Module 4 - World-class call centers - the
next generation
The Call Center Learning Center is proud to present a tutorial series
focused on defining world-class call centers. This four-part tutorial series will pull from Prosci's
research-based toolkits and best practices reports.
Module 1
addressed the first component of a world-class call center as identified
by Prosci's research.
Module 2 focused on the second component of what makes a world-class
call center.
Module 3 revealed the
other factors to consider when building a world-class call center.
This module will conclude the series with principles for leading the next
generation of world-class call centers.
Note to reader:
This article first appeared at the Call Center Learning Center in
1999 following Prosci's benchmarking study on call center best practices. Since its
release, this article has been our most popular with more than 3000 paper reprints
and thousands of online readers. Based on this response we have re-published the article
with updates and revisions based on results from the 2001
call center benchmarking study with more than 270 organizations and
Prosci's latest best
practices and benchmarking study with 240 call centers from over 50
countries.
Background
In 1999 we presented the core principles around world-class call
centers from our research with 102 call centers. This update of the original article
incorporates the results from the 2001 and 2004 call center studies. Overall the core principles have
proven to be lasting concepts for creating a contact center that delivers excellent
customer service at the lowest possible cost (with only one addition to the list with this
update). On the other hand, the top-10 process and technology areas reflect shifting
priorities from 1999 and show the increased focus on multi-media contact handling as a
core competency for the call center.
The one addition to the core list of principles is based on market
growth and revenue generation opportunities. This principle addresses the changing role of
the call center from a pure "cost center" for the organization to an integral
part of the company's growth strategy in the marketplace. Call centers are migrating
to "profit centers" for revenue generation or transitioning to a more visible
role in creating customer goodwill and building a wealth of customer data for use by
product development, marketing and sales.
Here is the updated list of principles for the next generation of
world-class call centers.
The principles driving world-class call center design
Principle 1 - Give customers choice
Customers expect to choose how they interact with you. Your service
must be by their standards and by the media of their choice. Telephone service cannot be
the only media for customer service.
Principle 2 - Provide access anytime anywhere
Access to services will be every hour of every day, from where ever
the customer chooses.
Principle 3 - Enable customers to help themselves
Customers will have access to information and can choose
self-service or agent-assisted service. Many customers will prefer to find information or
initiate transactions on their own.
Principle 4 - Personalize every customer interaction
Every transaction should personalize the service so that each
customer is treated like the only customer. This level of customization may be based on
the type of customer, their past transaction history, or other critical flags that are set
by the business.
Principle 5 - Know your customers
Employees and systems will know the customer and build on that
knowledge with every customer contact.
Principle 6 - Enable employees to deliver great service
Employees are the cornerstone to great service and must be enabled
with the right tools, processes and information so that they are empowered to help the
customer every time.
Principle 7 - Demand to be the best and measure your performance
toward this goal
The only standard is excellence, and the only way to achieve
excellence is to measure your success with every transaction and improve over time with
both continuous process improvement and discontinuous (dramatic) process improvement
through business process reengineering.
Principle 8 - Treat every customer contact as an opportunity
for market growth or revenue generation
Every transaction, whether sales oriented or not, results in a
direct impact on the future growth of the organization. More and more the contact center
is the "face of the business" to the customer, and the impression and
opportunities developed through that contact have a direct impact on market share, market
growth and revenue generation opportunities. Upsell, cross-sell and customer segmentation
strategies will result in overall growth for the business.
Top-10 outlook for processes and technology
Each of the opportunities listed below have process elements and
enabling technologies. They bring to life the concepts for excellent customer
service, low cost operation and market growth listed above. Since 1999, the emphasis has
shifted and the list below represents that shift in focus and priority.
Opportunity 1 - Integrated multi-media queues
Integrate voice and electronic transactions into a single workflow
with integrated queues that allow work blending and load balancing of multiple media
types.
Opportunity 2 - Web-enabled contact centers
Create Internet sites for customer service that provide
comprehensive information access and the ability to initiate transactions. Tightly link
the contact information and processes from the Internet with processes, contact
management systems and databases in the call center to ensure timely and synchronized data
access.
Opportunity 3 - Email and text chat
Develop email and text chat as a reliable transaction channel in
addition to inbound and outbound voice calls. Teach customers how to use this tool
effectively and ensure that your email processes are responsive to your customer's
expectations.
Opportunity 4 - Customer relationship management
Develop customer relationship management systems that can integrate
email, fax, phone, and Internet transaction information into a comprehensive history of
customer contact that flag opportunities for new products and services.
Opportunity 5 - Voice Response Systems and Speech Recognition
Tightly integrate ACD and voice response systems to allow seamless
transfers back and forth between VRU and agent-assisted service. Simplify voice response
interactions to make them fast and easy to use. Use automated speech recognition and voice
recognition to reduce transaction times and enable greater functionality of voice response
systems including faster transaction speed and security.
Opportunity 6 - Desktop applications
Provide employees with the capability to access internal and
external (Internet) data rapidly, to see what the customer sees, and to execute
transactions with a fully-integrated desktop such that all employees are fully empowered
to deliver excellent customer service every time.
Opportunity 7 - Computer Telephone Integration
Use computer telephone integration (CTI) to provide personalized
routing and work-object handling and to produce reports on both electronic and voice
transactions.
Opportunity 8 - Quality monitoring
Implement quality monitoring tools and processes to enable a
continuous improvement cycle for call center associates and ongoing improvement to hiring
and training programs.
Opportunity 9 - Integrated Reporting
Enable full multi-media reporting capabilities to provide integrated
reports across all media types.
Opportunity 10 - Virtual Centers and Management Tools
Create virtual centers that allow employees to choose work locations
including remote offices and to provide the organization with follow-the-sun capability
for international customer service. Develop new resource management tools for effectively
managing resources that are geographically dispersed.
Summary
Achieving world-class performance for the next generation of contact
centers will require call center managers to fundamentally rethink the value of the call
center to the customer and to the business. Managers will need to drive strategic planning
and design decisions from a set of guiding principles that are customer focused and that
leverage new technology. Incremental improvements will not be adequate to keep pace with
growing customer demands for service that is anytime and anywhere. The need to re-design
or reengineer the basic business processes around customer service will be an imperative
for call center managers who are planning ahead for the next generation.
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