Contact Center managers are constantly focused on matrices. Unfortunately, this very same practice of scrutinizing the details of performance inevitably causes one to lose sight of the business aspects of the operation.
Our budget and overhead for operations are escalating, yet the annual budget allocations from senior management do not correspond with the requirements. So we need always to be aware of cost savings, increase productivity, and increase utilisation and other areas such as :
Reduce telephony interaction volume
Control and reduce agent handle time
Streamline the workforce
Reduce telephony interaction volume
There are a few areas you can look at to decrease the volume of phone contacts in your center. Here are a few suggestions:
Why are people calling? Have we analyzed the instigators of what encourages customers to call? E.g. product problems, customer education, pamphlet clarity
Eliminate/ minimize wrong contacts that seem to plague your center. For example, have you conducted a study of how many misdirected calls your center accepts? E.g. wrong departments, issues that do not fall into your jurisdiction?
FCR! First Case Resolutions need to remain that. Ensure your FCRs are legitimate ones where customers’ issues are genuinely resolved, removing the need to contact you again
FAQs – what are your most frequent calls? Can they be intercepted and cleared via technology intervention? E.g. Web-based self-help, IVR, VRU
Organize a marketing campaign for your center. For example, begin communicating to customers when are the best times to call to distribute inbound traffic, thus enabling better resource utilization.
Control and reduce agent handle time
One of the most challenging and time-consuming areas to tackle, although if done well, could be beneficial in the long run.
Increase agent skill-sets. More than enough has been said about this, and a solid Quality Monitoring program plays a crucial role in identifying and developing the agents.
Technology factors most often time cause a delay in handle time. Therefore, make considerations into ensuring the software and hardware support is up to par with agent requirements.
Streamlining and redesigning processes can dramatically reduce turnaround time in all interactions.
Streamline the workforce
Is it possible to reduce our labour costs? Here are some areas we can look at to assist in cutting down on our most considerable expenditure; People.
Have you thought of relocating to the suburbs or outer areas of the city? Relocation may provide you access to a larger staff pool and also less remuneration competition.
Do you need a college graduate? Our training and systems are so extensive that almost anyone can be trained to perform well in the contact center.
What are your operational hours? Do you know why you are operating the hours you do? Run a thorough analysis of inbound traffic, obtain feedback from customers, and reassess your operation hours.
This article has been adapted from a Call Center Learning Article by Prosci Research
