Contact Centre

Dad, what do you think about me getting a job in a call centre?

My oldest is about to complete his first year of university and is thinking about taking a year off. Because I’m in the call centre business he asked me about employment opportunities in the industry and what I thought about working in a call centre. Before I could answer my wife jumped in and said, “I don’t want him working on one of those places. I hate those calls you get at night.” I politely explained that there are a whole range of opportunities in the industry with most of the jobs in roles where you’re handling inbound calls providing customer service and support. “But even in those places you have to put up your hand if you want to go to the bathroom. Who’d want to work in that kind of environment” she said.

So what a great question. As someone who’s been a part of the industry for over 15 years do I think a job in this business is good enough for my first born? The answer is a resounding yes. It’s perfect for him.

First, he doesn’t have a lot of experience which eliminates him from many full time opportunities but he does have retail experience. Dealing with and helping customers in a retail environment transfers well to the call centre business and many companies hiring will consider that sufficient background when they ask for “previous customer service experience”. Second, he’ll get some good training on basic, but very important skills that we’ll stay with him for a lifetime. Managing and guiding a conversation to a successful outcome, dealing with difficult customers, problem resolution, and communication skills, are all areas that he would typically receive training on and get plenty of practice using in a call centre job. Clearly these are skills that will be critical to him, regardless of the profession he finally chooses, and a call centre is a perfect place to hone them.

Even if he decides to try his hand “at one of those places” as my wife called it there is no more valuable skill to learn than attempting to engage someone who you call out of the blue and get them interested in your product and services. Sales skills, no matter what profession you choose, are critical to success in business. It also doesn’t hurt in giving him a little toughness that comes with hearing no over and over again before success is finally realized. That’s a life skill that he must develop and outbound telemarketing gives you a crash course in it.

You’ll notice that most of the reasons that I’ve cited so far are in the context of skills he’ll learn that he can transfer and use when he gets a “real” job. There’s another very important element to this business that I think is one of the best kept secrets in this industry.

There are probably no better environments for career advancement for talented hard working young people than in the call centre business. High turnover is a reality in this business primarily because most people view it as a pit stop along the way in their career. What a few people quickly recognize is that within this environment it can be easy to stand out by simply having a good attitude, showing some enthusiasm and initiative, and really caring about doing the right thing for your customer and your company. These people soon find that they are being considered for the next Supervisor or Team Lead position sometimes after only a few months on the job and often with little formal post secondary education. If my son lands a job in a call centre I am going to tell him to do his best to stand out because he may have the opportunity in a very short time to take on a leadership role and get some outstanding experience in managing people and leading a team that he just couldn’t get in any other environment.

In a recent meeting of the CMA Contact Centre Council I asked my colleagues, many of whom are Vice Presidents of Customer Service for large well known fortune 100 companies, how many of them started out as an agent. Over half of the room put up their hands. Wow. These very bright people figured out early on that by showing some initiative they could quickly work their way up the organization becoming subject matter experts in an area of the business everyone now recognizes as critical to success. That’s why they're earning six figure salaries. Not bad from starting out as an agent making a little more than minimum wage.

So when I’m not around and my wife secretly tells him to look for a “real” job because she naturally doesn’t believe anything I have to say, hopefully he’ll tell her about my friends who quickly turned a job, that she considers unworthy of her first born, into a profession that pays handsome dividends.

Who am I kidding? He’ll probably listen to her. Dad has no idea what he’s talking about.

CBC Rates the Customer Experience

On November 22nd, CBC released a study on their rating of the customer service in 40 of Canada's top companies.

The methodology was interesting, taking into account many of the attributes of what may frustrate a customer on a typical call. I believe they did a reasonably good job at rating the experience from the customer point of view.

The results were also interesting; perhaps mostly because we know most of the companies on the list. Many of us will make assessments based on our own experiences and how they compare the list the CBC released.

There is one area that leads me to want to ignore the findings of this survey. The size of the sample of the survey was too small. They called the businesses once during the day, once during the evening and once during the weekend. They based their entire satisfaction rating on 3 calls. Most of these businesses will receive millions of calls each year. The sample size is simply too small to make an accurate rating on the level of service provided by these organizations.

CBC's rating the ease of navigating the IVR (the touchtone or voice response that answers most calls these days) would be accurate, as this will not change significantly from one call to the next.

The most difficult part of operating a call centre is to provide the same level of service to every customer that calls in every time. It is impossible to achieve when a company reaches a certain size. In a small call centre with 4-10 people, this can be much easier. Everyone talks to each other, training is fast and efficient and most if not all are on the same page with what to say to Customers because they can talk to each other everyday.

When you have a call centre with thousands of people you face real challenges. Just like in any workplace, you have various levels of skill and professionalism. You have new people that have been at the organization for 6 weeks and those that have been at the organization for 10 years.

Your level of satisfaction with a company has everything to do with who you reach when you call. We all hope for a minimum of fast and excellent service and are satisfied when we receive it. Unfortunately this is not realistic in many cases. Even the highest rated call centres achieve satisfaction ratings in the 80% area. That means 20% of Customers are not completely satisfied at any given time.

A secret tip that more and more customers are realizing? If the organization offers a web "chat" function within their customer service offering, try to take advantage of it. In many cases the best and most seasoned representatives are on the other end of that chat window ready to wow you with fast and great service.

When Customer Service sells. And when it doesn't.

I'm going to forget that I'm a marketer for a moment and pretend that I'm only a consumer. I think it's important to do that every now and then (or whenever I'm not at work) because consumers don't think like marketers. They think like my Dad who doesn't understand what I do for a living.

My internet service provider used to be a company well known for its pitchbeavers. One day, that internet service crashed and said company could not seem to figure out why or how to get me back up to high speed. So I switched to Rogers for my home internet connection. Then, about a year later, I needed a new cell phone, so I naturally switched to Rogers Wireless. Then my wife and children needed cell phones. Rogers was the first place I thought of. Then I got telemarketed one day and was asked to switch my home phone to Rogers. So I did. Now, when Rogers goes into the dog walking business, I'll be there with my two labs and a leash.

The reason I've become one of Rogers' best customers isn't necessarily because they have better phones, or faster high speed access. It's not even that they put everything on one bill. Even beavers can do all of that.

It's simply that I have had excellent customer service experiences with them each and every time I've needed to deal with someone at Rogers. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I hate their Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) system. (Please get rid of that thing!!!) But once I get a real person, they're always helpful, patient, kind and results-oriented.

Then I happened to walk in to a Rogers retail outlet about a month ago for a superficial issue with my Treo 650. The store's sales representative, Alex, told me I was eligible for an upgrade to the new 680. I bit. (Love a new gadget.)

Over the following week, I realized that the 680's battery didn't seem to hold a charge. By 9:30 pm, I'd be out of battery. I contacted the store and spoke to Alex. He emailed me back with an online solution which I tried right away. Didn't work. He suggested I come in to the store (not convenient since it's located at Queen's Quay and I live in North Toronto) for a new battery. So I did. He wasn't there but the other rep had the battery for me. The new battery didn't fit the new Treo. Not impressed.

Later that day, I got an email from Alex saying he would replace the whole Treo, that he was sorry for any inconvenience, and that his goal was to be sure I was happy with my purchase.

I couldn't believe that the customer service I experience whenever I call Rogers extended right down to store level.

All of this to say, why doesn't Rogers differentiate itself from everyone else by advertising something that is NOT a commodity in their very commoditized business? Customer Service. Their advertising is all about fewer dropped calls, the Fave Five, and everyone in the family wanting an internet connection. I don't get it. Any number of telco's can make the exact same claims, and are.

Rogers, you have an opportunity to differentiate yourself in your advertising. I'm doing my part as a consumer with this posting. Now it's your turn.

While I'm on the topic of customer service, I have to ask, is WestJet for real? Seriously. Their advertising shows flight attendants chasing people down in the street to return cell phones and giving the sweaters off their backs to passengers returning to a cold climate from a sunny vacation. Maybe they really can fulfill on those promises. But as a viewer of those commercials, I'm not buying or believing it.

If an advertiser has a valid point of difference (like stellar customer service), and they go so far over the top with their advertising campaign that it stretches credibility in the consumer's mind, they're wasting their money.

Got any amazing customer service stories? Share them with those of us who would be more than happy to put our faith (and hard earned money) into companies who think like marketers -- and consumers.

Recipe for Retention

A 2006 poll of Contact Centre executives found attrition to be the #1 business concern. Not surprising when you look at the statistics – the average attrition rate for internally run Centres is 20-30% and for outsourcers, it is 40-50%.

The statistics simply point to the root cause of why Call Centre staff, primarily agents, leave. Leaders do not focus enough of their time on agents “What’s In It For Me?”! They may have a monthly incentive plan and decent induction training but a rigorous consistent approach to WOWing their agents is often missing.

When it comes to customers and employees, there is a useful expression: “Loyalty is the absence of a better option.” If you want your employees (and customers) to remain loyal you simply have to be the best option available to them. Remember, you are competing for valuable resources.

The way to do this is what we call the “Recipe for Retention.” The recipe is a useful analogy. Improving retention is similar to baking a cake – you line up all the ingredients in the right measures put them together in the right sequence and cook for the right amount of time at the right temperature. Voila, cake! Leaving out 2-3 ingredients or deciding to lower the temperature (to save on electricity?) may give you a “baked something” but you may not want to offer it to your guests.

The recipe for retention has the following ingredients:

• Offer competitive compensation and benefits - this is foundational. People in entry level jobs are often stressed about making ends meet and a 10% increase can make a difference. If you are well below market rates, you will not be able to keep the best.

• Select the right people for the job and your culture - if sales are required, hire people willing to take that on (with support), if your comp plan is “pay-for-performance,” don’t hire the risk averse.

•Coach and train them for skill development, confidence - there is an unfortunate lack of coaching in Contact Centres. Like anyone in any job, if agents lack the skills to do the job confidently – including dealing with tough customers and selling – job stress may trigger an exit.

• Give them a schedule that matches their lifestyle - do not underestimate the pressures to deal with childcare or meet school demands. Respect these issues and they will be more devoted.

• Strong support structure in systems, processes - poor systems, confusing marketing information, out of date policies all add to the frustration of the job. Constant frustration is a trigger to consider other options.

• Personal recognition - everyone craves a pat on the back for a job well done! A personal thank you from their supervisor or the CC Director goes further than being on a chart for a quarterly incentive.

• Open and engaged leadership - being heard, having personal support, feeling inspired, having fun, feeling important and unique requires a tuned in and on the floor leadership group.

The best measure of customer loyalty is found by asking customers about their “loyalty behaviours.” Will they continue to purchase? Purchase new goods or services? Recommend your company to others? The same measurement applies to your employees. The best measure of employee loyalty? They tell you they are not looking for a new job, they rave about and recommend your company to their friends and family.

If your agents are not raving, you may want to go back and find out which ingredients are missing. Providing an inspiring, fun, high performance environment requires discipline and is the #1 job for Contact Centre leaders.

Event: 'How to Satisfy Irrational Callers'

Quick post about an event of interest (Feb 14) to those in a contact centre environment. Put on by the Contact Professional Alliance, the topic is about responding to ‘difficult’ callers. Former Staff Sgt. Barney McNeilly who was second-in-command at the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force will share his experience and insight on the issue.

Seminar on Outsourcing and Offshoring

Quick directional post - if interested in learning more about contact centre outsourcing, and specifically offshoring, you might want to check out this 'no cost' seminar on October 4th in Toronto.

Peter Ryan of Datamonitor will speak on trends and issues. Peter joined Datamonitor’s CRM analysis team in June 2003 - he leads Datamonitor’s contact center offshore and outsourcing research.

If not India, where?

Flipping through August 7th Business Week magazine I was stopped by the headline “Call Center? That’s so 2004.”

The article detailed the fact that as international outsourcers (particularly in India) get more sophisticated at taking over outsourced work from the west, they are finding that the “lowest end” of the business – call centres – just does not pay anymore. Apparently Indian outsourcers are beginning to turn down call centre contracts. (The article was interesting in its detailing of the difficulties encountered by offshore call centres.)

This made me think. The national Do Not Call List (DNCL) is around the corner. I think that it will inevitably have an effect on the outbound prospect telemarketing habits of Canadian organizations. I think that some organizations are likely to re-jig their telemarketing mix away from prospecting, to focus more on existing customers (who are exempt from the national DNCL requirements). Even before reading the Business Week article I was wondering if such a shift would result in an increase in the prevalence and size of in-house call centres in Canada. Add the point that the article is making – that North American companies are potentially going to find it more difficult, or at least more expensive, to outsource call centre work – now I might place even more money on the potential that in the next little while we are going to see an increase in in-house telemarketing by Canadian organizations.

What do you think?

Relevant to the question is a Contact Centre Canada study done in April 2006 titled “Customer Contact Centres in Canada: the Impact of Offshoring, Technology and Regulation on Human Resources”. Contact Centre Canada is the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Sector Council focused on the HR challenges affecting the contact centre sector. Interestingly, their study predicted that offshoring will increase over the next five years...

Video Business Cards

It’s still pretty novel and serves a useful purpose. So much in fact that CMA’s Contact Centre Council decided to try out the video business card format to personalize an issue (related to variable compensation at contact centres). It’s just seven minutes. Even if the topic doesn’t catch your interest, the technology is worth a look.

When Less is Really More - $$

We recently administered an employee survey for our department. One of the areas to focus on had to do with pay. A group (albeit a relatively small group compared to the whole department) indicated that they were not paid enough for their role. While I know that our compensation is competitive for the role our staff performs, I wondered how we could explain this.One of the areas I wanted to address was the fact that compensation is not just about pay. Although most of us understand this, I am not sure most of us really understand what this means.I decided to try and explain this through a pie chart. I took all of the areas of compensation that our group has available to them and was surprised at how much there really is. Here are some examples:

• Payrate (this is obvious, and can be hourly or salary)
• Benefits (this can be up to 30% over and above the payrate which may surprise most)
• Paid sick days
• Paid vacation beyond the two week minimum
• Your own company discounts on products or services
• Discounts arranged by the company such as deals on products and services from other companies, e.g., Wonderland and other event ticket discounts, a gym membership, discounts on travel, car rentals etc.
• Bonuses
• Incentives (no matter how big or small) and rewards
• Department lunches or dinners (holiday season is big for these)

You get the idea. The list may be longer or shorter depending on the Company you work for. When I added all of these together, I realized that payrate was less than 75% of the actual compensation a person receives. Those little "extras" added up to almost $10k per year in added compensation for each person!

When it comes to benefits, I explained that the next time you visit the dentist (for example) take a look at the cost. Whatever amount your benefits covered is money that did not leave your bank account. Therefore you earned that money (to spend elsewhere). I noticed this approach helped people realize how benefits are a major part of compensation and very often the one thing we take for granted when we have them.

Every little bit counts toward your total compensation.

Someone making $15 per hour or approximately $30k per year may actually make less at a new job paying $17 per hour or $34k. Those extras can really add up when you take the time to look at them closely.

I visited the dentist last week. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I didn't have to pay out of my own pocket.

A step closer to a National Do Not Call List

The CRTC’s work toward creating a national Do Not Call List (DNCL) continues. Just out today, they released an RFI for potential vendors.

As well as being used to determine the availability of capable contractors, the RFI is looking for input that may assist them in the “development, deployment and operation” of the list.

Does your organization want to run the national service? If so, you might want to respond to the RFI – time is short. It’s due August 8.

Why do some businesses put up walls in front of their Customers' Experience?

I was at a popular sub sandwich shop the other day and noticed a handwritten sign taped over the pop dispensers that said "refills 50 cents."

I wondered how that sign got there. Maybe there are people that come in to the shop and sit for hours drinking refills of pop and the owner or manager likely got angry. They put the sign up to get rid of these patrons, or at least thought to make more money off of them.

Most of us don't usually refill our drinks when we eat but we like the idea that we could if we wanted to, for free. It lets the Customer feel that they’ve had a great Customer Experience, with no financial impact to the business. Instead, what this business owner or manager did is put up a wall in front of that great Customer Experience. At what cost? The cost to refill a container is pennies at most. The shop had already charged me a dollar for the drink. I wondered how pleased Customers would be if the owner had taped up a sign that read "free refills - please enjoy your stay." Customers might come back just because of the positive experience the shop presented - even if most of them never opted for a refill.

This is not about free refills. It's about establishing rules that negatively affect all Customers. What this business owner or manager did is hurt their business by trying to stop a select few from taking advantage of them. The business would most likely be better off losing a small amount of money to reap the financial rewards of the repeat business that a great Customer Experience brings them. It's about investing in the long term Experience of your profitable Customers.

Take a look around you when you shop. You will see certain negative rules all the time. Take a moment to think about how these rules affect your Experience. I was at a golf course a few weeks ago, the very first sign I saw was "Slow players will be asked to leave immediately." I was so annoyed and thought "thanks for giving me one more thing to worry about while I'm trying to figure out this game!"

I ended up becoming a regular Customer at another sandwich shop that had free refills, even though I don't usually take advantage of the offer. I also found a better golf course.

I Want to Work at a Call Centre!

Today it seems call centres just don’t get any respect. We are loved (when we get rid of problems) yet despised when solutions don’t come quick enough or to our satisfaction. Most of us have experienced these highs and lows. So what makes one call centre stand-out against the others as a great place to work and in turn, a business that will shine? It's pretty simple, really, and those of us in the business, may need to be reminded about.....

These three things:

1. How we treat our front line staff

Treat staff fairly when it comes to life issues; be there when they need some advice; let them know right away when they handled a call really well (they probably just saved a valuable Customer after all); reward them for good performance (a free dinner or event is a very big deal for a Representative who rarely ever gets invited to these things).

2. Fair compensation for the work performed

Check local businesses with similar call centre requirements to make sure you are offering fair compensation (this includes the extras your organization offers such as discounts on your product or service, and benefits - money is a real issue for someone making $10-$15 per hour) - as a result there may be added stresses on the people in your call centre - be sensitive to this and you will come to understand the people in your call centre are actually a very resilient bunch.

3. It’s about the environment

Working in tight spaces exacerbate some of the common "people interaction" problems we all experience (you try having to sit 5 feet away from someone for 8 hours and you soon will realize how difficult this can be to deal with on a day to day basis); brighten up their area with sunlight, add plants, paint, art, let them brighten the area with their own creations; keep your centre extra clean and manage your "problem" people effectively to reduce the stress of others in your call centre (brightening the environment often improves attitudes, your customers will notice this as well).

In October, CMA's Contact Centre Council will be hosting a 1/2 day Best Practices Forum - bringing together senior Call Centre leaders with hands-on experience to share practices that have made a real difference in their Centres - the outcome will be documented and then shared with the call centre industry. If this is something you would like to participate in, please express your interest directly to contactcouncils@the-cma.org.