You don’t need to banish vendor competition to keep operations smooth. But you don’t need 10 BPO vendors to create accountability. There’s a very productive middle ground I’d love to see more folks exploring with Champion-Challenger models.
🔷 Champion: Handles the majority of contact center volume.
🔶 Challenger: Maintains a portion of steady-state volume, pilots new initiatives, and stays ready to take on more.
Performance is tracked across shared KPIs, and both providers have skin in the game.
🔥 Risk diversification
🔥 Geographical resilience
🔥 Performance pressure
🔥 Overall flexibility
🔥 Contract leverage
Some businesses can use this model to test automation strategies in nearshore markets, for example, without risking U.S. operations. Others might diversify across APAC and nearshore for language coverage and seasonal ramp agility. In both cases, you can get better coverage, better rates, and faster problem resolution.