Despite the pressure to become a profit center, most organizations’ customer service and contact centers continue to miss the mark on becoming a strategic business partner and are not considered part of the corporate revenue strategy, noted Forrester Research’s Natalie L. Petouhoff.

However, the research firm added new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations and data are making decisions about positioning customer service for success more relevant than ever before.

“This presents an opportunity for customer service professionals to accomplish goals they may have previously lacked the data to justify,” suggested Petouhoff, adding the transformation of customer service from a “cost center” model to a “profit center” paradigm entails a commitment to change from all levels within an organization — from C-level executives to call center agents.

Customer service leaders can serve their companies well by helping executives decide if customer service is a financial priority, advancing their own leadership and business case development skills, and demonstrating to agents why and how customer service is key to a company’s brand and bottom line.

Rogers Customer Service should take heed.

Web content is not about you. It’s about your prospect or customer.

This is critical to making web content successful. However, based on frequent discussions with business clients and students alike, it’s a concept that’s often not recognized and appreciated.

The digital world has sped things up. Television and billboards have much less impact and ability to influence the masses. There are more choices, more noise. Less time, less patience. As a result, consumers are now exceptionally proficient at ignoring marketing messages.

Effective campaigns are no longer built around clever ads. Today’s successful campaigns comprise clever, relevant ideas, which spread virally. The idea must be about the consumer and his or her needs and wants. Think iPod, personalizing entertainment; or Blackberry, keeping you connected.

The fact is consumers don’t care about your business. Today’s consumer invests time considering your offerings with the mind-set: The world evolves around me. With the advent of the Internet, consumers are in power. And businesses need to respect that.

Next time you review your web content, do your best to look at it from the eyes of your target audience. If you’re not conveying what benefits you have to offer, chances are you’re delivering self-absorbed web content.

If you’re creating web content to turn yourself on, there’s a good chance you’re turning your prospects and customers off.