Every contact center manager worth his salt knows that you’ve got to have eyes in the back of your head. Marching hand-in-hand with supervising daily operations is the need to see where change is taking place. By keeping an eye peeled for the next wave in customer satisfaction you can meet events strategically.
As the number of customers using mobile devices to interact with companies grows, keeping ahead in customer service can be difficult. The current state of the industry still shows a sluggish move to integrated multichannel operations. The sheer inertia of the current infrastructure means that the adoption of customer service applications that are mobile based is unlikely in the near future.
It is worth watching closely, however. Smartphones offer customers a variety of ways to communicate with business. Those segments of the call center industry that remain tied to traditional desktop telephony risk frustrating customers. In the interest of maximizing customer satisfaction, the move to integrated mobile applications and a quality mobile customer support experience is inevitable.
The rise of advanced mobile devices has an impact on more than just customer service. The workforce itself is responding to the flexibility digital communication has brought about. Companies of all sizes are allowing employees to work part- or fulltime from home. The advantages offered include not only improved morale among agents and a concomitant increase in customer satisfaction – companies can experience savings by reducing their real estate footprint.
A study carried out by the National Association of Call Centers revealed that more than 70% of companies presently providing work-from-home opportunities plan on expanding them. Another study by Customer Contact Strategies reported that over 80% of contact centers have some form of telecommuting workforce.
The logistics of managing distributed work teams will make workforce management more important than ever before. Key will be the heightened emphasis on ‘first contact resolution’ – making sure a customer’s problem is resolved in the initial communication.
Collaboration across distributed teams will become more important than ever before. Agent will need more training to allow them to work across channels, and managers will need to provide adaptive oversight to ensure agents are in those channels when they are needed.
John Cray in Business2Community, notes “Historically, in a traditional contact center, agents and managers could “walk across the aisle” to determine who to escalate an unresolved call to. In today’s “hybrid contact center environment,” the best person to leverage may be hundreds or thousands of miles away. This means that contact centers will become more heavily reliant upon best skills routing, combined with collaboration tools that join agents with experts in real-time. Breaking down traditional contact center boundaries enables better customer service and a better customer experience, a primary goal through 2015 and beyond.”
KOVA’s Impact360 WorkForce Optimization solutions can help your contact center address these challenges. They provide the needed information in an easy to view and actionable format, and make improving customer service easy. Contact KOVA today to find out more!
Throughout the last year, there has been more and more talk of the where SMS might fit into the current contact center climate. Not only are there now quite a few cloud services that offer easy platforms on which to cultivate SMS-driven interactions, but also, these carriers are permitting inbound SMS to any toll-free number. Now that it is possible to utilize SMS more seamlessly, it may be worthwhile to consider its benefits.
• The addition of SMS can function as a way to companion the phone channel and help support its weaknesses. First of all, it can be a step towards a better queuing system. The current procedure queues calls by putting the caller on hold, and as anyone whose neck has ached from trying to hold the phone between the ear and the shoulder while multitasking knows, this is less than ideal. When contact centers were first innovated, this was the only option, but now, it is just a habit.
• What if these long unproductive waits on the phone could be replaced with short messages between the two parties, negotiating wait time, need, and readiness? Note that many restaurants have implemented a similar system so that guests don’t have to linger by the hostess stand while they wait for a table. Rather, they are free to grab a drink or take a walk and are texted when their table is ready.
• Another advantage of integrating SMS is improved navigation and data entry. Phone menus with their pre-recorded messages, such as “Press 1 for hours, press 2 for…” can be a little aggravating if one is in a rush. An SMS messaging system could provide for a more efficient alternative, as it is easier to read six different options than to listen to them. It could also be used to gather information such as ID numbers, name, address, or a brief description of the issue at hand.
• As there are a variety of text-based chat options, what is it that makes SMS the favorite? The answer is it is pervasively used and highly accessible (a consequence of the mass shift towards smart phones), simple, and very reliable. It is also conveniently already connected to the voice channel through the phone number so no extra step is needed to link the two.
• Often, in this conversation, people want to know about where WebRTC fits into all this. Won’t WebRTC definitively free creative development from the restraints kept in place by the telecom industry? Won’t the best resolutions come from the rapid market feedback that follows? As good as this may sound for the worlds of web technology, mobile apps, and many others, we’re not there yet. There are still proprietary claims and coding issues to be worked out. And until it becomes universal, it can’t really be harnessed for the industry of contact centers.
The world may not be ready yet for WebRTC, but it is ready for a further integration of SMS into contact center communication. It will yield greater ease and functionality to both contact center agents and the customers and citizens on the other line. It is a natural extension of how most of us already use our phones. “Talk now?” is one of the most common messages exchanged, and its prudence can be leveraged to adapt contact center interactions for greater levels of success, especially if combined with enterprise workforce optimization solutions.
A hot topic in the contact center industry has been whether the retail industry should outsource its customer support. Marked by customers with high standards, margin pressures, and seasonal spikes in demand, it is one of the biggest and most competitive markets. In such a tough climate, the differentiating factor between success and failure often rests in the capacity for customer service.
• In light of this insight, the emerging trend seems to be that more and more retailers are opting to outsource their customer support. In addition to cutting costs, outsourcing customer support leverages multiple channels of communication, frees up energy to focus on the core of the business, and provides a much-needed consistency. Amelia Roberts, a customer service manager, advises, in her blog Why Even Retailers Need Support from Customer Industry, “No retail company would be able to sell its products unless the prospective customers are aware of its existence and offerings. This is why a retailer utilizes every available communication channel and attempts to make its presence felt in its target audience.”
• Outsourcing can bolster customer service though calls, email, live chat, and even social media; however, it also branches out through social media networks and mobile devices. By drawing on a multi-channel customer support, responding to inquiries and complaints while also managing orders becomes a more streamlined process. Customers also appreciate the comfort and convenience of being able to choose support services through a variety of mediums.
• In addition to the benefits that accompany multiple channels of communication, outsourcing contact support frees up a company from the strenuous process of hiring and training employees in an area outside its’ expertise. By allowing a customer support firm to do what they do best, the home company can redirect its resources to what it does best. Such specialization, when accompanied by good coordination, allows excellence in the different aspects of business. Customers are reassured and made loyal by care that is attentive to their needs, reliable, and fine-tuned. Outsourced customer support can make this principle its primary priority, while retailers concentrate on manufacturing the perfect product.
• Finally, a retailer can benefit from outsourcing customer support by the consistency that is maintained through a sector wholly dedicated to providing an affirming and supportive experience for the customer. With outsourced customer support, wait times can be shorter, responses can be more immediate, and there is greater control of courtesy and tact while dealing with issues, not to mention the option of around the clock availability.
Whether one is choosing to outsource customer support, attempting to do it him or herself, or some combination of the two, KOVA Corp’s Verint Media Recorder Customer Feedback Software can help collect valuable date regarding the unique strengths and weaknesses of any given organization. The software uses a variety of sophisticated methods to assess performance and strategize solutions so your company can gain a reputation for its unmatched customer service.
Following a meeting held on January 29, The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) adopted a new set of regulations aimed at improving the location accuracy of 911 calls, especially for such calls originating indoors and above ground.
The adoption of new regulatory measures comes after a year of intense lobbying from many groups from across the spectrum of the public safety community. In November of last year a coalition composed of the major wireless carriers, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) forged a Consensus Plan aimed at increasing the accuracy of emergency calls in light of increased use of cell phones texting. Signatories hailed the plan as “superior to the proposal put forth by the FCC.”
A House Divided
The Consensus Plan was not without detractors. The Find Me 911 organization severely criticized the APCO-NENA sponsored plan, urging instead tighter accuracy regulations. The debate surrounding the Plan and the proposed regulatory parameters at times was acrimonious. “While APCO and NENA were able to reach this consensus plan with the significant support of its industry partners, over the entire course of these efforts, there has unfortunately been a sustained effort on the part of certain advocates to spread falsehoods, disinformation and confusion. These tactics are especially unfortunate given the significant public safety nature of the problems that all other well-intentioned and honorable parties are working hard to solve.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler noted the highly charged climate surrounding the issue. “The roadmap proposal [Consensus Plan] is a big step forward, but we also understand and appreciate the valid criticisms raised by some public safety stakeholders.” Steering a middle course, Wheeler urged his fellow Commissioners to take “advantage of the good work done by the carriers, APCO, and NENA, while also providing confidence-building measures and backstop thresholds that set clear targets and deadlines for improving indoor location and hold parties accountable for results.”
The New Ruling
While a complete text of the new Order has yet to be published, the FCC has issued preliminary remarks to the effect that the new regulations “establish clear and measureable timelines for wireless providers to meet indoor location accuracy benchmarks, both for horizontal and vertical location information.” In a clear nod to the technological hurdles that remain, the Commission’s ruling will allow carriers to explore “the most effective solutions and allow sufficient time for development of applicable standards, establishment of testing mechanisms, and deployment of new location technology.” The essential features of the new regulations include:
Mixed Response
APCO issued a message hailing the new ruling. “APCO is pleased to announce that today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules to ensure that PSAPs and emergency responders have the information they need to find wireless 9-1-1 callers. Today’s action validates significant work by APCO and its partners to develop a “Roadmap for Improving E9-1-1 Location Accuracy” that focused on providing a dispatchable location and putting 9-1-1 solutions on pace with advances in commercial technology…. [I]n the face of relentless disinformation campaigns, we set the record straight and remained steadfast in pushing for the best solution for PSAPs and the citizens of our country. In our most recent membership communication, we highlighted the message of our public comments to the FCC that the Roadmap represents a qualitative improvement in indoor location by targeting the gold standard, a “dispatchable location” – meaning the civic address plus the floor, suite, apartment number, or other information needed to find the caller. In addition to championing a dispatchable location, APCO was adamant that any solution be technology-neutral and break public safety out of the cycle of reliance on imperfect, single-source or proprietary solutions to solve 9-1-1 problems.”
The Find Me 911Coalition issued a harsh criticism of the FCC’s regulations. “Unfortunately for millions of indoor 911 callers in need, the FCC has adopted the weak carrier roadmap over its own strong proposal. The Find Me 911 Coalition has been the strongest supporter of the Commission’s efforts to find wireless 911 callers indoors, but we have deep concerns that the final rule contains a catastrophic flaw, as it does not require the cell phone companies to measure or report indoor call accuracy.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation expressed concern about the National Emergency Address Database in regard to citizens’ right to privacy.
It’s been repeatedly said, the employees who act as agents within a contact center are one of the most important factors in its functioning and success. It’s also been said that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to prevent turnover and sustain their satisfaction, motivation, and engagement.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released a finding that the average employee occupies a job for approximately 4.4 years. For younger employees, that number is cut in half. Not only is this a costly hardship for the Human Resource department, as it must repeatedly recruit, backfill, and repeat the process of hiring, it also makes it difficult for the organization to fulfill its mission. How, then, can companies keep solid employees? If incentivization is a critical element of retention, what makes for a good incentive program?
At the heart of incentivization is the power of recognition. Though a “thank you” is valuable, what makes for a good long term incentive program is “employee buy-in,” “S.M.A.R.T.” goals, regular management of incentives, and clear comprehension of payoffs.
Let’s break it down a little more. By “employee buy-in,” what is meant is that if the employees take part in setting goals and selecting their rewards, they are more likely to feel engaged and committed to the bigger picture of the company’s growth.
The acronym “S.M.A.R.T.” stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time based. By choosing “S.M.A.R.T.” goals, you leverage specificity to not only track your progress but to create incremental and sustainable changes.
As for regular management of incentives, this feature really stresses follow through. Rewards must be delivered as promised, calculations must proceed smoothly, and the goals should be reasonable. It’s also important that the incentive program be relatively simple and explained properly so that agents know how exactly to earn awards, gain points, and share their accomplishments.
Finally, make the incentive program competitive and fun. Decorating the contact center with pictures of pets, telling jokes, and throwing parties are all good ways to bring work and play together.
In addition to these key strategies, there are also a few other conceptual tools that can prove helpful in innovating attractive incentives. Gamification and Performance Management are two kinds of solutions that are becoming popular with organizations aiming to keep employees for longer terms with higher morale.
Gamification works by allowing agents to compete against their peers or themselves to receive points by reaching particular goals, and can be implemented at a department, agent, or coaching level. Performance Management often includes gamification, but its main focus is on providing continual feedback so that agents have dashboard views or weekly reports of how they are doing in relation to their peers and team vision. Feedback is essential for mastery and can help agents acknowledge slumps early and recalibrate as well as feel proud for a job well done.
While there is no single answer for how to conduct an incentive program and every contact center will have its own unique dynamic, it’s worthwhile to plan ahead and take advantage of the resources available. Kova Corp’s Workforce Management and Optimization Software can also be a great help for resolving scheduling conflicts, complying with state and federal regulations, and managing the logistics of coordinating multiple goals while creating a well organized, flexible and intelligent workflow.
There is much that gets said and circulated about Speech Analytics, and not all of it is accurate. Even those who are very familiar with the technology can harbor misconceptions about the logistics and requirements. Without the help of a professional service, it can often be a disorienting, or uphill, process. Though we can’t quite walk you through all of it in this post, we can give you some pointers about common mistakes and outdated ideas.
Let’s begin with the attitude that speech analytics is a set-it-up-and-walk-away kind of solution. Optimizing your speech analytics software tool so it is working for you by collecting useful data is a great start, as is a good knowledge of your keywords and phrases. However, to understand what is being said and how and why it matters is a different story. The interpretation of the data takes experience and advanced methodologies. In this process, there is no substitute for the aid of a senior speech engineer from a credible professional service.
The second misconception is that SA is a definitive answer, rather than a toolbox. Instead of expecting speech analytics to be a panacea, think of it as a handy assistant pointing you in the right direction and helping you spot patterns.
Thirdly, there is the myth than any manager with rudimentary skills can oversee the speech analytics process. While theoretically, this is true, the results it will yield will be disappointing and incomplete. To harness the potential of SA, one needs to follow through consistently in a variety of ways. There are three major areas of upkeep – administration, business analysis, and interactions monitoring, and ideally no one person will be responsible for all of them.
The “administrator” will have to implement the speech analytics tool and handle all server and database connections. The “business analyst” will be in charge of carrying out all the analytical tasks that are essential to gather, interpret, and share findings with higher-ups so that they are coherent and compelling. Finally, the “interactions monitoring analyst” will listen and go through specific calls based on recommendations by the business analyst. There will have to be a persistent and continual commute between the harvested data and the practices of the business, one feeding into the other, while maintaining communication between the different departments.
The next misconception is two sided – one is the belief that a successful project can be designed and executed without listening to recordings of real calls, and the other is that only what the agent has said is worth listening to. The raw data of the calls can feel cumbersome to navigate, but it is really helpful in establishing a real world benchmark. Then you can hear not only what is said, but how, as well as get a better grasp of the context. The best way to hear the “voice of the customer” is to actually listen. And though analyzing the agent’s side of the conversation can yield substantial insights regarding employee performance, challenges, and script utilization, it is woefully inadequate for acquiring a full picture of the interaction’s dynamics.
We will leave you with two final tips. 1) Audit your data. Commit yourself to the trial and error of auditing search results until the speech engine is fully aligned with your business goals. 2) You don’t have to do it alone. Check out KOVA Corp’s Verint Media Recorder Text Analytics for Customer Satisfaction which functions as a supplement, and at times, substitute, for SA. It will help you cast a wide net and sift through multiple channels to find the most constructive feedback from your network of customers.
VOC, or Voice of the Customer, is an invaluable form of feedback for a contact center, and a major determining factor in the VOC is the customer’s first encounter with your customer service professionals (CSPs). These customer service professionals are ambassadors of your company’s brand, and despite innovations in automation, they still play an important role in customer satisfaction.
However, as customers become better informed about their options, a CSP requires a wider skill set than simply being able to read a script while navigating a computer program. Agents need to be able to communicate, listen, read between the lines, ask good questions, and be personable and empathetic. Though some of these skills can be taught through training and coaching programs, an employer can also recruit agents who already have a nuanced sensibility for the interpersonal.
A common mistake that companies make is to use one formula for hiring any new employee, rather than taking into consideration the needs of different positions. This can be time consuming and frustrating as prospective employees are subjected to a long series of assessments that aren’t really relevant to their ability to perform well practically in a particular job. One alternative is to use virtual interviewing technology.
Virtual interviewing technology is an online cloud-based software application that records applicant’s responses to a sequence of pertinent questions and can be used immediately after applicants turn in their applications. The accessibility and ease of this software translates to flexibility and efficiency. Instead of spending hours conducting interviews over the telephone, recruiters can simply evaluate and review applicants’ recorded submissions.
In addition to ease, take into account the importance of speed. Once an application has been submitted and a prospective CSP has completed the interview process, it is not unusual for it to take several weeks before a job offer is formally extended and training begins. In these weeks of waiting, a candidate may receive a different job offer and agree, even if it is not ideal, because it is at hand and appears more secure. Thus, to avoid the possibility of losing choice applicants, prioritize being swift as you make your final call.
Another way to increase the number of star candidates on your team is by reaching out to a wider demographic of potential employees. You may already be making the most of sites like Monster and CareerBuilder, but you can also reach out to existing customers through social media channels, like Facebook or LinkedIn. Existing customers can make the best customer service professionals because they are familiar with the brand and in touch with the perspective of a customer.
Acknowledge that the best interviewees don’t always make the best workers, and see if you can work backwards. Who are your best CSPs currently? What qualities did they present in the interview process? Can you see the same signs in any of your current applicants? This can take the form of an intuitive process or an extensive statistical study.
Finally, when matching a candidate to a job, take into account whether it’s a good fit not only between the candidate and the company, but the candidate’s skills, interests, and temperament and the requirements of the job. Each job will draw on different personality traits; if an employer can make these connections, the stage is set for exceptional performance.
As VOC results become a more reliable measure of agent and company performance, the recruiting and hiring of CSPs who are well-rounded and sharp listeners will become an art and science of its own. And, in the process, KOVA’s own Audiolog can prove helpful in recording, monitoring, and evaluating calls to better figure out what does and doesn’t work.
