Are your staff members your most valuable asset? While not every company lives by this concept, many recognize the value talented people bring to their growth strategies. For those that don’t, the public will sit up and take notice.
Such was the case for Hot Telecommunication Systems Ltd. The company has recently been the recipient of harsh criticism of its services. Over the last several months, the company’s customers were complaining of service that had sunk to new levels. Most couldn’t find anything nice to say, pointing to a need for call center hiring.
Based in Israel, Hot plans to hire more than 450 customer service representatives over the summer months. In addition, the company plans to invest millions to improve the customer experience, something Hot claims is a top priority. Launching a call center hiring initiative is a smart move for a provider that learned the perils of improper outsourcing.
Quality of service took a severe hit when Hot decided to outsource customer care. A third-party company took over customer care and technical support, and according to reports, reached lows not previously known in the business. Thousands of Hot customers protested and things got so bad the Ministry of Communications had to levy a fine for deficient service and on-hold waits that surpassed multiple hours.
Over the course of business, Hot has had its ups and downs when it came to customer care. Service has never been its competitive advantage, stemming from financial considerations more than anything else. The unfortunate advantage employed each time profitability was sought, was to cut service. To offset the rise in complaints, they would put a call center hiring effort in place until service stabilized. Each time, however, the cycle started all over again.
The question here will be whether or not Hot can get their act together and actually put a long-term strategy in place that will produce the desired results. If this is just another turn in the same cycle, the story won’t change. It’s great that call center hiring is taking place, but unless it’s job sustainability, it’s merely a temporary paycheck for the willing worker.
Still, the announcement does point to the need for quality agents throughout the industry and the link between quality care and call center hiring. For sustainability, however, companies need to be focused on more than just hiring and instead on empowering agents to deliver the kind of service customers expect to receive.