Editorial
The Gist
- Resistance as intelligence. Pushback in contact centers often signals deeper misalignments, not just bad attitudes.
- A framework for action. Blast, Remove, Erode, Accept or Keep resistance to transform friction into alignment.
- Friction fuels change. Handled well, resistance can become the blueprint for better CX and employee engagement.
Ask any contact center leader what’s standing in the way of transformation, and you’ll hear the usual culprits: outdated systems, legacy KPIs, siloed departments and change fatigue. But if you look closer, what you’ll find isn’t failure, it’s friction. And that friction is trying to tell you something.
Resistance is not just a wall to knock down, it is a roadmap. It points directly to the operational misalignments and cultural gaps that are holding back your team’s performance. The question is whether you treat resistance as a nuisance to avoid or a signal to study.
Turning Resistance Into a Diagnostic Tool
Take, for example, the rollout of a new CRM system. If agents resist adopting it, it’s tempting to blame poor training or a bad attitude. But in many cases, resistance like this reveals a deeper issue, one that stems from a misalignment between what’s being asked and how the team is set up to deliver.
Research confirms what many leaders already know instinctively: most transformation efforts fall short not due to poor ideas but due to internal pushback. In fact, according to McKinsey, 70% of transformation initiatives fail, largely because resistance is mismanaged or misunderstood. That pushback isn’t dysfunction; it’s data.
Related Article: Optimizing the Contact Center Tech Stack: What Moves the Needle?
Table of Contents
- Identifying and Responding to Contact Center Friction
- Practical Ways to Address Resistance in Contact Centers
- Why Understanding Resistance Is Critical to CX Success
- Moving from Contact Center Resistance to Customer Experience Flow
Identifying and Responding to Contact Center Friction
To act on that customer feedback, CX leaders can classify and respond to friction in five different ways. They can determine what kind of resistance they're dealing with and how to address it in a way that builds alignment rather than undermining it.
I call it a BREAK Framework:
- Blast: Remove obstacles that no longer serve the business or customer like legacy forms or redundant processes but do so fast and without a lot of planning.
- Remove: Take a methodical approach to eliminating friction, like shifting misaligned roles, processes or technology without causing collateral ripples.
- Erode: Take small incremental steps over time, like addressing entrenched habits or cultural norms through coaching and peer-led change.
- Accept: Recognize and work within unchangeable realities, such as legal constraints or compliance needs.
- Keep: Hold onto intentional friction that protects customer trust, like verification steps in onboarding.
Rather than treating resistance as a barrier, this lens transforms it into actionable insight.
Practical Ways to Address Resistance in Contact Centers
From Metrics to Mindset Shifts
Imagine your NPS scores are dipping, and agents say they feel robotic or rushed. You discover that a rigid average handle time (AHT) target is limiting their ability to connect with customers.
You can blast the AHT target and replace it with a different metric. You can erode its influence over time by balancing it with first-contact resolution or customer sentiment metrics. Maybe you accept that some level of AHT control is necessary for operational efficiency, but you create more flexibility in how it’s managed. The choice depends on the context, but this framework introduced here helps guide it.
By thinking this way, you’re no longer reacting to resistance. You’re reading it and treating it like intelligence, not inconvenience.
Related Article: Empower Employees, Empower Customers: The CX-EX Connection
Why Understanding Resistance Is Critical to CX Success
This mindset shift is vital. According to Gartner, only 57% of customer-facing employees feel equipped to deliver the experiences customers expect. That’s not just a training issue, it’s often a sign that tools, goals and cultural expectations are misaligned.
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Contact centers live at the intersection of change and pressure. That’s why leaders need more than quick fixes; they need frameworks that help them turn friction into flow. Resistance, handled properly, can be your most accurate diagnostic tool. And with the right strategy, it becomes the starting point for momentum.
Moving from Contact Center Resistance to Customer Experience Flow
You don’t have to bulldoze your way to better customer experience. You just have to look at your resistance differently. The next time a system, person, or process pushes back, pause and ask: Is this something we need to blast, remove, erode, accept or keep?
That one decision might change everything downstream.
Because friction isn’t the enemy. It’s your blueprint.
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