With interest rates significantly reduced, my husband and I contacted two lenders about refinancing our mortgage.  What amazed me through this process was the vast difference in customer service and basic product knowledge between two well-known, national banking institutions.

Company A – When I called Company A, the agent recorded our financial information.  He was knowledgeable about interest rates and loans.  For every subsequent phone call, all details were saved in our file and available to the next agent.  When we decided to begin the refinance with Company A, I was assigned a case manager who, after our first conversation, promptly sent me an email summary of our loan details as well as his direct phone line.  Whenever I had questions, I could leave a phone message, send an email, or both.  Every communication was acknowledged the same day and acted on by the next business day.  If my case manager was unavailable or did not have an answer, I was redirected to another agent or supervisor who could immediately access my file.

Company B – I called Company B to see if their rates might be competitive.  In less than 24 hours, I spoke with six representatives and received six answers regarding our eligibility and interest rate.  Each time I called, I spent 30-45 minutes providing the same financial details to each new agent.  Frustrated, I sent a detailed letter to a supervisor.  The company offered to reduce the interest rate to entice us to refinance with them.  We were assigned a case manager and soon after received an introductory email.  Subsequently, I tried to call and email him over the span of several days.  The communications were not acknowledged, nor were the questions answered.  I figured out how to outsmart the phone system and get a live agent.  These agents were rarely able to access my file or answer questions; I was usually just transferred back into the voicemail abyss.  The only reliable way to get a return call would be if I found a particularly helpful agent who would hand deliver my message.  When I resorted to leaving messages for a supervisor, I didn’t receive return calls and was told that she works off-site and is difficult to contact.

During this process, I was able to identify some of the qualities that I valued as a customer:

• Accessibility of files to approved agents
• Varied methods of communication
• Acknowledgment of and prompt response to incoming communication
• Knowledgeable agents who are well-trained in services and products
• Competitively priced products or services

If you work in a call center, you may not have much control over the pricing of your products or services, but consider how you could function more like Company A:

• What products or software would allow customer files to be more widely accessible to approved agents?
• How could you better facilitate communication with customers?
• How can you ensure that agents are sufficiently trained in your products and services? What products or software could you use as job aids to support the training?

We all know that agent attrition is a major problem in the contact center industry. With the huge investment in agent training and coaching, not to mention salary and benefits…personnel is easily a center’s most expensive resource. So once you hire that agent, it is in your company’s best interest to retain him/her. Your investment will pay off the longer they stay with the company as they become better and more efficient on the job. But how does a busy call center manager do this?

There are some things about call center work that just can’t be changed – no matter what, agents will likely have to deal with rude customers, busy days and other morale-deflating aspects of the job. But since the #1 reason for leaving a company is dissatisfaction with leadership, not the work itself, there are many things you can do to keep your star performers coming back.

1. Be transparent. Employees don’t like being kept in the dark – whether it’s about the company’s financial outlook or how you’re judging their individual progress and performance. Make this information readily accessible to them and they’ll thank you for it.
2. Show appreciation. Call center agents have a demanding job, and a little recognition goes a long way. Sure the economy is tight, but lack of monetary incentives doesn’t mean that agents should forego the little perks that help them get through the day. Motivating factors vary widely among groups…so how do you find out what lights your agents’ fire? It’s revolutionary…ask them.
3. Give them the tools they need to succeed. If agents are well equipped with the information they need to assist customers, the quality of experience goes up for both the customer and the agent. Give agents real-time insight into ACD stats and CRM systems, and you’ll find yourself micromanaging less.
4. Offer growth potential. Be aware of those agents that have been with the company for a long time, and who may be looking for something more in their career. If supervisor positions are not available, consider delegating some of your management responsibilities to a veteran agent, or have them assist in coaching newbies.
5. Let them work from home. Agents will feel increased loyalty to a company that is willing to accommodate special working conditions. And data shows that an investment in work-at-home-staff can be positive for both employer and employee. Many centers are hesitant to make this a part of their operations, but consider the implications it may have on morale and retention.

These are pretty basic tips, but it’s easy to put agent morale on the backburner when there are so many other things to do to keep the contact center running. Invest time and resources in your agents now and it’ll pay off in the long run.

Last month’s eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull caused unprecedented delays in air travel in and out of most of Europe. Dangerous levels of ash in the atmosphere led scientists and public safety officials to err on the side of caution, leaving tens of thousands of travelers stranded for up to a week. Since then, airlines have enforced sporadic closures, flight cancellations and delays to account for ongoing ash expulsions from the volcano.

When I first heard about this, I thought about two things:

1. A friend of mine who was stuck in Heathrow airport awaiting a flight back to the States
2. The overwhelming impact this situation must be having on the airline industry, specifically its contact centers

Airline contact centers are already overwhelmed and understaffed, not considering the tens of thousands of extra inquiries they were getting every day during this crisis from passengers trying to re-book flights, inquiring about closures, and probably venting in frustration in general. Not that I blame them – travel delays are among life’s more maddening nuisances – but the volcanic eruption was certainly outside the control of the airlines.

I read that many travelers were unable to reach airline contact centers during this time, and were instead directed to the airline websites for updated information. I went to the websites myself, and was surprised by the dearth of information for passengers with such inquiries. There was a brief news bulletin in small text stating the airline’s policy regarding cancelled flights. I’m sure that if the airlines had more information, they would have made it available; but if I were a traveler stuck in an airport, I’d want to speak to a live person who could help me with my situation.

Do you work in an airline contact center? How did you handle the ash crisis in March? Authorities expect continuing problems with ash in the atmosphere… have airlines developed plans to deal with the increased demand on contact centers?

Everyday social media becomes more important in the contact center. After an especially negative encounter with a company, many consumers, both young and old, turn to social media websites to vent about bad experiences and caution friends and family against particular brands. The problem for businesses today, is that it’s not only friends and family of individual users that “hear” these rants. Sites like Twitter and Facebook serve as loudspeakers, broadcasting dissatisfaction, and occasionally satisfaction, to millions of people across the web. In many companies, contact centers have become the hub for monitoring and responding to these online customers. Here are three keys to help guide you to a successful social media monitoring plan:

1. Determine your objectives and define your goals
Before you begin scouring the web for every mention of your company name, know what it is you want to accomplish. Do you want to respond to every person that mentions your company? Probably not if you’re a huge brand that gets thousands, or millions, of mentions every day. But if you’re a smaller brand, deeply engaging in conversation with your customers could be highly valuable. Do you want to respond to positive comments about your company or products? What about retweeting (or reposting) comments from users? What kind of value do you want to add to the conversation? Social media has a lot of potential, but in order to accomplish anything you must know exactly what you want to accomplish and ensure your social media goals and objectives align with corporate goals and objectives.

Having clearly defined, measurable goals is another must. Things to consider include: how many followers or fans you have; how often you want to post content; the number of interactions you want to have with people; how quickly you want to respond to comments and the list goes on and on. Laying out a plan with specific goals will help keep everyone in your contact center aware of what you’re working to accomplish.

2. Determine your metrics
Once you’ve established your goals, decide what key metrics will help you define success. Some common metrics include:

• Visits to your profile
• Mentions per specified time period
• Number of inbound links
• Referrals to your website
• Number of subscribers (followers, fans, etc)
• Number of comments and unique commenters
• Ratio of positive to negative comments
• Recommendations/referrals

3. Employ monitoring tools to assist you
Social media is just one item on a long list of items that contact centers are responsible for. Instead of spending hours and hours trying to monitor numerous social media sites on your own, make use of free tools and tools your vendors may already provide. A quick Google search for “social media monitoring tools” reveals over 4 million results including companies that offer paid monitoring services as well as ideas for free tools. If spending money on another tool isn’t an option, check with your current vendors to see if their systems can integrate social media with the contact center solutions you already have in place.

Have questions about integrating social media with your Inova Solutions products? Post them below or contact us today.