What keeps you awake at night? What are the issues that you are facing at this time? You need to improve your contact centre operations but you don’t know where to start? Well, this page is a good place to start!! Here we have provided possible solutions, or at least a direction for a possible solution, to some of the typical issues that many contact centre managers have faced!! You can think of this section as Trouble Shooting for contact centres.
If you don’t see your specific issue below, please contact us and we will help you find a solution to your issue.
Contact Centre Management Issues
- I know I need to improve my centre’s operation, but where do I start?
- We are having an extremely hard time implementing changes!
- I am constantly asked to reduce my operating expenses.
- How do I measure my agents’ productivity?
- I need to reduce the training time as we have a high turn-over and the training costs are very high.
- My contact centre suffers from:
- Low retention of employees
- High absence rate
- Low employee morale
- My contact centre has:
- High write-offs (monetary compensation)
- Too many repeat calls from customers for the same issue
- High level of escalation to supervisors / management
- I am always asked to benchmark my centre but I am not familiar with benchmarking terminology!
I know I need to improve my centre’s operation, but where do I start?
Typically there are several signs that point in the same direction but if there is no clear sign for a single issue or you are looking for overall improvement, then an Operational Assessment should be your starting point!
An Operational Assessment includes a complete review of all internal processes, procedures and performance indicators for the centre as well as their alignment with the centre’s long term strategy. The outcome is an assessment report, indicating not only what needs to be improved (and what is good enough) but also in what order. After all there is no sense spending a lot of time and resources improving a certain attribute that is not strategically important to the centre!
We are having an extremely hard time implementing changes!
That is not unusual!! Most people do not like change, especially when it is forced on them. Successful changes have grass root support from the agents.
Best-in-class contact centres use an internal team/process called “Change Deployment” to achieve such support.
I am constantly asked to reduce my operating expenses!
This is one of the most common and toughest issues for a contact centre manager. There are several ways to look at the issue and the potential solutions!
First of all, is the centre taking full advantage of its resources (agents)? A low occupancy rate (associated with a high target service level) simply means a waste of resources!! A complete and proper Workforce Management process will be extremely helpful. We offer a complete portfolio of Workforce Management courses.
Another issue to consider is the Contact Handling process. Is the handling process effective and efficient? Is the process making the best use of available technology? A 30 second reduction in a 5 minute Average Handling Time (AHT), can easily translate into a 5 to 8% cost reduction. To find out more about AHT, please read our article.
What about the number of incoming calls? What percentage of calls are repeat calls (for the same issue)? A First Call Resolution (FCR) of 70% means that 30% of all callers have to make second or third calls. A complete Quality Listening program along with an optimized Fulfillment process can significantly reduce these preventable calls and in turn reduce the overall operation costs!!
How do I measure my agents’ productivity?
There are several methodologies and techniques available to contact centre management. And of course there is always the dilemma of build versus buy, as there are many vendors who provide measurement tools based on their own methodology. The problem is “one size does not fit all”!!!
Before you start building (or buying) a measurement tool, you need to determine what is your short-term and long-term focus? And how does this focus impact the other aspects of the operation? Are you sending mixed messages?
One key point to consider is the long-term behaviour of your agents. Do not fall into trap of quick efficiency improvement when it conflicts with desired behaviour that you expect from your agents!
I need to reduce the training time as we have a high turn-over and the training costs are very high.
There are really two issues involved:
- The first issue is the length of training! Training always has to be up to date and appropriate for the work to be done! It should frequently be reviewed to make sure it is efficient and effective. On the other hand, you cannot simply shorten the training to save costs. Having agents with insufficient training will cost you a lot more in the long run!
- The second issue (which is frequently missed) is why is your centre having a high turnover? Is your Hiring & Selection process appropriate for your centre (i.e. are you hiring the right individuals)? Do you have the right Performance Measurements and Rewards & Recognition?
My contact centre suffers from:
- Low retention of employees
- High absence rate
- Low employee morale
These are all the outcomes of poor employee satisfaction. In this case, a more global approach is required to improve the poor performance area. This involves assessing all processes that make a significant contribution to the employee’s overall behavior.
My contact centre has:
- High write-offs (monetary compensation)
- Too many repeat calls from customers for the same issue
- High level of escalation to supervisors / management
Again, these are just symptoms of a bigger problem, namely poor customer satisfaction. Again, a more global approach is required! Except in this case, the focus will be on the processes that directly (and sometimes indirectly) affect the customers’ satisfaction with the organization in general and the centre in specific.
I am always asked to benchmark my centre but I am not familiar with benchmarking terminology!
For a definition of benchmarking and other benchmarking terms, please see Benchmarking Jargon.