Top Ten Ways to Reduce Contact Center Costs While Improving Service
Contact centers are almost always under cost scrutiny, especially during
slow economic periods, as the responsibilities they are charged with are
still seen by many organizations as peripheral to their core functions.
Yet unlike in the past, most senior executives
now have a growing understanding of the value
of contact centers provide, namely helping them
to retain customers and their revenues and support.
The challenge then becomes what are the
best ways to reduce contact center costs and to
keep existing and to attract new customers.
So we put that question, as a Top Ten, to
several leading firms. While some have
responded with ten items others have replied
with less, but all of them have insight that
could help your contact center thrive and
grow including in difficult times.
Aspect (www.aspect.com)
Serge Hyppolite, Director of
Interaction Management
1) Unified Solutions
Unified solutions help contact centers reduce
costs because IT won’t have to integrate a number
of siloed applications, which requires a lot
of time and effort. Additionally, contact centers
will save on implementation, administration,
and reporting costs, and then later maintenance
costs because all the applications are on a single
platform: it’s easier and quicker to pinpoint
the source of the problem and fix it quickly. In
addition, contact center managers won’t have to
spend time configuring multiple systems each
time a new agent is added or leaves the company.
With a unified solution, contact centers
also lower operating costs because agents won’t
lose productivity when they are logging in and
out of disparate systems all day long
Ultimately, the benefit of a unified solution is a
seamless experience for the customer regardless
of the channel they’re using for contact. For
example, an outbound collections reminder can
be easily turned into an inbound call where the
customer makes a promise to pay to the speech
self-service system or directly with an agent
2) Unified Communications (News - Alert)
Unified communications, when deployed correctly
and with the right portfolio of solutions,
can result in a number of benefits for all types
of organizations, from multinational corporations
to single site small businesses. A unified
communications strategy can take the guesswork
out of operations by creating and implementing
clear, streamlined processes that have
a direct impact on the bottom line. Unified
communications can have a profound impact
on activities such as a simplified contract-toorder
process; the elimination of time-consuming
tasks in the purchase of materials; and
cutting, even completely eliminating, order
rejections. And not only do these streamlined
processes result in lower costs, but also can create
an improved customer experience
Businesses and consumers both gain when
knowledge workers can be part of the enterprise
pool of customer-facing employee to
best address consumer demands. High-value
sales or service interactions can be addressed
directly by the appropriate employee – no
matter their location – based on availability, to
provide the high level of customer service that
result in the elusive ideal customer experience
3) eLearning
Too often contact centers are trying to use the
wrong tool to get training to the agents. It’s
simply too expensive to provide instructorled
training or team huddles, so it’s vital that
training be done at the desktop. Unfortunately,
most corporate learning management
solutions don’t work in the contact center
because training still has to be scheduled and
is often cancelled based on service levels
Superior performing contact centers today leverage
eLearning to change training by pushing up
to 80 percent of ongoing training content and
100 percent of the communications content to
the agents’ desktop. This enables adult learning
and reduces the training costs and risks of training
and also improves agent adoption of knowledge
and skills. This helps companies overcome the
difficult task of improving agent skills, ultimately
enabling contact centers to deliver improved
customer service, collections and sales
CB Richard Ellis (www.cbre.com)
Mark Seeley, Managing Director,
Labor Analytics Group
1) Relocate to lower cost labor markets. Labor
makes up nearly 80 percent of a contact center’s
overall operating costs, is by far the low
hanging fruit when it comes to cost savings
By relocating a 500-agent contact center to
a new labor market that is just $1.00/hr less,
the cost savings equal over half a million dollars
per year, per shift
2) Operate in areas with little or no employment
competition. As many are aware, competition for
employees drives wages and turnover rates up.
By locating in a market or sub-market with low
competitive pressure, call centers can save significantly,
reducing payroll and attrition costs
3) Source labor markets that have the right
demographic and skill make-up. Labor markets
that better support a call center’s specific skill
and educational needs translate to a higher
performing employment base
4) Recruit strategically (i.e. target market).
Targeted recruiting methods reduce recruitment
costs, as well as lower turnover, by improving
the applicant to hire ratio and sourcing applicants
that are a better fit for the job
5) Refine the screening process. Reduce
your 90-day churn rate by better educating
applicants about the job before they are hired
by conducting caller simulation and preemployment
orientation programs
6) Improve training programs. Properly preparing
agents for the job reduces stress and, as a
result, turnover. It also improves performance
7) Take advantage of economic development
opportunities. Municipal, county, state and
federal programs are available, even if you
are not relocating to a new location. Make
sure you are taking advantage of any available
programs that can reduce training and
recruitment costs, as well as income and real
estate taxes
8) Source lower cost real estate markets. Not
surprisingly, low cost labor markets often
go hand-in-hand with low cost real estate
markets. Real estate costs typically make up
10 percent – 15 percent of a contact center’s
overall operating costs
9) Also, locate near your labor base to increase
applicant flow and reduce employee transportation
costs. As gas prices rise, contact centers
are experiencing higher turnover and more
challenges recruiting when the facility is not
proximate to the labor base
10) Implement a home agent strategy. Do
away with your real estate portfolio altogether
(or at least a portion of it), by implementing
a work-at-home program
Convergys (News - Alert) (www.convergys.com)
Mike Cholak, Vice President,
Global Consulting Services
1) Incorporate the “voice of the customer” into
strategic decision-making by implementing a
robust customer satisfaction survey program
that includes access to real-time information
2) Use satisfaction results to understand
which agent behaviors have the greatest impact
on the customer experience, and focus there
3) Design and implement accountability
support structures at the agent and manager
levels using critical agent skills as a key performance
indicator (KPI)
4) Include customer satisfaction metrics
in scorecards, and report out at four levels:
Agent, manager, site and account
5) Realign the focus of coaching and training
to ensure agent behaviors critical to driving
customer satisfaction that are central to ongoing
efforts, and provide the tools to be successful
6) Develop a customer experience “map” to
understand what the customer experiences after
they call the 800 number, and proactively identify
account, product and/or call processes that
hinder achievement of the satisfaction goals
7) Conduct a segmentation analysis on
the agent population to group agents into
distinct categories (e.g., “Elite” versus “Laggards”)
based on satisfaction performance
8) Calibrate quality assurance scores to agent
segments to check alignment and ensure that
agents are coached to consistent behaviors
9) Establish a sub-group of agents empowered to
handle less complex contacts on the first call, and
proactively route customer contacts to this group the lowest performing agents off the floor and replace them with new hires
Enkata (www.enkata.com)
Liz Amaral, Director of Contact Center Product Marketing
1) Understand why customers call. Before you can attack the issues
driving up service costs, you need a clear picture of why your
customers contact you. Most companies rely on inaccurate methods
or sampling strategies that can distort the picture. Find out what’s in
that “Other” category to start targeting cost drivers
2) Move the right calls to self-service. How many calls should be
handled in a lower cost self-service channel? Do customers know
about these channels? Are your self-service channels truly meeting
customer needs? Answer these questions, guide your agents to
educate customers and address any gaps in your self-service options to
reduce unnecessary incoming calls
3) Eliminate unnecessary repeat calls. In a typical contact center,
over 30 percent of all calls are repeat calls that could have been
avoided. Do you know which ones? Measure First Call Resolution
(FCR) accurately for 100 percent of calls at a call mix level to identify
those calls that can be prevented in the future. Then implement a
program that includes setting clear goals for your agents and then
holding them personally accountable for issue resolution
4) Manage to a new definition of success. Your agents need to understand
the importance of both excellent service and keeping calls to an acceptable
length. Make sure their scorecards are aligned to your corporate goals by
creating a balanced view of productivity and quality of service metrics
5) Use peer rankings to motivate excellence. Every agent believes
that they are performing above average unless given facts to show otherwise.
Providing daily peer comparisons on cost and quality metrics
empowers agents to develop their skills and seek help when needed
6) Establish a formalized coaching program. If your supervisors are
spending less than 50% of their time coaching agents, you’re missing
your best opportunity to increase agent efficiency and effectiveness.
Hold supervisors accountable to coaching targets and remove the
administrative work that gets in their way
7) Coach your agents based on facts, not aggregates. Every agent has a
unique set of strengths and weaknesses. Why coach based on an average?
If you can identify individual performance challenges at a granular
level, backed up by the specific calls that led to poor performance, your
supervisors can make coaching sessions constructive and productive
8) Reward your agents based on a new definition of success. Regardless
of how you are measuring and coaching agents, if the same balance is not
reflected in your incentive programs you won’t see the desired impact.
For example, if you introduce FCR as in important initiative, you need to
make sure agents are recognized for improving their resolution rate
9) Identify corporate roadblocks to eliminate inefficiencies. You
know that certain policies and procedures interfere with service
delivery goals and drive up average handle time or call count. Use
root cause analysis to shine a light on the broken processes that can be
fixed to streamline call handling and improve the customer experience
10) Sell when the time is right. Tacking on a canned sales pitch to the end
of every call is a sure fire way to drive up costs and drive down customer
satisfaction. Provide agents with real-time directives on what to offer and
when, increasing the relevance to the customer and the likelihood of success
Infor (www.infor.com)
Tony Compton, Director of Product Marketing
1) Self-experience. Place yourself in your customers’ shoes and call
your 800 number. Call more than once to gain a true perspective. Interact
with your contact center and experience what a customer does.
If your experience is positive, your customers are more likely to enjoy
their experience, leading to an increase in wallet share
2) Itemize the gaps in your call center’s performance for immediate
evaluation
3) Scrutinize how your call center supports your organization’s overall
CRM initiatives
4) Ensure your workforce is properly aligned with your contact center’s
goals and has the required skill sets to provide effective customer
interactions that encourage loyalty
5) Align technology with personnel. Every contact center is different
and supports varying missions. In many instances, companies will align
either technology or staff with goals but not both. Make sure your staff
and technology are in synch and support each other’s success
6) Trust the system. Advancements in technology have led to complex
algorithms that can provide highly accurate offer recommendations
based on a customer’s interaction history and profile
7) Singularity. Ensure your staff has access to all relevant information at
all times. It does not help if an agent must send a customer, or prospect,
to another holding cue to learn about additional services your company
offers. Provide agents access to, and training for, cross-sell opportunities
8) Be smart with your data. Today’s contact center’s are a wealth of
information; capturing every detail about each customer. Identify the
types of information you gather and ensure the data aligns with your
CRM goals and determine how you can best use the information to
encourage offer acceptance
9) Succession planning and training. The industry’s 20 percent turnover
rate leaves frequent gaps in the workforce forcing companies to rely
on under trained, green agents. The high turnover often leads to inconsistent
customer interactions and poor service. Keep your staff trained,
encourage participation and feedback and plan ahead for turnover
10) Update your measurement. Calls per hour and service requests
per shift limit the effectiveness of agents to generate revenue. Benchmarks
have evolved to focus on revenue per hour or services sold in
a shift where the focus is on bottom line metrics to determine the
effectiveness and success of an agent
Interactive Intelligence (News - Alert) (www.inin.com)
Christine Holley, Director of Market Communications
1) Incorporate self-service options. Call centers have used self-service
features such as IVR for years. Increasingly, they’re adding Web-based and
other modes of self-service, such as speech-enabled IVR. Whatever type
of self-service option a call center offers, the key to reducing costs while
improving service lies in how it’s applied and to what. Generally speaking,
self-service options offer the greatest reduction in costs when applied to
simple transactions, such as updating an address or checking a flight time
2) Optimize staffing. Workforce management (WFM) enables
more accurate staffing needs projection and alerts supervisors when
inbound demand slows so they can re-allocate or reduce staff. Call
centers should look for systems that are pre-integrated with the ACD
so they receive accurate and real-time data that helps them plan
schedules and make changes on-the-fly, and which can create schedule
simulations. The systems should include real-time adherence with
instant notification of compliance issues to permit immediate action
on irregularities
3) Deploy outbound/blended technology. This allows instant reallocation
of inbound to outbound agents that can reduce costs and
create demand when business is slow. Automated outbound IVR
is a cost-effective way to improve customer service while avoiding
inbound calls by notifying customers ahead of time, such as the power
will be turned off during a certain time of day for repairs
4) Accommodate remote agents: Increasingly call centers are considering
transitioning agents to a home-based model. The drivers include
cost savings based on lower overhead and turnover rates compared to
in-office agents and improved customer service. For instance, remote
agents are typically more amenable to working after hours, which
enable call centers to more easily provide extended service hours.
By being able to select from a larger labor pool (not constrained by
geography) call centers have a better chance of securing skill-sets that
they require. Remote agents also provide business continuity should
the contact center “go off line,” thereby minimizing service interruptions.
The technologies to support remote agents are mature and
widely available. There are IP-based systems with full functionality
that enable remote agents using a PC or regular phone to perform call
control, including call recording; access databases; view the presence
of other agents; and even receive online coaching and monitoring
from a supervisor
5) Consider Software as a Service (SaaS (News - Alert)). SaaS can be a wise choice
when companies would rather hold off on major capital expenditures.
Small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) and large organizations with
departmentally-focused initiatives are often good fits for SaaS. To
ensure the cost savings of this model don’t sacrifice customer service,
call centers should look for vendors that have successful track records
developing software, such as multi-channel routing, blended dialing
and Web self-service. SaaS solutions should enable switching to a
premise-based or even combined hosted and on-premise solution
without re-writing applications
6) Focus on quality monitoring beyond productivity measures. Call
centers have traditionally focused on measures such as agent talk time
and speed-to-answer to evaluate quality. To take customer service to
the next level, call centers should also focus on measurements that
capture “the voice of the customer.” Examples include automated
post-call satisfaction surveys and speech analytics technologies such as
emotion detection, which monitors calls in real-time to detect heightened
states of emotion in order to improve customer satisfaction and
agent effectiveness
7) E valuate new models for communications-enabled business
processes. They can result in soft ROI, such as increased productivity.
For demonstrable cost savings, however, call centers should be aware
of new business process automation (BPA) platforms that not only
launch the call that a BPA system might trigger but also leverage functions
such as presence, VoIP, queuing and routing to automate that
process in the first place
(8-10) The final three ways call centers can reduce costs while improving
customer service are adopting standards-based, single-platform
software ‘suites. They meet three architectural criteria – open,
single-platform and all-software – are the foundation for call centers
to cost-effectively provide optimal customer service. This enables call
centers to quickly and easily create and modify applications to adapt
to conditions the future brings. The cost savings alone are compelling;
based on a recent BenchmarkPortal (News - Alert) report the total annualized cost
per agent for software-based, all-in-one solutions averages less than
half that of multi-point solutions
West Interactive (News - Alert) (www.westinteractive.com)
Bruce Pollock, Vice President, Products & Services
1) Integrate database services from across the enterprise. Bring
together all relevant data from across the company for a 360°
view of the customer. Not only does this enable the contact
center to deliver the optimal response to customers’ needs, it can
improve productivity, reduce average call length, and increase
cross- and up-selling revenue
2) Leverage unified communications. By taking advantage of the
power of open systems to integrate data and voice management, companies
can cut telecommunications costs while opening the door for
an entirely new level of service. For instance, multichannel and multimedia
capabilities available through IP technology can be utilized for
greater responsiveness, productivity, and customer satisfaction
3) Proactively connect with your customer. Proactive communication
can reduce calls to the contact center while building a
long-term relationship with the customer. One of the best ways
to differentiate yourself is to focus on the end-user. Customers
want to transact with you more effectively. Make the customer
experience seamless by applying ease of use methods that deliver
needed information with quality and speed. Delivering information
ahead of customer requests will reduce inbound calls and
enhance the customer experience
4) Recognize, track, and learn customer needs. Make strategic
use of customer service surveys for happier customers, greater
revenue, and cost savings. Capturing and applying customer data
in a real-time environment delivers more efficiency, reduced call
time and increased first-call resolution. The customer also feels
the information is personalized and you are ready to provide
answers to their questions
5) Create customer-centric self service and self help. Customers want
to interact in the most effective way with your company. Employ
customer-oriented self service to maximize satisfaction and reduce
calls to live agents. Companies can experience reduced costs by
improving the performance of its speech applications, while offering a
more personalized self-service experience
6) Create a true multi-channel experience. Take advantage of consumers’
increasing willingness and preference for channels such as SMS or
Web to deliver a competitive differentiation as well as to lower phone
costs. Integrate all channels and ensure an excellent experience in all
supported channels for a competitive differentiator
7) Turn to hosted services. For economies of scale, hosted services
offer access to best-of-breed technology while reducing upfront and
ongoing infrastructure costs. Boost contact center performance while
reducing IT maintenance costs
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