Efficiencies not everything
Ask call centre managers what are the two over riding goals for their operation, and most will say, “improve efficiencies and improve customer satisfaction.”
Ultimately, of course, it is the second of these that is more important. But along the way, creating satisfied customers means that there needs to be operational efficiencies.
So the drive for efficiencies is well justified. It is directed towards satisfying customers.
But the attitude of management, and indeed everyone in the call centre, is critically important. If everyone knows that the push for efficiencies is always with a view to making things better for customers, then efficiencies don’t take on a life of their own. Efficiencies don’t become the goal in themselves.
If that is the attitude then there is nothing wrong with concentrating on building more and more efficiencies into your daily operations.
The bar of excellence for most call centres is fast, total problem resolution on the first call.
In the name of ‘efficiencies’, at any time in any call centre, probably every manager would say that she or he would like to:
- Ensure consistency and accuracy of advice,
- Improve levels of customer service,
- Reduce average handling time,
- Reduce peer/helpdesk support,
- Provide your call centre staff with more effective on-the-job tools.
These are core efficiencies and in the normal situation, if a centre manager is NOT thinking about these things, something is wrong.
Typically, efficiencies today revolve around the multidimensional service targets that call centre managers have been working on for years now.
- Call answering – the number of calls answered within a particular time period;
- Access to customer service officers;
- Percentage of busy calls;
- Labour costs per call;
- Percentage of calls transferred to other operations;
- Feedback on quality from both staff and customers; and
- Priorities reflected in resource allocations.
Always, such quantitative targets need to be balanced with quality of service. In particular, ambitious timeliness can be at odds with quality of service. Predominantly managers and customer service officers whose performance is judged by speed of service, may be less likely to develop a service culture where checking of advice, recording transactions correctly or exploring all possibilities with customers, is given a high priority.
A balance between speed and quality has to be achieved, with targets and performance measures reflecting this. The relevant staff have to understand the balance and what is therefore expected of them. If this balance is not achieved, customers may have to make contact again to resolve outstanding issues or follow up on tasks not completed through previous contacts with the call centre.
Of course, no discussion about efficiencies is complete without looking at the people factor. There can be little improvement in efficiency without the wholehearted support of the agents working the phones.
In 2005, obtaining active support from staff usually involves achieving a level of staff flexibility. Some of the best ways to achieve flexibility include the tried and proven practices such as:
- Significant use of part-time staff;
- Staggered start and finish times covering peak demand periods;
- Rostering systems (ensuring anticipated workloads can be met within existing flexitime provisions);
- Extended hours of operation.
The call centre environment is generally rich with management information. Extensive information available to managers includes reports matching responses to call loads, timeliness of responses and abandoned calls. In this real time environment, hands on utilisation of this information, and comparison with performance in similar call centres, is essential for the call centre that is serious about efficiencies.
Ultimately, efficiencies will only be implemented and maintained over the longer term where there is support and commitment from senior management.
