Green CX: Why It Should Be on Your 2025 Agenda

Enterprises can acquire more customers by embracing Green CX

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Green CX: Why It Should Be on Your 2025 Agenda
Contact CenterLatest News

Published: January 17, 2025

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Floyd March

As 2050 net zero targets loom, many enterprises are rapidly looking to reduce their scoped emissions.

CX operations are not immune to the need to decarbonize. But it’s not just something they “should do”; it’s something that can bring big business benefits.

Indeed, while these conversations could be seen as mere murmurations in the corners of the sector, there is evidence of market change.

Online searches for sustainable goods have increased by 71 percent over the past five years, and nearly 70 percent of consumers think it is essential for brands to be sustainable.

As such, “Green CX” is much more than just a marketing topic; it’s a business driver.

The goal of Green CX is to minimize the environmental and social impact of the customer experience while promoting a more sustainable world.

The result is customer-focused services that are convenient but also ethical, responsible, and sustainable.

Where Should Customer Experience Teams Start?

To start, CX teams may wish to familiarize themselves with the Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions categories used to classify greenhouse gas emissions.

Scope one emissions include direct emissions from the company, and scope two includes indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy.

The third scope, and most related to Green CX from a customer perspective, is indirect emissions that occur in the value chain of the company but are not included in Scope 1 or 2.

Considering outputs across each scope is critical when initiating a decarbonization program.

Develop Green CX Practices

After defining and measuring those outputs, develop Green CX practices that counter them.

From there, create metrics and goals around lowering the business’s carbon footprint, energy consumption, and waste generation.

As a result, the CX team can track progress, and the marketing team can leverage that insight.

From there, they may reach out to green customer segments and even create personalized journeys for that persona.

Additionally, make sure frontline sales and service teams know the efforts that the business is taking to go green, so they can share that insight with prospects and customers.

Finally, make a point of talking to critical CX tech vendors, who may be able to suggest ways of running a more sustainable operation.

Speaking exclusively to CX Today on this matter, Chris Angus, VP for Contact Centre Engagement at 8×8, said:

Sustainability is a topic that’s not going away, so everyone, including contact center operators and their CCaaS providers, needs to be doing their bit.

“Regardless of your personal beliefs around climate change, it’s something that will be asked more and marked against in competitive tenders, so you need to deal with it for a competitive edge.”

What Can the Contact Center Do Specifically?

As with all other CX operations, the contact center must have a huge focus on how it uses technology and data.

Optimizing processes and resources in these key areas not only cuts operational costs but also reduces energy consumption.

Angus expanded on this, telling CX Today: “Moving to the cloud plays a huge part in this for multiple reasons.”

First, moving to the cloud means minimizing or eliminating the need for energy-intensive on-premises infrastructure, significantly lowering the carbon footprint while supporting efficient data hosting and processing.

Now, some will point out that adding to the cloud means more processing power and storage being used. However, the likes of Amazon, Google, Apple, and Oracle are investing millions in pushing for their systems to be as carbon-neutral as possible.

These practices will, hopefully, lower the carbon footprint while supporting efficient data hosting and processing through energy-efficient hardware.

Amazon has also been actively looking into the role of green hydrogen in the day-to-day operations of data centers and warehouses.

Green hydrogen is the production of hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable sources such as wind or solar energy.

Once a contact center has the cloud element in place, other options open up. For example, it can reduce your use of large office spaces and allow staff to work from home, which helps to cut down on emissions from travel and the energy use of the large office space.

Reducing Further Emissions With Existing Technology

Interestingly, the increased use of conversational AI could also push the sector along the decarbonization journey.

Expanding on this notion in more detail, Angus continued: “Another area worthy of consideration is how quicker answers to customer queries – through AI, chatbots, or other – can help.

“Quick and relevant answers mean less hanging on phones, going through the wrong departments, etc.

Not only does hanging on a call or chat deliver a poor customer experience, but the longer it takes, the more energy is used.

The other elements to this are, of course, ensuring the company has strong metrics in place for its corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts and that the companies they do business with do the same.

While aligning CSR efforts remains difficult in the intermediary stages, more companies that rely on vendors will look to align themselves in the future.

When companies attempt to decarbonize practices, they always seem to focus on the bigger – and, let’s be honest, more expensive – policies they implement to indicate movements to net zero and low-carbon practices.

With this in mind, Chris explained other ways to reduce impacts. He said: “The one thing that needs considerable depth and looked at is the elephant in the room, where human agents are concerned: headsets.

Are they still needed? Could we have staff using AirPods, the Samsung equivalents or others? What about Smart Glasses with audio built-in? We live in an era where a good headset can last 3-5 years, but do they get used for that long, or are they often chucked in the bin when a staff member moves on?

Final Reminders Before Taking the Green CX Plunge

Before implementing Green CX, it’s crucial to have a clear vision of the objectives and how to measure success.

Define the sustainability goals and metrics. This is an essential part of the puzzle. It will help align key goals with business objectives and customer expectations of operations.

The pursuit of decarbonization can’t get in the way of these expectations, and aligning them with stakeholders, partners, and customers is imperative.

Doing so will highlight how they will benefit from the initiative.

 

Artificial IntelligenceAutomationCCaaSChatbotsTechnology Media and TelecomsUser Experience

Brands mentioned in this article.

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