Resolve to be FAIR

May 16, 2013 — Kelly

The April 2013 edition of CRM Magazine includes an article by Brent Leary, “Cultivate a New Approach to Business and Customer Engagement”.  Leary offers FAIR as an acronym for a few “tenets that companies are taking…to create organizations that can keep up with customer behaviors and expectations:”

  • Fast and flexible – Seconds count in customer service, especially in today’s contact centers.  As Leary says, with web pages loading in a few seconds and book delivery reduced to less than a minute, “speed thrills and lack of it kills.”  Companies have to be able to react more quickly than ever in order to create a connection with a customer.
  • Agile and analytical – Not only does the world move more quickly now, but there is more data than ever to aggregate.  Companies must analyze data to identify key pieces, which then allow conversion “into appealing interaction opportunities.”
  • Interactive and integrated – Leary addresses the “social, mobile, and cloud technologies”; there is also increasing potential for integration of different contact streams and among corporate departments and stakeholders.
  • Responsive and reliable – Of the four tenets, this last one is an old standby.  Customers always have and always will want to do business with companies that are trustworthy.  Modern day customers, though, have technology that “raises expectations quicker, and disappoints faster;” companies must be able to function in this fast-paced world and still maintain credibility.

In your contact center, you can use the data available through your systems to better manage being FAIR to your customers.  Real-time performance reporting solutions, such as those built on LightLink, give you fast and flexible capability to capture performance information as it happens which allows you analyze data on the fly.   You can then use your analysis of your integrated data streams to interact with other key stakeholders at your contact center and in your organization.   Through your real-time data analysis and collaboration, you can enact any needed operational changes at the moment they are needed, which will ultimately make you more responsive and reliable for your customers.

 

Posted in Call center KPIs, Call Center Management, Call Center Resources, CCPM. 1 Comment »

Accessing your KPIs – anytime, anywhere

April 3, 2013 — Kelly

Certainly, nearly everyone around us is becoming more attached to the ever-present access to data and information through our smart devices.  Contact managers are no different, and your contact center performance metrics can be accessible anytime and anywhere through mobile dashboards presented on the devices that you carry with you!  Your day-to-day business as a contact center manager often likely takes you away from your desk, or even away from the office building or out of town.  Consider some of the ways that a mobile dashboard can really serve you as a contact center manager:

  • Remote Performance Management – If you are out of the office, you can still keep tabs on your contact center’s full performance metrics.  With this functionality, you can identify potential problems and to react appropriately when necessary.
  • Continuous access – With a mobile dashboard you don’t have to leave your metrics behind when you’re on the floor coaching agents.
  • Customization options – Your mobile dashboard can be customized to meet your exact needs and highlight the metrics most important to you.  Perhaps most helpful is the ability to set thresholds and receive alerts of situations that require immediate attention.

The odds are that you already carry a tablet or smartphone with you at nearly all times.  Having access to portable and remote dashboards via a tablet or smartphone helps you stay on top of critical issues at the call center at all times.

Posted in Call center KPIs, Call Center Management, Call Center Resources, CCPM, Performance Management. No Comments »

Which Performance Metrics Matter?

March 27, 2013 — Maureen

The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) has dedicated the month of March to “Metrics that Matter” in the call center, and so far they have identified call center heavy hitters Service Level and Customer Satisfaction as metrics to track. At Inova Solutions, we live and breathe call center metrics, so I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring to discuss some of the most important metrics and what may be the best way to spread that information to your workforce.

Service Level: This is a commonly used but poorly understood metric. It can mean something different to every call center and be calculated in a unique way. Generally speaking, it represents the number of customer inquiries handled in a given amount of time. Be careful not to put too much weight on your service level number, though, because it doesn’t take into account the quality of interactions, customer satisfaction, the successful completion of a transaction, or other vital components to your customer relationships. So let’s mark it down as a piece of the pie, but certainly not the only thing to focus on.

First Call Resolution: A few months ago, I wrote a blog that discussed why First Call Resolution is the key performance indicator to track in contact centers and customer service departments. That still holds true. FCR makes up for some of the shortcomings of Service Level by considering whether the customer’s inquiry was resolved in an efficient manner. Repeat calls cost valuable time and resources from your call center, not to mention testing the limits of customer patience and loyalty. Can your center be both quick and effective? Monitoring FCR can be a good judge of that.  However, like Service Level, it can be calculated and measured in many different ways.  At Inova, we have a unique approach in building an FCR-type metric that will provide you most of what you need to know.  Ask us how.

Abandoned Call Percentage: This old faithful is still worth keeping tracking of, because every customer who hangs up before reaching an agent represents a missed opportunity for revenue. Rather than evaluating abandoned calls historically at the end of the day, week or month, track it in real time as well.  You’ll not only discover valuable information about what times of day are peaks and valleys, you can adjust agents’ schedules during critical moments and see abandoned calls go down.

Once you’ve chosen the most important metrics for your company to track, be sure to bring them out of the boardroom and share them with your agents, supervisors and managers so they can be maximally productive. There are lots of options for displaying metrics on contact center wallboards,  digital displays, or  dashboards or via desktop applications, depending on your budget and needs.

What call center performance metrics make the top of your list, and how do you display them in your center?

Posted in Business, Call Center Management, Call Center Resources, CCPM, Digital signage. 1 Comment »

Managing Big Data in the Call Center

March 12, 2013 — Maureen

With advancing technology has come advanced capabilities of collecting customer information. Both government and the private sector have exploded in recent years with “big data” – an enormous amount of complex data sets that are often too big for systems and people to manage. The contact center industry, which has always managed a large amount of data, now finds itself with more than ever. This is good news for the analytic minds of savvy call center managers and customer service VPs. Data is power, and used correctly, can effectively guide decision making. But can there be too much of a good thing?

Big data is only helpful to the contact center industry if it’s managed correctly. Along with traditional real-time and historical call center ACD statistics such as average handle time, calls waiting and abandoned calls, new data is now available regarding customer preferences, buying history, web browsing habits, and other demographic information. When assembled correctly, it can amount to a relatively complete picture of a company’s consumers while also reporting on the efficiency of center operations.

A large part of managing big data is to harness its value in real-time.  Customer service organizations must utilize appropriate tools to collect, consolidate, analyze, and share key performance indicators (KPI’s) with key constituents at the time they are most critical/valuable – when the reported metric can be affected by proactive management.  While technology tools are a vital building block, there is no substitute for the analytical skills and expertise of real people. Companies must invest in the appropriate human resources to interpret this data and enact operational changes based on trends it reveals. This process requires near-constant reevaluation, because each day’s data reflects new trends. Relying purely on historical data puts a company behind the 8 ball (and perhaps behind competitors as well).

Sharing the right data with in-house CSRs, remote agents, and supervisor teams at the right time is among the biggest challenges of managing big data in the contact center. After all, what use is the data if those in a position to utilize the information are kept in the dark? Or see the data after a manageable customer service situation has passed.  Luckily, options exist for extracting, consolidating and presenting contact center KPIs in real-time to necessary parties. Presentation options include web-based dashboards, energy-efficient LED wallboards, media-rich digital displays and desktop applications for remote agents.

How does your contact center manage the influx of big data? What analytical and real-time reporting tools do you have in place?  With the right approach to managing KPIs and an array of presentation options, customer service organizations have real-time performance management options that can meet their needs and budget.

Posted in Call Center Management, Call Center Resources, CCPM. No Comments »

Keeping up with customer expectations (Part 2)

March 5, 2013 — Kelly

In my last post, I encouraged managers to use their comprehension of their contact centers as a starting point for a conversation with training personnel.  I’d like to dive a little more into that theme, with a step-by-step plan for contact center training.  Keep in mind that this is a rather simplistic version of plan that must really be much more detailed in its implementation; it should, however, be enough for a solid start!

 

1.      Identify the performance gaps.  What knowledge or skills do your employees need to have to best perform their jobs?  Does your contact center data indicate weaknesses that can be improved through training?  It is important to ensure that your needs can be addressed through training (and are not related to motivation or environment); be as specific as possible in identifying the training needs and learning objectives.
 
2.      Identify the time you have available.  Using historical data from your contact center, identify all chunks of time that could be used for training.  Keep in mind that periods as short as a minute or two up to several hours (or days) could potentially be used for training purposes.
 
3.      Talk to training personnel at your organization.  They should be the experts about education and training, and they will be able to help you match learning goals with available time periods.  This will likely be a time-consuming step, as you work with the training personnel to clearly identify next best steps.
 
4.      Coordinate with the trainers to determine the best plan for rollout.  This could include a wide variety of plans: an email link to short tutorials, a 1-hour refresher course, or a day-long session covering a new skill.
 
5.      Deliver the training.  Depending on the time required for the session, use your historical or real-time data to identify the best times for delivery. Do you historically have a down-time, with several slower hours?  Use that to deliver longer sessions.  Do agents sometimes have a few minutes between calls?  Use real-time data to encourage agents to watch a minute-long video tutorial.  As I mentioned in my previous post, software is available to identify these time frames and push information automatically.
 
6.      Evaluate your training.  This is where your robust understanding of data can really be useful; compare your contact center data before and after training to determine if your efforts were successful.

 

Of course, even if your attempts are a raging success, you will need to start the whole process again as customer expectations continue to evolve, new products or services or released, or other new skills are required!

Posted in Call Center Management, Call Center Resources, Customer service, Uncategorized. No Comments »

Keeping up with customer expectations (Part 1)

February 25, 2013 — Kelly

It’s not news that the customer experience has changed over the years, especially in our new digital era.  Like most consumers today, I’m spoiled by the amount of information that is nearly instantly accessible at my fingertips.  I’ve become an information junkie, rarely making a purchase for a good or a service without a significant amount of time spent reviewing my options.  While I’m shopping (either at a brick-and-mortar store or online), I’m checking prices at other local and online retailers, reading reviews, or even shopping for accessories.  Before signing up for a new service, I pour over reviews from other consumers and spend extended periods of time comparing the details of the different options or providers.

With this instant access so easily obtained, I’ve come to expect the same level of knowledge from company personnel.  Whether an in-store salesperson or a remote customer service representative, it is no longer enough for these employees to have first-hand experiences with products or services; these personnel must now be able to cite and compare specifications, comparative reviews, service and warranty plans, and a multitude of other details.  Contact center supervisors and training managers must find ways to ensure that employees are always aware of the latest information, and able to quickly access any relevant details to share with customers.  

How do you help your employees learn and manage the ever expanding amount of content and knowledge that they must have at their grasp?  Certainly it is critical to find a way to manage this need for knowledge with your contact center’s day-to-day performance measures such as managing call volumes, achieving service level goals, lowering abandon percentages, or maintaining first call resolution scores. 

While it might sound overwhelming, there is good news!  Contact Center Performance Management solutions that manage and deliver historical and real-time performance metrics can be a major piece of the puzzle.  You can use the data to both help identify and manage performance gaps in real-time, as well as to target potential “down time” that might be available for training.  Consider that training can sometimes be delivered in only a minute or two!  With a clear picture of your contact center data, you can partner with training personnel at your organization to ensure that contact center employees continue to have the knowledge and skills they need to meet ever-changing customer expectations. 

Posted in Call Center Management, Call Center Resources, Customer service. No Comments »

Real Time Performance Management: Coming of Age in 2013

January 29, 2013 — Kelly

Real-time analytics has been a keyword in the contact center for some time now, but Paul Stockford argues in a January 2013 Contact Center Pipeline article that everything we thought we knew about “real-time anything as it applies to the contact center is wrong.”  In “Real-Time is the Real Deal,” Stockford writes that real-time no longer means soon after, and that the definition can now fully align with the term; real-time analytics will now mean information measured the exact second that it occurs. 

I suppose that seems like a small difference, but it can have a major impact on how data is used in your contact center.  If you are constantly tracking data that has already happened, you are constantly reacting to situations that have already occurred.  Access to truly real-time data can allow both contact center managers and agents to be more proactive and to adapt to the situation currently at hand. 

In his research, Stockford found that 51% of respondents were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the time it was taking to share performance metrics with managers.

He also discovered that 90% of customer service executives found value in sharing real-time metrics with agents.  Using real-time performance reporting solutions, such as those built on LightLink, gives you the capability to capture performance information as it happens, allowing you to make adjustments to queues and schedules on the fly.  You can create custom queries to display the metrics that are critical for success in your contact center, and send the data instantly to a variety of display options.  A well-implemented real-time performance management system will allow you to effectively utilize real-time analytics, even as the term comes to achieve its true “right-now” meaning!

Posted in Call center KPIs, Call Center Management, Call Center Resources, Customer service, Performance Management, System Maintenance, Technology. 1 Comment »

A Key Lesson in Social Business

January 22, 2013 — Kelly

The November issue of Information Week included “7 Lessons in Social Business,” by Debra Donston-Miller and David F. Carr.  The article focused on maximizing the “use of social media and social software with employees, customers, and partners;” there was a specific focus on seven companies that are leading the way as social businesses.  While each of their seven lessons can be applied in some way to the contact center, it was lesson number two that jumped out at me as particularly relevant to the partnership between contact centers and Inova Solutions:

“Use metrics to measure progress.”

In the example provided as part of this lesson, management at McKesson, a pharmaceutical distributor and healthcare information technology company chosen as a social business leader, identified “specific gains as a result of making purposeful use of social networking technologies and measuring the impact.”  McKesson has used social business to help unify its support as it has acquired new products over the years.  Since implementing social business technologies, mangers at McKesson have tracked specific metrics, such as average speed of answer and same-day resolution, and witnessed drastic improvements. 

Contacts and communications through social media outlets can (and should) be tracked and measured.  When integrated into the contact center, communications such as tweets and Facebook posts can be routed to agents, who can then monitor and respond as necessary; social media communications can be integrated and responded to just like calls, emails, and chat sessions.  

Clearly social media is here to stay; a critical lesson for creating a successful ‘social business’ is effectively using metrics to measure progress in your contact center.  Using LightLink, you can extract and monitor standard metrics across multiple systems and locations, create custom KPIs mapped directly to your organizational goals, and track data to gauge impact on the overall organization.  Even better, you can do all this in real-time and deliver it to multiple digital display options and customized dashboards!  The key is understanding what metrics and KPIs are available, determining who should see them, and identifying the best method to deliver the data. 

Posted in Call center KPIs, Call Center Management, Call Center Resources, Performance Management, System Maintenance, Technology. No Comments »

Managing performance data in multi-channel contact centers

January 17, 2013 — Maureen

It used to be that if a customer wanted to get in touch with a company, their only option was to pick up the phone. It was a simpler time, because customer service departments only needed to be prepared for one type of interaction. They only needed to monitor one set of performance metrics.

Now, contact centers have responded to the communication technology preferred by customers. The old staple – the phone call – is still there, but agents must also respond to customer inquiries via email, live chat, and social media. A truly multichannel contact center needs a real-time contact center performance management system to keep track of all the different interaction types, and figure out a way to optimize them.

Since many of these communications channels are new to the customer service world, we don’t have years of historical reports to evaluate trends and determine best practices. We also need to monitor these interactions as they happen to ensure peak levels of customer service.  To do this, a real-time contact center reporting solution is necessary to keep up with inquiries in a multi-channel contact center.

There are several good options for viewing and tracking performance metrics from various channels, depending on your center’s set up and needs. If your customer service agents are located in-house and cost-efficiency is a priority, then contact center LED wallboards are an ideal way to make real-time metrics visible to your team.  If you’d like more variability in your ability to display more data and other media, then call center digital displays are a better bet. If you want the ability to send statistics and messages directly to an agent’s screen, in the center or at home, multiple desktop reporting views are available.   For managers and supervisors, web-based, contact center dashboards are a great way to keep on top of your performance metrics when you’re moving throughout your center coaching your agents or away from the office.

The key is being able to see and manage all of your multichannel performance metrics in real-time. That way, you can ensure that the right agents are attending to the right channel at the right time – whether that’s call, chat or email request. This allows for the most efficient use of resources and enables you to affect your level of service when it matters most – at the exact moment when your customer is engaged.

Posted in Call Center Management, Performance Management. No Comments »

Multichannel Support

January 8, 2013 — Kelly

In the December 2012 issue of CRM Magazine article “Piecing Together Multichannel Support,” Leonard Klie writes that companies are “effectively providing multichannel and cross-channel customer service…but slowly and in stages.”  The article highlights the challenges and potential pitfalls of implementing multi-channel customer service, and includes some compelling research, indicating the communication shift:

  •          74% of consumers use three or more channels when seeking customer service; of those 22% use five or more.
  •          29% of adults prefer online support over speaking with a representative on the phone.
  •          Chat usage has exploded from usage by 19% of US consumers in 2009 to 37% in 2011.

The article doesn’t include exclamation points with each of these statistics, but I almost feel like it should.  The numbers are astonishing, and change is happening quickly. Klie quotes a vice-president from one company with “we had to shift our mindset around how people contact us.  We had to revamp our organizational culture, hiring, training, and routines.”   When you put it like that, it sounds like a rather daunting undertaking!  Klie outlines some of the common misperceptions and pitfalls that surround establishing successful multichannel support; these three jumped out at me as particularly critical considerations:

The myth that young people are the only customers using new methods for communicating with companies.

In truth, new communication channels such as chat and social media are being used by a wide range of users; one study showed that 37% of US consumers used chat for customer service.  Since customer communication preferences are changing (and since it can also be more cost effective to use alternate contact methods), it is critical for contact centers to understand how best to manage communication channels.

The lack of integration among channels.

Many companies have added additional communication channels piecemeal, often without integration.  Customers have to repeat information or reenter account details; this is obviously frustrating for customers and a waste of resources for companies.  Contact centers need to find ways to combine customer information into a one record stream.

The need to increase mobile functionality. 

While phone and email contacts still remain the most commonly used channels, even the functionality of those methods are changing.  More customers are using mobile phones to make their phone calls.  Many customers are using mobile apps or accessing websites through mobile phones; if a company does not have one of these features, initiating a contact is challenging for the customer.  Management must ensure that their contact centers are enabled for mobile usage.

With the current changes in customer service communication, companies must be sure they are considering both the big picture and the small details of any multichannel or cross-channel rollout.  Reaching and understanding all customers through well-integrated channels and with functional mobile applications will allow companies to continue to better serve their customers.

 

Posted in Call Center Management, Call Center Resources. 1 Comment »
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