Hot Topics - Contact Center/Customer Service ShareGroup

< Back to Contact Center/Customer Service ShareGroup 2007 Registation Page

The following Talking Points have been compiled from the companies attending the 2007 Call Center and Customer Service ShareGroup.  These topics will be used during the ShareGroup roundtable discussions. Remember that the ShareGroup is not a lecture, but a discussion opportunity with other managers.

Metrics

• We will be discussing all of the metrics that you are submitting, how companies achieve these, as well as industry best practice.
• Understanding cost per contact, cost per call and cost per order.
• What standards for turn around do you have for other forms of work (e.g. returns, chat, e-mail, etc.).
• Time management and capturing costs with universal agents.

Call Center Operations

• What functions is your Call Center responsible for?
• How is work organized (or fragmented) in your operation?
• Are more centers moving to “universal agent” concept?
• Do the agents make a smooth transition in systems and workload?
• Is it effective to have universal agents?
• What percent of the call length is “call time” versus wrap up?
• Regarding exception orders, how do you work failed credit orders, address verification, fraud, foreign orders, etc.  What’s the process?  Any software used?
• Do you advertise 24 hour/7 day service?
• Open 24 hours-100% agent representation or use IVR?
• What caller identification systems are used?
• Does your call center use PC’s vs. data entry terminals?
• Customer Relationship management tools
  • Types of systems used
  • How much information do you collect and store about your customers?
• Price Adjustment Policies—how long allowed, what types of adjustments are requested
• Dropship Vendor Management—systems used to manage dropship vendors

Organizational Structure

• Levels of management, what works in your environment
• Directors, Supervisors, Team Leaders?
• How many TSR/CSR’s make up a team?

Scheduling

• How do you schedule?
• How do you schedule for time off in the center?
• Software used for scheduling?
• Shift Bid/Swap Process—how manage changes to shifts, allow shift swaps between agents?
• Who is responsible for finding substitutes?
• How is e-commerce use by customers complicating your off hours scheduling?
• For non-phone work, (e.g. returns, on-line collaboration/chat, e-mails, etc.), how do you schedule the work?
• How do you address staffing problems in inclement weather?
• Shift changes - how do you handle morale
• Policy - Frequency – Vacancies
• Attendance Policy—what is currently in place at companies?
• Different shifts for different weeks?
• Challenges in scheduling?
• Is it effective to have a scheduling system?

Training

• On-line learning programs – what’s new?  What working?
• Compare turnover averages between companies.
• New hire training program and time allowed?
• Have you developed any tutorials for training?
• Do you have a continuing education program?
• Amount of cross training?
• How do you train employees on systems and new products? 
• Do you have product specialists?
• Is there specific web training?  How are you keeping your reps current on web site changes your company is implementing?
• What types of training systems are used? 
• Windows vs Green Screen?
  • Advantages vs Disadvantages?
  • Speed of use?
  • Which is easier for today’s agent?
  • Is the heads-down approach old news?

Home Agents

• Who is using?
• Experiences?
• Equipment required? Costs?
• How do you manage them?
• Overflow calls?
• Web browser order entry?

On-Line Collaboration/Chat

• Share your experiences.  Which companies use chat?  Is it used to upsell?  What innovative uses have you implemented?

Call Monitoring

• Call monitoring for quality?  Do you have a separate team or do your lead supervisors monitor?
• What tools do you use?
• What’s your process?
• What do you do with your observations?
• How often is monitoring done?
• Forms used?
• System used?
• Challenges?
• What is an appropriate QA goal?
• Do you have a separate CSR Performance Appraisals
• What types of forms are being used?
• Components of the appraisal?
• Scoring system?
• Merit increases?

Incentive Programs

• Do you have an incentive program?
• What are you measuring?
• What performance are you paying for?
• How do you measure?
• What software or tools are used?
• From an incentive perspective, how do you treat non-phone work?
• Individual and/or team based incentives?

Reasons For Calls

• What are your top 5 reasons for calls?
• Do you have a “first call” resolution concept/program?  How do you monitor that it’s actually working?
• Discuss briefly returns policies.  With high return customers, do you “shut down” their purchasing?

Recruiting

• What recruiting methods work for you?  If you experience an extreme peak, what recruiting techniques and incentives are working for you in this situation?
• Availability of viable employees to meet the growing needs of the business.
• How do you address competition in your market?
• Agent at home to address potential labor shortage
• Qualifications needed to be an at home agent
• What are the qualifications for hiring? Order Entry vs. Customer Service
• Are testing programs used to assist with hiring?

Productivity

• Retaining a flex workforce – what’s working?
• Motivating selling performance.
• Managing to the half hour interval.
• Improved productivity without increased attrition/burn out
• Creative ways you have implemented to manage labor costs.
• Is average talk time relevant in today’s environment or is it better to spend the time servicing the customer?
• Time clock or Pay by Phone Log in Time—methods for managing employees time, pay by minute/hour
• Accuracy of Agent Data—how is the agent data for customers managed if requests for customers are completed incorrectly

Customer Service

• What is your management’s philosophy?
• What are the critical components?
• What do you do to deliver “Red Carpet Service”?
• What are some of the elements that call center plays in your company’s strategic planning?
• How well do you know your Customers?
• Do you know the top Customers in each of your Brands?
• Do you know if you are speaking to a top Customer?
• Loyalty Programs used
• Types of Surveys used
• How do you measure Customer Satisfaction? 
• Do you have a Customer Satisfaction Index that is reported? - What measures?
• Do you have Personal Shoppers? 

Monitoring Chats and E-Mails

• What monitoring tools do you use?
• Do you use a service or monitor chats and e-mails in house?

E-Commerce

• How has increased e-commerce business impacted your Call Center’s labor needs?
• What web software are you using?
• Do you have separate web reps?  How do they report issues and work within the call center?
• How many companies have real time web site to customer service system integration?  How are you handling customer order updates, corrections and calls when not real time?
• If you have personalization on products, what kinds of problems are you experiencing (higher than normal)?
• Do you offer web only promotions?  If yes, do you allow Customers to redeem over the phone?
• Do web Customers receive catalogs?
• Who has live inventory feeds to the website for realtime product availability?
• Customer Service integration to the website
• What is driving the customer to the website, what do you capture to track?
• Upselling/cross selling capabilities

Call Qualifiers – tracking what type of calls are you getting

• Number used
• During peak season with temporary staff, need to limit the number?
• Capture manually, automatically through phone or order entry
• Types
• Reports and how they are used

Email Qualifiers – tracking what type of emails are you getting

• Qualify email similar to call
• Prioritize emails?
• Reports and how they are used

Retention

• What retention methods work for you?  What methods haven’t worked?

E-Mail Communications

• What percent of your customer file has e-mails?

Queue Management Strategies

• How many queues in center?
• How skill agents to manage queues?
• Reporting for queues?

Recognition Program

• Have you implemented a recognition program?
• What types of programs are used?
• Goals and objectives?
• Success with programs?

Multi-Channel

• What do you call your center and why?
• Customer Contact Center
• Customer Service Center
• Customer Relationship Management  Center
• How do you manage communication between channels?
• Do you manage customer service for all channels (if you have retail also)?
• Do you have different service level standards between channels?
• Do you have different product offerings?  Product pricing?
• What type of tracking do you have on cross channel transactions?
• Do you offer a Company Credit Card that tracks store/catalog/web transactions?
• If you do not offer a Company Credit Card, how do you track  these transactions?
• Those with retail stores, do you offer in store pickup?
  • How does the Call Center handle this?
• Returns in Multi-channel
• Return Policies—how long is allowed for customer returns

CSR Evaluation

• How often are reps evaluated for performance?
• How often are reps evaluated for a wage increase?
• Bring your rep performance evaluations and F. Curtis Barry & Company will copy and distribute.

Hispanic Market Services

• Do you use outside translation services or hire bilingual agents?
• Bilingual Agents-Is there a different pay scale for bilingual agents?

Upselling/Cross Selling

• Do you use upselling?  How subtle is the program?  Do you have daily specials?
• Do you pay incentives?  How does the program work?
• Is your system smart enough to prompt the upsell/cross sell?

Privacy

• How has it impacted the Call Center
• Is there an increase in “remove me from the mailing list”

Developing Your Managers

• Developing management staff to meet the needs of employees
• How do you train managers?  What material and program resources do you use?
• Career Pathing for Employees—are there tiers of employees within the call center, how do they move through the tiers, testing?

Customer Info

• How intentional is your company about passing on new product ideas, customer comments, etc. to other departments?  How is this accomplished?

Working With Your Outside Call Service

• Who do you use?
• Anyone using offshore outsourcing? If yes, what is your experience?
• What percent of calls are handled by service bureaus?
• How do you monitor their performance?
• How can you lower call times (and therefore costs)?
• Do you get an individual rep performance? 
• How do you change reps if they are not suitable?
• How do you keep product and policy training up to date?
• How do you measure their upsells?
• How good is the service compared to your staff?
• What has your overall experience been with the provider?
• Is the service live on your system or orders downloaded?
• Any inventory issues?

Sarbanes/Oxley Legislation

• How has it impacted your Call Center?
• What changes has your business had to make to comply?

Fraud

• Have you seen an increase in fraud as Internet becomes a bigger percent of the total direct business?
• What kinds of effective programs do you have?
• Has rise in internet sales resulted in an increase in credit card fraud?
• On internet sales, how do you combat credit card fraud/ identity theft problems?
• Real-Time Credit Card Authorization- Who uses it?   How is it working for your company?
• Work at Home Programs-How do you protect Customers credit card information?

PCI

• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard

IVR

• We would like to see who is using IVR and what self service features they have for the customers
• What are your experiences in using it?
• Any feedback from your customers?

Internal Intranets Used By Call Center

• What information do companies have available to reps?
  • (e.g. customer policies, product knowledge, vendor warranty information, etc.)

Share Your Knowledge and Experience With New Technologies and Concepts

• Do you use off shore call centers?  How did you arrive at this decision?
• What are the newest technologies available for the Call Center?
• Knowledge based systems
• New ACD systems – anyone want to ask questions of the participants?
• Call scheduling systems
• Speech recognition
• CTI – how is it used?  Benefits?
• If your company uses Ecometry for order entry and customer service, what is your direction in terms of conversion (Unix, windows, another vendor)?
• VoIP – anyone using?  Boeing replacing all networks.

Management Reports For Call Center

• What effective reports do you have?  Bring report samples with you (without your numbers on them) so that we can exchange.  F. Curtis Barry & Company will copy and distribute.

< Back to Contact Center/Customer Service ShareGroup 2007 Registation Page