In a rapidly changing sector, the challenges and opportunities ahead
Maxime Santilli (Sqwad) : “Caroline, what are the major changes that the sector should expect over the next five or ten years?”
Caroline Adam (SP2C) : “In our jobs, we have an essential component, it is the human element. So we will have questions in terms of recruitment and retention. It may not be quite the same profiles that we are going to recruit.”
For Caroline, the essential component of the job is people. It is therefore around him that the new changes will be structured, and more precisely in terms of recruitment and retention. Indeed, the profiles sought are evolving, as is the range of services offered. It is no longer simply a question of assigning full-time equivalents (FTEs) in response to a request, but of designing a global solution integrating major technological challenges.
Working with various business sectors — insurance, luxury, energy —, contact center professionals analyze the specificities of each field and use this knowledge to optimize the customer experience. This approach makes it possible to test and adapt best practices from one sector to another, thus emerging as a solution integrator and customer relationship expert.
The sector is undergoing a profound transformation, driven in particular by artificial intelligence. Its integration raises several questions: why and how to adopt it, what is the cost, and above all, what return on investment can you expect from it? Finding the right balance between technology and people is a key challenge in this transformation.
Despite the numerous predictions announcing the end of the sector with the rise of self-care or chatbots, the reality is quite different. On the contrary, the diversification of interaction channels increases the demand for expertise in customer relationships. “Moreover, France still does not outsource these services much, compared to other countries in Europe (...) or the United States. So we still have a great playing field to develop,” adds Caroline.
Recruitment and training: building tomorrow's customer relationship expertise
As president of SP2C, Caroline Adam intends to change mentalities regarding the image of the client advisor who suffered from a deficit in the sector. Thanks to a study carried out each year with EY (Ernest & Young), they can demonstrate their social impact and enhance their image: “No, it's not a student job, we actually have 75% permanent contracts, we have all types of profiles, we have all types of degrees. So we are really representative of all qualification levels.”
This study also highlights a striking fact: the job of customer advisor is a real professional springboard. After only two years of experience, more than 280 job opportunities are possible. The skills acquired — whether in terms of mastering products and services, commercial discourse, relational posture or even new technologies — open up numerous opportunities for development.
The rise of technological innovations, and in particular artificial intelligence, plays a key role in this transformation. These advances not only make it possible to optimize customer relationships, but also to attract and retain profiles who, spontaneously, might not have turned to this sector. AI should thus in turn create new opportunities. While some new positions will emerge, others will evolve to adapt to market requirements.
In this context, the support and training of employees remain essential.
Do artificial intelligence and customer relationships go hand in hand?
Maxime Santilli (Sqwad): “In your opinion, is what we owe to AI sufficiently exploited by companies to be able to meet the challenges of advertisers?”
Caroline Adam (SP2C): “In any case, the observation that I am making on the market is that there have been a lot of promises, but the results are there. On some parts of the process.”
Ever more demanding customers, a permanent challenge
Customer relationship management is undoubtedly one of the most advanced sectors in terms of integrating artificial intelligence. However, she nuances by explaining that AI does not replace humans, but rather constitutes “an aid to customer advice”, offering an undeniable time-saver. The aim is to optimize efficiency without sacrificing the human experience.
In this context, advertisers have to deal with increasingly demanding consumers, demanding both speed and quality of response. The multiplication of communication channels has become essential, underlines Caroline. Indeed, an interaction on a branded WhatsApp group does not follow the same codes as a telephone exchange, just as a message on Twitter is not written in the same way as a post on LinkedIn. The personalization of interactions is therefore a key challenge to guarantee customer satisfaction.
However, to maintain consistency in exchanges, it is essential for brands to define clear guidelines in terms of tone and discourse. The image conveyed must be consistent across all channels, while customer relationship outsourcing (BPO) specialists bring their technical know-how to adapt each message to the right medium.
The rise of multi-channel technology has thus profoundly transformed the job of customer advisor. “Contrary to popular belief, customer advising is not just the telephone,” recalls Caroline. Today, managing emails, instant messengers and social networks requires specific skills. Each channel requires a different level of responsiveness and know-how, reinforcing the added value of BPOs, which make it possible to optimize the customer experience by guaranteeing interactions adapted to each situation.
Emotion, the essential human asset
Emotion remains a central element in customer relationships, an aspect that artificial intelligence cannot replace. Caroline illustrates this point with the striking example of Estelle Perry, who makes some BPOs try an Alpine “so that when they talk about it, they get emotional”. Club Med takes the same approach by allowing its advisors to test the services they sell, so that they can answer customer questions with authenticity and transmit genuine emotion.
Consumers are looking for an authentic experience with personalized relationships and genuine exchanges with brands. Their expectations are paramount. However, despite its advances, AI does not yet have the capacity to reproduce this emotional connection. This is why people remain an essential link in the sector, guaranteeing commitment, loyalty and customer satisfaction.
Are hybrid models (remote working/in-person) now the norm?
Maxime Santilli (Sqwad): “What do you think of hybrid models? We are often faced with questions on this subject because our customers ask us questions about security.”
Caroline Adam (SP2C): “I certainly would not have had the same speech before the health crisis since we were not in a hybrid model (...) We demonstrated our agility again. In one week, we all found ourselves working from home. It's a big SP2C fight.”
Before the health crisis, Caroline stresses that her speech would certainly have been different. However, this period proved the agility of businesses. Today, teleworking represents two to three days a week within his organization, and a return to the past seems unthinkable to him.
However, she insists that there is no “magic recipe” that can be applied to everyone. The right balance depends on the industrialization model, the methods of training transmission and the expected level of quality. Each BPO must therefore adjust its organization, especially since offering a minimum of remote work now seems almost essential.
Sqwad is a good example thanks to its hybrid model, where agents work remotely while management teams are present on site, spread over several sites in Europe and beyond. These teams are based in France, Spain, Portugal, Portugal, Portugal, United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada, in particular, offering an effective multi-site model that meets the expectations of the global market.
Beyond organizational aspects, the human factor remains central. The client expects the same quality of exchange, whether the advisor is teleworking or in person. However, remote work could even strengthen this link, by improving the well-being of employees.
So has the hybrid model become the norm? For Caroline, the answer is clear: “The hybrid model, I think it is decisive today for recruiting, but also for end customers in order to benefit from a customer experience of the best quality possible.”
Regulations, AI and the environment: the new challenges for BPOs and advertisers
Maxime Santilli (Sqwad): “What are the challenges in the coming years concerning regulations for deposits and also for advertisers who want to internalize activities?”
Caroline Adam (SP2C): “I would say that today, in 2025, there are two priority issues (...), prospecting (...) the regulation of AI at the European level (...) and a third challenge: environmental impact”.
In 2025, two major regulatory issues are impacting BPO and advertisers. The first concerns commercial prospecting, and although this does not affect all businesses, it is still essential for those whose acquisition of new customers is based on telephone canvassing. “We are having a real attack on cold calling,” explains Caroline Adam. From now on, cold prospecting will be prohibited: if no prior commercial relationship has been established, for example via an insurance comparator, telephone calls will no longer be authorized. This evolution will profoundly transform acquisition strategies, strengthening the role of lead generation and making the cost of customer acquisition even higher. “You will have to pamper your customer portfolio even more,” she underlines.
The second challenge, which comes into force in February 2025, concerns the regulation of artificial intelligence at the European level. “The sentence to remember, and unfortunately, it is a bit true, is: the United States is innovating, China is copying, China is copying, Europe is regulating,” observes Caroline Adam. This new regulation, which will last until 2027, will require companies to review their contractual relationships with their partners, AI suppliers and client brands. “If you develop tools yourself, you are putting a moral, contractual, legal and ethical obligation on you to respect a certain number of things”, she explains. Businesses will have to adapt to these new requirements, in particular by signing ethical charters in the field of AI. For the specialist, one thing is clear: it is crucial to be prepared now.
In addition, SP2C interacts with policies in order to find compromises between what may or may not be acceptable from an economic point of view as well as in terms of freedom or trade barriers regarding regulations.
Finally, a final issue is emerging: environmental impact. “It is essential for everyone to take responsibility”, insists Caroline. Recognizing this imperative, last year they published a guide to good environmental practices, offering concrete levers for improvement. Today, they are going even further by developing a sectoral index measuring the ecological footprint of market players. More than ever, CSR is becoming an essential strategic pillar for companies.
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