Call Center Management Featured Article
Top 10 Tips to Defeat the Challenging Economy in Your Call Center
Although the call industry is expanding, the world is still feeling the effects of the economic depression that has plagued businesses. Monet Software, a provider of call center solutions, has developed a whitepaper titled ‘10 Tips to Weather the Challenging Economy in your Call Center,’ in an effort to help organizations overcome some of the challenges. Here are Monet’s top 10 tips.
1 --Implement a flexible shift model
Scheduling is a very important part of a call center’s expenses, and with the influx of calls changing, more and more organizations have switched over to a flexible shift rather than a fixed mode. This change can increase your service levels by 1 to 2 percent, and result in a similar percentage of savings in personnel costs.
2 --Keep track of your shrinkage
Many call centers underestimate the sheer volume of shrinkage, which is paid time but not available for calls. There are three ways that organizations can reduce shrinkage:
Better match call volume with agent availability through a flexible shift model (see #1)
Increase forecast and schedule accuracy by including additional parameters (see # 6)
Monitor and improve schedule adherence (see #3)
3 --Improve schedule adherence
Schedule adherence needs to be followed, and here are three ways that an organization can improve it:
Inform and Educate: Agents need to understand how a short five minutes can affect the flow of the call center.
Measure and Manage: There are workforce management (WFM) solutions that can measure and track adherence in real-time, and running reports that managers can then share with agents and discuss how they are doing.
Incentives: By rewarding agents that adhere to their schedule through bonuses or employee lunches, it helps give them an incentive to continue adhering to their schedule and working harder.
4 --Cross-train agents
With agents trained to handle all areas, organizations can reduce the amount of agents that they need to handle the call volume.
5 --Compare ACD log-on time to time-clock entries
To help reduce shrinkage and improve adherence, call centers should pay attention to ACD log-on time, as they have to make sure agents are logged in and ready for calls.
6 --Smarter scheduling
When creating a schedule an organization should consider:
Including all agent activities; when developing your forecast and schedule make sure to include breaks, multiple skills of agents, training, time off, and a realistic buffer for shrinkage.
Ranking your agents; creating a schedule by agent rank can be very effective in reducing costs and increasing sales.
Matching personality and team; Studies have shown that a good relationship with colleagues drives motivation and performance in call centers.
7 --Keep top talent on your team
Retain your top loyal and most productive agents by accommodating their needs.
8 --“Check out” your spreadsheets
Instead of using spreadsheets, Monet advises organizations to take advantage of its WFM Live solution that makes forecasting easier and faster than the traditional spreadsheet method.
9 --Think big for small- or medium-sized centers
Small- to midsized-centers may be more difficult to manage because every agent and call has more effect on the overall performance; for example if an agent doesn’t show up it can have a “5 percent resource problem.” That’s why a flexible schedule and schedule adherence is so important.
10 –On-Demand solutions reduce cost and risk
There are now on demand or software-as-a-service (SaaS (News - Alert)) solutions that have evolved in the call center. They can help you increase operational efficiency without capital investment, IT resources or long and painful implementation times; some even allow you to try the solutions before you buy them.
There are a variety of workforce management solutions that can be utilized by a call center to increase productivity, all of which Monet offers in its WFM suite. To learn more about such resources visit Monet’s Call Center Management channel for more tips and weekly updates about the industry.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson