Call Center Management Featured Article
Evaluating People and Processes in the Call Center for 2015
By Tracey E. Schelmetic
The beginning of a new year in a contact center is an opportunity to build a new to-do list. (Even if last year’s to-do list didn’t get finished). It’s a time to take stock in what happened last year – good and bad – and build on successful initiatives and discard and do over unsuccessful ones. It’s critical for contact center executives and managers ensure that their goals for the year, no matter how small the tasks, align with the organization’s goals as a whole, or else everyone may find they’re working against each other.
It’s a safe bet to say that most companies’ have on their big goals list for 2015 a desire to improve the quality of customer support they offer. Therefore, all smaller tasks – hiring, software purchases, reorganization and policy changes – should reflect this. When it comes to hiring, according to a recent blog post by Monet Software CEO Chuck Ciarlo, it’s important to ensure that you have enough agents who are properly trained.
“What is the current state of your agent team(s)?” wrote Ciarlo. “Do you have enough people for each shift? Do they have the skills necessary to fulfill their obligations? How effective are your coaching and training programs? Review the personnel situation and adjust staffing as needed.”
If you plan to offer more by way of chat through your Web site, for example, be sure you have enough agents who are skilled typists and good writers. Some people who are great on the phone may be terrible through written media. If you’re having a problem with customer retention, hire (or identify from existing agents) those agents who are good at “talking customers down” from leaving. Do you need to add foreign language support? Improve your agents’ technical skills? Now is the time to make these plans.
When you’ve gone as far as you can to ensure your staffing levels are right and the needed skills are in place, ask yourself if you have the right technologies to support your labor force. It’s counter-productive to improve your agents’ skills if you can’t manage them through scheduling and ensure you can connect the right agents to the right customers. Ciarlo recommends checking to see if your hardware or software are out of date or obsolete, particularly on the workforce management (WFM) front.
“WFM providers supply ongoing enhancements and updated versions on a regular basis, but they also charge users for every one of these upgrades,” wrote Ciarlo. “With the economy still recovering, companies may not have the resources to keep up with the improvements. Perhaps this is the time to consider a cloud delivery system, where upgrades are free and there is no large upfront cost.”
A refreshed and retrained workforce, coupled with a cloud-based contact center system that can add functionality and reduce costs and complexity may be just what your contact center needs to meet 2015 with confidence.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi