Module 3 Reducing resource cost
Area 3: Reduce overhead costs |
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Background
This series on cost control
addresses three components to call center costs: handle
time, cost of resources and volume of
contacts. In this module, specific recommendations are
made for systematically reducing resource costs in your
contact center by reducing overhead. The descriptions and action steps described
below are summaries of the detailed information and
checklists provided in the
Cost Control e-Toolkit.
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| Reducing overhead
cost |
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| Reducing the
cost of resources includes three primary areas that relate
to the cost of people, equipment or facilities necessary to
handle customer contacts. The major branches include:
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Area 1: cost channels |
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Area 2: agent payroll costs |
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Area 3 : overhead costs |
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| Area 3 -
Reducing overhead costs |
| Reducing
overhead costs includes all cost elements other than direct
agent cost. This would include cost elements such as
facilities, management, toll and network costs, training,
IT, human resources and any other support functions. Methods
to reduce overhead costs include:
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- Reduce network and toll
costs
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- Enable remote agents to
reduce facility costs
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- Redesign facility usage
or use shared workspace
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- Increase supervisor
span of control and reduce number of supervisors
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- Reduce cost of support
services including training, HR, IT and quality control
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Reduce network and toll costs |
| Reducing
network and toll costs, although only a fraction of the
total call center budget, can have a significant impact over
time. Contracts with long distance carriers and local
telephone company for leased line should be reviewed on a
regular basis to ensure the best possible prices and to do
competitive comparisons. VoIP solutions can also drive down
network costs as well as network management costs. |
Enable remote agents to
reduce facility costs |
Enabling remote
agents can reduce the required facility space and associated
overhead costs for the facility. This option is applicable
for call centers that are reaching their space capacity and
looking for expansion alternatives, for call centers that
may be planning to offer remote offices as an incentive for
employees or for those hiring employees that reside in
lower-cost labor market areas.
Additional resource: Home base agent best practices data
available in "Benchmarks in Call Center Operations".
Click here. |
Redesign facility usage or
use shared workspace |
Facility
redesign or utilizing shared workspace can increase the
total capacity of the building. New furniture designs and
call center layouts can also improve space utilization. As
paper documentation in the typical call center decreases,
the required amount of shelf space and total office space is
declining.
Additional resource:
Click here
to learn more about call center
planning, design and re-design. |
Consolidate call centers
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| Consolidating
call center operations can decrease redundant overhead costs
often associated with multiple locations. This could include
redundant HR, training, IT support, workforce scheduling and
other support services for the call center. Call center
consolidation can also increase agent utilization and
capitalize on economies of scale. |
Reduce turnover |
Reducing
employee turnover has a direct impact on several overhead
components for the contact center including training and HR
support for recruiting and hiring.
Additional resource:
Click here to learn more about
Centerserve's Training Roadmap. |
Increase supervisor span of
control and reduce number of supervisors |
| The number of
supervisors may be reduced if the span of control is
increased. This directly reduces overhead cost related to
agent supervision. However, increasing the span of control
can have a negative impact on employee performance, job
satisfaction and customer service levels if not properly
implemented. |
Reduce cost of support
services including training, HR, IT and quality control |
| Many contact
centers evolve over time. The resulting overhead components
such as IT, HR, training and quality control grow with the call
center. In many cases this growth is an evolutionary process
in reaction to the current needs of the day. Over a period
of time, these support services can be overly costly to the
organization. New processes and alternative delivery
mechanisms can result in much lower overhead costs for these
services. |
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Coming
next - reducing volume of contacts
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| Don't reinvent the
wheel! |
Controlling Call
Center Costs e-Toolkit |
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"A truly comprehensive guide for
reducing call center costs.
A resource with this perspective is long overdue."
Gerald Tschikof, Founder of Center Partners
Order this e-toolkit and have it
delivered straight to your Inbox! No shipping costs! |
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Click here to
learn more about call center planning,
design and re-design. |
Click here to more about Centerserve's
Training Roadmap. |
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Module 1
, Module 2,
Module 3 and
Module 4 of this
series.
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