CALL CENTER FUTURE:
Come incrementare le
performance
Luca Lorenzon
Account Executive – Plantronics Italia
White Paper
• Titolo: I fattori di successo nei contact centre del futuro
• 4° User Council Meeting 17,18 Maggio 2006 Napoli
• Chaired by Neil Salton – Go Corless (UK)
– Azienda di consulenza specializzata in Workplace, ICT e
organizzazione aziendale
• Con la collaborazione di
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Telecom Italia
Tim
Vodafone
Wind
Cos
Comdata
CCA – Customer Contact Association (UK)
CMMC
I fattori di successo
• People
– necessità ed aspirazioni degli agenti
• Technology
– IP & Mobility
• Workplace
– design del posto di lavoro (workplace)
From Call to Contact …
• The Call Centre has evolved to be about customer Contact, not simply
customer calls
• The web gives customers many ways to make contact
– Variation in contact preferences by demographic
• Older generations prefer face to face, but a call is the next best option
and tend to have longer calls – need to be routed to sympathetic
minded agents
• Customer self service options are the key
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Call-me-Back’ option for when browsing does not provide the answer
‘Click-to-Call’ e.g. Skype integration into E-Bay
SMS – Account updates etc
Email
– And of course voice
© Cordless Group
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People: What Do Agents Say - UK survey?
• 62% of agents are women
– 39% aged between 18-25
• Older agents stay longer in their jobs
– 50% aged 36-45 stay for > 2 years
– 83% aged >46 stay for > 2 years
• Most popular facilities
– Training rooms, Chill-out areas, Car parking & Internet access
• These facilities were quoted as reducing feelings of stress and higher
feelings of personal organisation and pride
• 50% of 36-45 year old agents would like flexible working opportunities,
less than 18% are offered the chance
• In spite of using call-routing systems, only 35% of agents are provided
with the correct information to manage the call
*Source : Benchmark Research 228 agents in 33 Call Centres 2004
© Cordless Group
People Issues
• Agents must be fully acquainted with the your brand,
values and products
• Sustaining motivation is vital to maintain customer service
levels
• Softer aspects drive motivation and resultant service –
most motivation is about involvement and sense of
contribution
• Agent discretion in situation handling
– Create a feeling of autonomy and influence – meet the needs of the
customer needs now - within business rules
• Research has shown that these objective measures have
a negative impact on motivation and productivity
© Cordless Group
People Issues
• Training and ongoing briefing sessions
– Business objectives training
– Tactical role training
– Integration into marketing/selling operations
• Involve the Contact Centre in campaign design
and development, utilise learning and avoid
inefficiencies
– Maintenance of the training programme – the Contact Centre
must always be integrated into the business
• Skill based call routing
– Understanding agents skills and routing accordingly
– Treating agents as individuals increases self worth & feeling of
making a contribution
© Cordless Group
Contact Centre Standards
• Interview with Anne-Marie Forsyth (CEO of the CCA)
– “Staff attrition remains a challenge for the industry, and
will only be fixed if staff have the right quality of work,
and they feel that the work really has purpose”
– CCA is lobbying for a drive towards best practice adoption
– “Move away from just ‘buffering’ calls to truly handling
customers in the best way possible”
• Contact centres need to be placed at the heart of the business
and the brand, and as stated in the earlier briefing, be fully
integrated and not play the ‘bolt-on’ department role
– “Stop ‘dumping’ endless campaigns on the Contact Centre
and disregarding the people skills”
• Ensure the Contact Centre is fully involved with campaign and
activity planning and that the right agents work on
programmes that suit their individual skills
People: workshop key findings
• Motivazione
– Fondamentale per il successo
– Bastano piccoli gesti (condividere un successo, messaggi semplici etc)
• Training
– Continuo e a volte meglio se al di fuori dell’ambiete di lavoro
– Non solo sulle attività ma anche sull’azienda
• Opportunità di carriera
– Anche in Italia le persone rimangono a lungo (6-8 anni)
– Capire gli skill delle persone e farle crescere in azienda
• Managment
– Coinvolti e parte del team
– Investire sulle persone (e non vedere questo come dei costi)
• Ruolo delle Associazioni
– Riconoscimento sociale del profilo lavorativo e del settore
– Sostegno nella crescita professionale
Technology
• The first few seconds of a call really count & the right
technology can influence these important moments &
personalising the initial routing can impact how the
customer feels about the next stages of the call
– Voice over IP (VoIP)
• Disruptive technology : the compelling benefits
– Wireless technology
• Flexibility of movement while connected
– Monitoring and measuring
• How technology can help – contacts waiting etc.
– Managing ambient noise & the impacts
• Agents and customers
© Cordless Group
Contact Centre VoIP
• IP communications changing how calls can be handled & from where
they are taken
• Move agents into other parts of the business
• Home working ‘Virtual Contact Centre’
• Mix of virtual & production floor according to the
nature of the call
– 1st level contact on site, 2nd level support/escalation may
be virtual
– Single converged IP network, savings on capital cost + running
costs
– Opportunity to move agent groups more easily for agent job
change, sharing, training etc
© Cordless Group
Wireless Networks
• In-building wireless networks
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Freedom of movement for staff
Ability to change location temporarily for meetings or break outs
Collaborative working & training sessions
Easier for other teams to co-locate on ad hoc basis
Meeting room booking etc
• Guest WiFi networks
– Improve client/supplier experience when on site
– Guest portal to allow for printing, finding local information
© Cordless Group
Technology – workshop key findings
• Ruolo della tecnologia
– Partner invisibile che deve assiste e non ostacolare
– Da integrare gradualmente per non impattare le operations
• VoiP
– Principale innovazione tecnologica degli ultimi tempi
– È stato implementato velocemente ma l’evoluzione dei softphones
avverrà nei prossimi anni
– Aiuterà la diffusione del telelavoro (ancora limitato in Italia)
• Wireless
– Tecnologia ancora di nicchia
– Sarà inevitabile con l’evoluzione dei nuovi posti di lavoro
• CRM e software in generale
– Principale area di frustrazione
– I sistemi devono permettere all’agente di aiutare il cliente al
momento della chiamata
Workplace Design - Have We Moved On?
• Merrill Lynch London
– Very noisy trading floor
environment
• British Telecom
– Telesales
© Cordless Group
• Cellular Operations
– Combined 4 buildings, great
deal of natural light and a
focus on relaxation areas
• First Direct
– Large floorplan with supervisor
area in the centre
– Fairly densely populated but
open feel
© Cordless Group
• IBM Scotland
– Investment in lighting,
Colour variation,
Plants, Open space
© Cordless Group
• Orange
– 450 seats in 5,600 sq metres
– As you move around the
Contact Centre, it is like
being in an Orange retail
store – brand immersion
© Cordless Group
Workplace – workshop key findings
• Cosa si sta facendo
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Cercare di personalizzare la postazione
Cura della luminosità e posizione della postazione
Qualità video – audio
Parcheggi e collegamenti con i mezzi pubblici
Ottenere servizi minimi: acqua, frigoriferi,
televisioni
– Protezione dal rumore
Workplace – workshop key findings
• Dove si vorrebbe arrivare
– L’ambiente di lavoro è fondamentale – investimento per
migliorare la qualità del lavoro con evidenti riflessi sulla
produttività delle persone
– Purtroppo è ancora visto come un costo
– La fase di progettazione è fondamentale per evitare che le
aree relax vengano poi trasformate per mancanza di sale
– Diminuzione della diffidenza nei confronti dei telelavoratori –
ricerche dimostrano che la loro produttività è eccezionale
– Valorizzare l’aspetto dell’educazione delle persone verso la
propria salute (fare esercizio, bere molto, etc)
– Incentivare le convenzioni per dare servizi agli operatori
(lavanderia, cinema, etc)
– Estendere le iniziative locali “best practice” in modo da
trasformarle in interventi aziendali a livello macro
Conclusioni
• People
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gli operatori devono essere considerati parte integrante dell’azienda
è importante creare un senso di appartenenza tra gli operatori e l’azienda
Training e motivazione i due elementi chiave
dare riconoscibilità sociale sui media al lavoro nei Call Centre e
rafforzarne la percezione nel mercato
• Technology
– la tecnologia è importante, ma deve creare benefici, mantenere
continuità
– il wireless ha un ruolo di nicchia, ma è importante per alcuni ruoli nei Call
Centre
– VoIP è una tecnologia che comporta costi significativi ma vantaggi
operativi
• Place
– Posto di lavoro accogliente è di ispirazione non solo per i lavoratori
ma per la comunità
– E’ un investimento, non un costo
I fattori di successo nei contact centre del futuro
Opportunity to make
efficiencies
Shift to task/skill orientated
work force
Learning and sharing
knowledge
Improve collaboration
Customer focus & response
Mobility
Opportunity to save
space
Social demographics
Reflection of
varying workstyles
Work/life balance
Virtual environments
Staff attraction
& retention
Parity across the
organisation
Employment Contract
Improved security
Greater speed
Use of technologies for efficiency,
time saving, mobility, information
access, choice
Decreasing cost