Improving Service Delivery An extract from Call Center Strategies 2009, a new research report published by the Ascent Group, Inc.

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Improving Service Delivery

An extract from Call Center Strategies 2009, a new research report published by the Ascent Group, Inc.

Assembling the right mix of resources to ensure high-quality, cost-effective customer care is a constantly evolving challenge. Selecting, training, managing, and motivating a large pool of employees requires creativity, enthusiasm, and perseverance. Determining the right combination of technology and personal touch is also a moving target as customer needs and expectations evolve. Many companies that have hit the mark have found it’s even more challenging to stay on top.

With this in mind, the Ascent Group conducted its third annual call center benchmarking study to better understand how companies are managing inbound customer care. We asked companies to share their experiences to help us identify the practices that make or break a customer contact center. We also asked companies to provide performance benchmarks so we could identify “best performers”—companies providing the best service at the best cost. The results of this research are contained in our report, Call Center Strategies 2009. This is the Ascent Group’s third annual benchmarking study of inbound call centers. Research topics included:

Call Center Benchmarking Comparisons by Industry
First Call Resolution Performance
Frontline Training Practices
Supervisory Training
Reward & Recognition Approaches
Monitoring Call Quality
IVR Performance

As part of this research, we asked companies to report call center operational data so we could calculate several performance benchmarks. The following benchmark metrics were collected and calculated:

Cost — Cost per call (Operational & Maintenance costs only — direct labor, contractor costs, overtime, and non-labor O&M; no capital costs or overheads)
Productivity — Calls Handled per FTE (per month)
Service — % Abandoned Calls (total calls handled versus total calls offered)
Service — % Call Resolved on First Contact (of total calls handled)
Service — % Agent Availability (time on phone or available to take calls)
Service — Service Level Conformance (percent of days service level goals achieved)
Service — Average Speed of Answer (Time between the first ring heard by the caller and when the call is answered by an agent or automated system, including time spent in queue.)

We identified the “best performers” for each industry-—above average companies that deliver low cost, high productivity, and high service. We calculated a “best performer” average for these high performing companies. We also calculated an industry average for each of the benchmark metrics, to demonstrate the performance of participants by industry. The following two charts depicts the Unit Cost and Abandonment Rate for our study group.

graph graph2

More benchmark performance comparisons are contained in the published research report.

What Did We Learn?

“Best Performing” contact centers are more likely to:

Use behavioral-based screening to select the best candidates,
Empower employees to make decisions,
Actively reward and praise employees for superior performance,
Commit resources to consistently monitor call quality and provide feedback,
Offer periodic refresher training,
Actively measure and monitor performance, and
Use performance results to drive continual improvement.

Hire the right people.

The best foundation for service excellence is your frontline, however many companies have struggled finding the right people due to out-dated recruitment and hiring practices. Our research shows that most companies rely on age-old interviewing techniques to identify qualified candidates rather than behavior-based interviewing techniques or even basic customer service skills testing. As a result, companies struggle to deliver consistent customer-oriented service.

Best-in-Class companies look for motivated and enthusiastic people who demonstrate a propensity to serve. It is easier to teach proficiency than it is to change attitudes. Hire for attitude and train the technical; emphasize potential over experience. Best-in-Class companies have turned hiring into an art form, not only the process but also the identification of the right type of employee.

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The Ascent Group, Inc.