At the base of every organization is a fundamental goal to be profitable. Achieving this goal is largely dependent on employee performance. Therefore the management directive must be to optimize employee performance. In the contact center, agent performance must be a prime directive as improved agent performance is a critical component of customer-centricity, effectiveness and efficiency.

Internal Quality Monitoring (IQM) was born out of the need to measure performance by ensuring consistency in the exchanges agents were having with customers. While IQM certainly fulfills that need, such a fixed company-centric measurement process that is forced upon the agents can have a devastating impact on customer loyalty.

Agents who see what needs to be done for a customer but have no power to give it feel frustrated over their inability to affect a positive outcome.

Say it isn't so. Actually, I do not think one contact center in the U.S. would knowingly allow conditions in the workplace that are unfair or knowingly subject individuals to hostile work environments. I would even go as far to say that some over-compensate to avoid even the slightest appearance of discrimination. Many contact centers are also proactive at protecting their agents against abuse from customers.

Or are they? Could many contact centers be accepting prejudice from its customers and allowing discrimination of its agents to occur? Is your contact center one of them?

The Quest for Equality

Contact centers are driven by and driven to various key metrics that define performance. Among the many, agent performance metrics need to be measured consistently and applied evenly and fairly across the workforce.

Media, personal opinions, and dare we say prejudice, has created a negative perception of off-shoring in American society...

You've read the statistics. You know that the Latino population will soon exceed every other minority group in the United States—in terms of both sheer count and (importantly) purchasing power. Has your organization decided to stake its claim on this increasing customer base? This move could be a very costly decision.

American companies began tailoring their approach to the Spanish-speaking customer by hiring bilingual contact center representatives. Is this enough to pull from the purchasing power pool? Essentially, how far is far enough?

In an effort to bring clarity to this service strategy question, Customer Relationship Metrics examined a group of financial services contact centers offering customers in-language services through its contact center network. The results of the study largely supported the decision and costs associated with offering bilingual contact center support.

Contact center leaders are deluged with different CRM solutions that promise to reduce costs, heighten customer satisfaction and loyalty, improve productivity and do more with less. What to focus on with respect to the center's performance is often based on benchmark data attempting to show that the contact center is in line (or not in line) with others.

There are several ways to benchmark the performance of your contact center, but when all is said and done, it is the customer who has the final say. One way to ensure that these relationship management strategies are effective for the bottom line is to have a strong voice of the customer experience measurement program in place.

The contact center is a game of seconds and the more calls per month, the more a second per call means to the contact center as it related to money and customer service levels.

We continuously hear about methods to improve schedule adherence for agents as the seconds are critical with respect to this topic. Not withstanding the need for agents to return from breaks at the right time, some centers are forced to reward agents for coming to work. Depending on the demographics of area around the contact center, this practice is a difficult one to change.

What is the largest issue (okay, the largest pain) that is felt by your contact center that is a direct result of the enticement necessary for your agents to show up?

What is something your center is able to brag about related to getting (and keeping) the chairs filled at the right times?

Here is one of the best ideas to make money that I have ever heard:

Last month, I received an 8-page invoice from Verizon for $8.42. The service that we ordered had not yet been installed (an entirely different, an not unique, problem with telecom companies) but a corporate ID number had been set up based on credit checks, etc. so we're ready whenever they can figure out their side.

So, before approving this amount for payment, I study it a bit more. There is a line item for Media Services billed in the amount of $8.00. Tax assessed is the 42 cents.

Hmmm, what is Media Services?

Basic curiousity just made me call the 800-number to find out.

I am told that Media Service is the charge to send an invoice.

So, I say to her, it is listed that services rendered is ZERO and we are being billed $8 for just the bill?

Yes.

So, let me get this straight, you are sending me a bill to tell me that I do not owe anything and I have to pay you $8.42 for that to happen?

Yes.

Wow, I wish I would have thought up this brilliant idea! This would be like me sending my clients a bill for ZERO and charging them to tell them that. Or I could just send bills for ZERO to everyone in my town or in the state or in the country and start collecting $8.42 from them.

I guess that would be the same, she says.

You have planned the service strategy of your organization and are responsible for the success. Success is defined by a number of metrics including customer feedback, operational cost, sales, etc. This is why you get out of bed each day. You have stacks of reports, graphs and analytics to report how your organization is performing.

Have you experienced the service strategy as a customer? Have you called the customer service center and tried to navigate the self-service IVR to complete your task? Have you used the service channel to sign up for, change or discontinue services? Have you had a product repaired?

Lets get a discussion started to share what was found when you were a customer of your own organization. Tell us what you tried (and discovered) to give others ideas of where to start.

After a very long time with PayPal, I closed my account. Why? I had a customer service issue and could not get anyone to help me. You may be thinking, "How is that possible?".

As a customer service professional, I am much more forgiving than the average consumer. I will work within the system to find the process that works and I will not give up before the very last moment. See, not the average customer!

My PayPal problem has been going on for six months. I have used the Contact Us form and no one has responded to me. Within the pages of my account I was unable to locate a telephone number of any kind to speak to a human being. I became very tired of the "don't call us" mentality from these people. Fine, I won't call you but then you need to fix my problem as I asked. My final email form to them restated my problem for the fourth time and requested a call from them or I would close my account. Do you think I received a response from them of ANY kind?

The Fall conference schedule is kicking off with the Annual Call Center Exhibition (ACCE) in San Diego next week. As I review my presentation slides, dust off my carry-on and look for travel size bottles of conditioner, I think about the 1,200 attendees that are doing the same thing en route to San Diego or to some other conference. (This is not a commercial for the event.)

For me, the largest issue to make this trek across the country to attend is the TIME that I will be out of the office. There is definitely a need for "work displacement" as it all still must get done. Conferences are a time for me to spend time with fellow birds-of-a-feather and to come away with a renewed sense of excitement for what I do.

I watch some attendees become obsessed with voicemail and email and never really get disconnected from the office. I wonder if they are getting a positive return for their investment of time (and travel budget) if sessions are missed to get work done.

First, do you agree that it is important to attend professional events?

How do you maximize your investment when attending? Personal habits to come away with useful ideas? Rules of Disengagement?

Do you select conferences based on the coordinating group because you know the agenda will be strong? (If so, which do you recommend?)

Can you feel the change in the air? Back to school time seems like a more important change in the season than the New Year. This time of year has an effect on our staff (Yea or Boo?) and that change is then passed along to our customers. What does back to school mean to your staff and how can we take this season and turn it into something that raises the spirits and assists in the quest for more effective customer service delivery?

Most of your employees are affected by the back to school season. The biggest factor may come in the relief to the need for summertime, fulltime childcare. There is a collective sigh of relief when we know that our children are taken care of in a positive environment. Celebrate the return of the big yellow bus? So put this in the YEA column.

Back to school creates a large expense for most families. New shoes, clothing and school supplies. Financial pressures create the stress that people bring to work and which is then passed along to customers. Sometimes in a subtle manner, sometimes not-so-subtle.

How have you made more of a YEA out of the back to school time? Share some ideas so we can leverage this change in the air into something productive.