It’s spring. You’re tempted to clean corporate house, streamline expenses, focus on core capabilities. Be careful with your plans to outsource – without understanding the 5 big pitfalls, you could do more damage than good. Avoid these costly mistakes and you will save your company a lot of money and headache.

Two Start Ups Should Never Marry – They Shouldn’t Even Date!

The last thing you want, as a well-thought out, well-funded start up is to get involved with another start up you know little about. Do they actually have funding? Are you their first/test client?  Will they deliver what they promise? Do you want to worry about whether they are going to make it, on top of all your own corporate concerns? Better to align with proven performers, because weren’t the original goals in outsourcing to ease your corporate workload, reduce your expenses and decrease your stress?  Can you afford to risk your company’s customer service reputation? Do you want to add a need to oversee an unproven business entity to your already full list of responsibilities?  The only times these situations work is when the vendor has excellent, very experienced management – and the funding to support the initiative.

Never Outsource a Process You Don’t Fully Understand.

Warren Buffett is famous for saying, “don’t invest in something you don’t understand”. The same good advice applies here. One of the biggest challenges in outsourcing is to choose which processes within your organization to delegate to an outside firm. So how do you do that when the process is complex or has never been properly assessed? A proven outsourcing company will be able to assist you in analyzing which systems within your business should be handed off and why. A competent company will listen to you, take direction, understand your desired outcomes and devise a custom tailored, measurable strategy to help you realize your corporate BPO goals. Both parties will understand exactly how the corporate system will be outsourced, the desired results expected from outsourcing, the time line involved and all costs before you decide to move forward. You will be able to make the decision to outsource knowing exactly what you will accomplish before you pay a penny and put your company’s reputation at stake. Doesn’t that make more sense than blindly hoping that outsourcing will solve your problems?

Never outsource to a Firm Which Lacks Impeccable Credentials.

What do past clients and customers have to say about the company and it’s key employees?  Ask around, especially to people you trust who have no vested interest in giving you feedback.   Visit the social media sites, ask for references and check them!  You don’t want to work with the next Lehman Brothers or Enron of the outsourcing world.

Make Sure You Fully Understand the All-In Costs Versus Price

Savvy buyers never pay an hourly rate for work that could run on, in perpetuity. Be sure to understand the full scope of services and work to be done and obtain a fixed cost price before you commit your corporate checkbook to a single dollar! Outsourcing is supposed to save your company money, right? Knowing the total cost and time line of work to be provided allows you to budget accurately and limits balance sheet surprises that could hurt your business in countless ways. As well, knowing what the work will cost also allows you to compare different outsourcing proposals from competing entities to make the best choice for your company.

Establish Solid, Grounded Performance Reviews

You want to be able to know how you will track and measure the results from outsourcing,  before you commit to a decision to hire a BPO company. Refer back to #2 and #4- you should know how you will measure their promises and remember: you shouldn’t have to pay for implementation of a system to track whether the outsourcing company is delivering what they promised.

by Roger Meador

The popularity of Voice over IP (VoIP) continues to grow. There are a large number of consumer offerings that work over DSL and a few free services as well. What is VoIP? Simply, it refers to technology that enables the routing of voice conversations over the internet or a computer network. The technology is not to the point of plug in and forget even though it has come a long way in the past few years. However, VoIP is quickly becoming a real choice in your contact center environment. Should you pick VoIP or time-division multiplexing (TDM) or a combination of the two? There are a number of considerations to take into account when making your selection.

A good place to start is your current infrastructure. Does VoIP fit in your infrastructure today? Can your current telephony equipment handle VoIP traffic? What upgrades or additional equipment will need to be purchased in order to handle SIP trunks and pass SIP traffic? With an older PBX you might be unable to upgrade or it may be too costly to upgrade the system. Your data network needs to be thoroughly reviewed. This would include the network’s back-bone, the bandwidth to the desktop, routers and switches. Are they robust enough to handle the additional traffic and latency requirements? Moving your voice traffic to your network has definite implications that need to be explored and understood.

Cost is always a consideration with any project. Over the past few years a large number of internet telephony providers have popped up. Your traditional telephone carriers will most likely offer these services as well. The large number of providers makes the market very competitive. Be sure to review several providers and understand what level of service and support they can offer as well as the usage and reoccurring charges. General usage charges can often be less expensive than traditional copper prices.

VoIP is not yet to the point where you can order it and wait for the install date. As you map out your requirements make sure you have the skills and resources in place or available to you. You will require telephony and network resources to make this happen. The more VoIP experience the better. Interview your selected vendor as well. Make sure the selected vendor is going to be able to provide you with assistance or at the very least what they see occurring on their end of the line. VoIP can be a struggle of configuration between firewalls, VPN and NAT translations. Be sure to be prepared to face these problems as you plan and move forward.

To wrap up, an all copper infrastructure provides is a steady state; a known condition. VoIP adds in some complications as well as flexibility and cost benefits. Having a mixed environment can give some level of redundancy and security. In the end, the analysis needs to be done against your particular environment, business conditions and tolerance for risk. Good preparation and careful planning will help increase the chance for a successful implementation.

Chat is fast becoming a channel of choice for many customers and prospective customers.  Just like the fact that most prospects check out your web site (and competitors’ as well) before contacting you, increasing numbers of those initial, as well as follow up contacts, will be via chat.  Yet, we have found in most operations, chat is a “bolt on” activity that is treated like a phone call in almost all respects.  In fact, most often we find the exact same hiring profiles and training curriculum for chat agents as we do for phone agents!

This is a mistake.  Over the next several issues of our newsletter, we will share some our Best Practices for chat.  These came from an extensive study on chat, which you can download from our web site – http://www.spotconsulting.biz/news-events/resource-library/.  You will need to register first to access this page.

The first Best Practice is to recognize that the hiring profile for chat agents is not the same as for phone agents, nor do they need the same skills.  Chat agents must have superior typing skills when compared to phone agents, as well as the ability to handle not only multiple customer interactions at the same time, but also to handle multiple queries and look ups of data, etc.  They may have more web pages open, more knowledge base look ups going on, or other activities when compared to a phone agent.  So, be sure to review your hiring profile and adjust it to make it reflect the skills and experience you need to have in a prospective agent at the time you offer him or her a job.

I have three resolutions for 2012 that will help to make it truly a banner year – one in which we can actually improve the business results vs. simply do more of the same.

Resolution Number One – I will deal with the facts as they are, and not take action until I fully understand the facts.  While this sounds pretty simple and basic, time after time I see management jumping to conclusions about how to solve a problem without digging deep into what is the actual problem and the best ways to solve it.  A classic example is when performance is poor on issue resolution for technical support or customer care issues.  Countless number of times I’ve seen management immediately conclude that the problem is some variation of “the agents need more coaching”, triggering an increased number of side by side and remote monitoring sessions, additional QA scores, “remedial training”, and related actions.  Yet, instead of blaming agents for poor performance, a deep dive into the data more often than not finds the fundamental reasons are poor process design (e.g., quickly identifying emerging issues and getting the fix to the agents in very short order, unclear support boundaries, etc.), bad tools (e.g., knowledge base, IVR scripting and design, etc.) and inadequate reporting (e.g., reporting on data that is easy to get vs. data that is important to know).

So, in 2012 – I will work with facts first, even when my “experience and gut feel” tell me what the problem is – I’ll dig first before reacting!  I’ll work on root cause analysis for low-resolution rates, and dig into why agents attrite after just a few months of work.  I’ll use lean and other methodologies to truly understand the processes and tools that are in place, and to make them better.

Resolution Number Two – I will incorporate the capabilities and needs of other departments in my organization to improve our ability to service our customers.  All too often, contact centers operate in a reactive mode and in relative isolation from other departments.  Classic disconnects include the marketing and sales departments not being tightly coupled to the contact center; this results in the contact center being the last to know of new product launches, policy changes, or other factors that significantly impact volumes and handle times.  Can you imagine how many calls Verizon’s centers took after they announced a $2 “convenience fee” to simply make a payment? And then withdrew it after the well-deserved firestorm ensued?  My bet is the first time the contact center knew of the fee was when a customer called to ask about it!

It is the contact center’s responsibility to reach out to the various departments and organizations within the organization, not only to find out what they are up to and their needs but also to communicate the contact center’s needs.  Human resources, in particular recruiting and training organizations, typically react to the needs they know the most about, and if the contact center communicates it’s needs poorly, then they will be the last department taken care of.  Given the tremendous advances being made in recruiting techniques and methodologies, this is one department where an excellent rapport pays big dividends.

So, in 2012 – I’ll make outreach to other departments part and parcel of my business plan for the year.  I will communicate our plans and objectives, and be sure to get the same from my colleagues in other departments. I’ll explain how the contact center can only do so much on its own to improve resolution rates and customer satisfaction, and lay out how the other departments can help.  I’ll roll up my sleeves with HR and training to get solid data on the characteristics of agents who stay vs. those who attrite after only a few weeks on the job.

Resolution Number Three – I will learn about Social Media and its growing impact on the Contact Center.  No longer a fad, Social Media is a growing phenomena and one that is totally changing the face of customer service.  Verizon’s “convenience fee” is just the latest example of how Social Media has turned customer communications literally on its head.  In a matter of a few days, one person on Facebook connected with over 50,000 friends to oppose Verizon’s plan to impose a fee to simply make a payment.  What started off as a way to quietly pluck the consumer’s pocket turned into a customer relations disaster, and only by acting quickly did Verizon put out the flames.

I’ve seen some analysts say its impact will be as big as the internet, and others claim it is a flash in the pan.  While no one can predict the size of the impact Social Media will have on contact centers, I think the odds are great that the impact will be tremendous.  When people learn they can get answers faster through social than from trying to contact organizations directly, they’ll move in that direction.  Microsoft asserts that over 50% of its customer interactions are driven in peer-to-peer conversations vs. Microsoft to customer interactions.   I work with one organization that is building cloud based applications to manage 60,000 to 100,000 social interactions per day, and treat them like calls in the sense they are prioritized, routed, tracked, and measured in the same way calls, emails, or chat sessions are done today.

In 2012, I’ll get myself, and my organization, ready to take on the challenges and opportunities brought about by social media.  I’ll strive to understand how to use it as a true service tool to take better care of our customers by being in their channel of choice.  I will understand the financial and operational considerations, and be out in front of the issue vs. reacting to it.

I’m looking forward to 2012!  It is an exciting time in the contact center space, and change is everywhere.  By focusing on the positive changes we can make, starting with our own attitudes, we will make our contact centers excellent places to work and centers of innovation for our organizations.

This is a blatant attempt to defer customers to a less costly channel.  If I wanted to scour your web site for answers I would have already done that, and most times I already did.  Come to think of it, maybe you are my internet provider – yes it happens even with them!

The fact is post sales support can be costly.  Organizations look to cut that cost anyway they can.  Part of that is moving customers from costly channels of support to lower cost or self help channels.  This is great and can actually provide a better experience for the customer in the long run and provide better product value.

Suggestions on how to make this even better?

First, build that excellent support structure.  In most cases the phones were first.  Make sure your contact center structure is solid, agents are well trained and the systems are in place help resolve the primary purposes for why clients are calling.  Answering the customers’ questions and resolving their issues should be the primary focus.  Use this foundation to open your other support channels, such as chat, email etc.

Next, create self help channels.  Telephony based, web based, or other channels such as social media.  Put them in place as another tool to provide assistance.  Make sure they have value to the customer from the beginning.  If they work, customers will come back to them.  If they are frustrating, customers will avoid them even after they have improved.  You can do this by focusing your efforts in specific areas.  Perform well in those areas and expand over time.  Assuming you have built a solid foundation, you will have a well trained professional staff to get the job done.

How many times have all of us heard this recording?  “Your call is very important to us, so please hold on the line and the next available agent will take your call.”  My favorite adaption of this one is “We are experiencing higher than average call volumes at this time.  Please hold on the line and we will get to your call as soon as possible.”

My response to this is “malarkey.”  (It is actually what comes out of the south end of a northbound bull….).  I’ve heard those messages at 2 am when my internet went down and AT&T Uverse just couldn’t possibly staff the call center in India in their daytime hours, and at 2 pm on a Thursday when Delta Airlines “customer service” department simply messaged they were too busy to take calls so just leave a message, which of course, was never followed up on nor the call returned.  Like you, I’ve heard these at all hours of the day and days of the week. I think the reason you wait is the company that plays these recordings either doesn’t care, is incompetent, or both.  I’ll grant that there are rare exceptions to the norm that could cause this, but not very often.

The simple fact is, for many organizations – both private and public sector, they just don’t care if they take care of the customers or not.  In one extreme example, a Medicaid recipient sued the State over excessive wait times in the call center.  The plaintiff successfully argued that the State was deliberately making wait times excessive in order to discourage eligible people from attempting to avail themselves of Medicaid.  Whether this is true or not, the state settled and agreed to ensure that 100% of the callers never had to wait more than 180 seconds from the time they hit the IVR until the call was answered by a live agent.  The resultant overstaffing has cost you, the taxpayer, millions and millions of dollars in extra staffing costs since the settlement was reached.  Do you really think this would have occurred had the state been responsible and effective in staffing the center in the first place?  It had to have had terrible service over an extended period before such a lawsuit would not only be filed, but prevail. I suspect the same goes on in private sector all the time, we just hear snippets about it.

So, what can be done about it?  Here are three simple suggestions from SPOT.

First, if you are working for an organization that truly cares about their customers, make sure that management is aware of the negative impact of poor staffing – erratic and generally poor service levels, customer defection, or, if a monopoly supplier, regulatory complaints, and often times, higher costs.

Second, align your staffing patterns to your workload demand.  While this sounds simplistic, it is often times one of the hardest things to do in the call center.  The addition of additional channels such as chat, email, and social media, make this even more challenging.  When possible, use simulation software to analyze past arrival patterns and forecast future ones.  Erlang C is just not up to the task in a modern environment, and tools that depend on Erlang tend to consistently call for overstaffing.

Third, create the most flexible workforce you can so you can best align staff to the arrival patterns.  If you have fixed shifts and rigid work rules, you will never be as efficient as organizations with more flexible environments.  If you can’t shift workers, see if you can shift work.  Moving staff to other jobs outside of direct contact with customers can often be accomplished, but it requires close coordination with human resources, training, and operations to make it work.

And finally, remember, if you are working for a place that has a poor attitude towards customers, that is really hard to change.  You may want to look around for another employer!

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As consumers migrate online to manage their business transactions and decisions, the influence of chat on the customer experience will continue to increase. A recent report states that one-fifth of both Gen Y (ages 18-27) and Gen X (ages 28-40) consumers located and engaged in online chat when they visited a company’s website. Comparatively, just one-tenth of boomers and seniors take advantage of chat.2 As boomers and seniors move closer to retirement, their financial influence in the global marketplace will be replaced by Gen Y and X.

2 Forrester Research – Best Practices: Implementing Online Chat, page 3 (2009)