Centergistic Solutions Blog

DashView Mobility Top Six for Smartphones!

2011-06-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

Centergistic is looking at creating what we've dubbed DashView Mobility Top Six™ which would shows up to 6 business metrics in graphic format. It would be fully secure, allow drill down to a deeper layer of 6 metrics in each category. All real time data. Also would allow instant access to key people to communicate and/or share the data with. Powerful collectors can reach into any open database and extract data to create the Top 6. Alarm threshold conditions could be set on any metric to alert the user. All you'd have to decide is what key metrics you'd want to keep close to you at all times.

What do you think? Would this be valuable for you? Let us know!

How Smartphones Can Make Contact Managers Manage Smarter

2011-06-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

While many executives are content with using their smartphones to write emails and check on portfolios, contact centers offer a unique application for smartphones – metric dashboards. Most contact centers today have some type of performance monitoring system in place to help managers and supervisors gauge the efficiency and productivity of their center. Unfortunately though, many of these systems rely on physically tied down forms of report delivery, such as a dim computer screen in the back room office. This forces managers to be constantly confined to their rooms, unable to see what is actually happening on the call center floor and thereby preventing them from knowing completely their center’s happenings. If the manager were to somehow be able to take the reports with him, he would not only be able to leave his office, but also to engage with his agents as well.

Furthermore, in modern cases where the manager has to step out of his office, it is likely that he will experience a near-complete disconnect on the condition of the center, with the only traces of information coming from supervisor text messages and phone calls. This of course is not the best way of delivering information, especially in cases of emergency. Still, is it really a good idea to conduct business based solely on what some people choose to tell you? Probably not. It would be much smarter if you could see the information for yourself.

Managers should be able to monitor their center’s performance no matter where they are, with quick access to the same metric data as if they were sitting at the computer in their offices. Imagine, being able to check how a particular department is doing before even arriving at the office in the morning, being able to direct supervisors based on performance data while standing in line to order lunch, or being able to diffuse a crisis before it gets out of control while sitting on a couch at home. In fact, it is surprising that most managers haven’t even considered asking for such solutions from their IT departments, as virtually all the required pieces of technology are already available.

Smartphones Break Physical Boundaries

2011-06-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

The smartphone – arguably the hottest piece of technological real estate in existence right now. Every major tech firm is jumping onto the smartphone development bandwagon, whether it be hardware or software. The advent of such a device is quickly changing the public’s perception of what it means to be able to easily access information. Prior to the smartphone, the accessibility of information was confined to desktop PC’s; if people needed information, they had to go somewhere with an Internet-connected computer - an internet café, a library, an office perhaps. Then with the invention of Wi-Fi networks, laptop computers stole much of the desktops’ limelight. People were no longer confined to the few specialized physical locations with Internet access. The spectrum of Internet accessibility now expanded to coffee shops, restaurants, shopping malls – places that people actually wanted to go. The access of information seemed finally free. In retrospect however, people weren’t really freed from their network shackles; all Wi-Fi did was simply make the chain a little longer. It was not until wireless data networks reached its third generation (3G) that the physical restrictions were finally and ultimately eliminated, and it is with this wave of technology that gave rise to the smartphone and its various derivatives.

Social Media’s Transformation of the Business Landscape

2011-05-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

I recently started working for a software company in Irvine, California and one of the topics that come up regularly is the importance of understanding social media. As a newcomer to the company, I was surprised that my opinions, those of a 21-year old undergraduate college student, were being taken so seriously. I then realized that my generation has a lot of insight into this area, and I’m glad companies are starting to listen.

Social Media seems to be all you hear about these days, and not just in the marketing world, but in the world in general. News anchors, corporate executives, consumers, and even governments mention or use social media in some form, virtually every day. Some dismiss the social media frenzy as nothing more than that – hype. They feel that sites like Facebook and Twitter are merely fads; they’re hot now, but eventually they will go the way of cassettes and parachute pants. They think that social media will simply fade into the background as soon as the “next big thing” comes around.

I disagree. Social media, with sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, is a very, very big thing. I think it’s the greatest revolution to take place since the Internet itself. Like the Internet, social media has completely transformed the way human beings communicate with each other, and it is important to realize that such drastic changes to the human condition are not fads; they are permanent. They are assimilated into the daily lives of each and every individual who encounters them.

We need to pay attention to the beat and the buzz of social media. For businesses, social media can have a huge impact on whether a business does well or poorly. As part of the Web 2.0 movement, no longer are consumers passive victims of the corporate machine; individuals are no longer willing to blindly accept whatever the companies hand to them. Furthermore, consumers are no longer anonymous figures on accounting documents. With the treasure trove of personal information available on sites like Facebook, companies can find out for themselves, in excruciating detail, exactly who their customers are. At the same time, consumers are blasting themselves as personalities to companies, not numbers. Reciprocally, consumers are more and more aware of who the corporate executives are. And if a customer feels somehow wronged by a company, his actions on social media websites can have far-reaching effects - effects spanning much further than just one person.

The good news for businesses is that they can use social media too - to quickly put out fires before they become unstoppable infernos. For example, if a certain web service stops responding, a simple Tweet can alert millions of users that the problem is being addressed and a solution is on the way. This relieves the anxiety of users and also enhances the perception of the company, that it is concerned about its users as well as its products. This dialog between company and consumer is one of the ways in which social media has so drastically altered communications – direct and even personal relationships can develop.

Never before has the consumer had so much insight into a company’s operations. Businesses are no longer fortresses of top-secret information; these days, more and more companies are adopting an open information policy. In the past, people would try to contact companies and, after being routed to numerous supervisors across multiple continents, they more than likely ended up at a wall. With open information networks branching across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogspot, etc, individuals are asking and are now being answered, sometimes directly by the companies’ top execs.

This is why it is important for companies to monitor how they are talked about across the Internet on various social media platforms. With still many untapped opportunities for both businesses and consumers, social media will undoubtedly continue to grow in importance, and likely at an even faster pace. Social media has easily and greatly surpassed the “fad” idea and become a valuable part of business. Once upon a time, companies were encouraged to promote a culture of seclusion. Now, they can no longer afford to be anti-social.

About the author: Jimin Zheng is currently a part-time marketing assistant intern at Centergistic Solutions in Irvine, CA. He is also a full-time undergraduate Psychology and Business Administration student at the nearby University of California, Irvine. Jimin is expecting to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in the Spring of 2012.

Rate Your AgentView System!

2011-05-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

Existing Centergistic customers, help us improve the next version of AgentView by sharing with us your opinions! Tell us what you would like, what you don't like, and what you want to see in future versions of AgentView! Please follow the link below to fill out our short 8-question survey, and be a contributing member to our product development team!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H59K63R

Social Media Innovation

2011-04-11T13:23:00.001-07:00

As most of us are aware, social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have quickly clawed their way into mainstream, becoming common household terms, even to those who have never used the Internet. These social sites are not only transforming the way people interact with each other on an everyday basis, but are also slowly redefining businesses and how businesses operate. Companies, both established and young, are eager to grasp these new types of media and utilize their special capabilities to improve business functions.

One of these young companies is a small clothing-retail chain called Metropark. Metropark has implemented a system called "Reverb," which displays Metropark-mentioning Twitter "tweets" from individuals around the world. The tweets are mapped onto a virtual globe and are open to all individuals in the store to read. Ultimately, this system not only elevates the "cool" factor, but also generates a lot of business enhancing buzz for the company. This system is a great example of an innovative way that businesses are utilizing social media.

At Centergistic, we too are constantly trying to create innovative solutions and tools for businesses. That's why our AgentView system is able to collect data on all the various forms of social media. With crucial information such as traffic, sentiments, mentions, and more, we can help you make the most out of your social media business campaigns!

To find out more, visit: http://www.centergistic.com/social_media_analytics/

Best Call Center Metrics

2011-03-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

Here at Centergistic Solutions, we like to stay on top of news and trends in the contact center industry. We recently discovered an informative article from the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) entitled Seven Metrics to Watch for Call Center Success.

According to the article, there are seven performance measures that definitively indicate the success of any contact center. Among some of those named are contact quality, which incorporates how courteous agents are, as well as how well they can provide relevant information to customers, forecasting accuracy, which depicts the accuracy of predicting call volume as well as the planning of operations to meet those predictions, and self-service accessibility, which is how often customers are able to initiate and complete a troubleshooting program with little to no interaction from an agent.

In the article, ICMI also identified a key metric that was the single best indicator for contact center success. Studies showed that for every 1% increase in this particular measure, a corresponding 1% improvement in customer satisfaction would also occur. Furthermore, contact centers with higher results for this metric showed lower operating costs, reduced customer defection, and higher employee satisfaction rates.

To find out what this number one metric is, and to learn more about the other six performance measures that best depict contact center success, please visit http://www.centergistic.com/best_call_center_metrics.htm for the full article.

ROI on Real Time Performance Analytics

2011-02-10T16:43:00.001-08:00

It is not so much that it is hard to measure a true ROI for a contact center before real time performance metrics and after. Contact center managers usually lack the time to put one together. The contact center is dynamic and fast moving in nature and most of the individuals in charge lack the time to spend putting before and after reports together. It is not hard, but it takes some time to do it correctly. The best way of course is to take the temperature of the center before a real time system has been installed and then again within about a month after the installation. If you don’t have a real time system in place you’ll need to review historical reports which should be available.

In each case the attainment of these goals dramatically improved the operating efficiency of the centers and helped save dollars in 800# services, payroll (due to shift reduction), training (due to reduced turnover) and management time spent hand creating reports. All these areas collectively are important to achieving goals and maintaining a strong bottom line.

There are some goals that can readily be transformed into more concise measurements that can be tracked through to an ROI. However, it’s not always simple, especially when benchmarking is not utilized or the contact center is undergoing change or expansion. In other words, there may be no existing measuring stick in place to create a starting point. It is possible, however, to narrow down the operational and workforce issues into categories where improvement is desired.

Consultants Network

2011-01-27T15:28:00.001-08:00

From time to time our customers express a need for some consulting work. Often it is needed to map out a plan to transition from old systems to new. We have also had requests for help in pulling together a center that needs revamping, needs to re-visit the goals, people and processes. I urge you to keep watch as we build our consultant network. I'm starting with some folks I personally know and whose work I can vouch for. Eventually I hope to make it more dynamic, with a diversity of different types of consultants, serving various geographical locales throughout the world. Keep tuned.

www.greglevin.com

2010-08-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, how was I missing this site all this time? Here's a guy who really gets it; no nonsense, a splash of humor and a willingness to put some of those old "sacred cows" of contact center conventional wisdom out to pasture. If you get a moment, go to his site, www.greglevin.com He has a book that should be out soon. Looks like it will be a good read.

Agent Desktop Real Estate

2010-07-19T11:11:00.001-07:00

The desktop is valuable property. Every inch needs to be used effectively. Make sure your agent can see his/her key metrics on the desktop! Yes, metrics matter and need to be included. I've written a brief article on this subject. You can get to it by going to http://www.centergistic.com/all-download.htm. Don't make the mistake of forcing your team to go hunting for metrics. You can have the best of both worlds.

Bypass the IVR to a Live Person!

2010-06-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

When you are really exasperated or in a huge rush and really, truly need to bypass the IVR FAQs, go to: http://www.gethuman.com

Wealth of information, easy to scan to and get to the company you need to "get to"!

Good luck.

Tech Tip of the Month: Expanding the virtual office with PageBreak

2010-06-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Report real-time ACD performance indicators on your cell phones and in email

As a contact center manager, your job requires you to identify and analyze staffing problems that affect your achieving customer service goals.
The primary cause of service level objectives not being met comes from insufficient staff, NOT insufficient staffing. The bodies are present but not adhering to their schedules.

Our Tech Tip this month looks at a real life staffing problem encountered by a 24-hour contact center manager and how PageBreak was used to address it.
Required Materials:
• AgentView Enterprise
• A cell phone or other like device capable of receiving email.
• A valid email account to be used for transmitting PageBreak messages.

HERE'S THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM:
Our customer runs a 24 x 7 contact center. On the late night shift, the small staff likes to take breaks and lunches together, which leaves the ACD queue unstaffed for a portion of the interval. The staff returns in time to answer the calls prior to them being abandoned, but causing the service level performance to be horrendously low. Because staff activity reports don't provide login/logout times, it's impossible to determine how long the queue goes unstaffed and who might be the cause. And scheduling another team lead to supervise this group is NOT an option.

HERE'S OUR SOLUTION:
AgentView Enterprise will monitor the queue Staffing levels (specifically the number of agents signed into the phone) and PageBreak will alert the manager through his cell phone when everybody is signed out. The manager can then jump on it (from off-site) immediately when the problem starts.

THIS SCENARIO was a real-life situation where PageBreak was configured to monitor Primary Agents Signed In. Then when there were 0 agents signed into the queue for 5 consecutive minutes (a very generous latitude) PageBreak would page several managers simultaneously reporting the issue.

THIS CHRONIC STAFF BEHAVIOR PROBLEM was solved within two instances of it occurring.
Problem identified, solution (PageBreak) chosen, problem solved.

For assistance in strategizing, planning, configuring and utilizing PageBreak, please contact your Centergistic Solutions account manager at 800-387-0264.

Tech Tip of the Month: Optimizing Dashboard Settings

2010-05-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

PowerUsers: Does Your Dashboard Show the Whole Performance Picture?

If you currently are using PowerUser, then you've undoubtedly gone through and set up various "views" to enable you to start off from a high level and drill down to greater detail. How frequently are you re-evaluating the performance metrics that comprise those views?

It's a good idea to regularly review the value of each of your performance metrics. Are you using them regularly? Do they need threshold adjustments? Is there another metric that might be more on target to the goals you are trying to reach.
How about your data sources? Do you need to add a feed from your quality monitoring system, or workforce management or perhaps a trouble ticket system? These are the kinds of questions you should be asking yourself and your team regularly. The dashboard is a powerful tool, but it will only be as pertinent as the data contained within it.

Obviously, the metrics you drop into these categories will differ, depending on the function of your center and what industry you serve. Make it a point to go through your screens and make adjustments. If there is a metric, or layout that is just not being used, scrap it!

Your dashboard should always contain only the most important performance information. It should also be quickly interpreted and actionable. Give us a call if you need help setting up a dashboard layout that works for you!

If you have questions about this month's tip, email us at support@centergistic.com.

Gum Chewing Agent is Breath of Fresh Air

2010-05-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

First of all I don't mean to undermine all the hard work contact center managers go through to ensure that their agents are polite, responsive and efficient. It's tough work to train and retain good people. And there are always those SLAs that need to be met.

Having said that I had two marvelous experiences within days of eachother with call center agents. My favorite? A gum smacking tough talking lady with Chase, no kidding! I had a question on my account and could hear the gum crunching and popping, although in fairness she did try to hide it. She also did the following:

1) Solved my problem
2) Didn't "ma'am" me over and over again
3) Didn't keep thanking me for each piece of information I gave her
4) Didn't keep saying "I understand" over and over again

I know her "talk time" metric window was probably turning red and I'd probably have had a fit if I was her supervisor! Still I found myself ending that call with a smile on my face and a hankering for a nice piece of Bazooka bubble gum..

Oh, the other experience, equally delightful. A down home lady from Citicard, sounded like one of my cousins in Nebraska. It so happened that I was paying off a card and closing it out, never something they want to hear. She wooed me, cajoled me to stay, told me I hadn't used all my rewards credits, all in such a down home, mashed-potatoes-with-gravy way, I felt like I was about to let my best friend down! Okay, she didn't save my account, but I had to give her points for trying.

Have you talked with a "real human agent" recently? Would love to hear your stories.

Are Goal Achieving Metrics Right for your Collections Agents?

2010-04-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

By R. Scott Davis for Centergistic Solutions

Do you have agents like Mary (pictured on the left) in your collections center? Do they see their performance metrics for today, while it is still today? Or do they have to wait until tomorrow? If they must wait until tomorrow, how can they change today’s results? This working paper will address the types of goals in today’s collections centers and how an optimum set of metrics can drive the desired goal achieving behavior.

Today’s technology allows you to create and display metrics in real time that were not possible even a few years ago. Faster and less costly processors, memory, storage devices; greater network bandwidth; robust database technologies and improved display technologies make it possible to present real time individual performance information, hereinafter referred to various Goal Achieving Metrics™ or simply Metrics to each individual in your collection center.

The theory behind Goal Achieving Metrics - real time, or near real time performance metrics, is to target them specifically to the individual who is responsible for that metric. The objective is to see a lift in your center’s performance. Our customers have identified the following areas as important to their centers. You can probably add a few of your own:

Agents will convert more right party connects to collections.
Update time will decrease.
Supervisors will spend more time on the floor, observing, coaching and counseling the agents on their team.
Idle time will decrease.
Abandon calls will decrease.

A key objective of Goal Achieving Metrics is: Deliver the right metrics to the right people. Turn either one of these two rights into a wrong and you will be likely to not get the performance you desire. Here’s an example:

A collections center is experiencing higher than desired update time. Their goal is to keep average update time below two minutes. Their agents do not see how long they have been in their current state. Their supervisors and the dialer administrators do. When the supervisor sees an agent cross the two minute threshold she will get up from her desk and visit the agent. Notice the supervisor is at her desk, not on the floor where she belongs. In this center supervisors own each agent’s update time. The update time “monkey” is on the supervisors back. Goal Achieving Metrics put the “monkey” on each agent’s back, where it belongs.

This paper will focus on agent metrics. Future papers will focus on metrics for supervisors, dial administrators, program managers and executives.

GOAL ACHIEVING METRICS FOR AGENTS

Let’s revisit Mary’s question. Her actual question is likely to be: “It is 11:35 in morning. I signed in at 9:00. How am I doing today? Am I more or less likely to meet my monthly performance goals? What can I do differently the rest of today to ensure that I meet these goals?”

Don’t be surprised if Mary has two sets of goals, the ones you set and the ones she set for herself. Her internally set goals may actually be higher than the goals you set. Are you giving Mary the information and encouragement she needs to meet her goals? Also note that Mary, the person responsible for Mary’s goals, is asking the questions. She wants to take ownership!

Now let’s talk about agent performance. Agents tend to have several performance goals including:

Attendance
Schedule adherence
Handle times (talk and update)
Promises to Pay (see the definition below)
Conversion Rates – Promises to Pay vs. Right Party Connects
Quality (following scripts, treating debtors in a certain manner, adhering to collections standards)

In most collections centers, Real Time Goal Achieving Metrics can be created to address schedule adherence, average talk time, average update time, promises to pay and conversion rates. These metrics, if used effectively will positively impact each of these performance areas. Let’s look at these areas separately.

Schedule Adherence

How well do your agents adhere to their schedules? Are they in the appropriate telephone states (idle, talk, update) when you expect them to be working dialer jobs or the acd queue? Who knows when an agent is out of adherence? Very frequently, we get one of two answers to this question. Either no one knows, or their supervisor knows. Often, their supervisor has to find the agent and tell them to get back into adherence.

Why not create and display two metrics on a ribbon to be placed on the agent’s desktop. One metric (Non Adherence – Current) would turn red when an agent was out of adherence and display the amount of time they are out of adherence. The other metric (Non Adherence – Total Day) would display the total number of out of adherence minutes for the day, turning yellow when approaching the upper limit and red when the upper limit is exceeded. Clearly you don’t expect agents to adhere to their schedules 100% of the day. What is an acceptable number for total minutes out of adherence for a day? What performance lift would your center realize if agent schedule adherence were to improve a few percentage points?

We know that keeping schedules up to date requires constant attention. Conditions change quickly in collections centers. Agents’ schedules need to be changed to accommodate your changing needs. Someone has to stay on top of the data. Isn’t a schedule adjustment a better use of a supervisor’s or schedule administrator’s time than finding non adhering agents? It probably takes less time to update a schedule than to chase down an agent.

Handle Times

What are your goals/standards for average talk time and average update time? We often hear leaders in collections centers say that average talk time is not a metric they stress, as they have determined that collection performance tends to increase if the agent is able to effectively engage the debtor in a conversation. Update time, however, is a different matter and tends to be raised as an issue in every collections center.

We recently visited a collections center where supervisors were constantly watching the agent states screen on their computer, looking for agents who were in the update state for more than 2 minutes. When they saw one they would often leave their desk and check on that agent. Clearly, ownership of update time belonged to the supervisor.

Why not show each agent what state they are in, how long they have been in that state, and change the background color of the cell if they had exceeded a threshold (in the example above 2 minutes).

In addition, show them what their average talk and update times have been for the day (or even week or month).

This way, your agents can manage their handle times, both current and their averages for the day. With this information your agents are much more likely to meet the goals you’ve established (provided, of course, your goals are reasonable and achievable). Who now owns the performance? The agent!

Promises to Pay / Conversion Rates

Let’s define terms. For purposes of this discussion we will define promises to pay very broadly to include any agreement from the debtor to pay some or all of their outstanding debt, whether or not they actually pay the debt while on the phone. Thus a promise to pay, as we are defining it, would include:

· A credit card payment made on the call

· An online check payment made on the call

· A promise to pay a certain amount by a certain date

· A negotiated payment plan

Do your agents know how many promises to pay they have received today? Do they know what % of their right party connects they have converted to promises to pay? Do they know how many right party connects they have handled today? Do they know how their conversion rate compares to their peers? If your answer to these questions is no, what impact do you think their knowing the answers to these questions would be?

Bringing it all together

The following ribbon displays all three sets of metrics – schedule adherence, handle times and collections performance. It shows agents both their current state information (talk, update, adhering) as well as averages and totals for the day.

Comparing the metrics to thresholds and changing the color of the background visually, inform each agent as to whether they are on or off target, right now, today, while they still have time to impact their performance.

Identifying the set of metrics

The metrics discussed above are meant to stimulate your thinking about metrics. Determining the right set of metrics requires design. The process steps include a current state analysis, identifying desired areas of improvement, identifying metrics that address those areas, determining what data is necessary to produce the metrics, identifying where the data currently resides, determining what steps must be taken to make the data available to the system producing the metrics, determining who should see what metrics, clearly articulating what behaviors the metrics are intended to drive.

Once design is completed you can move to development and implementation. The development step will be heavily weighted towards technical, IT resources, and vendors providing tools to create metrics, ribbons and other means of communicating metrics to the right people. Implementation, however, is another matter. The success of any change program like implementation of Goal Achieving Metrics is highly dependent on your approach to change management with the individuals who will now be seeing/using the new metrics. Manage the change well and you will see better results, faster.

Will Goal Achieving Metrics improve performance?

Metrics are efficacious. The New World Dictionary defines this 50 cent word as follows: “producing or capable of producing the desired effect.” One of the contact center managers we spoke with reported a 5% increase in promises to pay per paid agent hour by showing her team the information they needed to take ownership of their performance. Reducing average update time while increasing schedule adherence will increase the amount of time agents are available to the dialer and/or ACD queue, and lead to more calls handled per agent hour. Showing agents their collections performance help them focus on the job they have been hired to perform. The result should be seen in increased promises to pay per agent hour and possibly in the amount collected.

A 5% increase in promises to pay per paid agent hour could lead to either 5% more collections with no increase in staff, or the current rate of collections with 5% fewer staff, or more likely some mix of the two. Goal Achieving Metrics can provide a very compelling return on your investment.

About the Author

Scott Davis, Centergistic Solutions Vice President and Chief Customer Officer, joined Centergistic in August 2007, after a successful tenure as co-founder of Customer Cubed, a St. Louise-based consultancy firm where he conducted numerous contact center management assessments and performance improvement projects for operations ranging in size from 25 agents to 7,000 agents throughout the world. He has spent more than 35 years assisting Fortune 1000 firms improve the customer experience they deliver, and demonstrating the connection between customer satisfaction and customer retention, repurchase and loyalty.

Setting Accurate Thresholds

2010-04-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

Martin Spence, Centergistic's Director of International Operations, will be hosting an informational webinar on the importance of setting accurate thresholds to optimize overall performance in contact centers. Performance metrics are key to an efficient and effective contact center!

Centergistic's AgentLink provides individual agents with their personal real-time performance metrics that allows them to view and manage their own progress against the team, a peer or a previous personal best. Martin will discuss how to set the best metric framework using AgentLink.

This is a great opportunity to learn how to increase performance in your contact center!

Join us on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. PDT for a valuable webinar with Martin Spence.

Reporting --- Too much data, not enough actionable information.

2010-04-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

Another inefficiency comes in the form of reporting. We’ve interviewed hundreds of call center managers over the years and still find many of them complaining about the inordinate time spent hand-assembling reports. Why is this? In this day of automation and instant access to information, it’s hard to believe we still have managers cutting and pasting data often from several sources. We even find some managers having to manually enter data!

Part of the problem is that every system in the contact center produces reports, dozens of them. There is no lack of data, there is simply too much.

Most vendors take a “one size fits all” approach, providing a canned set of reports to their customers. So, what the manager ends up doing is stripping out data from a number of separate reports and compiling a new report, usually using an Excel spreadsheet. Some of our customers have told us that they need to re-key the data by hand because they can’t get reports in an interactive format.

This is probably the number one waste of time in a contact center. It’s a shame because it is a relatively easy area to improve efficiency. How?

You can probably answer this yourself, but perhaps you rely upon an IT department, already overworked, to provide you with performance reports and every time you want to make a change you need to go back to them.

Usually a reporting module is included with the ACD you purchased. The problem is that these systems are locked alongside the ACD, behind closed doors and out of your reach. Even if they were accessible, there are security issues that make it difficult to get the kind of nimble reporting you need in the contact center. So, managers resign themselves to spending hours each week creating reports, repeating the process because someone else needs the information with a slight variation. Those “slight variations” can be a nightmare.

How can you create a nimble reporting structure that will adjust to your needs? First, do a little research on independent reporting vendors. Ask them where their software sits in terms of the ACD itself. Also ask how flexible their system is. Is it easily adjusted for those on-the-fly variations? What is the reporting structure? Excel? Crystal? Make sure it is standards-based and easy to maintain. A good independent reporting vendor can save your company thousands of dollars in time and energy, not to mention headaches!

The sample report above is for a collections department. Data has been taken from an ACD, a predictive dialer and from a collections database. Once created, reports should be easy to maintain and fine tune.

This is just the beginning

There are many more areas where inefficiencies can be squeezed out of a contact center with a little planning and input from the team. Remember that each inefficiency you identify may seem harmless by itself. But inefficiencies in one area will impact other performance areas.

Where there are people there are inefficiencies! However, these are also great opportunities to improve! Once you begin to identify areas where improvements seem possible, watch your team rise to the occasion. We mentioned earlier about the company whose employees actually created their own goals in terms of performance metrics. This is an opportunity to use your people to attach real numbers to those goals. That, along with a strong performance management and reporting system will take you a long ways towards achieving goals you may have thought impossible before. Isn’t that worth doing?

A Spoonful of Sugar helps the medicine go down… (Part 4 of 5)

2010-03-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for quoting Mary Poppins, but it’s true! What kind of real-time messaging are you using? Make sure you are taking time to insert a positive ad-hoc message or two, especially if your team is having a tough day.

Sometimes a message that says “You guys are the best!” to a roomful of agents goes a long way, especially when they’ve been told to take more calls or wrap up more quickly. Don’t be afraid to show your personality in your messaging. If you just found out that the local team won a key game, put it up on the board. If the rain is going to stop soon, let everyone know.

Make sure you are also using your instant messaging to its best advantage. IM can help you communicate with agents without interrupting their work-flow. So if you’re looking at an agent’s performance on your performance dashboard, send a quick message to that agent, “Keep it up, you’re doing great!”

These small words of encouragement will pay high returns. You might also try putting an alert metric ribbon with the goals of an agent’s personal best alongside their current ribbon to encourage them to compete with their own goals. If they are ahead consistently for a given period of time, automate a message to tell them “You’re on top of your goals! Great!” Or tie a bonus to the goal. Either way, using performance messaging in a positive way will encourage positive, profitable actions from the team.

Now, get out on the floor! You already have your real time performance system doing the grunt work, so what are you doing sitting in front of your computer? Have your system send a message to your Blackberry or cell phone when something needs attention. There should be little reason to be cooped up in your office.

Get out on the floor and coach! It shows the team that you are all connected to the same goals.

Next post: Effective Reporting (Part 5)

The Revolving Door Syndrome (Part 3 of 5)

2010-03-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

Another inefficiency we should discuss involves the workforce itself. Even if you don’t care if your agents are happy, guess what? Your customers do! Just think of the last time you interacted with a contact center agent, how was your experience? Did the agent speak in a monotone voice or was he or she personable and attentive?

Wells Fargo is a great example. Their agents are well-trained and pleasant. As a result, I’ve remained a Wells Fargo customer for years. They are consistent in their approach and professional in conducting transactions. Come to think of it, I’d probably use the same phrases to describe Wells Fargo on the whole, as an organization.

That’s because contact center agents really are the face of the company. Period. If they aren’t happy, they’ll make customers unhappy. Soon, absenteeism will rise, they’ll become less and less motivated and they’ll leave. This revolving door syndrome is an expensive one.

According to a Benchmark Portal study, on average it costs companies over $6,000 every time an agent departs. For financial institutions, the average is over twice that amount.

Hiring, training and motivating are expensive!

The chart on the left shows the average cost of turnover by industry. This chart was produced by the Detroit News in 2005 from a study made by Benchmark Portal, Inc.

Employees need to feel connected to their goals. They need an offset to the stress of customer issues, in addition to sufficient training and, above all, strong communication from supervisors.

People also want to understand what they need to do to move up. That can equate to clear and attainable goals. Without that, especially in the hectic environment of the call center, they will quickly become disillusioned, complacent or downright hostile.

How do you think that translates to the customers? What is the most important to businesses?

Customers!

Okay, how do we squeeze inefficiency out of the workforce without cracking a whip? How to keep the team in place longer? Increasing salaries is not always the solution, by the way. Ever since Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was publicized in 1954, managers have known that “job satisfaction” is the most important factor in employee retention. With real-time performance management tools, providing targeted metrics can be very effective in communicating the here and now of the contact center.

You must start, however, with goals that are realistic. That may mean re-evaluating some of the current key performance indicators, or KPIs, you have in place. Are the thresholds realistic or are these metrics always green or always red? Nothing is more demoralizing to the workforce than the sense that management doesn’t care enough to adjust the performance metrics to meet the ebb and flow of the calling activity! So, take the time to make the adjustment. We have a customer whose agents actually help to create the thresholds for their KPIs. And they’re hard on themselves! They lowered their longest call waiting from 1:47 to :38 seconds!

Goal obtained! It can be and is done all the time.

Look for our next post! "A spoonful of sugar." (part 4)

The Vision Thing --- You Know What You Can See (Part 2 of 5)

2010-03-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Often inefficiencies result from a chronic lack of visibility over the here and now, otherwise known as “real time”. As stated earlier, contact centers are full of great technology. That technology is usually buried within an assortment of applications; contact management, help desk software, and things like IVR and E-mail management systems. A typical manager juggles several systems at a time, using his/her computer to toggle back and forth to check campaigns, revenues, who’s here, who is late, who had an emergency and had to leave early, and so on.

The fact is that managers get caught up managing a lot of programs, and are often stuck behind a PC instead of out on the floor coaching and motivating.

In the marketplace today, there are many useful tools that integrate information and provide a real time single view of performance. There is no reason any manager should be without one!

Call them “dashboards” or “digital cockpits”, they present a far more efficient way to gauge performance and contact center conditions with a single glance.

Think about it.

If you could instantly pull up a screen that you’ve already personalized and see individual agent performances, groups, graphs on performance against goals and last week’s score, how much time would you be saving? Three minutes? Five? An hour?

Because the contact center never stops, neither can the manager. By having real time visibility over the entire center, managers can more quickly gauge what needs to be done --- before the next morning. If they have a Blackberry, they can set it to alert them when building conditions might result in a problem, well before it happens. Visibility at all times is achievable and will put the manager out on the floor for a much greater percentage of time, not putting out fires, but helping their team avoid them!

Imagine if you could put a refined information set with inspiring messaging in front of the team? I don’t mean a string of statistics with “work harder, please” scrolling along. Nor do I mean a congregation of digitized pink elephants leaping across a plasma display. [More on this subject in our white paper “Questions to ask before purchasing a wallboard”.]

What the team needs is a targeted set of metrics reflecting personal performance and that of the group with support messages like “Almost there, Nancy. Keep it up!” How does the manager know how close Nancy is to meeting her goal? He just saw it on his desktop dashboard! Finally, if you have a cell phone, pager or Blackberry, you can set it to alert you, wherever you are, as soon as contact center conditions require action.

You may be thinking that putting these concepts into action might only shave a few minutes of inefficiency off of each agent’s day, so big deal. Think again. An article by Penny Reynolds of Call Center School calculated that saving only 20 minutes per day leads to a pretty impressive result: 20 minutes per day x 5 days per week x 52 weeks / 60 = annual lost hours. Annual lost hours x fully loaded wage rate x number of agents = cost of lost time. You can do the math for your contact center. It all adds up!

Look for the next post on The Revolving Door Syndrome (Part 3)

Squeezing the Inefficiency Out of Your Contact Center Using Performance Management Part 1 of 5

2010-03-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

But we’re already as efficient as we’re going to get!

Today’s contact centers are equipped with some of the most sophisticated technology in the marketplace today. That’s because companies are waking up and responding to customers’ “right now” expectations. These customers are using web-based or IVR-based self-service to retrieve information, answer questions and conduct transactions, all without interacting with a live agent. Instant gratification is king and companies are deploying technology like never before to satisfy their customers using as few live agents as possible.

So many contact center managers believe they can’t possibly squeeze out any more inefficiencies, at least not from a technology standpoint. Perhaps that’s true, but we need to remember that there comes a time when just about everybody must talk with a live person in a contact center. That is the point at which technology and human skills intersect. People represent the greatest expense to the contact center, not the technology. Performance improvement is aided by technology but it is the people who close tickets and put numbers on the board, and it’s the people the customers will remember when conducting a transaction.

As soon as people are added to the mix, inefficiencies abound. It’s unavoidable. People get sick, run late, daydream, have problems, become angry and even quit. So there will always be a certain level of inefficiency to deal with.

The question is how to use real time performance management to squeeze as much out of the profitability equation as possible and not impair the effectiveness and the motivation of your workforce.

The chart above illustrates typical improvements in efficiency when performance management is introduced into a contact center, using a unit of '1' as a benchmark.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on how visibility affects efficiency!

Social Networking for Work at Home Agents

2010-03-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

Knowlagent recently conducted a study of work at home agents. They found that almost half of work at home agents were not as engaged as those in center agents. Not surprising when the study goes on to report that email remains the number one method of communication between work at hom agents and their centers. Social networking is used in only 19.5% of centers. Why aren't they using secure IM/chat? Does anyone have more data on this? In many instances work at home agents are only communicating 1 x daily with their peers. You don't want them chatting it up, but some interaction could be beneficial.