From the Call Center Learning Center

"Best in Class" Tutorial Series

Attribute 4: Management- Situational and crisis management
 

  

What defines a "best in class" call center?

Centerserve conducted a benchmarking and best practices study with 250 call centers from over 50 countries. As described in our Benchmarks in Call Center Operations report, "best in class" call centers are characterized by five prominent attributes.  These attributes are: a skilled workforce, strategy, new technologies, management practices and quality monitoring.

In previous tutorials from this series we explored three of five "best in class" call center attributes: skilled workforce, strategy and technology. This week Centerserve will continue to take your call center to the next level by focusing on situational and crisis management. 

Due to the vast management data and resources available through Centerserve's best practices reports and products, the focus on management will be presented in 3 individual modules. 

The individual modules will be:

  1. Development of motivated and empowered teams
  2. Support of situational and crisis management

  3. Long-term strategic and operational planning

What are the five common attributes of a "best in class" call center?

1 Skilled workforce A well-trained, motivated and seasoned workforce with ongoing training to continually build business knowledge and customer service expertise. Also important in establishing best-in-class status is developing long-term relationships with customers- skilled agents build trust and loyalty.
2 Strategy A service-oriented and forward-thinking company that is open-minded, proactive and accepting of change. Additionally, communicating a consistent, clear and focused strategy in the call center establishes a company as a recognized industry leader.
3 New technologies Cutting-edge technologies including web self-service and multi-channel tools provide customers with choices and ease of access. Advanced technologies result in streamlined call handling which reduces call times and costs and improves customer satisfaction.
4 Management practices  A mature and flexible management team that promotes trust and develops motivated and empowered teams is key to a satisfied workforce and customer base. Good management also supports situational (crisis) management as well as long-term strategic and operational planning.
5 Quality monitoring Promoting a balance between quality and quantity in call centers, call monitoring focuses on improving agent performance and customer satisfaction. Actively monitoring calls and regularly coaching agents to achieve better call outcomes are key attributes for the best call centers.

What are common elements in "best in class" management?

"Best in class" call center management includes:

  • Development of motivated and empowered teams
  • Support of situational (crisis) management
  • Long-term strategic and operational planning

How can I build these elements in my call center?

Action Step:
Proactive management of situations and crisis

Causes of business disruptions

There are many situations that can prevent your call center from functioning normally, including the following:

  1. Unexpected spikes in contact volumes (from product or billing issues, market situations, unplanned publicity, uninformed marketing or advertising efforts)

  2. Weather events (e.g. hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, floods)

  3. Fire

  4. Vandalism, terrorism or bomb threats

  5. Computer system crashes

  6. Illness, epidemic

  7. Industrial action/withdrawal of labor

Minimizing disruptions and reducing their impact

Disruptions can involve many areas of your organization. They can directly affect your ability to provide quality service. Here are some of the ways you can plan to deal with them.

Contact volume spikes

To minimize the opportunity for disruptions:

  1. Meet with groups that drive contact volume into your center on a regular basis (e.g. marketing, sales, billing) so that you can plan for projected volume.

  2. When volume spikes occur:

  • Direct a portion of your contacts to other resources, such as backup groups, alternate locations or a service bureau.

  • Be ready to call in additional resources including overtime for staff on the floor or other personnel trained to help during peaks.

  • Promote self-service options to customers.

Telecommunications

To minimize the opportunity for disruptions:

  1. Use multiple carriers.

  2. Have dual, diversely routed connections to your Central Office.

  3. Have backup routing schemes.

    When you have a telecommunications outage, make sure that backup routing schemes are activated.

Facilities

To minimize the opportunity for disruptions:

  1. Plan for "mirrored" sites that cover for each other in case of disaster (owned or service bureau).

  2. Consider remote offices or telecommuting options.
     

When you cannot use a facility:

  • reroute calls to your "mirrored" site

  • reroute calls to your service bureau

Technology

To minimize the opportunity for disruptions:

  1. Arrange for off-site storage of data.

  2. Do not put all of your data in one data center.

  3. Do not install key technology components on the top floor or basements - lightening and floods have put contact centers out of business.

  4. Design redundancy into mission critical systems.

When you must take calls manually, have a process for receiving contacts and following up and bringing closure when technology systems are restored.

Power

To minimize the opportunity for disruptions:

  1. Install uninterruptible power systems (UPS)

  2. Consider diverse, dual power feeds to the building

When you lose power:

  • quickly assess the likely duration and activate the plan for an extended power outage if necessary

Personnel

To minimize the opportunity for disruptions:

  1. Cross-train your employees and document procedures.

  2. Consider diverse locations.

  3. Consider remote offices or telecommuting arrangements.

  4. Maintain open communication with Union representatives.

When you do not have a sufficient staff, route a portion of the calls to your mirrored site, service bureau remote offices or telecommuting positions.

 

Tips for an effective business continuity and recovery plan

  • Keep up-to-date equipment inventories and contact lists of employees, vendors, contractors and service firms.

  • Identify your essential functions and put them on top of your recovery list.

  • Develop a communication plan, detailing who will inform whom of what and when.

  • Define who "owns" each facet of recovery, including wiring, telecom, mainframe, LAN, employees and facility.

  • Make sure that all managers are fully aware of their personal role in business recovery.

  • Plan for informing, caring for, transporting, lodging and feeding your employees if necessary.

  • Update your business continuity and recovery plan quarterly.

  • Conduct regular recovery drills to test the effectiveness of your plan.

Planning Checklist

ü Brainstorm with a group to determine potential disaster scenarios.
ü Determine an "owner" for each element.
ü Develop a plan to minimize the potential for disaster in each scenario.
ü Implement the required facilities, staff and processes for your recovery plan.
ü Develop a plan to handle the disaster should it occur. Test the plan.
ü Develop a communication plan for each scenario.
 

 "Best in class" call center management includes:
  • Development of motivated and empowered teams
  • Support of situational (crisis) management
  • Long-term strategic and operational planning

 
Don't reinvent the wheel!


 

 

 

Download excerpts from each of Centerserve's three 2007 Best
Practice Reports:
Click here to see what is working and not working in call center operations, management and business processes

Next week: Attribute 4 part three- Long-term strategic and operational planning


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