TELUS Digital, the global technology division of TELUS Corporation (TSX: T) (NYSE: TU) specializing in digital customer experiences (CX) and future-focused digital transformations, today released a new sponsored IDC InfoBrief: From Efficiency to Excellence: Driving Enterprise Value through CX Partnerships. The findings indicate a missed opportunity: enterprises are using CX partners primarily for support and cost optimization, but rarely expanding partnerships to include revenue growth and customer acquisition strategies.

IDC surveyed enterprise buyers and decision-makers on the following question: Which are the main customer care/contact center functions you currently outsource or would most likely outsource to a third-party provider? The findings show:

• Customer analytics (27%)
• Tech support and help desk (24%)
• Customer retention management (22%)
• Customer service (20%)
• Inbound B2B sales (17%)
• Customer acquisition management (15%)
• Inbound B2C sales (9%)

Outbound B2B and B2C sales were the least outsourced functions, ranking below inbound B2C sales, which underscores a significant opportunity gap: while enterprises confidently outsource analytics and support, they hesitate to leverage partners for proactive revenue-driving functions like sales and customer acquisition.

How do enterprises choose CX partners?

Enterprises know what they want from a CX partner. The IDC research shows that when selecting a third-party provider for business process outsourcing services, the top five criteria to shortlist vendors are:

• Contract pricing options and flexibility (price, rate, performance) (28%)
• Use of intellectual property and critical technologies, such as AI, machine learning and data analytics for organizational agility and workflow process transformation (24%)
• Talent skills at vendor (24%)
• Provides dedicated team with access to vendor executives (21%)
• Provides credible and compelling examples or use cases of ROI (20%)

While pricing options and flexibility in contract structures rank as the primary selection criterion, the survey responses also highlight a desire to work with providers with practical strengths, such as top talent and the use of AI and analytics. Although enterprises currently leverage these strengths primarily for customer service, the same skilled agents, data access and technology can help companies with customer acquisition and revenue growth. For example, a CX partner equipped with AI-enabled account intelligence and analytics can identify high-potential prospects or existing clients showing expansion signals. An outbound B2B sales team can then proactively engage those accounts with tailored outreach, turning data insights into pipeline growth.

The untapped revenue opportunity in CX partnerships

The same research shows that revenue growth ranks second among the results enterprises report from CX partnerships, behind only cost savings. In other words, CX partnerships are already contributing to measurable growth.

However, that growth is largely generated through service-oriented functions such as analytics, retention and support, rather than through proactive B2B sales and customer acquisition programs. Put another way, enterprises are benefiting from their CX partnerships. They are simply not yet extending those partnerships into outbound sales and acquisition initiatives designed to drive growth more directly and at scale.

IDC’s survey shows that CX partnerships are in fact delivering quantifiable business results, including:

• Cost savings (25%)
• Revenue growth (23%)
• Productivity gains (22%)
• Return on investment (ROI) (21%)
• Profitability (20%)

“Our research shows revenue growth ranks among the top business results organizations report achieving through CX partnerships, yet outsourcing remains concentrated in reactive support functions,” said Raymond Pucci, Research Director at IDC. “The findings point to a gap between what enterprises want from a CX partner and what they actually delegate, highlighting a clear opportunity to rethink CX outsourcing strategies and expand them into revenue-driving programs.”

Why aren’t enterprises using CX outsourcing partners for sales and customer acquisition?

Although survey respondents weren’t specifically asked why they weren’t using CX partners for sales and customer acquisition, they were asked what factors drive the highest level of satisfaction with the CX partner(s) they utilize. The responses could indicate that the way enterprises evaluate outsourcing partnerships is what’s limiting their expansion into revenue-driving programs:

• Effectively align the delivery of services to the enterprise’s business (25%)
• Consistently meet service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) (24%)
• Improving overall financial management (24%)
• Enable improved product innovation and leadership (22%)

“When a CX partnership’s performance is measured primarily by service delivery metrics and financial controls, it will most likely remain focused on day-to-day execution rather than expansion into broader value-creation opportunities like revenue growth,” said Robin Jakobsen, Director, Product Strategy, CXM, TELUS Digital. “To unlock greater value, enterprises should think about reframing success metrics and partner mandates.”

As Jakobsen explains, “The same talent skills, data analytics capabilities and AI technologies that enterprise buyers look for in a CX partner to deliver support and cost optimization can also power revenue-driving programs. This includes outbound B2B and B2C sales, demand generation, customer retention, sales support and sales pipeline acceleration. Working with a forward-thinking CX partner versus one satisfied with the status quo determines whether enterprises can identify and capture revenue-driving opportunities.”

TELUS Digital’s approach: built for customer acquisition and expansion

TELUS Digital is purpose-built to help enterprises move beyond support and into customer acquisition and expansion. With its leading B2B sales outsourcing capabilities serving global enterprises, the company helps organizations elevate sales operations and evolve sales and marketing ecosystems by combining human expertise with AI-powered technology, backed by data to:

• Unlock new growth opportunities with precision-targeted B2B demand generation and lead pipeline support.
• Enhance conversion at scale through elite inside sales teams that maximize conversion rates and build long-term relationships.
• Improve customer lifecycle value with proactive intelligence and personalized experiences across the customer journey.

By delivering tailored, end-to-end sales solutions across pre-sales, demand generation, channel management and customer success management, TELUS Digital helps enterprises build a scalable sales engine that drives measurable growth and strengthens the customer lifecycle.

TELUS Digital delivers award-winning B2B sales performance

TELUS Digital was recently awarded Gold at the 2026 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service in the Demand Generation Program of the Year category. TELUS Digital’s B2B Sales Outsourcing team was recognized for its work supporting a leading global fintech’s sales operations, helping enhance enterprise lead qualification. The program delivered 47.6% conversion rate growth and $121 million in operating net revenue. 

With more than 80,000 specialists across 35+ countries and a client base of over 600 global brands, TELUS Digital brings the scale, expertise and specialized sales capabilities expected from the top B2B lead generation companies and best B2B sales outsourcing companies, helping move CX partnerships from service delivery to revenue growth. Visit https://www.telusdigital.com/solutions/contact-center-outsourcing/b2b-sales-outsourcing

To prevent new customers from becoming churn statistics, download TELUS Digital’s 90-day customer activation checklist for B2B customer success and onboarding teams: https://www.telusdigital.com/insights/customer-experience/resource/customer-activation-checklist

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