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Expert Answers
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Questions &
Answers:
Below are some
responses to recent questions.
Performance Management
Why does
Abandonment Rate matter, won't the customer call back
later?
If your market is "captive"
(i.e. the customer has no other way to get the information they
need to resolve
their problem), then the caller will, most likely call back later. However,
chances are they will call back out of frustration and distinct dissatisfaction
with your company's service. This can cause them to abandon your product or
service.
In the other scenario where your caller is not captive and abandons
a call after an excessive wait period, s/he may choose to call one of your
competitors and your company loses a sale.
So, in both situations, the
Abandonment Rate matters because it's a strong indication of how many callers
you are frustrating and potentially losing permanently.
How can I
utilize numbers of calls handled as a measure of an inbound agent's
performance?
You shouldn't use the
number of calls handled as a performance metric because agents have no control
over the number of calls they receive. Instead, agents should be held
accountable for metrics they CAN control such as talk time, call quality, call
results and after call work time. Furthermore, talk time is a touchy metric to
use because, in many cases, the longer an agent talks with a caller, the more
thoroughly they can resolve an issue (to avoid further contacts from the caller)
or the more likely they will make a sale. As a result, using talk time as a
performance metric can often decrease results. Bottom line, you need to
carefully evaluate the competencies you want the agents to effectively use in
handling calls and then set performance goals that correspond to the desired
behaviors that they can control.
How can I
lower my abandonment rate?
Understanding what causes extensive hold times can help you identify
ways to lower your Abandonment rate. Start by reviewing your employee talk
times and after call work times. Are your stats pretty even amongst all
employees or do you have grave inconsistencies? If you find that some employees
are spending along time on the telephone, it may mean that they need further
education on either product knowledge or call control. If your stats are pretty
consistent, do you have enough employees to handle the call volume? This can be
easily calculated by adding up all the abandoned calls, calls that received
busy signals and calls handled to produce a total call volume.
Then calculate how
many calls a person can adequately handle during a shift. If you have enough
people, it may mean you do not have them working at the right times. Run
reports that show you peak calling times and verify you have adequate staffing
during those times. As another option, you can bring in a consulting firm to
evaluate your operation and make recommendations that will allow you to
dramatically improve your operations.
How
do you calculate the Occupancy Rate?
Occupancy
Rate is equal to ((Average Handle Time + Hold Time) divided by
(Average Handle Time + Hold Time + Available/Idle Time)) times
100. In summary, Occupancy is the percentage of time gents
will spend handling contacts including talk time and after call
work. /A truism to note is that when service level increases,
occupancy goes down.
Human Capital
Management
What's the
most effective way to deal with agent morale problems?
The first step is to diagnose why there is a morale problem. We have
found that the majority of agent morale problems relate to management
techniques. Most call centers use a "Policing" management style to catch the
agents doing something wrong instead of a "Coaching" management style to
encourage professional growth and catch the agents improving their knowledge,
skills and abilities. To determine what the real issue is at your call center,
you should first make a verbal commitment to the department to fully understand
agent concerns AND act on your findings. You can diagnose the problem through a
call center diagnostic survey or through focus group sessions. Create a survey that the agents can complete
anonymously. Be sure to include questions that cover all aspects of the agent's
job. This includes management issues, tasks, work environment, systems,
etc…. When you tally the survey, you'll see results that you are aware of
and you'll find others that are a surprise. Make a list of the issues that
should, and can, be addressed immediately and develop an Action Plan for
Change. Include agents on a Change Management Task Force and begin to make the
changes that will positively address the issues underlying the morale problem.
When you pay attention to agent issues at this level, you'll find a significant
boost in morale, a reduction in turnover and enhanced productivity. If you need
help with the survey, give Amtech a call. We offer an online Call Center
Diagnostic Survey that you can implement cost effectively.
What can I do
to reduce my turnover?
Agents
usually leave an organization for a couple of reasons: they feel management
expectations are too great, they don't like the work culture and/or they feel
they are not rewarded for the work that they are doing. Start out by asking
your employees what can be done to improve the working conditions of their job.
The easiest way to accomplish this is to set up an employee task force focused
on identifying problematic areas and, most importantly, what can be done to fix
the situation. Another way to solicit information is to complete
an
employee satisfaction survey. Work on the top two or three items by involving
your employees in the problem solving and change management process.
Hiring/Recruiting
What are some
of the best screening techniques to make sure we hire the right agent
candidates?
Candidate screening is
both an art and a science. The art of screening is asking the right
behavioral-based questions to uncover the candidate's real skills, knowledge
and abilities. To maximize the effectiveness of this art, you need to draft
behavior-based interview guides for each person who will be interviewing the
candidates. These guides must include a candidate evaluation form with scoring
criteria. The science of screening includes the use of tools such as a
telephone interview via an IVR system, an online computer skills test, an
online assessment of the candidate's customer service or selling skills, role
play simulation, carefully designed reference questions and a video
introduction to company and the job. Call and ask about Amtech's Recruiting
Plan Enhancement Initiative if you would like more detail regarding these
techniques.
Training
Is
Elearning a viable resource for agent training?
Agent
training is a very critical component for retention and high
performance. Unfortunately, it's one of the first line items to get
cut when budgets get tight. That's where e-learning can be of
value. Once you invest in the development of a course and the e-
learning delivery platform, your training costs will be minimal
compared to facilitator-led training. You won't have the expense of
the trainer or the classroom and the course can usually be
completed from the agent's desktop.
Aside from long term cost savings,
e-learning is a highly effective way to assure training consistency
and it's a convenient way to train agents one at time. This can be
especially critical for small to medium call centers who hire one
or two agents at a time. E-learning is appropriate for teaching
product knowledge and business practices. It can even be
appropriate for soft skills training if you include simulation role
plays. Your main challenge will be the selection of the best e-
learning platform and the conversion of your current facilitator-led
courses. If you need help selecting a platform or converting your
courseware, contact Amtech at 1-888-546-4844.
Technology
How do we know
what technology we need to help us enhance productivity?
Keeping up with the changes in call center technology
is definitely a challenge. Start by making a list of the technology you
currently use. Be sure to list the manufacturer, product name, model number and
software version number for each technology. You can then research what
technology other companies are using by attending local call center association
meetings (check out the ATA, ICSA, SOCAP and CCNG), association meetings for your
industry and trade show conferences. You can also subscribe to call center
periodicals including Customer Support Management, CRM, Call Center Magazine,
Call Center CRM Solutions and Customer Service Management. Another way to
compare your technology to other call centers is to conduct an Amtech Metrics
Benchmark Study. As a result of this study, you will receive a report that
identifies your technology gaps.
Management
Techniques
Budgeting
Cost Center/Profit
Center
Workforce Management
How do I
calculate how many calls an in-bound call person can handle in a regular
shift?
The easiest way to calculate
how many calls a person should handle in a day is to profile statistics off of
a couple of your good, steady performers - not your top performers. Top
performers tend to burn out more quickly because they take/make a vast amount
of calls consistently then move on to another job in one - two years. Selecting
a performer that is consistently good and knows how to pace his/her call
volumes allows you to set a minimum performance level; and allows you to reward
your top performers and focus on improving your below average performers.
Once you have selected your benchmark employees, average their handle times and
call volumes. Given that your people probably work a 7.5 hour shift, that
equates to 450 minutes of possible call handle time. Divide your average handle
time into this number (i.e. call average is 5 minutes, divide 450 by 5) and you
come up with your call volume. Check this against your steady performers; is
that how many calls they typically take? If not, there are times in a given
shift when calls do not come in consistently. So there are times when an agent
sits idle waiting for calls. Again, you can factor in the average amount of
idle time, subtract that from your total minutes and come pretty close to the
number of calls an agent should be able to handle in one day. i.e. (450 total
minutes minus average idle time minutes) divide by the average handle time =
number of calls in a given day.
Benchmarking
Outsourcing
Ergonomics - Workplace Design
Compensation
Quality Assurance
Change Management
Virtual Call Center
Operations
Disaster Recovery
Communications
Other
