Sigma Connected 2.0: moving our difference forward

The market caught up with what made us different. Now we need to move it forward again.

For 15 years, Sigma Connected has been known as the challenger that does things differently. We built our reputation on flexibility, openness and directness, and on shaping the operation around what each client actually needs. We’ve never expected clients to fit a standard model.

We still work that way. The challenge is that others now use many of the same points of differentiation, meaning the things that once helped set us apart don’t stand out in quite the same way anymore. So, our 15-year anniversary feels like a good reason to look at what comes next. I’ve started thinking of the next version of our story as ‘Sigma 2.0’. It’s not a different business. It’s a fresher, clearer way to describe the service we already deliver, the relationships we build and the role we play inside our clients’ businesses. That’s particularly true in the sectors and complex customer interactions where we know we add the most value.

What we do when no one is watching

You can write ‘different’ on as many PowerPoint slides as you like, but those words only matter if clients can actually see them in the way we work.

It’s how quickly we respond when something changes, whether we stay close to the detail when things get difficult and whether we’re prepared to say what we think rather than what we think a client wants to hear.

We don’t wait to be asked. We bring ideas, call out problems early and challenge when we believe there’s a better way. That won’t always make for the easiest conversation, but it usually makes for a better relationship.

That becomes even more important in the complex customer interactions we’re known for. As technology takes more of the simpler work, the conversations that reach people are often the ones that need more empathy, judgement and understanding. That’s where the human side of service really comes into its own.

We’re not anti-technology – that would be daft. In fact we’re the opposite. We believe good technology should give people better information, remove unnecessary work and help them make better decisions, without taking the human out of customer service.

We’re part of our clients’ businesses

I keep coming back to the idea of Sigma Connected occupying the empty seat in every client’s boardroom.

We don’t stand apart from our clients – we’re part of them. We celebrate their highs and feel the pain of their lows. We understand what they’re trying to achieve, where the pressure is coming from and what their customers expect from them.

We think with our clients, act with them, bring ideas, give advice and challenge when we think there’s a better way. Our clients push us, and we push them, because the shared aim is to be better today than we were yesterday.

That’s why relationship management can’t sit separately from service delivery. The way we respond when priorities change, the ownership we take when things are difficult and our willingness to say when something could be better are all part of the service.

We don’t sell seats

The BPO industry still spends far too much time talking about seats, headcount and capacity. Those things are part of the job, obviously, but they don’t describe the whole offer.

We sell integrated delivery solutions that bring together people, technology, insight, operational expertise and relationship management around the problem a client needs to solve. That might mean supporting one part of the customer journey, or it might mean taking on something much broader.

We stay focused on the sectors where we’re strongest and the complex interactions where experience, judgement and empathy really matter. That includes collections, complaints, vulnerability and regulated conversations. These are the moments where the quality of the person, the process around them and the support they receive can make a real difference.

But our capability doesn’t stop at a list of specialisms. We can also support clients end to end, connecting those areas across the wider customer journey rather than treating every interaction as a separate problem.

Delivering a well-run contact centre is only part of the job. We have to make our clients more efficient, more profitable and more lauded by their customers. That’s the reason we get up every day. That means understanding where effort is being wasted, where technology could help, where contact could be prevented and where customers still need a person who can listen, understand and act.

The qualities that have made us different over the past 15 years haven’t disappeared, but the language around them has become much more familiar. Sigma 2.0 is my way of thinking about how we evolve and where we go next. It’s also about talking  more clearly and confidently about what we already do, so the difference  already there becomes much harder to miss.