Call Center Perspectives: August 2012

Let’s look at the numbers. In a customer service call center where the quality assurance program requires the evaluation of 4 calls per month. The average agent will handle approximately 1,600 calls in the month. This means that the 4 calls evaluated represent only a quarter of a single percentage point. Or put another way we are evaluating and assessing only one out of each 400! How representative was the second Tuesday of August? To employ that Tuesday in August of last year as being representative of the past fifteen months likely doesn’t make sense. Neither does basing an opinion of an agent’s performance on every 400th call. No mater how we try to examine these individual call assessments, the sample size is just too small to have meaning. This is the fundamental problem with attempting to employ quality assurance scores as mini-performance reviews.

Attempting to use your quality reviews as a performance assessment tool misses the primary objective of quality management. Quality assurance is about assuring the quality of the service being delivered. To who is this assurance being made? The answer is to senior management. The practice of assessing quality allows center management to gauge the performance of the center and individual agents within the center. The value to the center and senior managers in knowing the relative performance of the center and comparing and contrasting the performance with previous months is significant. But perhaps the ability to identify how individual agents are performing is more valuable. By knowing where agents are at can help us direct our efforts to improve the overall performance and quality of the center.

The objective isn’t just to identify problems and what agents are doing wrong, but also to identify what they are doing well. Both the areas for improvement; through coaching leading to improved individual performance and sharing best practices improves the overall performance of the center.

Performance reviews have a place and time, and that is your regularly scheduled performance review. The agent’s individual performance reviews may play a small role here specifically related to improvement over time as their skills improved. Remember that a failure of an agent to improve or be able to overcome performance deficiencies is as much a censure of the coaching and skills development staff, recruiting and staff selection and processes as it is of the agent in question.

The correct positioning of the Quality program, its strengths and weaknesses, function and goals is key to gaining a well functioning center. This positioning needs to be known by both the senior management but also the agents. So that each can recognize their contributions and how all can help with the centers success.

Participate in the #fiveideas and vote on the call center topic you would like addressed in the next post. You can vote here

via The Taylor Reach Group - Call Center Consultants http://thetaylorreachgroup.com/2012/08/24/why-the-quality-listening-program-should-not-be-a-performance-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-the-quality-listening-program-should-not-be-a-performance-review

Check out @KarynDu comment on Quality Assurance should not be a Performance Review http://t.co/TCXLqFRo #custserv #cctr

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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Hospitality Call Centers best for Call Center Alignment

Hospitality and Property Management Vertical Best for Corporate and Call Center Alignment

Snapshotz benchmarking of call and contact centers world wide released the results of analysis of more than 600 call centers highlighting the connection between corporate goals and a centers objective.

Center directors and VP’s when asked about the connection between the business and their contact center only scored 76.7% in terms of being aligned to the corporate goals and objectives.

Firms in the accommodation, cafes and restaurants vertical scored the highest at 81.9% along with the Property and business services vertical at 79.9%

Firms in Finance and Insurance scored low at 72.9% and the Retail sector finished last with only a 68.5% alignment score.

Despite all the talk of organization alignment to goals and objectives clearly, there is a long way to go. Call and Contact centers are still not seen as part of the mainstream strategy in many organizations. Centers must be more proactive if they want and need senior management notice and attention.

Snapshotz Online is a SaaS performance audit, improvement identification and benchmarking tool designed to provide users with a clear and thorough understanding of their own customer facing operation and compare it to industry best practices. Snapshotz assesses call centers’ across more than 600 data and supports comparison across industry verticals and across nations, truly establishing what is ‘world class’ service.

For a free high level view of how your center ranks based on 5 of the 700+ criteria points click here.

For more information and to see how your center compares to the world, check out the full tool at Snapshotz.

via The Taylor Reach Group - Call Center Consultants http://thetaylorreachgroup.com/2012/08/23/hospitality-call-centers-best-for-call-center-alignment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hospitality-call-centers-best-for-call-center-alignment

Hospitality Call Centers best for Call Center Alignment http://t.co/khjzwT5J #custserv #callcenter #cctr

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More on #aht Operational Indicators – Average Handle Time (AHT) http://t.co/iuCeAmE2 #custserv #cctr #callcenter #contactcenter

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how do you define AHT? What Call Center Metrics mean to Customers http://t.co/lDpCvtAL #custserv #callcenter #cctr #contactcenter #aht

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3 things to remember when dealing w Customers- Listen to the cust, Listen to the cust, Listen to the cust - try it #custserv #callcenter

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

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“Quality is what your customer says it is” http://t.co/74PSoCSF #contactcenter #custserv #csat #cctr

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via The Taylor Reach Group - Call Center Consultants

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“Quality is what your customer says it is”

“Quality is what your customer says it is”

So what are you doing to listen to what your customers are telling you?

In many organizations the quest for quality service is of paramount importance. Regardless of whether we discuss call or contact quality, customer satisfaction (CSAT), the customer experience, the customer journey, or even Net Promoter Score (NPS), we know that by delivering quality and satisfying our customers’ needs will bring them back. Returning and repurchasing customers generate more revenues, have a higher lifetime value and are more likely to refer their friends and acquaintances to our organization.

So what are you doing to listen to what your customers are telling you?

We have worked with hundreds of companies and for many of them we have helped them design and implement quality and CSAT systems, processes and solutions that allow them to listen to their customers and act on what they hear. Customers can be a great prism through which we can see our company, services and policies through the eyes of the customer. This customer perspective can drive operational improvements, cost reductions, revenue increases and policy changes that support our desired customer experience, customer satisfaction and retention.

There can be a lot of dangers and challenges encountered when designing and implementing an internal quality ecosystem. How do you ensure that the assessments are fair, consistent and free of bias? How do you ensure that the metrics and measures developed support the brand and expected customer experience? How do you create a system that supports learning, progress and personal growth rather than a crime and punishment environment?

Some organizations have employed Taylor Reach to help them answer these and many other related questions, in developing or overhauling their internal quality systems. Other firms have asked us to undertake the execution, operation and management of their quality programs. In the latter case we employ our professional and experienced call center and customer care experts to assess and score call and multi-channel contacts against pre-determined criteria and methodologies. We handle up to 100% of all scoring, provide coaching guidance and produce all reports.

Still other clients have moved away from a traditional internal quality approach to a customer defined quality model, remember, “Quality is what your customer says it is”. In this scenario we have helped to develop a survey approach that can assess CSAT, NPS and FCR (First Contact Resolution) at the enterprise, center and even agent level. We have completed customer defined quality work both as consultants; helping the client to build and operate this approach, and as service providers where we manage and look after all elements of the data gathering, analysis and reporting.

If you are unsure as to how well your current approach to quality and CSAT is working, or if you would like to improve objectivity and customer centricity by outsourcing the execution of these activities, we would like to speak with you. We will listen to how you approach quality and candidly give you our thoughts and comments on your approach and methodology, for free. We can provide you with a proposal to redevelop your internal quality program or to outsource those activities to Taylor Reach. We will help you improve the effectiveness and utility of your quality program, guaranteed and we may even reduce your costs to operate your quality program.

Please give me a call at 416-276-9068 and we can chat or send me an email ctaylor@thetaylorreachgroup.com and we can set up a time to speak.

Click on this link for more information on our Quality Services.

Your may also find these quality articles of interest.

Customer Satisfaction – A How to Guide

Why Most Call Center Customer Service is So Bad?

Why the Quality Listening program Should Not be a Performance Review

Thank you for taking the time to read this note. I hope that you have found the time investment interesting and worthwhile.

via The Taylor Reach Group - Call Center Consultants http://thetaylorreachgroup.com/2012/08/22/quality-is-what-your-customer-says-it-is/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=quality-is-what-your-customer-says-it-is

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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Improve your #custserv incrementally, Start Today and a year from now you will be amazed #custserv

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All cust expect to be treated as VIP's - few get it #custserv

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RT ABHuret A6 " consistent across all channels." is Huge and can eliminate future problems #custserv - #custserv

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A6- Please Hold, isn't welcoming. We need to understand our sites and call center from the cust POV- make it easy for them #custserv

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A5 there is always a better mousetrap, we just have to find or invent it #custserv

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A5- yes eliminate the phone message andlet them speak to a customer or resolve their issue themselves #custserv

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scripts only work if the customer has their copy as well #custserv

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RT KateNasser Open a conversation w/o a script. Scripts are a monologue; customer service is a dialogue #custserv

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A3- its like golf you need local knowledge and the folks on the phone have it. ask for input and if theres consensus -u win #custserv

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A2- walk in the cust shoes can be a walk on the wild side, but it will keep you humble and the KPI's in perspective #custserv

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Q2- being in the biz I'm a terrible customer, but it helps to keep our perspective #custserv

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A1- Customers are a great wealth of information and suggestions and if we can just listen - they can make us better #custserv

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A1- it was anatomicly impossible :-) #custserv

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Lack of alignment between Corp Mgmt and the call center is the single biggest cause of #custserv failures. Fix the alignment first

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45 degrees north of Toronto this am #custserv

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hello all happy #custserv evening #custserv

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Customers hope for good service, Companies want loyal, repeat customers. If we commit to achieve both we succeed. #custserv...

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Mistakes are inevitable, but if you always make new ones you are always learning

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Read The Colin Taylor TRG Daily on http://t.co/i45jKFT6 #custserv #cctr #callcenter #contactcenter #cem

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500 call centers, 700 data-points, best practice comparisons by vertical. Do you measure up? Find out now htt… http://t.co/53OI0TDF

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Monday, August 20, 2012

Infographic: 10 Things Your Customers WISH You Knew About Them - https://t.co/AEv3Y42W #CustServ via @helpscout

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Sunday, August 19, 2012

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Saturday, August 18, 2012

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Friday, August 17, 2012

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Call Center Zen - Everything is Connected http://t.co/Uzhscg05

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Call Center Zen - Everything is Connected

Call Center Zen- Everything is Connected By Colin Taylor

We have all heard that when a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon rain forest it can cause an avalanche in the Swiss Alps. This story reflects a belief and understanding that everything is connected to everything else. This is certainly true in a contact center environment. In continuing to assess call and contact centers it constantly amazes me the level of inter-connectedness that exists. Each and every process, procedure, technology or methodology impacts not only on the area of its focus, but on numerous other processes and procedures operating in the contact center. In this article we examine some off this inter-connectedness. When establishing a contact center hiring and recruiting are among the first activities you plan and map. Now as illustrated by the ‘Poll of the Month’ question most organizations still employ a direct approach to sourcing staff as apposed to employing an agency. How are you to know how many staff to recruit? Most center managers tell you that they base this number on the volume of calls/interactions expected, the average handle time (AHT) and the grade of service (GOS) desired. All of these key elements are input into an Erlang calculation and voila, how many staff is needed. While this is correct, it fails to examine a number of interconnected aspects of the center operation such as: what is your desired staff compliment or mix between Full Time, Part Time and temporary/casual, what are the hours of operation of the center, what level of staff turnover and Churnover do you expect, what is your forecast for year and have you included time for vacations, sick days, on-going training, what is your budget based on…is it headcount or FTE etc. Each of these points and processes are interconnected and interrelated. You cannot identify the number of staff until you know what the hours of operation will be. You cannot determine the number of staff required to meet your hours of operation until you determine the mix of staff. Similarly creating a staff base that doesn’t provide for vacation and sick days (which agents will take) leaves you short staffed or over budget. A staff plan that doesn’t allow for on-going training (this is a very common problem in most centers today) ensures the staff do not develop skills. This then manifests itself as poor morale and higher turnover. It is essential that all of these issues are addressed in concert as you plan and assess your staffing needs. Now lets say that having done all of this; you know your operating hours, you have determined your staff compliment, you have estimated turnover and Churnover, set GOS and ASA targets and have made allowances for all of this plus sick days and vacations in your rolling 18 month forecast. From this you can extrapolate the Full Time Equivalents (FTE’s) required to meet the GOS and ASA through your Erlang calculator. The resulting FTE or total hours required number can then be broken down across you staff compliment to determine how many staff you need to meet service standards and when or how this staff count changes throughout the year. Recognize the interconnectedness, interrelationships and inter-dependencies of a contact center environment. If you act with these in mind you create a foundation for an effective contact center that is significantly ahead of where the majority of contact centers are today.