The Call Center Model: Module 1 of 7

Examining the health of your call center

The first step toward delivering world-class customer service in today’s environment is to separate the different components that contribute to a successful call center, and evaluate your performance in each area. This tutorial introduces the Contact Center Model, which breaks the call center into its five key components – Strategy, Processes, Technology, Human Resources and Facilities. A simple scoring tool will let you know where you stand overall. The scoring translates to letter grades as follows:

A = 90% - 100% (excellent)
B = 80% - 89% (good)
C = 70% - 79% (fair)
D = 60% - 69% (poor)
F = Below 60% (failing)

In each subsequent module in the series, we will investigate another area in more detail and examine ways to improve your score (and your call center's long term performance).

Background

Call centers today look much different than they did 10 years ago.

Customers now utilize a variety of media to contact your organization, including the internet, email, interactive voice response, text chat, etc. Customers demand service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – with no exceptions. They also expect a greater number of services and more complex options from your contact center. Technology plays a more critical role in the delivery of service. Telecom innovations add even more decisions; technology must be part of the overall goals and objectives of the call center. More vendors are offering similar products with similar capabilities to contact centers in an increasingly congested marketplace. Current economic conditions impact human resource policies and overall business spending decisions.

All in all, the contact centers are being stretched by increasing demands from customers, more complex systems and escalating pressures to control bottom line costs. Managers need a way to untangle the web that is today’s call center.

The Contact Center Model

The Contact Center Model is a high-level framework for thinking about the five main areas of a world-class contact center. In the contact center model, there are five main areas as shown in the figure below:

Each of the five elements is important by itself, but is interdependent on all of the others. Defining the business strategy is the basis for defining the processes and choosing the technology. Human resource policies require input from the processes and the technology, and all three will guide facilities selection and design. Together they create a call center model that can be used to improve or redesign your contact center operations.

Strategy

Your business strategy is the critical starting point for planning a call center. Before selecting the site for your call center, or designing processes, systems or organizational structures, you should define the role the call center will play in the success of your organization. Evaluate yourself on the following questions. All questions are on a 1 - 5 scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 being the lowest score. For each statement, circle the appropriate score for your call center.

• Our call center's strategy is defined and is aligned with our overall business strategy.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• Our call center vision and mission is defined and well communicated to all call center employees. 
  (1   2   3   4   5)

• The needs and expectations of our customers are understood and updated over time based on data from customers.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• The performance goals and objectives of our call center are defined and clearly communicated.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• Our overall contact center strategy is revisited and updated on a regular basis (at least yearly).
  (1   2    3   4   5)

Total points you received out of 25 possible = _____

Processes

The core of your call center operation will be your business processes. Evaluate your call center in each of the following areas:

• Our business processes, including hiring, training, quality monitoring, workforce management, performance management, systems maintenance and disaster recovery, are well-documented and up-to-date.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• Our contact routing and contact handling processes are well-documented and up-to-date.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• We have performance measures assigned to each business process and each customer contact process, and data are collected and analyzed on a regular basis to indicate our current performance levels and trends. Continuous process improvement methods are in place.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• We collect customer satisfaction data, and benchmark our performance against competitors and non-competitors in order to set performance goals.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

Total points you received out of 20 possible = _____

Technology

Technology will play a key role in the success of your call center. Evaluate your call center in each of the following areas:

• We have a technology architecture plan for the 1 to 3 year timeframe, including a migration plan to VoIP.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• Technology is used effectively throughout the call center to route customers to the right agents, to enable agents to access information easily and quickly, and to gather data on the performance of contact processes.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• Our technology enables customers to choose their preferred media (voice, email, text chat, web, fax or mail) or self-service as a option for interacting with the call center.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• Data is easy to extract from our systems and we make effective use of reporting tools to support our performance management processes.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

Total points you received out of 20 possible = _____

Human Resources

HR includes the people-aspects of your call center. Evaluate your call center in each of the following areas:

• Our current organizational design and reporting structure is an enabler to our strategy and processes.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• We have up-to-date job descriptions that clearly outline job responsibilities. Compensation is equitable based on industry comparisons. 
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• Our hiring and recruiting processes support the call center strategy and goals, and we employ processes and tools, including exit interviews, to improve employee retention..
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• Managers help develop career paths and professional development plans, and use fair performance evaluation procedures.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

Total points you received out of 20 possible = _____

Facilities

The last key element of the call center model is the facilities. Evaluate your call center in each of the following areas:

• The location of the call center is well-suited and meets the call center's needs in terms of labor availability and access to networking.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• The building, furniture, lighting and HVAC provide a conducive atmosphere for the call center employees.
  (1    2   3   4   5)

• We have adequate facilities to cover common outages including power black-outs and cut utility lines (network or phone lines).
  (1    2   3   4   5)

Total points you received out of 15 possible = _____

Calculating your score

A = 90% - 100% (excellent)
B = 80% - 89% (good)
C = 70% - 79% (fair)
D = 60% - 69% (poor)
F = Below 60% (failing)

Total all of your scores from each section. If you scored below an "A" (lower than 90 points), then stay tuned for the next series of modules that examines each of these areas in more detail.

Coming up next 

Developing a sound call center strategy.

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The text of this tutorial comes from Prosci’s Call Center Planning and Design toolkit. Developed by industry leaders in the Call Center field, Vanguard Communications and Prosci, the toolkit is the definitive guide for creating the best contact center possible for your organization.

The toolkit provides:

• a comprehensive planning checklist and design guidelines for successfully setting up a new call center or redesigning your existing call center
• the approach and tools to help you create a contact center strategy and manage the implementation effectively

More information about Prosci’s Call Center Planning and Design – A blueprint for building a successful contact center.

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Call Center Measurement Toolkit - Prosci’s Call Center Measurement Toolkit is an indispensable tool that will teach you how to assess and improve the performance of your call center. By providing common definitions of terms and a complete overview of performance measures for contact centers, the toolkit will promote your understanding of the functions and procedures that will enhance your call center performance and boost its efficiency.

Call Center Best Practices Report - Two-hundred-forty organizations from 50 countries participated in Prosci’s benchmarking study on call center operations, management practices and technology. The study shares practical information about what is working (and what's not working) as call center managers seek to increase revenues, reduce costs and improve service quality.

Call Center Planning and Design Toolkit - A comprehensive guide to call center strategy, planning and design; an excellent resource for new contact center start-ups, existing call center improvement and future planning with detailed templates and planning roadmaps (more information).

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