Moving the Call Center from Good to World Class

What makes a contact center world class and how do I get there? This question is on the minds of more and more call center executives and leaders today because of the successes realized by companies — Amazon, Zappos, USAA and others — that have positioned service as their key differentiator.

These companies operate successfully in low-margin, high-competition industries because they’ve created loyalty and volume by focusing on a great customer experience. A recent study by the DiJulius Group found that only about 5% of companies fall into the world-class category. The majority provide customer service at average or below-average levels.

Based on how the shift by companies to a focus on customer service, the number of world-class ratings should be much higher, but many companies fall short in the area where the rubber meets the road — the contact center. If a company doesn’t get the contact center part of the customer experience right, that company will never be able to move the customer’s perception of them to anywhere near world class.

What makes a contact center world class and how do I get there? This question is on the minds of more and more call center executives and leaders today because of the successes realized by companies — Amazon, Zappos, USAA and others — that have positioned service as their key differentiator. These companies operate successfully in low-margin, high-competition industries because they’ve created loyalty and volume by focusing on a great customer experience. A recent study by the DiJulius Group found that only about 5% of companies fall into the world-class category. The majority provide customer service at average or below-average levels. Based on how the shift by companies to a focus on customer service, the number of world-class ratings should be much higher, but many companies fall short in the area where the rubber meets the road — the contact center. If a company doesn’t get the contact center part of the customer experience right, that company will never be able to move the customer’s perception of them to anywhere near world class.

Read the entire article here:

http://cooneysolutionsgroup.com/files/LTmar10_WorldClass.pdf

We can help you deliver world-class:

http://cooneysolutionsgroup.com/Overview.html

Articles and free downloads can be found at

http://www.servicelevelgroup.com

Moving from good to world class

I recently had the opportunity to deliver a keynote in Austin, Texas that was focused on how call centers make the leap from good to world class.   This leap isn’t easy – a recent study found that only 5% of companies are able to deliver world class service.    Many companies don’t think they can make the leap or have the resources to make world class a target – in today’s real-time communication environment, you don’t have a choice – not focusing on world class will cost you more.    As marketing guru Set Godin says “The opposite of remarkable is very good…very good is an everyday occurrence and hardly worth mentioning.”  World class gets people talking…and this type of talk is powerful and free.

Here is a link to download the slides from the session along with the participant notes and some additional information.

http://servicelevelgroup.com/accasep09.html

Good luck  -  more articles and free downloads can be found at

www.servicelevelgroup.com

Thoughts on creating a great call center culture

There are a lot of “great places to work” lists – national, regional, industry specific, etc…   Good news is several companies with big call centers have made these lists.   These companies treat the call center as a value vs. a cost and the agents that work in these centers are totally engaged – and, the customers feel it.   Getting to this point in a call center is no easy task and many find it easier to focus on the “necessary evil” of providing service via a centralized group.   Raising the contact center bar starts with some self reflection on the reality of the culture – and then starting to undo many of the self-inflicted barriers.  This doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) be a top down exercise – great cultures have an openness that allows everyone to share new ideas and challenge conventional wisdom.

In a recent weekly email from Gazelles (worth signing up for at http://www.gazelles.com/index.html), they highlighted the Netflix approach to culture development and policies.    The presentation below is 128 pages of great ideas on addressing real issues head-on and creating a culture where employees can grow and customers will benefit.    I’ve been through the presentation at least 10 times and each time, I get a new call center culture “action item”.   No matter what level you are in your company, there are several ideas here for you to bring to the attention of others to help make the environment better for your employees…and, customers.

Culture

View more presentations from Reed Hastings.

Good luck  -  more articles and free downloads can be found at www.servicelevelgroup.com

Understanding Call Center Economics is Key to Gaining Senior Management Buy-In

During my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of organizations — some better than others, but all focused on how to do more with the resources they have. Whether it’s applying technology in new ways, implementing new training techniques to enhance sales, or simply making customer service representatives more “productive,” everyone has some type of improvement focus going at all times. The companies that are good at this often have formal, focused ways of getting the employees involved in the solution. The best actually get the front-line employees to not only generate the solutions, but take responsibility for the design and actual organizational implementation.

Unfortunately, in many cases, the contact center isn’t given the ability to invest the necessary people time it takes to realize a measurable return. Yes, to get the full impact of a focused front-line solution initiative, agents will not only have to be given time off the phone, it must be done in a way that shows the company values their input in the same manner as their handling of a customer.  Good, valuable employee feedback is obtained when you have scheduled formal meetings and everyone invited gets to attend because you’ve planned the workload and workforce around the customers. When employees feel like the company is making an investment in them, they’re more willing to share openly and help to provide solutions that make a difference.

While this approach makes sense to most people running contact centers and executives will typically, “buy-in” to the concept, there needs to be a formal, measurable plan developed to keep everyone on focus and engaged. And because just about everything in a contact center comes with the need to justify the investment, you’ll want to have something to refer to when the “buy-in” isn’t as strong.   The ROI is easy, but you’ll need to create ways for everyone in the organization to understand the real economics of call centers.    Just this past week, I did a web seminar for the National Association of Dental Plans (NADP) on this very topic  – here is a link to the Power Point file”

http://www.servicelevelgroup.com/files/NADP call center economics July 2009.ppt

Feel free to use anything you find helpful and if you have questions, email me at timm@servicelevelgroup.com

Good luck  -  more articles and free downloads can be found at

www.servicelevelgroup.com

How do World Class Call Centers Stay World Class?

Getting a call center operation to the world class level is something most leaders never experience.   A recent study by a leading service organization found that less than 5% of companies fall into the “world-class” category.   It also found that about 80% of companies fall into the average or below category  – many want to achieve greatness, they just don’t know how.

I’ve been fortunate to work with some really great companies and people – I take every opportunity to discuss the “how to” with leaders of  world class companies.   I recently had a conversation with the current CIO of Mutual of Omaha and former COO of USAA, Tim Handren.   I asked him the “how to” question and he started down the path of “diet and exercise”.    Like most people that hear the story, I wasn’t sure where this was going to go, but it all comes together in a way that easily reminds everyone that they have to focus on the basics every single day to obtain and maintain world class call center service.

After our conversation, I convinced Tim to help me write an article for an industry magazine on the subject and it can be found on page 14 in the below link.

http://www.servicelevelgroup.com/files/CCP200907.pdf

Good luck  -  more articles and free downloads can be found at

www.servicelevelgroup.com

Free Metrics Into Action Slides and Sesssion Extras

I recently had the opportunity to present a half day workshop at the Call Center Demo Conference in Austin Texas.   Having presented to over 10,000 call center professionals throughout the world, I’m always amazed at how the basic needs never seem to change – call center leaders are looking for help in using the metrics to positively influence change at every level of the organization.     I’ve done this session “Moving Metrics Into Action” at several events over the last three years and it is always one of the most highly attended programs.

For this event, I created a web site to allow all the participants to download a soft copy of the slides and some additional information that they would find helpful.   I’ve decided to post the link on my blog  – feel free to download and use/share any of the information you find helpful.

http://www.servicelevelgroup.com/AustinJune09.html

If you have any questions, you can email me at timm@servicelevelgroup.com

Best of luck,

Tim

More info available at www.servicelevelgroup.com

Some good ideas to help cope with call center stress

In the best of times, call centers are challenging environments.  The current pressures of the economy have added stress to everyone and call center leaders are being testing in ways like never before.   About 8 months ago, I had the honor to meet Dr. Alan Zimmerman at a National Speakers Association function and was impressed and motivated by his message.   I immediately subscribed to his free weekly news letter and do something with it that I don’t do with most of the others I receive – read it right when it arrives in my inbox.   We all benefit from reminders that life is more than work and this week he presented a great list that I’ve printed out and hung on my office wall. 

Here is a link to sign up for his weekly newsletter http://www.drzimmerman.com/

 ”TIPS FOR AN EXCEPTIONAL LIFE … no matter what is happening in the world”

 **Up Your Attitude

1.  Remember … no one is in charge of your happiness except you.
2.  Remind yourself that even though life isn’t fair … it’s still good.
3.  When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself, “Today I am thankful for ________________ .”
4.  Don’t take your feelings too seriously.  Act as if you’re enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic.
5.  No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up … with a smile and don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, issues of the past, or troubling things you cannot control. 
6.  Focus on all the good around you … at this very moment.
7.  Each night, as you go to bed, tell yourself, “Today I accomplished _______________ .”

**Live Your Life On Purpose

8.  When you wake up in the morning, complete the following statement, ‘My purpose for this day is _______________ .”
9.  Dream more while you are awake.
10. Write down your goals.  You’ll always accomplish more.

**Keep Things In Perspective

11. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
12. Before you panic with every problem that comes your way, ask yourself, “In five years, will this matter?
13. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present or mess up your future.
14. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
15. When you are feeling down, start counting your blessings. You’ll be smiling before you know it.
16. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class …but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
17. Time heals almost everything. So give TIME some time.
18. If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can’t buy. 

**Build Your Relationships

19. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch with them.
20. Call your family often.
21. Agree to disagree once in a while. You don’t have to win every argument.
22. Make at least three people smile every day.
23. Forgive often.  Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
24. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
25. Refrain from judgment. You have no idea what is going on in somebody else’s life. 

**Have More Fun

26. Watch more movies, play more games, and read more books than you did last year.
27. Clear the clutter.  Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
28. Smile more and laugh more. It puts energy back in your batteries.  
29. Don’t take yourself too seriously. No one else does.
30. Stop waiting for a special occasion.  Burn those candles, use the fancy china, and wear your nicest things. Every day is special.

**Take Care Of Yourself

31. Take a walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
32. Always make time for exercise.
33. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper.
34. Buy a Tivo (DVR), tape your late night shows, and get more sleep.
35. Eat more foods that grow on plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.
36. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds, and walnuts.

Action:

Circle three tips that you will focus on this week, and then consciously follow those tips for the next seven days.  Let them become a habit in your life.

Make it a great week!

Dr. Alan Zimmerman

Get more, including Free web seminars and articles at http://www.servicelevelgroup.com/

Opportunity #7 – Refocus efficiencies on reducing volume, NOT handle time.

Many centers focus a lot of energy on reducing agent handle time. There are good things and bad things associated with this measure. If managed correctly, better handle times can result in improved service to all customers and happier agents. However, if poorly managed, the outcomes can have disastrous effects –higher agent turnover, loss of focus, management burnout, customer attrition, etc. By moving your real-time activities from attacking calls in queue to moving closer to the customer, you’ll soon see a reduction in overall call volume. How? When you gather, record, report and centralize customer feedback, you’ll quickly discover that your organization’s errors and inefficiencies are what cause many of the calls to the center in the first place — things like missing information on statements, non-user friendly self-service tools (Web-based and IVR), confusing communications/letters, etc. Armed with critical customer feedback in real-time, you can quickly make changes or adjustments to the things that are causing unnecessary calls into your center. And a reduction in call volume has an even greater impact than an overall reduction in call handle time for a given skill set. 

Impact: A temporary reduction in call volume will have a positive impact on your contact center’s results, but with an ongoing, companywide focus, the improvements grow exponentially. If you transformed your current real-time “queue” management efforts into a disciplined approach to eliminating the unnecessary reasons why customers call, you’ll quickly find the same results without the chaos and headaches of trying to slay the queue.

Get more, including Free web seminars and articles at http://www.servicelevelgroup.com/

Preparing Your Call Center Agents for Their Moments of Truth

Your frontline agents need the right tools, knowledge and focus to be ready to provide service at every one of their moments of truth.  Below is an example of what’s changing about customer service and attitudes, especially in regard to call centers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2007, on the left, we have “Customer Service Champs”    – a ranking of the top 20 customer service companies in the U.S. by Business Week Magazine.  They talk about all the things these companies do to provide customer service to and foster loyalty among their customers. 

When you fast-forward to 2008, and look at that year’s issue on the same topic (on the right), they still have the ranking of the top 20 customer service providers,   but look at what’s different — it’s all about how the customer is in control. 

Customer’s demands are changing faster than ever before.  Customers know that they are in control, and they are demanding that you, as an organization, pay attention to that fact.  They demand that every single one of your moments of truth meets their needs. 

Call centers are now getting highly creative in arming their agents with new tools to be able to deliver on that moment of truth every single time.  It’s a good thing, too, because if you’re not prepared for the moment of truth today, things are only going to get worse with customer demands and expectations forever increasing.

Get more, including Free web seminars and articles at http://www.servicelevelgroup.com/

Focusing on the Reality of Why People Call

One of the first things I do when working with clients or conducting workshops with call center managers   is force them to focus on the reality.  

I often use a song by Stevie Wonder to get the conversation started: “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”  When customers are calling us, they are not calling to say “Hey, I don’t need anything; I just wanted to call and say I love you.”  The reality is that you’re there to provide a service.  People are calling you with a request.  It could be a request driven by a product or something you’ve done in the past.  It could be some service element driven by what happened just prior to them calling.  There are lots of reasons why people call, but as you’re developing your strategy, you have to understand the root causes of these calls and how you provide them with the service they are expecting.   

Getting our callers to that they love us is not easy — love is a pretty strong word. If you look at the industry from a metrics perspective, there are more and more companies looking to net promoters — those customers out there that are telling people all about your organization and their experience with it.  That’s where companies are finding that loyalty is the key to growth. 

Today, with the Internet and all the different vehicles that enable customers to both praise and speak ill of companies, loyalty is taking center stage.   We have to start making our customers fall in love with our organization — to the point that they feel compelled to tell others that they love doing business with us.

Get more, including Free web seminars and articles at http://www.servicelevelgroup.com/