Call Center Processes are as Important as the Technology

In my role as a consultant, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of call centers across many industries.  Although the managers of these centers all have the same basic challenge of effectively managing in a dynamic real-time environment, the technology that is utilized — or under-utilized — varies widely.   More important than the technology are the underlying processes and procedures that allow a company to realize the full return on their call center investments.   Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and I’m a big fan of the recent advancements in what’s available to call centers.  I just find it painful to watch companies automate bad processes – Once you automate a bad process, you’ll get the same unwanted results, only quicker.

When working with call centers on technology initiatives, I often find myself thinking back to a story that W. Edward Deming shares in his book Out of the Crises.  In summary, his client found that they could buy software for $10,000 to repair errors made by employees that cost their company approximately one million dollars annually to correct.    Sounds like a no-brainer — spend $10,000 one time to save a million every year from then on. However, Deming suggested they focus on fixing the reasons behind the errors, thus improving the processes to the point where they didn’t have to rely on the automated system.  Once the processes were improved, he suggested they should then invest in the software – the process in place would be one that allows the software to catch the exceptions instead of becoming relied upon for success. More importantly the people doing the job would have greater satisfaction in their daily achievements.    

With budget dollars becoming even more difficult to obtain, it’s more important that ever to ensure that you’re getting the most from your technology investments.   A good first step is, to ask yourself how internal process will have to be adjusted to ensure you’re able to take full advantage of the new technology.   Once you’ve identified the changes necessary,  ask yourself how much of the improvement is due to the process changes and how much is actually gained from automation.    By improving the process first, you just might find you can make your technology dollars go a lot further, as you’ll only be automating those things that truly need it.

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