From Turning Point to Transformation: 2025 Marks a New Beginning
I think I can say without exaggeration that 2024 will be remembered as a “turning point” year, especially for the customer experience (CX) industry. It was a year when companies faced rising inflation and budgetary constraints, while also navigating a dramatic shift in technology that has forever altered the way we operate as businesses and the way we serve our customers. It was a time of risks and opportunities, when the decisions that brands made would sow the seeds of tomorrow’s successes or failures. The year 2025 will begin to show whether our investments have paid off, as we enter an unprecedented time of both great promise and greater instability.
Looking Back: What We've Learned
In 2024, many brands focused purely on costs, which is understandable given the current economic climate. It was very challenging to operate in this awkward, volatile post-COVID market, where consumer spending was down, and expectations were ever-changing. This caused many brands to put the pressure on CX providers to do more with less – a challenge we overcame with tenacity, skill, and heart. Our steadfast approach allowed us to provide exemplary service even in these difficult circumstances.
What we also learned is that managing budgets at the expense of customer experience is shortsighted. We risk losing what matters, the long-term loyalty of our customers. It is this warning bell that we are sounding, as customer satisfaction scores across industries continue to decline. We see the danger ahead, and we want to help brands avoid this erosion of consumer trust. So much so, that we made it the focus of our 2025 guide, the CX Fix.
We need to find a new path forward, where outsourcing partners are chosen not simply for the lowest cost, but for the long-term efficiency gains and quality experiences they can deliver through a balance of technology, insight, and capable talent. Most importantly, we need to keep the focus on the end user, the customer, and view contact centers not as financial liabilities, but as opportunities to enhance satisfaction, capture lifetime value, and gain enduring brand loyalty.
The good news is that you don’t have to go across to the other side of the world to do this in a cost-effective manner that is a win-win for both company and client. You can do that here, in the nearshore. In 2024, we launched itelligence®, the highlight of our year - a custom-built, AI-powered platform that combines data analytics, advanced sentiment analysis, and automatic quality scoring to enhance agent performance, deliver more accurate consumer insights, and support data-based business decisions that improve every aspect of your CX operations. It has just begun to show its potential, and clients will soon see the benefits and value in choosing the right partner with the right capabilities, rather than just choosing the cheapest solution.
2025: A Year of Exciting Transformation
As we move into a new year, we will continue to see the transformational power of AI, one that will truly live up to its promise. We will finally see the efficiencies and improvements it can deliver. I’m personally excited to say we are currently developing an AI agent, one that is intelligent, responsive, and fully interactive, that can adapt to a variety of customer needs. Though we do not see it as a replacement for human workforces, it can be a helpful addition to overwhelmed support teams during periods of high consumer demand. A way to deflect calls, so people can focus on more complex and emotionally nuanced tasks and requests.
There is no doubt that 2025 will have its challenges. In some ways, the world is becoming less cohesive, more unstable, and more uncertain. But if there’s anything I learned from 2024, it’s to always remain positive, even in the face of adversity. I believe we can rise above any challenge, offering more than just a low-cost place to outsource, but the reliability, consistency, and insights businesses will need to be successful in this shifting landscape.
Our goal will be to provide the highest level of service, greater efficiency, and to continue growing our footprint, our people, and our relationships with our clients. We will continue to focus on building those important connections with customers, at a time when people feel most disconnected from each other.
I would also like to take this moment to thank you all for your continued support and partnership over the years – those who have helped us become the Caribbean’s largest homegrown CX provider, and those we have come to know over 2024. We also look forward to all the new connections we will forge in the coming year, and the exciting new opportunities that will benefit everyone. It is a year full of promise and transformational potential. Let’s enter it together.
Cheers to 2025!
Yoni Epstein, CD
Founding Chairman and CEO, itel
