Medallia has signed a definitive agreement to acquire contact center callback technology provider Mindful from Alpine Investors. The proposed acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the third quarter of this fiscal year. 

Experience technology provider Medallia is known for taking in signals and turning them to action, and contact centers have evolved to become hubs of many customer signals. The contact center segment is not a new one for Medallia ,as it has a contact center experience offering in its product mix being leveraged by companies such as T-Mobile, Mercedes-Benz, and RingCentral.

While contact center interactions are crucial to CX, the industry is facing low consumer satisfaction rates and turnover rates closing in on 40%. Hold times are increasing. Leveraging Mindful technology can help turn a potentially negative touchpoint into a more positive one by allowing customers to schedule a call when it is convenient for them.

The technology can also automate intelligent callbacks that turn hold time into free time, easily transitioning customers to other channels when needed, and providing automated call initiation based on signals from various channels. Medallia’s strength in pulling direct and indirect feedback from the Medallia Experience Cloud will help to layer personalization onto the experience.

The Medallia/Mindful combination is an interesting one, with both companies being fully plugged into, and ready to support the omnichannel approach. According to research done by Dash, (CX in Contact Centers), contact centers are being designed to take a more active role in delivering great CX via an omnichannel engagement strategy that focuses on improving the overall experience of the customer across all touchpoints. This approach is leading to the purchase of new software and services that not only incorporate basic customer data, but also integrate customer journey information to help provide the most appropriate and personalized service. 

Aside from the benefits to consumers, contact centers will also be able to realize efficiencies by being able to better plan for staffing, which is a real pain point for contact centers right now.

“Consumers often want or need to talk to a live person, but no consumer ever wants to sit on hold,” says Leslie Stretch, CEO, Medallia. “Mindful combined with Medallia’s signals-to-action platform will enable organizations to deliver a modern customer experience while reducing the high cost and friction of the conventional contact center approach. At the same time, contact centers will be able to use their staff much more efficiently by shifting call volumes to the most efficient times, routing calls to the most relevant queues, and resolving issues without wasting either customers’ or agents’ time.” 

Matt DiMaria, CEO, Mindful adds, “We are delighted to be joining forces with the customer experience leader. Our approach to customer interactions will be greatly enhanced through integration with Medallia’s award-winning Experience Cloud and category leading Text Analytics engine. Our joint customers know what a great customer journey should be and making their customers’ interactions easier and more productive is a home run.”