Customer Service King

As I was going through my email, I received one from home.based.call.center.for.you at gmail dot com (actually a couple of the same one) that initially sparked my interest.  But, as I read on, skepticism replaced my enthusiasm.  It looked like a good deal but my gut feeling told me it wasn’t worth looking at.

So, here is what the email stated:

"Hi – Are you interested in working for a home based call center?  First, you will have to register with us and shall provide you with training and it will be about the product and services.   Once you are ready, we will give you a dialer to call prospective clients in the USA.  The telephone number and name will be provided and even pay for the telephone bills."

It goes on by telling you about the products and the detailed process.

Call centers do not all share the same hours of operation, but most organizations tend to at least provide service during "bankers" hours.  In some operation, however, the service window is not only ackward at best, but filled with heavy queues which make it nearly impossible to reach an agent.

Cartoon courtesy of www.callcentercomics.com

LeanSigma, discussed by Ron Wince through an interview by Michael Moser starts by defining it and what it can do for call centers in Part 1.  It continues on to Part 2,  including call center agents in the framework.  

He now continues by telling us more about the Sigma Kaizen event, how agents are involved and what the experience is all about.

Sigma Kaizen events are normally exciting but the experience starts differently for each individual. Some who are going through a Sigma Kaizen for the first time may be nervous but the emotions vary from excitement to distrust to skepticism.  It’s usually not until a person experiences the event that they really begin to understand.  

Nearly everyone who goes through a Sigma Kaizen event is excited at the end of the process and willingly volunteers to be on future improvement projects.

How do you involve call center agents in the evaluation process?

Every Sigma Kaizen team member, including agents, is given some basic training in tools for evaluating a process.  Once they are trained they then get the opportunity to apply these tools to their own process or a closely related process.

The goal is to identify opportunities for elimination of wasted activities, reducing variation and improving the customer experience.

- Ron Wince -

Ron Wince (rwince@guidonps.com) - President and CEO of Guidon Performance Solutions is the global leader in implementing operation and business improvement strategies within call centers and other service organizations.

The interview continues as Ron Wince discusses about Sigma Kaizen and how call center agents can be a part of the LeanSigma methodology. 

If you want to know about LeanSigma, part 1 of the interview is available for your reading pleasure.

Ron Wince (rwince@guidonps.com) - President and CEO of Guidon Performance Solutions is the global leader in implementing operation and business improvement strategies within call centers and other service organizations.

What management techniques preceded it?

Business process reengineering has been around call centers for quite some time. These approaches have typically been employed by engaging a few experts in analyzing the processes and implementing new improvements.

For call center agents, what is a Sigma Kaizen Breakthrough Event like?

A SigmaKaizen event is an intensive, collaborative improvement methodology that relies on the principles of LeanSigma but engages the process owners and those who support the target process to delivery rapid, real time improvements.

Typically the call center agent gets the opportunity to learn some basic tools and principles and then step outside their own process and apply what they have learned.  Within 5 days, the agent has had the opportunity to effect change in areas they might have wanted to address in the past but had not had the empowerment or trust to do so.

Do you serve refreshments? Is it an exciting time for them? Do they feel nervous?

To know what Ron Wince has to say, head on to the final part of the interview.  

Co-writer, Michael Moser has provided this article for our readers, through an interview with Ron Wince.

Ron Wince (rwince@guidonps.com) - President and CEO of Guidon Performance Solutions is the global leader in implementing operation and business improvement strategies within call centers and other service organizations.

What is LeanSigma?

LeanSigma is a combination of two process improvement methodologies, Lean and Six Sigma, into a single, coordinated approach to reduce waste, improve process flow and drive variation from outcomes. LeanSigma measures and analyzes processes from the point of the customer and strives to eliminate anything that does not deliver value in the eyes of the customer.

What can LeanSigma do for a call center?

LeanSigma has helped call centers improve average handle time, reduce wait times, reduce hand-offs by delivering first call resolution and improved productivity by linking volume to staffing levels.  Very often call centers are able to achieve double digit gains in quality and services levels as well as reduce costs significantly.

Too many calls are on queue.  Everyone is expected to take in calls even supervisors.  Seasonal call center agents are hired.  This is a typical scenario for a center when it expects a spike in call volume.  But, this is not always a surprise for anyone who has worked long enough in a call center.

We are all too familiar with seasonal spikes.  Christmas is fast approaching, so expect more calls to come in especially for those who handle customer orders.  Sports also come into the picture.  The baseball or football season is a major factor for spikes as well.  Summer is another.

There are others that may not be seasonal.

I've recently come across a comic strip website that pays tribute to the BPO workforce in the Philippines. Call Work, I would say is the Filipino version of Call Center Comics.

Though it is expected that only those who can understand Tagalog will appreciate the comics, this is not true.  I commend her for including an English translation in her posts.  This will capture a wider audience.

Most of her comics are centered on the agent’s perspective.   It is a good resource because it shows what the bigger population is thinking.  All are true and though it is presented as being humorous, it is being used by management as basis to improve processes and employee satisfaction in the centers.

Everyone knows this is the most talked about topic in any call center, wherever your center is located.  I’m sure executives have researched, discussed this in forums and even hired experts to reduce attrition.

We all know what the most common reasons are, either you get it from employee surveys or exit interviews (if you are lucky to even get the true reason).  I’ve seen attrition reports done in different frequencies (daily, weekly, monthly and yearly).  Even Six Sigma was used to determine the “root cause".

Now you have all the data, one thing I’ve noticed is that people talk about it but seldom take action.  Planning is done but it usually stays in a presentation somewhere and buried until it is the hot topic in the meeting. 

Yes, we can roll out incentives but we all know this is short term and costly to the company.  This also results to wrong behavior because agents only stay because of the money and motivation is not long term.

I say, “Stop and don’t complicate things!”  It’s not really hard to decrease the fall outs.

Thank you Sindy for sending in your question!

Sindy asks, “I want to work in the center industry but there is too many call center companies here.  I’m confused and don’t know which of the companies I should choose. Any idea---what do you think is the best way when choosing the right call center company?"

Sindy is only one among hundreds or even thousands of aspiring employees who face the same fate.  It is true that there are too many call centers out there, both captive and outsourced.  The good news is that there is a lot of demand for the labor force that you can pick one that best suits your needs as a future employee in the industry.

Outsourcer or In-House
Depending on where you are located, the number between outsourcers and captive centers would differ.  One thing you have to check whether this company services more than one client or if their center focuses on delivering service for their product.

InsideCRM has recently published an article that lists down ideas and techniques to “smack down unwanted callers” (ergo, telemarketers).  For those who are currently in the outbound business, this is an article that you should read and digest.  I’m warning you this is not for the faint of heart, because this is going to be gobbled up by a lot of consumers.

So, do we panic and start running around like a headless chicken?  No.  With utmost respect, this article is beneficial because I’m a consumer myself and also a victim of telemarketers, but this doesn’t mean it is the end of the telemarketing business.

I am reaching out to those in the business to start listening and this is a time for us to innovate!

Share and Train
The training team should redesign the curriculum and share this knowledge.  Make sure you include some examples and practice during role plays.  This is called an obstacle and teach them to jump over that hurdle and move on.  Let them know what’s out there.