June 2000

BY RICH TEHRANI, GROUP PUBLISHER, TMC

I wasn't too thrilled about giving up a weekend. I love to write columns such as these and I don't like to be rushed, so I do most of my writing on weekends, at which time I am usually relaxed and my thoughts flow quite freely. I knew I would fall way behind in my writing and maybe even miss some fun if I had the procedure.

Sure enough, about two weeks ago, one of my wisdom teeth did become painfully infected. Worse yet, I had to wait more than a week to have that tooth, along with the others, removed. So here I sit, on a Monday morning, just coming out of the drug-induced fog created by the painkillers and antibiotics my oral surgeon prescribed for me. As I return to my normal self -- minus four wisdom teeth that is, I realize that I could have avoided the entire week of pain had I listened to the good advice of my dentist and acted on it more quickly. One important saying comes to mind as a result of this incident, "Prevention is the best medicine."

Of course, this story is not unique to me, nor is it unique to wisdom teeth. There are many instances and places in which a little bit of forethought or even well-heeded advice could save an awful lot of pain and aggravation down the road. The contact center is one of those places. If you are responsible for your contact center, you'll be interested in the tips I've assembled to help you better examine your organization and foster ideas that could help you avoid sustaining potential damage.

Educate Yourself
Reading educational publications that help you stay in touch with the rapidly evolving CRM market is crucial to your success. I truly hope this and other TMC publications serve you well in this capacity. I suggest also that you subscribe to as many e-mail newsletters as you can and skim through them as often as your time permits. Delve into areas that are most interesting. E-mail newsletters are alive with great links that can help get you up to speed on many topics in near-record time. Make sure you peruse industry Web sites from time to time. One place to learn more about related sites is our own TMCnet.com. Check out our Link Library of sites, which we update for you regularly. Once you are there, you can choose from links such as:

• Industry Organizations
• CTI Links
• Standards Bodies
• Call Center Links
• White Papers/Tutorials
• Internet Telephony Links
• Reference Sites
• Government/Policy Links

Ergonomics
This is perhaps one of the most overlooked areas in any contact center or office environment. Did you know that a typical muscoskelatal disorder, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, in a contact center costs a company approximately $35,000 per employee to remedy? These types of repetitive motion disorders are reaching epidemic proportions in the workplace. The good news is that these injuries are preventable with relatively low-cost equipment and solutions like wrist rests, adjustable monitors, proper lighting, headsets and basic education. How many contact center employees do you have working for you who are susceptible to these types of problems? Learning how to reorganize your contact center to be ergonomically correct now can save your company a great deal of money down the road. In this issue, you will find an excellent article on ergonomics that discusses the potential problems and solutions. Many organizations believe ergonomics compliance means they need to scrap their existing set-up and begin anew. As this article points out, this is not true...even the oldest call center can undergo an "ergonomics makeover." A comfortable, happy customer service representative is a productive worker, and you may find proper ergonomics not only saves you money, but boosts your company's bottom line.

Web Design For Better Ease Of Use
By now you have a Web site...who doesn't? But is your Web site user-friendly? Have you viewed your Web site from the outside in? Although this may sound quite silly, it can help to try and view your Web site from an outsider's perspective. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to sit down with someone who is unfamiliar with your company and ask him or her to find something on your site. See how long it takes and gauge for yourself if your Web site is as effective as it can be. Is navigation intuitive or do users become confused when they attempt to find the information they need? Do you have a search function? Is the design attractive and inviting? Chances are, you are intimately familiar with your company's site and understand how to use it properly. New visitors may not be so lucky or may not be skilled Web browsers, and as we all know by now, your competitors are indeed just a click away.

Logging And Monitoring
Once you have all your hardware and software up and running, are you confident your agents are representing your company in the manner you envisioned? Are all of your agents up to par and fully versed in the details of your company? Can they effectively answer customer questions and sound friendly, confident and informative? Your call center is your front line, and an initially negative experience may turn potential customers away forever. Logging and monitoring are more than just ways to identify poorly performing agents. These systems can help you identify the star performers and understand what they are doing right, in turn helping you educate the agents who may need more guidance and training.

Have you extended your monitoring efforts to include both chat and e-mail? An often-overlooked area is monitoring agents who have great verbal skills but do not come across as well using written communication, either in the form of chat or e-mail. Writing is a distinct skill that not all of your agents will necessarily possess. It would be an unfortunate mistake to spend time ensuring your agents are flawless via telephone, but often send customers e-mail and chat messages that contain grammar and spelling errors, or do not communicate to the customer what he or she wishes to know.

Available Live Agents
Once you have the technology up and running in your contact center and your customers can contact you via e-mail, chat, Internet telephony or other means, make sure customers' inquiries are handled promptly. It is crucial that your response rate, regardless of medium, is first-rate and each of your customers feels like a VIP. As well thought-out as your Web site may be, customers are always going to have questions that are not covered in your FAQ section. Make sure that when a customer chooses to contact you, one of your representatives is there to answer the query promptly, pleasantly and confidently.

Morale
The people on the front lines of CRM are the representatives your company puts forward for all to see. Are they happy people? Make sure these and other important personnel are motivated. Have appreciation parties, lunches and any other gatherings that will keep your troops interested and informed. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently at a record low, and turnover in many call centers is notoriously high. These two factors combined mean that a company should make every effort to hold onto talented customer service representatives. Take steps to show your agents you value them, and you'll find they blossom, and at the same time, you can keep the considerable expenses of having to train new call center workers under control.

Every contact center is its own island with its own strengths and weaknesses. Certainly, there are many more areas unique to your environment that could also use a tweak or two. I hope this column helps you explore and solve any potential pitfalls before you experience them for yourself. I would love to be kept informed if you have any suggestions worth adding to the list, but in the meantime I hope the above "prescription" solves what may ail you in advance.

Sincerely,

Rich Tehrani
Group Publisher
rtehrani@tmcnet.com

There were lots of great announcements at Communications Solutions EXPO last month in Washington, D.C. and I was especially impressed by how many Internet companies are beginning to embrace CRM. At the show, I learned that although it was not a formal announcement, Quintus was giving away a gift certificate to Ashford.com, a high-end Web e-tailer that is also a Quintus customer.

Rockwell Electronic Commerce, too, was getting into the "dot com" supplying act as it has recently shipped Transcend e.Commerce Edition systems to VirtualSellers.com as well as Grainger.com. This version of Transcend supports a multimedia customer contact solution for managing Internet customer relationships.