of everywhere customers can reach you. Phone. Email, chat, text, social, and then ask who owns each channel? How are responses tracked? What's the average response time? And if you can't answer those questions well, there you go. That's step one. Number two, centralize communication. Even if you start small, you need a hub.

One place where calls, emails, and chats can be seen and managed. This doesn't mean buying a massive enterprise system. It does mean making sure that you're not relying on sticky notes, personal phones, or scattered inboxes. Number three, [00:31:00] create response rules. Define expectations. all voicemails returned within one business hour.

All emails respond to within 24 hours. All chats responded to in under 60 seconds. You can just adjust the numbers, but the point is, put the rules in writing. And number four, match scale the size. Don't copy what the Fortune 500 businesses are doing 'cause you're not them. Instead ask, what's the minimum structure we need to keep customers happy without overloading our staff?

And number five, track the basics. You don't need a hundred metrics folks. Start with basic stuff like how many calls are missed? How many emails go unanswered over the past 24 hours? How long do chats sit idle? That's more than enough to tell you if you're improving or you're falling behind.

Now, if you're a technology advisor, here's how you can frame scaling to your clients. You don't have to talk about cloud architecture or omnichannel [00:32:00] routing, but what you can say is, Hey, look, scaling isn't about more people or more tech. It's about giving your team a system they can actually manage. It's about making customer communication less chaotic and more intentional.

Because let's be real, clients don't want complexity. They don't wanna feel like they're signing up for an enterprise call center. They want something that feels approachable, right size and easy to run. So your playbook should look like this. First, diagnose where they're in accidental mode.

Then two, show them what's costing them customers productivity and reputation. Third, show them a path to simplify, centralize, create rules, and add visibility. That's it. Don't oversell. Don't drown them in jargon. Show them how to scale in a way that feels achievable. 

AI can be useful in scaling, but only if it's layered on top of a solid foundation. AI can help with things like auto transcribing voicemails, routing [00:33:00] messages, or suggesting quick replies, but AI will not fix chaos if you drop an AI tool into an accidental contact center. All you're doing is teaching a robot how to replicate your mess just faster.

So my advice is get the basics right first. Once you've got a system in place, then you can explore any of those different value adds or AI tools. But don't confuse AI with strategy. AI is a tool, not a plan, nor a magic wand. And at the end of the day, the right way to think about scale is mindset.

Intentional call and contact centers are proactive. They anticipate volume. They put systems in place. They know how they'll respond before a customer even reaches out.

Scaling isn't about getting bigger. It's about shifting from reactive to proactive. That right there is the difference between chaos and control. So [00:34:00] the big takeaway from pillar four, you don't need enterprise tools, AI magic, or 10 more staff to scale customer communication. You need clarity, consistency, and a mindset shift because once you've got that in place, you can do what we'll talk about in pillar five, turning chaos into a system that actually works.

We're gonna look at how to take everything we talked about, the missed calls, the scattered channels, the CX risks, and actually transform it into a streamlined, structured experience that customers love and employees don't hate. 

We've looked at the how. Voice spills into email, chat, text, social until you're running an accidental contact center without realizing it. And we've unpacked the CX risks that nobody talks about, like inconsistency, lack of visibility, burnout, reputation damage, and then we covered the right way to think about scaling.

Simplify first scale second. So now comes the most important question. How do you actually [00:35:00] turn all that chaos into a customer experience that works? Because, look, knowing the problem is half the battle awareness matters, but awareness without action is just frustration. What you need is a roadmap, something practical, something doable, something that doesn't feel like you're biting off more than you can chew.

So let's break it down into a few key moves that no matter what size business you are, you can start finding CX success today. Step one, map out the chaos. Get everything out on the table. Write down every single way customers can reach you. Phones, emails, chat, text, social dms, even walk-ins, if that's part of your world.

Don't leave anything out. And then again, for each channel, ask three questions. Who owns it? How do we track it, and how do we measure response time? This exercise exposes blind spots. It makes you realize how much you're running on [00:36:00] assumptions 

By the way, this is a great diagnostic tool. Like walk a client through this mapping exercise and you're gonna uncover pain. They didn't even know they had. And this is a great way to build trust because now you're not selling, you're actually showing them their reality. But clearly, step two, and this is once you've mapped the chaos, is to move towards centralization.

And no, that doesn't mean buying the most expensive platform on the market. It means getting everything into one place where all the communication is visible in one hub. So that means calls, emails, chat, text. They don't have to be fancy, but they just need to be in one place. Why? Well, because visibility kills chaos.

When your team can see everything in one dashboard, nobody has to wonder, Hey, did Billy respond to that? Or, Hey, where did that message go? It's all right there. For business leaders, this is usually the biggest unlock. Centralization doesn't just reduce chaos, it gives [00:37:00] peace of mind. For advisors, this is your entry point to position your solutions that fit their size without overwhelming them.

Step three in this third move is to set the rules. Think of it like traffic rules, right? Without them driving would be chaos. And with them, everyone kind of knows what to expect. So do the same thing for customer communication. Things like, all voicemails return in one business hour, all emails responded in 24 hours.

All chat. Respond to in 60 seconds. If a message comes in after hours, acknowledge it the next morning. See, these things don't have to be rigid, by the way. They just need to be clear rules, create consistency and consistency, builds trust with customers. Advisors, this is a way for you to frame value. You're not just selling tech, you're helping businesses create standards that improve their customer experience.

And that's a much stronger story than, Hey, here's a brand new cool platform with lots of fancy features. step [00:38:00] four, empower employees with the right tools and, and this is the part, leaders often forget. Tools should support people, not replace them. If your employees are drowning in calls and messages, the goal isn't to throw AI at them and hope it's gonna save the day.

The goal is to give them tools to make their jobs easier. Things like call history logs so they don't have to ask customers to repeat themselves. Integrated messaging so they don't have to juggle five different apps. Basic automation for routine tasks like sending confirmations and follow-ups. When employees feel supported, they deliver better service, and when they're overwhelmed, service suffers.

Advisors, you can shine here by focusing on outcomes. Don't just demo features. Paint the picture. With this system, your team can respond faster, feel less stressed, and your customers will notice a difference. Step five, and this last move is measurement. Don't overcomplicate [00:39:00] this. Too many businesses get buried in dashboards and reports that they will never use.

You don't need 50 metrics. Just start with three. How many calls or messages are coming in? How fast are people responding, and how many are we missing or leaving unanswered?

That's it. Those three numbers will tell you more about your CX Health than any flashy analytics package and advisors. This is an easy way to frame ROI show your clients how missing 20 calls a week isn't just an inconvenience, it's lost revenue. Show them how shaving response time from 24 hours to 12 hours improves retention numbers.

Make the story real. 

so why does this approach where you map, centralize, set rules and empower employees to track? The basics actually work because it turns accidental chaos into intentional structure. Again, [00:40:00] customers stop slipping through the cracks. Employees stop drowning, and leaders stop guessing. And most importantly, it creates a customer experience that feels reliable.

Customers don't expect perfection. They just expect to be heard. They expect to be responded to and taken care of consistently, and when you deliver that, you earn their trust. Now, let's zoom out for a second. If you are a business leader, the message is simple. You're probably already running a contact center whether you realize it or not.

The question is whether it's accidental or intentional. If it's accidental, well, you're paying the price in hidden costs like CX risks and missed opportunities. If you're a technology advisor, the message is just as clear. Your clients don't need buzzwords. They need clarity. They need someone who can actually help them see the chaos for what it is, and then guide them towards structure.

That's your value and that's how you stand out. Turning chaos into CX that works isn't about being fancy. It's not [00:41:00] about chasing AI hype or copying enterprise playbooks. It's about being intentional. Start small. Map your channels, centralize them, set rules, support your employees.

Track the basics. If you can do that, you've already moved from accidental to intentional. The shift is everything because at the end of the day, customers don't care about your tools or your org chart. What they care about is their experience. Every call answered, every email responded to every chat acknowledged.

That's what builds loyalty. That's what drives growth. That's what keeps people coming back. So the question is. Are you gonna keep living in accidental mode? Or are you ready to turn chaos into customer experience? Alright, let's land the plane for today. 

What if you're already running a contact center without even realizing it? And I hope for over the past hour or so we've peeled back the layers of that idea, and we've talked about how just answering phones isn't so [00:42:00] simple. Once you start to look at the hidden costs, we've seen how easy it is for customer communication to spill out a voice and going to email, chat, text, and social 

You're in accidental contact center territory. We've unpacked the risks that come with it. Inconsistent service, a lack of visibility, employee burnout, customers slipping through the cracks. And we've talked about how most people scale the wrong way, whether throwing more people at the problem or chasing shiny tools.

And then finally, we laid out a better path. Simplify first scale. Second, map your chaos, centralize it, set rules, empower your employees and track what actually matters. So if you stuck with me through all of that, you might be thinking, okay, well I get it, Brian, but what do I actually do now? And here's my answer.

You start with awareness. The biggest trap with accidental call centers and contact centers is denial. Business owners say, nah, no, that's not us. We're not a contact center. And advisors sometimes gloss over the problem because they don't want [00:43:00] to spook the client. But here's the reality. Your customers can reach you on more than one channel, and you don't have a system for managing it.

You are in accidental mode, period. So the first step is just to admit it, say out loud. Yep. We're basically running a contact center. And that mindset shift matters because once you acknowledge it, you can actually start to fix it. The second thing I want you to remember is this. Fixing. It doesn't mean going enterprise overnight 'cause you don't have to spend six figures, folks.

Start by making a list of all the channels you're on and then pick one where customers are falling through the cracks. Put one rule in place and how to handle it and to make sure your employees are feeling supported, not abandoned.

Track one number that shows whether you're getting better and that's it. That's enough to start moving from accidental to intentional. Now, Brian, why does this matter so much? Why am I hammering this drum about accidental call centers and contact centers? Well, because customer experience isn't something you [00:44:00] can opt out of, you don't get to say, nah, we're not focused on CX right now.

If you have customers, you're delivering a customer experience, whether you mean to or not. The only question is whether it's a good one or a bad one. when emails are ignored, when chats time out, customers don't forgive that. They don't rationalize it, they just leave.

And in a world where switching costs are low, one bad experience can undo years of goodwill. That's why we call this show CX without the bs. Because the BS way of talking about CX is to dress it up with buzzwords, omnichannel this, AI, that digital transformation, blah, blah, blah. And don't get me wrong, some of those things can be useful, but they are not the starting point.

The starting point is asking, are we serving our customers well on the basics? Are we intentional about how we communicate? Do we have structure? Or are we just winging it? And if you're a business leader who's listening to this, I want you [00:45:00] to hear this. Clearly. You are not too small for cx. I don't care if you have five employees or 500 or 5,000.

If you've got customers calling, emailing, texting, or messaging you, then CX is already happening. And if you don't take control of it, it's gonna take control of you. So don't wait for the pain to become unbearable. Don't wait until reviews start tanking. Don't wait for employees to quit or sales to drop.

Act now. Take one step today to get out of accidental mode. And if you're a technology advisor, here's my challenge to you. Don't wait for clients to use the words like contact center before you help them. Most of them never will. They'll just talk about the symptoms. Missed calls, overwhelm staff, angry customers, piles of unanswered emails, and that's your cue.

That's your opening. That's when you step in and you say, Hmm, well, what you're dealing with is an accidental contact center problem. Let's bring the structure to this [00:46:00] so you can stop losing customers, stop burning out employees, and start delivering the kind of experience that keeps people loyal. That's how you differentiate, not by pushing licenses, but by solving real human problems that your client feels every single day.

Alright, so here's how I wanna wrap this up. Take a step back this week and ask yourself, am I in accidental mode? If you're a business ask, are we just winging it when calls come in, when we get emails or chats? And if you're an advisor. Ask which of my clients are struggling with accidental contact or call center symptoms, even if they don't call it that?

And then take one step, just one. Map your channels, centralize one thing, write one rule, empower one employee, track one metric, do that, and you're already moving from chaos to clarity. From accidental to intentional, from reactive to proactive, because at the end of the day, [00:47:00] CX isn't about technology. It's not about acronyms.

it's about people trying to reach you. People who want to feel heard, people who want their time respected. And if you can give them that consistently, simply, and intentionally, then you're not just running a business. You're building brand loyalty. You're creating advocates.

You're setting yourself apart in a world where everyone is still. Scramble and that's how you win. That's how you keep customers longer, and that's how you build a customer experience without the bs. Alright, folks, we're gonna go ahead and put a pin in today's conversation. If you've got some value from today's episode, please go ahead and give it a share.

But that being said, it's Brian Nickel signing off here on CX without the bs. We'll see you next week.