New European Customer Contact Alliance launches to celebrate excellence and share best practice across the continent
A new network for contact centre and customer service professionals across Europe launches today designed to celebrate excellence and share best practice. The European Customer Contact Alliance (ECCA) brings together a network of national industry associations all looking to advance customer and employee experiences for the benefit of society.
Founder of the Alliance and CEO of the CCMA (Call Centre Management Association) in the UK, Leigh Hopwood said: “we recognised that our members in the UK would benefit from having the opportunity to network and learn with their counterparts across Europe. In 2022, I reached out to my peers on the continent to explore if there was an appetite to support each other and our members – and there was.”
As well as members of the CCMA in the UK, today members from Admez in Czech, AFRC in France, CCV in Germany, APCC in Portugal, CXMA in Turkey, and UCCAI in Ukraine will benefit from being part of the community, with several other countries planning to join in the coming weeks.
Dirk Egelseer, President of the Customer Service & Call Center Verband Deutschland e. V. (CCV) said: “We welcome the opportunity to build relationships with our friends across Europe, for the benefit for the German contact centre market. This is a unique and genuine network focused on supporting an industry that is becoming a valuable function in business.”
Ana Gonçalves, Secretary General of Portuguese Association of Contact Centres (APCC), said: “There is a real opportunity for our members to benefit from ECCA whilst also having the opportunity to share the great work our members in Portugal are delivering for customers and their employees. This is a big step forward for our European industry.”
Eric Dadian, President of the French Customer Relations Association (AFRC) said: “We were engaged in the previous collaboration, ECCCO, and welcome the opportunity to rebuild our relationships across Europe through this credible alliance that has integrity, patience and determination.”
ECCA brings together the European Contact Centre & Customer Service Awards (ECCCSA), now in its 24th year, and The Exchange, the three-day virtual event that showcases winners from the awards. Members of ECCA partners will benefit from invitations to visit Sites of Excellence where ECCCSA winners showcase their operations.
Association Partners will also be sharing their key events and insights via ECCA to further enhance a shared mission to support the development of customer contact and employee experiences across Europe. There are plans to work on a number of key strategic initiatives over the coming months and years.