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The ChannelFor Industrynformation

As we move toward fall its time to think about your acapital budget requests. Don

another cycle go by wherewishes dont come true. Youto build the case for technolog

responds to business needs, cr

value by improving processe

workflow,and engen-

ders sup-port from

your entireorganiza-

tion. For anend gamethat results in approval and fun

start by choosing the right pro

including the right people on

project team, and considenhancements to existing tec

ogy, as well as new technolopossible solutions.

Choose theRight Projects

The right projects are thosgain approval from decision

ers and drive organi-

What is going onhere? They say bad

luck comes in threes,so maybe I am just

on a losing streak.Whatever the case,the last three interac-tions I have had as a

customer with a contact center

have been just awful. Not justgarden variety bad, but awful.And while I know that my job

tends to make me more critical

than most, it would be difficult

for even the hopelessly upbeat

to find any good in any of thesetransactions. (You are welcome

to try, thoughIoutlined them in the

sidebar on page 9.)Poor service tends

to get me a bit edgy,and in one of thetirades I threw after a

frustrating interaction,I found myself using a term that

comes up occasionally in ourconsulting work: blocking and

tackling. We generally use it to

refer to foundational activitiesthat need to take place in just

about any contact centermanaging phone coverage,

monitoring

Employee Engagement

July 2010

Sell Leadership Smart Technolo

Create an emotionalconnection todrive the behaviorshat contribute to

customer loyalty andbusiness success.

www.ContactCenterPipeline.com

BY SUSAN HASH

Share CCP with your staff.Find out how.

Call 443-909-6951

Brian Hinto

Blocking and Tackling

Jay Minnucci

What is it that makes the employees in

ertain companies especially enthusias-

c about their jobs and more committed

o delivering a high-quality customer

xperience on call after call? Higher

ay alone wont produce passionateoncern for the companys well-being

nd dedication to helping it achieve itsision or goals.

Employee engagement has been

widely discussed in recent years as a key

ontributor to customer satisfaction and

etention. There has been a great deal ofesearch into the correlation between an

ngaged workforce and positive opera-onal results, including higher profitabil-

ity, improved performance and lowercosts. It seems like employee engage-

ment has become the new corporate

brass ringbut its impossible to grab

if the companys leadership fails todemonstrate a sincere interest in their

employees well-being and growth.What exactly is employee engage-

ment? Definitions differ from study

to study and company to company,

although there are overlappingthemes. A few years ago,

PUBLISHING GROUP

IN THE PIPELIN

Performance Matte

The Three Phasesof Performance

ManagementPage 6

Inside ViewLegal Intake

ProfessionalsPage 10

Management ROI

Proving QualityPage 16

Forecast FocusSchedule Adherenc

A Fun Exercise for YAgentsPage 18

Leading Thoughts

The Contact CenterDevelopment ModePage 20

pa

page 3

page 8Linda HardenPublisher, Contact Center Pipeline

LinkedIn Group: Contact Center Pipeline

Join us for more discussion on LinkedIn.

What's Happening in Your Center?Rolling out a new monitoring program,

incentive program, hosting an open house?

Please share your story/project with us.

[email protected]

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Copyright 2010 Verint Systems Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

In challenging times, 360 foresightbeats 20/20 hindsight any day.

These days, you need every advantage to keep costs down

while delivering the great service that customers expect.

VerintWitness Actionable Solutionscan help. Our Impact 360

Workforce Optimization suite includes speech, data, and customer

survey analytics,along with desktop process analytics, that can

reveal trends and changes in customer behavior, inefficient business

processes, and more. For example, our Impact 360 Speech Analytics

helped a leading communications provider identify and correct process

and service issues that were driving calls into its contact centers, savingmillions of dollars.

Master the challenges of delivering service in todays economy with our

unified, analytics-driven, enterprise-enabled workforce optimization

solutions. Visit verint.com or call 1-800-4VERINT.

Analytics

Coaching

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Performance Management

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Recording

Workforce Management

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JUL 2010www.ContactCenterPipeline.com

The Conference Board took a look at 12 major

studies on employee engagementeach of

which had a different definition and varyingkey drivers of engagement. It came up with the

following composite definition of employeeengagement: a heightened emotional con-

nection that an employee feels for his or her

organization, which influences him or her to exertgreater discretionary effort to his or her work.

According to HR consulting firm HewittAssociates, employee engagement can be

measured by three primary behaviorssay,stayand strive:

Sayconsistently speaking positivelyabout the organization to coworkers

and referring potential employees andcustomers

Stayan intense desire to be a member

of the organization, despite opportunitiesto work elsewhere

Striveexerting extra effort andexhibiting behaviors that contribute to

business success

Impact on Profitability,Customer Experience

How much impact does employee engage-

ment have on a companys bottom line? A recent

Gallup study estimated that disengaged employ-

ees wasted more than $300 billion in productiv-ity in U.S. firms; however, organizations with an

engaged workforce have 2.6 times the earningsper share growth rate compared to others in the

same industry with a less-engaged workforce.Focusing on employee engagement and

measuring the impact of company decisions onthat engagement has shown a direct correla-

tion in customer engagement and profitabilityat Nicor National, a provider of turnkey energy

efficiency and warranty solutions for utilitiesnationwide. The organization, which measures

both employee and customer

engagement on a monthlybasis, has found that the results

are very closely aligned, says

Barbara Porter, vice president

of business development and

customer service.Employee engagement

in any organization is very

dynamicit trends positivelyat a pretty steady rate, and then you mightsee a dip in one month; for example, due to a

reorganization that might not have been com-municated properly, she says. When we see a

dip in employee engagement, we see a similardip in our customer engagementand when

we fix our employee engagement, our customer

engagement goes up. (See the graphic on page 4

of Nicors Engagement Index, which illustrates the

month-to-month correlation between employee

and customer engagement.)

Weve been able to demonstrate that cor-relation pretty directly, adds Nancy Korman,

senior manager of call center operations. Whenwe address employee issues upfront and take

action to make things better, we will see analmost immediate and dramatic improvement in

employee engagement, and therefore, customer

engagement.In some organizations, a 30- or 60-day lag

time is typical before customer engagement is

impacted, Porter says, but Nicor Nationals results

have been more real-time due to its comprehen-

sive employee feedback program.

Ask Employees for TheirFeedbackFrequently

Companies with high engagement typically

place a high priority on employee input, and they

tend to solicit their feedback more frequently

than others. At Nicor National, managementfirmly believes that employee feedback is the

cornerstone to creating a positive, open culture.

The environment that you create for youremployees is the environment that your cus-

tomers will experience, stresses Porter. To keep

a pulse on the workplace mood and the impactof management decisions on the culture, Nicor

National implemented Allegiances Voice ofEmployee (VOE) program. The call center uses the

VOE tools to collect unsolicited questions, sug-gestions and concerns from employees online.Employees can log into the tool whenever they

want to ask a question, make a suggestion, offera comment or bring up a concern. They can also

take an online survey that asks for their feedback

to statements like: Nicor National values my rela-

tionship; the company really cares about me; and

the company invests in my success.

On a monthly basis, the company also con-ducts a benchmarking survey using the VOE tool.

In addition, culture surveys, or pulse checks,are sent out to random groups of employees

on a regular basis. Their responses make up anemployee engagement index, which is tracked on

a weekly and monthly basis to help management

to identify trends.

Face-to-face time with employees is alsoimportant. Another method that management

uses to collect employee feedback

PUBLISHER

Linda [email protected]

EDITOR

Susan [email protected]

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Lori Bocklund Strategic Contact

Jay Minnucci Service Agility

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Rebecca Gibson

Susan Hash

Brian Hinton

Jon Pratz

Dan Rickwalder

Lesley Vereen

Jay Minnucci

DESIGN DIRECTOR

Mark [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR

Steve [email protected]

PIPELINE PUBLISHING GROUP, INCPO Box 3467, Annapolis, MD 21403

(443) 909-6951

Contact Center Pipelineis published

12 times a year by Pipeline Publishing Group.

Subscription fee is $240 per year.

To subscribe or renew subscription, go to

www.contactcenterpipeline.com.

Publisher is not responsible for the editorial cont

of Contact Center Pipeline. Views expressed her

are those of the authors and sponsors and do n

necessarily reflect the opinion of the ownership

or management of the newsletter.

Copyright 2010,

Pipeline Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction of Contact Center Pipelinein whole

in part is expressly prohibited without prior writte

permission from the publisher.

Print and Online Advertising Inquiries:

[email protected](443) 909-6951

www.contactcenterpipeline.com

Employee Engagement

Follow Contact Center Pipeline on:

TWITTER

@ twitter.com/SusanHash

LINKED-IN

@tinyurl.com/ccpLinkedin

page 1

page 4

BARBARA PORTER

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product development professionals are teamed with

customer support reps for new product releases. As[product development] is going through the process

of designing and developing new features, they get

feedback from customer support on how customers

might view the functionality, or to identify any gapsthat might cause issues with particular customer

configurations or the way that they use the applica-

tion, Woody explains.

Customer support reps also participate in Kaizenevents to improve support processes, like time to

close tickets or to prevent issues and problemsaltogether. Customer support drives the process,

pulling together crossfunctional teams that consistof representatives from product development, profes-

sional services and customer support. The group isbrought together for two or three days to go through

a segment of customer tickets to identify the root

cause and to come up with a list of action items toimprove the process.

Customer support reps are encouraged to attendSciQuests user group meetings that take place several

times a year, and each rep visits a customers siteat least once a year with a colleague from accountmanagement or professional services. We want them

to understand how the customer runs their business

and how theyre using our application or products to

do it, as well as what impact theyre having on thatwhen theyre assisting them, Woody says.

Create a Culture of Respect

In The Conference Boards review of employeeengagement research, the one key driver that all

of the studies agreed to be the strongest was the

employees relationship with his or her manager.As weve seen with Nicor National and SciQuest,

leaders who can establish a high level of trust andrespect are able to create the type of positive culture

that, in turn, generates passion for the workplace.Where do you start?Managers need to truly care about the people

who theyre responsible for, and look at them aspeople vs. metrics, says Porter. You need to care

about their success in your organization, more so

than your own success.

The most important people in our organizationare the people who communicate with and take care

of our customersand thats our contact centerrepresentatives and our technicians in the field. Andso our job is to support the people who take care of

our customers.

Editors Note: Learn more about SciQuests award-winning

customer service initiatives in next months Inside View column.

The process of measuring employee engagement can range from very simple

to very complex. Measuring your employees passion about work and the

work environment can be as simple as issuing a survey with a few scaled

questions around the ideas of:

Job satisfaction

Productivity

Quality of peers

Likelihood to change jobs

Likelihood to recommend company products or services

Likelihood to recommend as a great place to work

Satisfaction with compensation & benefits

Susan Hashis the Editor of Contact

Center [email protected]

(206) 552-8831

Measuring Employee Engagement

USE A LIKERT SCALE

Using a scale of agreement (or Likert Scale), a survey can express

quantitative measurements of your employee engagement. Often times,

gathering open-ended comments along with numerical, scale data yields arich source of inexpensive opportunities to make employees happy.

A Likert scale (pronounced lick-urt) is a type of psychometric response

scale often used in questionnaires, and is the most widely used scale in

survey research. For example:

I will look for another job in the next 12 months

By gathering compliments in addition to concerns, companies can find out if their engagement

efforts make a meaningful, lasting contribution to employees.

Consider the following anonymous compliment and complaint printed verbatim:

My manager is very proactive in discussing my abilities and goals with me and we

arrive at a goal together; one that is realistic and achievable.

It bothers me that our customers get better benefits with their accounts than we

do as employees. Everybody makes a mistake once in a while with their accounts; itsunbelievable that an employee gets two overdraft reversals in a lifetime.

These two feedback items helped a business confirm the effectiveness of its management

program and work on moral boosters for its employees. Engagement is most effectively measured

both quantitatively through scaled questions, and qualitatively through open-ended comments.

Source: Kyle LaMalfa, Allegiance Best Practices Manager and Loyalty Expert; excerpted from The Top 11

Ways to Increase Your Employee Loyalty, Engagement: Winning the Battle for Customer and Employee

Hearts & Minds,www.allegiance.com

GATHER COMPLIMENTS

1. Strongly disagree

2. Disagree

3. Neither agree nor disagree

4. Agree5. Strongly agree

8/10/2019 Ccp 201007

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Contact Center Pipeline6 JUL 2010

When was yourlast performance

review? Was itcompleted on time?

Was it truly reflec-tive of your overall

performance? Howspecific, fair andvaluable was the

feedback? Did youtrack your progress

and milestones against your goals throughout the

year, leading you to a thoughtful self-evaluation?

Most companies have some type of annual

performance evaluation process in which each

employees performance is evaluated accordingto a standard performance evaluation template.Organizations that take formal performance

management (PM) more seriously include aperiod for annual goal-setting, in which individual

employee performance goals are established that

align with and support cascading corporate and

departmental goals. Throughout the year, then,the expectation is that managers are monitoring

and coaching employee performance toward

these goals.With all this time devoted to PM and the

thousands of dollars poured into Web-basedperformance management systems, how manyemployees cite the annual performance manage-

ment process as motivator, a major contributor

to satisfaction or a reason they stay with thecompany? In too many companies, performance

management is a checklist activity that many

managers and employees dont spend much time

thinking about, except when goals or evaluations

are due.

A Three-Phased Approach

Whats the solution? A PM process that sharesaccountability equally between employees andmanagers, and devotes the time necessary to

allow all employees to reflect meaningfully on

the goals and behaviors that matter most.Each phase of the PM process is equally impor-

tant and dependent on the next to be successful.

If you shortchange one, the next step will suffer.

Logically then, good planning sets the stage forperformance management success.

PHASE 1: PLANNING

The planning phase includes individual

employee performance goal setting andanticipating the demands and challenges of the

upcoming year. This phase may be daunting toa manager with many employees, especially if

every employee has customized goals. However,

there are many ways to simplify and streamline

the individual employee goal process. Try toincorporate some of these ideas in the planningphase:

1. Document individual performance goals that

align with and support department and organi-zational goals. To streamline this step, provide

your employees with your departmental goals

and ask them to develop the first draft of theirperformance goals. What better way to familiarize

employees with the departmental goals and their

role in achieving them? Alternately, you may pair

employees in like jobs and ask them to work

collaboratively to develop their goals together.What about your frontline employees? Considerimplementing a collaborative, social networking-

style Web interface, posting the contact center

goals and asking agents for input about mosteffective best agent goals.

2. Set development goals. Developmentgoals are related to an employees skill devel-

opment and career aspirations, often separate

from the requirements of their current position.Development goals are developed in collabora-

tion with the employee and are meant to benefit

both the employee and the company, albeit inless direct ways than performance goals. Help

employees develop their own developmentgoals during coaching conversations. You are

asking employees about their future aspirations

professional interests and long-term goals, right

You can easily build a few of these questions into

your regular employee feedback and prompt

employees to keep track of them for annuadevelopment planning.

3. Identify the resources needed to meeperformance goals and anticipate performance

barriers. An important component of planning is

asking the employee to anticipate the resourcerequired to meet the goal (e.g., training, time, you

involvement), the barriers that might get in theway and how you or the employee will address

them if they do.Performance planning is really a series of teach

able moments: Youre teaching your employeehow to set professional goals, how to think strategically and proactively, and demonstrating the

importance of career planning.

PHASE 2: OBSERVATIONAfter the performance and development goal

are set and documented, the employee beginworking on his goals, fine-tuning his work, moni

toring his or her progress and marking milestones

The manager, of course, observes performanceand provides feedback, too. Although this phase

is commonly identified as the observation phase

that doesnt mean that its all on the managershoulders. Dont move from planning to observa

tion without clearly communicating to employ

ees their accountability for self-evaluation and fotracking their own progress toward their goalsSet specific expectations around how and how

often you want to see a progress update on thei

goals (e.g., during performance feedback meetings, through email, using a report template)

then hold them accountable for tracking thei

own performance, as much as possible.

The observation phase blends in with much o

the daily work of the contact center. Employee

do their work, which leads them closer to theigoals, and you observe and provide feedback on

The Three Phasesof Performance ManagementA better approach to performance management: Share accountabilityfor planning, observation and evaluation phases with your agents.

Performance MattersView Available CCP Training Resources at:

http://tinyurl.com/CCPTraining

Rebecca GibsonLearning Currents

8/10/2019 Ccp 201007

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their work, which is part of a managers

responsibility. Dont forget, though, that

you need to continually tie that per-

formance and observation back to the

goals that were set at the beginning ofthe PM process. You can easily build this

into your regular one-on-one meetings:

1. Discuss progress and results. Pull

out the complete goal plan (perfor-

mance and development goals) atregular intervals throughout the year

and discuss progress, barriers and suc-cesses. Praise progress and encouragethe employee every step of the way

toward goal achievement.

2. Review and refine goals. Dont be afraidto revise or refine goals, if necessary. In todaysbusiness environment, corporate goals or even

our strategy can change quickly and employeegoals should flex with those changes.

PHASE 3: EVALUATION

Your employees have been tracking their prog-ress toward their goals and providing you withregular status updates. Youve been observing,

coaching and encouraging throughout the year.Now youre ready to complete your employee

evaluations:1. Review your documentation and create

an overview performance and progress againstgoals. Now is the time to gather all your employee

progress report and status updates. If bothemployees and managers kept up with their

documentation and communication throughout

the year, then the end-of the year evaluationshould be much easier. This why I advocate

employee self-evaluation and tracking. It makeslife much easier for the manager, who has many

employees to track.2. Complete self-evaluation (employee) and

evaluation (manager). Self-evaluations are a

valuable component of the evaluation process.They provide employees with the opportunity

to reflect on their performance, help managersunderstand employees perspective of their own

performance, and fill you in on accomplishments

you may not have noted. Review the employees

self-evaluation before you begin the performanceevaluation and refer to it as you would othersources of performance data. As you prepare forthe evaluation conversation, be prepared to share

with the employee areas of the self-evaluation

where you agreed or disagreed.3. Transition seamlessly from Phase 3 to Phase

1. Devote a portion of your evaluation meeting to

planning for next year. The employee should leave

their performance evaluation meeting with an

assignment to start thinking about what he or she

wants to accomplish in the next year. That way,

when you distribute next years departmental

goals, the employee is ready to get down to thework of planning their goals for the next year.

Three Performance ManagementPitfalls

The pitfalls associated with performance man-

agement programs can be traced to not spend-ing enough time on the process. Managers whofollow these three guidelines will vastly improve

the quality of their performance management

process:

1. The process should be collaborative.Some managers and employees interpret the

performance management process as one inwhich managers set expectations and evalu-

ate employees against those expectations. Thisapproach casts the employee in the role of passive

observer rather than active participant. Involving

employees in goal setting, monitoring and track-

ing, and evaluation eases the manager workload,

encourages ownership and

increases the likelihood that

your employees will find thePM program relevant andvaluable.

2. The process should be

fair. Its no surprise that many

employees dont feel the PMprocess is fair. Some of this

will be remedied through col-

laboration and involvement,

as well as ongoing com-munication throughout the

year. There are several steps

you can take to ensure thefairness and validity of your

PM process. HR departments

or department heads shouldconsider analyzing manager

scores across teams to verifymanagers arent unjustly rat-ing their teams higher than

others. Ask employees opin-

ions about the PM process in employee

evaluations. Have HR review a sampleof goals and evaluations each year and

make the quality of goal setting andannual evaluations part of every man-agers scorecard.

3. The process should be meaning

ful. Employees and managers need thetimemental time and clock timeto

reflect on what they want and how theyfeel as much as the realities of meetingmilestones and deadlines. Employee

should feel that their manager values

them enough to take the time to set

individual goals (not just cookie-cutte

ones), observe daily performance and achievements, and write reflective, meaningful evaluations that seamlessly integrate employee goals

performance, dreams and aspirations.Your performance management process can

be meaningful and relevant. It can bring out thebest in your employees and demonstrate you

commitment to the companys success and theemployees professional growth. Dont miss out on

the opportunity to implement a PM process tha

improves the future prospects of the companyyour employees and you.

Rebecca Gibsonis a workplacelearning and performance consultantand Principal of Learning Currents.

[email protected]

(443) 255-9387

Phase 1:

Planning

Phase 3:

Evaluation

Phase 2:

Observation

ADVERTISEMENT

8/10/2019 Ccp 201007

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calls, measuring performance, coaching staff,etc. During an assessment, these are the tacticalactivities we evaluate to ensure that at least a

basic level of service is provided.

The Customer Perspectiveon Basics

Having been on the short side of these last

three transactions, though, I found myself think-

ing about basic blocking and tackling from adifferent perspective. While consultants may think

in terms of inputs, a customer really only cares

about the output. When a customer makes a call,

for example, the expectation is that there will

be someone there to answer it in a reasonableamount of time. The processes that make that

happen are of no concern. And while there aremany things that might wow a customer, block-

ing and tackling is really only about the basics.While in the throes of my frustration, I came upwith this very short list of what those basics are:

Acknowledge me and my request. Answer my questions correctly.

Follow through as stated/expected.

That is a pretty simple list. Let us not confuse

it with any list of what customers want, or whatimpresses them, or what builds loyalty. This listis about the bare minimum. Think of it as the

customers version of food, water and shelter. The

last two basics in the list above are pretty obvious,

while the first changes a bit based on the channel

selected (see the table below).

Inside the CenterIf you are thinking that this blocking-and-

tackling definition sets the bar pretty low, you

get no argument from me. Yet, if the bar is set

this low, why is it that multibillion dollars com-

panies are sometimes unable to clear it? It would

be easy to say that they usually do and that my

experience was just bad luck. When I relate thestories to someone else, though, I always find

myself listening to an in-kind response of asimilar experience every bit as egregious as theones I encountered. While no one is suggestingthat such service is always the case, the sheer

number of these stories, coupled with key pieces

of evidence from some of them (note Case #2 on

page 9, for example, where they explained, it is

not our policy to notify you if we are not goingto show up), make it clear that way too many

interactions fail to meet the minimum.Inside the contact center, the surfacing of

one of these complaints from a VIP often fuels

a blame gamethe CSR should not have saidthat, the knowledge management system

wasnt updated properly, etc. Finding fault andlaying blame might be natural, but it is not veryproductive when the problem is systemic. We

need to take a more proactive approach with our

blocking-and-tackling issues. As an industry, the

stakes are certainly high enough. Review all thecriticisms we receive from the mainstream media,

and before long it becomes clear that the issuesthat rankle our customer most are those that are

squarely in the blocking-and-tackling category.

Clearing the HurdleThe nice part about a low bar is that we dont

need to make a herculean effort to cross it. In

fact, we do not need anything close to a 12-step

program to bring about positive change. Threewill work just fine:

1. Recognize and accept that every contact

center has to perfect blocking and tackling before

going on to the fancy things like voice analytics

social media and whatever else may come next2. Empower the frontline with whatever is nec

essary to avoid or immediately correct a situationwhere a block or tackle is missed.

3. Test vigorously. We can never assume that a

is going well, so you should have test accountavailable where you can model different service

scenarios (like, say, a customer having problemwith an out-of-warranty product that has a

known defect) and call in to make sure the righprocesses are in place and are followed by al

staff on all channels.The three items above should be within the

grasp of everyone running a contact center. Nohuge investments are required, and no specia

expertise is needed to make it happen.

A Consistent Approach

Yes, blocking and tackling may seem boringcompared to all the other things that we can

accomplish with a service or sales transaction

Yet the ability to deliver the basics time and time

again is a powerful way to build an image and

create loyalty. Just ask the TV manufacturer profiled in Case #2. With a quick, accurate response

I would have decided to remain a customer. Now

I have my eye on one of their competitors fla

screens which will fit perfectly in the spot thathe old TV is about to vacate.

Create a winning contact center by executing well on the servicefundamentals. By Jay Minnucci, Service Agility

page 1

Agility Factor

Blocking and Tackling

Customer Basics by Channel

Basic Expectation In-Person Service Phone Call Text Chat Email

Acknowledge me and my

request.

Make eye contact, indicate

that you will be with me soon.

Get to me within a couple of

minutes.

Provide some messaging,

get me to an agent in a

reasonable amount of time.

Acknowledge my text quickly,

even if just to let me know you

will be with me soon. Respond

consistently throughout the

chat session.

Send an acknowledgement

immediately. Answer me in

two days or less.

8/10/2019 Ccp 201007

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Jay Minnucci is Founder and President

of the independent consulting firm

Service Agility.

[email protected]

(215) 679-5250

We are going to

leave the companynames out of this

but other than that,the details are all

accurate. Here arethe three cases thatled to this article:

THREE CASESIllustrate the Impactof Poor Service

1Case #

2Case #

3Case #

Service Requested

Situation

Outcome

Service Requested

Situation

Outcome

Service Requested

Situation

Outcome

Tired of my landline phone

bill going up (yes, I still havea landline phone), I decided

to check out a packagedoffer from a local cablecompany (phone, internet

and TV for one low price).

I checked the informationout online, then sent anemail (initiated from the

companys website) to getinformation and request acall.

None. Its been threemonths, and I still havenot heard a thing.

Still paying for

the landline.Would have gladly

switched over bynow had someonecontacted me.

Called to set up phoneservice for my wifesnew business. Provided

all information exceptfor the company EIN

(tax number), which Idid not have with me. I

was assured this wasnot a problem, and thetechnician would get

it at turn-on. I verifiedtwice at the end of the

call that the companyhad everything they

needed, and thatthey would be on sitebetween 8 a.m. and

noon the following

Thursday.

Its the only phone

company in the areaif you want a land

line. Complaintswere made and the

issue was finallyaddressed. Ofcourse, a technician

was not needed. Theywere able to turn on

service remotely.

An out-of-warranty big-screen TV stoppedworking. Got a replacement part fromthe retailer, who indicated that the

simple solution would probably not work.There was a known defect, and the fix

would likely cost hundreds more thanthe replacement part. The retailer kindly

provided information on how to contactthe manufacturer and what to provide,since they may be willing to assist in

paying for the fix.

Manufacturer contacted, with originalreceipt and cost estimate for the fix

scanned in an email to the contact, as perinstructions. Acknowledgement received

indicating that a response would becoming in two days. Fourteen days later, I

have not heard anything. They finally call(even though I specifically request emailcommunication) and seem unable to come

to resolution. After one month, they finallycall (again) and leave a voicemail indicating

that they think the problem can be fixedwith the simple solution (the one I originally

told them we tried and it did not work), andI can order the part from them.

After great effort, I finally get a supervisor

to call me back. An offer is made that Ican get a brand new TV for the moneythat it would cost to fix the oldless than

half of the retail price, and far lower thanI would spend for a comparable TV from a

competitor. It is a good deal, but it feelstoo much like I am making it with the devil.

Product quality is questionable, and theservice has been awful. In the end, I decide

to spend the extra money for a product froma competitor.

Thursday comes,

and no one showsup. Shocking. Call

made to the phonecompany, and weare told that the

technician cannotcome out because

we did not supply

the EIN. We askedwhy no one calledus to request theinformation so that

the appointmentcould be kept, and

were told that it isnot company policy

to make calls tonotify customerswhen information is

missing.

MONTH

01

MONTH

02

MONTH

03

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In too many organizations, leadership effective-ness has been impaired by constantly shifting priori-

ties and flavor-of-the-month strategies. When thecompanys vision is not aligned with its policies,

procedures and management style, its hard on the

employees and morale suffers.

Good leadership requires a consistent approach,

says Mike Harris, executive director of Legal Intake

Professionals, a 24-hour legal intake and attorneyanswering service for injury lawyers. The trick is to

maintain a uniform management style during goodtimes and bad, and even when the organization

is undergoing considerable change, like extreme

growth. Legal Intake Professionals is currently more

than tripling its capacity, and is in the process of

moving to a larger center this fall, but the changehasnt had a negative impact on its current staff.

Keeping a Fingeron the Morale Pulse

Employee morale is high at Legal IntakeProfessionals. Thats because the management

team places a high priority on job satisfaction andmakes the time to listen to employee feedback

and concerns. Employees are surveyed about their

satisfaction on a quarterly basis. All of their com-

mentspositive and negativeare posted onthe company intranet, along with managementsresponses. In addition to quarterly surveys, staff

can offer more timely feedback and suggestions

through postings on the intranet, which is checked

on a weekly basis. Harris and the operations man-

ager take the time to review and respond publiclyto all comments every single Friday.

Employee morale is thoroughly discussed in

the companys quarterly staff meetings, as wellas in the contact centers weekly team meetings.

We set aside the last hour of each staff meetingto discuss morale, Harris says. We try to encour-

age employees to talk about the things that are

bothering them in a group environment, which

allows everyone to build on each others ideas,and hopefully, we can define issues for improve-

ment from those discussions.

Inside ViewDownload more Inside View articles on our website at:

http://tinyurl.com/CCP-InsideView

AT-A-

GLANCELOCATION(S):

Nashville, Tenn.

CONTACT CENTER SIZE:

45 intake specialists

OPERATING HOURS:

24x7

CUSTOMERS:

120 injury law firms

SERVICES PROVIDED:

Handling new case calls forlaw firms; outbound calls forweb forms

CHANNELS:

Phone and email

VOLUME:

Approximately 17,000 calls/week (about 5,000 of whichare new case calls)

TOP CHALLENGE:

Coordinating a move to alarger center that will more

than triple capacity, alongwith new phone and software

systems.

KEY STRENGTHS:

Consistency in call qualityand driving internal values ofrespect, growth, confidence

and a supportive culture.

Legal IntakeProfessionalsConsistency in leadership, rewards, discipline and call qualityis the key to employee engagement and high morale.

By Susan Hash, Contact Center Pipeline

PHOTOS,FROMLEFT:LEGALINTAKESTAFF

ATANASHVILLECHARITYEVENT;MANAGERJERS

EYDAY;EXECUTIVEDIRECTORMIKEHARRIS

8/10/2019 Ccp 201007

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Leaders Work to Ensurea Consistent Approach

Harris attributes the contact centers lowturnover (well under 20%) in part to a consis-

tent management approach in both rewardsand discipline. You have to be consistent with

your praise, as well as the corrective actionprocess, he says. If not, you may have a high-

performing employee who sees someone else

constantly underperforming and getting awaywith it. That will ultimately affect your high per-

former adversely.Harris credits Operations Manager Netcha

Rodriguez with establishing uniformity in the

centers policies and procedures, which has

increased staff productivity. To ensure align-ment in vision and goals, Harris and Rodriguez

have scheduled twice-weekly meetings to

review long-term planning, upcoming pri-orities and ways to improve call efficiency,

productivity and staff appreciation. Contactcenter managers also schedule weekly one-

on-ones with each of the intake specialists todiscuss performance. Managements goal inthese conversations is to focus on the positive

by giving more praise than discipline, and tomake specialists feel appreciated for the work

that theyre doing.You have to schedule the time to do the

things that you promise youre going to do for

your managers and specialists, and you have to

follow up, Harris says. Sometimes it takes extrawork and energy, but you owe it to your staff.

Show Daily Appreciation withSmall Rewards and Fun Activities

Employee appreciation is another keycontributor to high morale at Legal Intake

Professionals. The company has an Employee ofthe Year award, for which winners receive a gift

card for $500

and extrapersonal days

off. However,Harris points

out that youdont have

to offer bigrewards tomake them

meaningful.Its more the

little thingsthat you do

on a daily basis and being consistent in how

you show that you appreciate the job that youremployees are doing, he says.

In the contact center, each month, the spe-

cialists with top scores in quality and call audits

are recognized, and are taken out to lunch by

management. On a daily basis, top performers

receive emails or letters of recognition.In addition to recognition for performance,

a spirit team plans regular celebrations andentertaining activities to provide an enjoyable

atmosphere. Those include monthly potlucks

and semimonthly events, such as an ice creamday, best baby picture day and silly hat day, to

name a few.The company intranet provides another

channel to lighten the atmosphere. It contains

fun bios and pictures of staff members, as wellas industry information and definitions to help

keep employees knowledge up to date. Also,

recent law cases are posted to illustrate the

importance of the work that the intake special-ists do. The company also participates in local

charity events twice a year, and encouragesvolunteer work.

Transparency in Policies,Performance and Feedback

Look inside any company that has high attrition

and youll likely find internal barriers to informa-tion and managers who dole out details on a

need to know basis. But thats not the case atLegal Intake Professionals, where the frontline

staff has access to all of the centers metrics and

reports. Intake specialists can also retrieve theirpast call audits at any time, listen to the calls, and

view their scores and feedback.

There is nothing hidden in any way, saysHarris. You cant fix something unless everyone

knows what is going on and when we havean opportunity for improvement, we look toour specialists for answers.

Besides making information and feedbackreadily available for contact center staff, man-

agement also takes the time to communicate tostaff the underlying reasons for any decisions or

policies. We always tell them the why behind the

process, so they will understand why we need to

do things a certain way. They may not agree with

it, but at least they will know the reason for it.

People Helping PeopleLegal Intake Professionals customer-centric

culture is based on its values of respectgrowth, confidence and maintaining a fun

environment, says Harris.Our purpose as an organization is helping

helping injured people connect with an attorney

who can help them, as well as helping each other

he says. We try to instill in our specialists the

confidence that theyre the right person to helpthe caller. While they dont give legal advice

theyre there to take care of the caller by askingthe right questions, providing an appropriate

amount of empathy, and making the callers feelike they have the process started with a law firm

that truly cares about their needs.

MIKEHARRIS

ContactCenter

TrainingCheck out our ever-growing

training resources at:

http://tinyurl.com/CCPTraining

We look forward to being your

new training partner in 2010

New in the Pipeline

8/10/2019 Ccp 201007

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zational support. To identify which projects areright, you have to get clear on your corporations

strategy and the role the contact center plays

within that strategy. Then focus on projects that

link to the strategyprojects that really matterto the contact center and the corporation.

When your CxOs, board members and otherstakeholders make decisions about project fund-

ing, they demand a strategic link. Most of them

have scar tissue from bad technology choicesthat proved costly to the organization. Becausemoney is tight, theyll be especially careful to

find the synergy between the overall corporate

strategy and your proposal for new technology.Without a strategic link, they risk making isolated

tactical decisions that dont fill the highest priority

strategic gaps.As you define a project strategically, ask your-

self: Whats our goal? What pain are we trying

to alleviate? What roadblocks to achieving busi-

ness goals are we trying to tear down? Use thestrategic triumvirate to guide project definition:

Business Strategy. Define the businessdrivers that create the need for

technology. Identify the corporate goalsthat the contact center will not achievewithout project funding.

Operations Strategy. Relate thetechnology requirement to the contact

center functions and operationalinitiatives that support the business

strategy. Identify the changes that thetechnology facilitates and relate the

changes to achieving corporate goals.

Technology Strategy. Show how therequired technology fits within the overall

IT Strategy and technology roadmap,and how that strategy aligns with and

supports the operational and businessgoals.

The goal of the strategic synergy is to move

beyond generic contact center staff efficiency.

Instead, take a penetrating look at the opera-

tional barriers that impede your centers ability to

contribute to the business strategy. For example,

your business goals may include aggressive rev-enue increases that require the contact center

to step up the direct or indirect impact on sales,

thus requiring cross-sell and upsell tools. Or youmay find yourself in a situation where aggres-

sive corporate growth goals did not prompt a

commensurate budget increase for the contactcenter. Your project definition should identify

these barriers and the means through which the

project breaks them down.It is important for credibility to move a step

past the strategic level by defining the project at

a tactical level. State the project in terms of howyour operations will change to allow the con-

tact center to contribute more fully to corporate

goals. For instance, to increase the contact centeimpact on revenue, your project might be toimplement a dialer to make outbound sales calls

during low inbound periods. Or, to do more with

less, you might propose web or IVR self-service

to offload agent-assisted contacts.This discussion might leave you with the

impression that if you define your roadblocks

and gain approval for projects that break theroadblocks down, you can rest easy knowing that

youve fulfilled your end of the strategic equation

Unfortunately, that is not the contact center real-

ity. As shown in Figure 1 on page 13, continuouschange drives new requirements. These changes

come through internal and external businessdrivers, ever-changing operational plans and

possibilities created by new technology.

Include the Right PeopleFigure 1 reveals that drivers for change can

come from varied sources and impact parts of

the organization outside the contact center. Fothe credibility of your project requests, you should

acknowledge the crossfunctional impact of tech-

nology projects. Engage other organizationa

stakeholders during the project definition phaseto sow the seeds of your future project team.

The IT department is a key collaborator onany technology project. As shown in Figure 2

they work with operations to see whether or not

existing technology can meet near-term needsIf new technologies are explored, IT establishesparameters that are aligned with the corporate

infrastructure. IT needs to be engaged to reviewbudget proposals to ensure that all costs arereflected and to assist with building the busi-

ness case.

Budget season is coming upits time to start building a solid case to getyour technology projects approved and funded.By Brian Hinton, Strategic Contact

Tech Line

Sell Leadership

on Smart Technology Investments

page 1

Table 1: Cost categories of a TCO calculation

Cost Categories Initial Ongoing

External HardwareSoftware

Installation

Implementation professional services

(vendor, consultant, contractor)

MaintenanceAdditional phases

Expansion, upgrades, new features/

functions

Additional professional services

Internal Process design

Training

Change management

Project management

Development/integration

Operations

Administration

New roles for administration and

management

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IT isnt the only stakeholder that might

need to be involved. Last months Tech Linearticle, Technology Bridges Organizational Silos,

detailed some technology categories that requirecrossfunctional planning and project teams.

VoIP: an enterprise implementation

and virtualized staff including otherdepartments as backup

Unified communication: cross-departmental collaboration to reach

subject matter experts

Business process optimization: process

flows throughout the organization

Social media: marketing crafts the

messages and drives the strategy

Analytics: enterprise learnings foroptimization opportunities

Customer relationship management andknowledge management: intrinsicallyenterprise applications

Review Current Technologyfor Optimization Opportunities

Most contact center technology is highly unde-

rutilized so you might find your solution alreadyexists without capital investment. Considering

all options prior to requesting capital dollars fora technology investment lends credibility and

may accelerate your timetable.

Technology investments alone dont delive

business value. Technology enables operationaimprovements that drive the value. Companies

often implement new applications that are func

tionally identical to what they are replacing andnever get around to the operational improve

ments that would drive value creation. You may

want to look at past investments that fell shor

and invest in achieving the originally projectedpotential.

You can facilitate driving additional value from

current technology by creating new support role

to apply the technology in current processesor by adding responsibilities to existing roles

You may need to take on the difficult task oredesigning processes that may have been more

readily changed when the technology was firsimplemented. To get full value from current tech

nology, you may need upgrades, added modulesor integration. With the reduced investment of the

past couple of years, you may need to invest in

current revisions to mitigate the risk of unstableor unsupported products. These suggestionsemphasize that getting more value from curren

technology is not free, so make sure you build the

people, internal process effort and upgrades into

your project planning.

Build the Case for New TechnologyBuilding a business case for new technology

can be a challenge, but by following a formal pro

cess you can get your projects approved. Figure3 on page 14 shows the four steps in building

credible business cases that result in project fund

ing: Build a baseline, quantify the costs, quantify

the benefit, and create success metrics.

Build a Baseline

You cant build a credible business case unles

you start with a baseline model that shows how

current processes drive the need for resources

staff, technology, facilities and budget dollars

As you consider technology investments andtheir impact on business processes, youll adjusthe baseline model to reflect future processe

and the requirements for resources they drive

The required investment, the change in youexpenses, plus the projected impact on revenue(if applicable) will impact the baseline and con

tribute to your ROI calculation. This exercise mayseem like a lot of work, but your detailed under

standing of contact center economics speaks alanguage that senior management understands

and lends credence to your capital requests.

Quantify the Costs

Quantifying the costs of a technology projecis not easy (see the sidebar). For page 14

Figure 1: Forces of change impacting strategy and contact center operations

Figure 2: Technology project approval path to success

8/10/2019 Ccp 201007

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Tech Line |Sell Leadership on Smart Technology Investments

Figure 3: Fours steps to building a credible business case

a credible business case it is important to include

a complete accounting of costs, not just vendor

quotes. You must approach the costs from a Total

Cost of Ownership (TCO) perspective. Consider

internal and external costs driven by the projectand include initial investment costs and costs

you will incur over time as a result of the project.

Table 1 on page 12 details the cost categories toconsider in a TCO calculation.

Quantify the BenefitsBy definition, the benefits associated with a

technology project are assumptionsyou cant

predict the future. Benefit calculations are there-

fore much less exact and open to challenges. The

key to success is to define and clearly state your

assumptions. Decision makers may choose to

challenge your assumptions, but youll have the

benefit of a reasoned defense for your position.And as long as you can show how the assump-tions drove the projected benefit calculations, you

can keep the debate focused on assumptions.

If youve built a robust model, youll be able to

tell quickly whether or not a change in assump-tions makes a material difference on the benefits

calculation and ROI. That will focus the discussion

around judgment calls that really matter.

To quantify the benefit, we need to alter thebaseline understanding of our current resource

requirements and drivers that we developed ear-

lier. The following is a partial list of assumptionsor variables that you can change as a result of a

technology project.

Decrease process volume

Shift process volume to an alternate

(ideally lower cost) resource

Eliminate or automate processes

Eliminate, automate or combine processsteps

Reduce process step duration

Once you have identified the variables toalter, remember to project the assumptionsor the value of the variable through the entire

planning period. If you base your business caseon five-year cash flow analysis, then you should

page 13

8/10/2019 Ccp 201007

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project the changes in the variables throughthat entire period. You may need to phase in the

benefit over time until it reaches the value thatyou project as the maximum improvement. Thislends a great deal of credibility to your calculation.

By determining how processes will change with

your new technology, you can specifically define

the source of the benefit and add credibility tothe result.

Labor savings is obviously going to be a bighitter in driving a positive ROI as that is the largest

part of a contact center budget. However, dontforget to consider possible ways that revenue

will increase based on the technology project.

Revenue increases can drive extremely appealing

ROI calculations.

Create Success MetricsAny variable or assumption that you changed to

quantify the benefit of the project now becomes a

metric to monitor once the project is completed.Success metrics created in a business case do not

assure success, but they do ensure very credible

reports stating success or progress toward success

and enable action to mitigate a lack of progress.This approach to post-project success analysis

removes any skepticism caused by past failures to

achieve projected ROI. Make sure the metrics that

you choose align with strategic goalsbringing

us full circle to the strategic alignment discussed

at the beginning of this article.

Proving project success using strategic metrics

isnt the end of the process. Credibility buildson itself. Once you have proven that decision

makers can trust your business cases, gaining

funding approval for each project becomes lesschallenging.

Put the Technology Investmentin the Right Context

Technology and its operation are a relatively

small part of the cost of contact center operations.

Your business case should carry the key message

that a reasonable investment can have a huge

impact on your primary budget categorylabor.

Figure 4 (below), taken from the white paper,

Cost Structure and Distribution in Todays Contact

Centers (Strategic Contact, March 2008, www.

strategiccontact.com), shows that technology

costs, while they may seem large when faced with

an investment decision, are a relatively small slice

of the pie (2.65.9%). Investing in technology tomake the workforce more efficient can have a

profound and lasting impact.

Tech Line |Sell Leadership on Smart Technology Investment

Brian Hintonis a SeniorConsultant at Strategic Contact.

[email protected]

(706) 310-0544

Figure 4: Contact center cost distribution

Challenges in GainingProject Approval withCredible Business Cases

Chances are, you can relate to thesetypical challenges in gaining projectapproval.

Tighter budgets

Decision authority at higher levels in

the organization

Credibility problems with decision

makers due to unrealized benefitsfrom past projects, an inventory of

shelf ware, and past purchases basedon vendor generated excitementrather than actual business need

Difficulty in measuring project benefits

Clearly, youll need to produce highly

credible business cases, but credibilityis easier said than achieved. There aretwo components of any business casecost and benefitseach having specificchallenges.

Typically, on the cost side, a contactcenter business case is built around avendor bid. The bid is usually fixed pricebased on assumptions about variablecosts. Those assumptions may not becorrect. Also, the bid does not includeall internal costs, external costs, currentinvestments and ongoing expenses thatneed to be addressed. Sharpen your

penciland your thinkingto make surethat your cost estimates are reasonableand comprehensive. If you habitually goback to the well for unplanned expenses,youll have trouble gaining project

approval down the line.

The typical approach in determining thebenefits starts with reducing headcount.Since labor is the largest part of mostcontact center budgets, most, if notall, contact center projects impact thelabor budget. However, the problem isthe approach that planners often use to

quantify this labor reduction. The properway to estimate staff reduction is towork through the potential operationalimpact of the new technology andthen determine the impact on labor.

Unfortunately, most folks decide on thelabor savings up front and then force-fitthe implementation into that framework.

They ignore the key variables that drivethe benefit. That approach is neitherreasonable nor effective, and risks areduction in headcount that surpasses thebenefits truly gained.

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Someone onceasked me to choosebetween a workforce

management system

and a quality tool.

As a self-proclaimedworkforce manage-

ment guy, my answershould be obvious.After all, I believe thatall the savings in the

center are aroundstaffing and efficiency. If anything, shouldnt I

want to cut handle time so we can answer more

calls?Without hesitation, I chose the quality system.

There is no doubt that workforce management

(WFM) systems can help you save money by staff-

ing more effectively. The return on investment for

WFM is very real. Scheduling improvements often

provide short-term savings that quality systems

do not realize. Because of this, WFM is easier tosell to executives. But the effective application of a

quality process can drive dramatic changes in the

way agents handle calls. These changes produce

better service, resulting in fewer interactions and

less overall workload. In the long run, this lowerworkload can save more than staffing correctly

to a higher workload.The value of decreasing overall workload pres-

ents both an easy argument and a challenge to a

manager who oversees a quality monitoring (QM)

program. On one hand, the math is simple: Lessworkload equals fewer agents. However, the easy

math gets complicated by inconsistent handle

times, seasonal forecasts and sudden increases in

volume, like from new business. As a result, quality

managers often turn their attention to the thingthat they can controldelivering effective quality

coaching. Over time, this focal point causes the

purpose of quality monitoring to devolve fromeffectively decreasing workload to being the

people who listen to calls.Quality monitoring programs can go through

several stages in their life cycle. They begin as

performance management programs targeted at

process consistency. Over time, the focus shifts to

improving processes within the center. Ultimately,

they can evolve into a companys voice of the

customeraiming to improve organizational

processes. Organizational improvements result

in an excellent return through improved first-callresolution and eliminating organizational issuesthat cause customer dissatisfaction. The key to

successfully moving to the next stage is provingthe value of the current program and demonstrat-

ing the potential of investing in the next steps.

The Value of ProcessStandardization

When an organization begins a QM program,managers initially concentrate on developing

forms and guidelines, and implementing the pro-

cess. During this time, the managers are usuallybogged down with startup details, and they often

overlook the need to prove the value of the QMprogramwhich is necessary to move the pro-gram past the initial stages. Yet quality programs

often do not deliver typical cost improvementsin the initial stages. New QM programs focus on

two main areas:1. Service consistency: delivering the same

service every time2. Compliance: ensuring that all rules and

regulations are followed correctlyThe primary goal at the beginning is standard-

izing processesmaking sure that all agentshandle interactions the same way. Removing vari-

ability in a process is a necessary precursor to real

process improvement. Unfortunately, consistent

performance will not result in immediate savings

that will justify the initial costs. As calls becomemore consistent, they do not necessarily translate

into fewer or shorter calls.At this stage, QM can generate savings through

call control. Making call control skills a key ele-ment of the quality scorecard helps agents under-

stand how to move a customer through the call

in a friendly and effective way, which decreasehandle time without affecting customer service

These changes often are not apparent in overa

results due to other fluctuations in handle timeQuality managers can also show value by

capturing critical call type data. A quality form isan excellent tool for identifying which call types

come into the center, and even the handle timeby type. Whereas agents label call types as an

afterthought and system definitions tend to

be too generic, quality monitors can do a moreaccurate job. They have the time and training to

correctly determine the call type and provide the

level of detail that system parameters cannot

They can also tie actual handle times to those

detailed call types through the quality system

While this method is a great start to collectingcall type data, it does have some limitationsUnlike system tags, which label every call, only

a relatively small proportion of calls are reviewed

(i.e., a sample of calls).

There are two factors related to sample datathat you need to understand to use it effec-

tivelysample bias and how many calls arerequired to make up a sample that represents

all of a centers calls. The goal when collecting

sample data is to draw from a completely random

group of calls. When certain calls are excluded, the

analyst introduces sample bias into the resultsThis often happens during the QM process when

short calls, long calls or calls meeting certaincriteria are not evaluated. For instance, to ge

meaningful data at the agent level, a team mayexclude short transfer calls from the individua

scores. This practice can then bias the call type

sample by not reporting any short transfers.The second goal of sampling data is to ensure

a representative samplea group of results tha

looks just like the whole data set of calls. Whilea system can tag every call that comes in, QM

representatives can only evaluate so many calls in

a month. Therefore, cost increases as the numbe

of monitored calls (and, therefore, quality monitors) increases. Obtaining a representative sample

By Dan RickwalderProactive PlanningGroup

Management ROI

Proving QualityDemonstrate the value of your quality program:Take it from employee-centric to enterprisewide process improvements.

Email Us!

Share your suggestions, questions and story ideas.

[email protected]

8/10/2019 Ccp 201007

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balances the accuracy of the results with the

cost. As a rule of thumb, reviewing as few as 230randomly selected calls will provide a representa-

tive sample for analysisregardless of the queue

size. This also means that reviewing thousandsof calls will not provide dramatically different

results. The key is to remove bias to ensure a truly

random sample.

While capturing call type data may not reflect

direct cost or revenue, it is often seen as a criticalpiece of business intelligence. In that light, it is

a quick and effective win for proving the valueof a quality program. In addition, it prepares the

center for the next stage of qualityprocessimprovement.

The Value of Process ImprovementAfter standardizing processes, organizations

begin to see the value in improving the way calls

are handled. Next, they look to eliminate steps,remove confusion and speed up transactions

through process improvements. At this stage,

the value of a quality program becomes moreapparent, but the additional costs begin to addup, as well. Improvements that are identified often

have development or training costs that, if noteffectively balanced against future benefits, will

not be approved. To prove the value, managersmust implement an effective methodology for

comparing improvement values and costs.There are a number of process improvement

methodologies, including Six Sigma and itsvariants, TQM, ISO and Deming. While they all

have strengths and weaknesses, there are also

several commonalities that are critical for effec-tively placing a value on a process improvement.

First, an organization must understand its current

statehow things are really done now. Second,

the benefits must outweigh the solution cost.

And finally, a methodology must be in place toreview the effectiveness of the solution.

The init ial phase of quality monitoring sets

the stage for understanding the current state.

By focusing on consistent processes, the centerhas prepared itself to identify how calls are actu-ally handled and to benchmark those results.

Benchmarks are the defined metrics that describe

the starting performance for a process that willbe improved. For example, an after-call worktime of 300 seconds to manually fax a docu-ment would be the benchmark to improve upon.

Benchmarks ensure that improvements can beevaluated against prior performance. They should

include both direct and indirect measures. In our

example, a savings in ACW is a direct benefit to

improving the fax process, but an increase incustomer satisfaction may be in indirect benefit.

Without setting benchmarks, it is impossible toplace a dollar value on improvements.

Once benchmarks are set, savings can be esti-

mated and compared to the solution costs using

standard ROI methods that determine how long

an improvement will take to pay for itself. In ourfax example, we may be able to eliminate 270 sec-

onds of ACW from all fax calls by implementing

electronic document distribution (PC faxing and

emailing documents). If fax calls make up 10% of

all calls, then the time savings is roughly 27 sec-

onds over all calls (270 seconds times 10% of calls=27 seconds). This savings, when converted into

payroll dollars, can clearly demonstrate the value

of the improvement. Say, for example, it equals

a total 5% decrease in payroll when adjusted forshrinkage. A 100-seat contact center with anannual payroll of $4 million can save $200,000

a year. If a new electronic document deliverysystem costs $300,000, then the improvement

will pay for itself in a year and a half. In general,improvements that pay for themselves in less

than three years are great investments; however,

your corporate tolerance may vary.

There are two common pitfalls at the processimprovement stage. The first is the tendency tooveranalyze low-hanging fruit. All centers recog-

nize that some things need to change. They either

cost too much or are

simply too dissatisfy-ing to customers. In

these cases, a qualityteam bent on proving

their worth may force

a detailed analysis ofan issue when none

is needed. The endresult leaves the

organization feelingbloated by the excess

work for somethingthey knew neededto be fixed.

The second pit-fall is beginning

improvements toosoon. Faced with

pressure to makeimprovements, teams

often grasp for a bigchange without first

setting benchmarks,

identifying what isbest to change or

even understand-ing the root cause

of an issue. The endresult is a haphazard

approach that imple-

ments changes, butcannot validate them.

As organizations find success improving calcenter processes, they often begin to look at how

to spread process improvement to the rest of the

company. For example, our fax opportunity mayevolve into a paperless company initiative. At this

point, it is critical to implement an official proces

improvement methodology and gain executivesupport for the effort. This will ensure buy infrom the rest of the company, help to remove

roadblocks and silos, and create a crossfunctiona

view of issues facing the company.

Its a challenge to prove the value of a qualityprogram. But by taking the appropriate initia

stepsbenchmarking, focusing on standardization and then process improvement, and identify

ing call driversyour team can quantify benefits

of the improvements they recommend.

Dan Rickwalderis the Owner of theindependent consulting firmProactive Planning Group, whichspecializes in workforce planning andcall center analytics.

[email protected]

(443) 451-4301

ADVERTISEMENT

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Customer-centriccompanies invest a

substantial amountof time and money

toward the develop-ment and success of

their contact centers.

Most centers have atleast one workforce

manager to helpguarantee that suc-cess. Along with the

workforce manager, there are generally other

expenses, such as workforce management soft-ware and/or forecasting and scheduling person-

nel. Yet all of these resources are wasted when

agents fail to adhere to their schedules.One of the most important lessons that

managers can provide to their frontline staff is

the impact that a single agent can have on the

centers performance by going to lunch a littleearlier than scheduled, running out for a quickbreak, or returning from lunch or break late.

In the workforce management world, there isone widely known exercise that is used to dem-

onstrate the importance of schedule adherence.

We are staunch advocates of this exercise, and

we try to incorporate it into seminars as often aspossible. It seems obvious, but we all need to be

reminded once in awhile of the impact that wehave on our environment.

This simple exercise can be conducted cheaply

and is easy to set up. After multiple demonstra-tions of the exercise, weve found some different

variations and additional props to be helpful in

getting the point across to agents. The following

are the basic items that you can use, and what

they represent.

REQUIREMENTS

Eight balls (inbound customer calls) that

are soft and easy to toss from customer toagent (tennis balls work well)

A container for the balls (the queue)

Table or chair for the container

(Optional) Props such as hats, headsets orbadges to designate the agents

To begin the exercise, ask for 12 volunteers.

You can adjust the amount of participants based

on the size of the room youre in, the number

of people in the audience and the amount of

time you have to conduct the exercise. If you

have trouble getting the audiences involvement

(which is common), simply pick a certain group,side of the room, or a specific row or two toparticipate.

Assign six people to be agents, and the rest to

be the customers. Have the agents l ine up arms-

length from each other, preferably perpendicular

to the seats of your audience.

Place the container (the queue) on a table orchair, centered, about six to eight feet across from

the line of agents.Have the customers form a single line behind

the container of balls. Customers will stand in the

line across from the agents when they have a ball

and are looking for an available agent. When allagents are on a call, you should have a row of

agents with a row of customers facing themany other customers must wait in line behind the

container. A customer must wait across from thei

agent until their call is finished (ball is back in

the container), at which point they will return tothe back of the queue line.

Get the rest of the audience involved by asking

them to keep track of the customers wait timesin line.

Write a different number on each of the ballsto indicate different handle times. When an agent

catches a ball, he must toss the ball up in the airor pass it around his back the number of times

printed on the ball. One variation used to dem-onstrate the effectiveness of having multiskilledagents is to write transfer on one of the balls. This

will simulate an agent receiving a call that he isunable to complete without the help of anothe

agent, department, supervisors assistance, etcAgents who receive the transfer ball must wait

for another agent to be available, throw it tothem, and then take the next call.

Round 1To start the first round, each customer acquires

a ball and then proceeds to a spot across from an

available agent. The customer then passes the bal

to their agent, who handles it for the amount ofseconds written on the ball, and then returns to

the queue line when their call is over.When an agent has finished his call, he wil

throw the ball back into the container from where

he is standing in line. The agents standing farthest

from the container may have a hard time making

the shot. If they miss, they will have to leave their

desk to retrieve the ball, which now representsafter-call work. You may have agents either try

the shot again, or simply drop the ball into thecontainer after they pick it up.

Stop the round after a few minutes or whenthe first customer has cycled through a few times

Jon PratzHuman Numbers

Forecast Focus

Schedule Adherence:

In the best-run centers, agents understand the importance of theirindividual contributions to the operations success.

A Fun Exercise for Your Agents

This exercise is easy to put together, fun to facilitate and reallygets the point across to agents about the impact that everyindividual can make on the level of service customers receive.

You can download this exercise from our website,

@ http://tinyurl.com/CCPscheduleEx

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Discuss with everyone how the flow of

calls went. Was there a lot of waiting? Was

there much frustration?

Round 2For the second round, start the process

over again. After one minute, demonstrate

the effect of losing a single agent by

removing one from the group. Some fun

props to use as a reason for the agentleaving could be a bathroom key pass, a

candy bar or bottled water. Toss the propto the agent and tell him that he decided

it was a good time for him to take a break.

After another minute, have another agent

take a break while the first is still out.

Debrief

Stop the exercise after a few moreminutes and discuss what everyone wit-

nessed. Ask the customers about theirlevel of service. Ask the agents how they

felt when their peers went on their breaks.Get feedback from the audience on whatthey observed, and ask: What difference

did one person make in this exercise?The ultimate goal is to try to get agentsto explain why they should adhere to their

schedule.

Everyone who has worked in a call cen-

ter knows how stressful it can be to havecalls backing up in the queue, and knows

the frustration you will hear from the call-

ers when you finally do get to them. This

exercise is easy to put together, fun tofacilitate and really gets the point across

to agents about the impact that everyindividual can make on the level of service

customers receive. It is also a simple way to

demonstrate that the purpose of creating

efficient schedules is to provide the best

possible service to the customers.

Editors Note: You can download this exercise

from our website,

http://tinyurl.com/CCPscheduleEx

Jon Pratzis an independentWorkforce Manager at Human

Numbers, a firm that provides

contracted forecasting and

scheduling services.

[email protected]

(678) 494-1506

Create knowledge and awareness of the impor tance of schedule adherence by effectively communicating the

impact that a single agent can have on customer service and resource utilization. The exercise will effectively

illustrate how individual agents fit into the overall goal.

Schedule Adherence Exercise

Objective

Requirements

Round 1

Round 2

Debrief

Six people to assume the role of agent

Six people to assume the role of customer

Remaining audience members are observers

Eight tennis balls (the calls)

One container to hold the balls (the queue)

Adequate space for the agents to be standing across from the customers

Ask for 12 volunteers to act as agents and customers.

Select six volunteers to be your agents, and ask them to stand in a row, a few feet apart from each other.

Instruct them that they will be receiving calls from customers. They will handle each call for 57 seconds(give each agent a different time). They should count the seconds out to themselves (one, one-thousand, two,

one-thousand three, etc.), then return it to the container by throwing the ball from their position. Agents who

are farther from the box have farther to throw the ball. Any call that doesnt go into the box has to be picked

up by the agent and counted as after-call work before taking a new call.

Line up the remaining six volunteersyour customersbehind the container (call queue), which should be

placed about 68 feet across from the agents, centered. Instruct your customers to pick up a ball from the

box, find an available agent to stand across from, and toss the call to their agent. Any customer waiting in line

for an available agent should count their hold time. A new call cant be taken until the old call is released.

Start the call exchange and let it run for about 3 minutes. Stop and review delay times with customers. Ask the

agents how they feel. Ask observers what they noticed.

Remove one agent from the line to go on break. Begin the call exchange again.

After 2 minutes, remove another agent (because they saw their friend go on break and decided to leave, too)

and continue the exchange. Make sure customers are counting delay times. Stop after 1 minute.

Review delay times with customers. How different did agents feel about their ability to handle inbound calls

after someone was missing?

Review the differences in delay time based on various agent situations. Include observers in discussion.

What was the effect on customer service?

What was the effect on agents?

What happened when a call was dropped outside of the box and went into ACW?Ask the group: What difference did one person make in this exercise? (Try to get them to explain why they

should adhere to their schedule.)

Point out that THEY are that one powerful person in their own call center. When you do something that is

not scheduled, it has a direct impact on utilization and adherence, which, in turn, has a direct effect on the

customer.

Ask for additional questions, and close.

Source: Human Numbers, www.HumanNumbers.com. Questions about this exercise? Contact us at (678)

494-1506; [email protected] (Tiffany LaReau) or [email protected] (Jon Pratz).

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Maturity modelsare nothing new.

They are productsof quality initiatives,

and are commonlyused to assess andimprove processes

related to manu-facturing, software

implementations,project manage-

ment, risk management and information tech-

nology. But they can also be used to identify

phases or developmental levels of numerousother types of processes, such as contact centerdevelopment.

The inherent value of the maturity model is

that it provides a proven set of practices, proce-dures and process improvement to compare with

your centers current level of development, which

sets the stage for establishing process improve-ment strategies. While most maturity modelshave five or six levels, or stages of development,

weve developed a simplified, four-level Contact

Center Development Model, which describes the

factors that differentiate high-performance con-

tact centers from those with lower performance(i.e., lower level of development). It represents

the critical practices and processes that drive

continuous improvement in key functional areasof contact center management.

There are three key benefits of using this

approach: 1) It is a place to start when you wantto assess and understand problems or obstacles

to attaining your desired contact center perfor-mance; 2) it identifies a continuum of success

factors at each level of development that helps

to communicate the strengths and weaknessesin the operation; and 3) it provides the roadmap

to ongoing improvements that ultimately con-tribute to the organizations success.

Four Developmental PhasesThe Contact Center Development Model has

four key phases, each with unique, identifiable

characteristics and practices that must be in

place to support further progress: 1) initial, 2)developing, 3) maturing, and 4) optimizing.

Organizations that achieve excellence have aparticular driving force associated with theirevolution and implementation of improvement

plans within each of the four levels. Each of these

forces, or factors, apply within the center, as wellas at the organizational level. They are like the

engine that drives management and employees

to achieve exceptional performance.

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