| Do you want to make dramatic improvements to your call centre without spending much money? Do you want to avoid a heavy investment in technology? Do you want to see a return on investment this year? This may be seen by some as "how can I have my cake and eat it." But this is one of the most frequent questions put to me by senior management. "How can I improve the operational efficiency of my call centre without introducing new technology?".
Some dramatic improvements can be achieved without the introduction of technology. They have the benefit of introducing some savings, and developing a future technology investment programme. While it does not work for all call centres, I have found three main points that can help to improve overall efficiency.
Over time, call centres have evolved to support a range of different products and services. As products proliferate, so do the number of distinct agent groups, often with no facility to share calls. While these pools provide concentrations of appropriate skill, they are inefficient for staffing and can offer very variable levels of service. It is very common to find one group of agents overloaded while another group is waiting for calls to come in.
Until a pool of agents reaches about 40 agents logged-on to the ACD, utilization will rarely get above 80%. Table 1 shows examples of the difference between three separate agent groups and a larger pool of agents - with the same call duration. The difference in agent utilization is quite substantial.
Table 1 Comparison of agents split into one group compared to three groups
|
Agents split in three groups
|
Agents combined in one group
|
Calls per half hour
|
Number of agents
needed (*)
|
Agent Available
time(†)
|
Number of agents
needed(*)
|
Agent Available
time(†)
|
Agents Saved
|
10
|
6
|
83%
|
3
|
67%
|
3
|
50
|
12
|
58%
|
9
|
44%
|
3
|
100
|
21
|
52%
|
15
|
33%
|
6
|
150
|
27
|
44%
|
21
|
29%
|
6
|
200
|
33
|
39%
|
27
|
26%
|
6
|
250
|
39
|
36%
|
32
|
22%
|
7
|
300
|
45
|
33%
|
38
|
21%
|
7
|
400
|
57
|
30%
|
48
|
17%
|
9
|
500
|
69
|
28%
|
59
|
15%
|
10
|
600
|
81
|
26%
|
70
|
14%
|
11
|
700
|
90
|
22%
|
80
|
13%
|
10
|
800
|
102
|
22%
|
91
|
12%
|
11
|
900
|
114
|
21%
|
101
|
11%
|
13
|
1000
|
123
|
19%
|
112
|
11%
|
11
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(*) Based on a 3 minute call duration with a telephone service level of 90% of calls answered in 10 seconds
(†) This is the time that agents are ready, waiting for the next telephone call
This comparison does not take into account the difference between the agent skills. Putting all calls together in one bucket can mean that it becomes more of a lottery for the customer to find an agent skilled to deal with their specific problem. The solution is in the use of intelligent routing with agent skill mapping. The agent is assessed for primary and secondary skills. The call is then routed, based on the caller's attributes to an agent available at that time with the best skill profile to handle the call.
As well as making the call centre more efficient, it also enables the agents to have more variety in the types of call they handle. You probably have all of the technology in your centre to be able to deal with this.
I once went to a call centre where the manager said, "I can't see why anyone would want to work in a call centre." It was hardly surprising that when I started to listen to calls I found that the agents were de-motivated and the customer satisfaction levels were poor. Because of this type of attitude, the call centre is seen by many as the modern version of the dark satanic mill. It is up to all of us working in the call centre field to overcome this outlook.
Management and staff need to be filled with passion about what they are doing. The call centre is the most interactive medium that many companies use to communicate with their customers. As such, the call centre should portray the very best face of the company.
Energizing staff and management is critical to the success of the call centre. A well-motivated management team can make a huge difference. I shall not dwell on this topic as there have been many articles written on call centre motivation. It can range from agent empowerment to buying everyone an ice cream on a hot day. The key is that it has to work in its environment.
There are a large numbers of ways to improve the operational efficiency of the call centre without needing new technology. Listening to calls can highlight the major areas for improvement as well as monitoring the effectiveness of new initiatives. The use of skill mapping can improve efficiency by making a larger agent pool available to take calls. Energizing staff and management can have a major impact on customer service as well as staff retention |
