A Quick Guide to Call Centers

Almost everyone has heard of the term call center; however, very few people understand how a call center works. Here is a quick guide to call centers and how they work:

Business Model

Every call center should have a business model. It helps the call center to identify its goals and missions. Here are the basic components of a business model.

Mission

The mission states how the call center will help the company achieve its goals. It also specifies what the company expects from the call center.

Business goals

They include both short term and midterm goals that the call center wants to achieve. They also define what the organization wants from the call center.

Performance drivers

These are the processes, behaviors and tools which help the call center to meet the expectations of the company. Performance drivers are usually measurable.

Tech Tools

In order to run a call center you need several technical tools. Have you heard the terms IVR, VoIP, CRM and ACD? These are some of the tools and technology that modern call centers use to carry out their operation. There are several others, too. Here is a list of them.

·         Telephone network

·         Automatic call distributor system

·         Data network/Internet

·         Predictive dialer

·         Interactive voice response system

·         Web applications like email and online chat

·         Computer workstations

·         Local area network (LAN)

·         CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems like scripting, customer analytics and billing tools.

·         Computer-telephony integration software and hardware

·         Knowledge base

·         Workforce management software

·         Agent performance dashboard

·         Data warehouse

·         Call-recording equipment

·         VoIP communications technology

The call center team

The call center may have the most sophisticated tools in the world. It still needs efficient people to bring it to life.

The call center employs many people and they have several different roles to perform. For example, in every call center, there are agents, supervisors, business analysts and managers. Here is a quick overview of their roles.

Roles of call center employees

Senior manager

The senior manager is responsible for establishing the vision and mission of the call center. The annual goals for the call center are set by the senior manager.

Call center manager

The call center manager works with the senior manager and formulates polices which help the call center accomplish its goals.

The call center manager also identifies the performance drivers that have a direct or indirect impact on the business goals of the call center. S/he is also entrusted with the duty of assigning key roles to other employees. Other duties of the call center manager include creating a culture which supports the call center mission.

Resource analyst            

The job of a resource analyst is to predict customer demand and identify the resources necessary to meet it.

Reporting analyst           

The reporting analyst is the person who provides statistical feedback on key performance drivers and business goals. They also have a responsibility to conduct analysis and identify ways to improve the performance and results of the call center.

Network analyst

They recommend the tools required to improve performance. They also have a responsibility to ensure that these tools work properly.

Agent performance team includes the recruiter, team leader, trainer, and quality analyst.

The agents are the people who handle customer contacts. The recruiter recruits agents. The trainer imparts the required training. The team leader shows the agents how they should perform. The quality analyst gives feedback.

LeadXL provides accurate, actionable information and analysis, resulting in increased conversion of leads from ALL sources. Lead XL was built for lenders following a clear path to success: Analyze. Revive. Enhance. Contact Lead XL today!

 

 

Improving the Quality of Call Monitoring

There is more to monitoring than finding problems and solving them. Call monitoring also involves identifying and showcasing positive messages. Today's contact centers are technologically sophisticated but sometimes a simple 'thank you' works better.

Gather data and use it properly

Every contact center should monitor call quality because it provides valuable insights into the performance of their advisors. By monitoring call quality, the contact center can set standards and provide required training.

Get the basics right

Small things like using appropriate phrases and greetings can make a big difference. Regular monitoring ensures that advisors get the small details right. Better still, by monitoring call quality regularly, the contact center can nip bad habits in the bud.

No need to install cutting edge technology

You don't necessarily have to invest in sophisticated monitoring tools. Simple manual checking may also provide valuable insights. Some monitoring is definitely better than having no monitoring at all.

Set realistic targets

When you achieve them, it will encourage you to set even higher targets.

Take your advisors into confidence

The contact center should be able to win the cooperation of employees from the early stage itself. When a contact center implements monitoring, many employees will assume that it is going to be critical. Consequently, they may resent it. On the other hand, if the existing monitoring system hasn't changed in several years, agents and advisors may start taking it for granted. Convince your employees that the goal of quality monitoring is not to kill their morale. Instead, it is a program designed to benefit both advisors and consumers.

Monitoring should be collaborative, not prescriptive.

This will encourage advisors to cooperate and accept the system. Advisors should know why the quality of their calls is important to the company. They will be able to deliver better performance if they know what the organization expects of them.

Provide feedback

Use a fair method to score and evaluate data obtained from the call monitoring process. Use the same standard all the time.

Once you have set milestones, you need to ensure that they are kept to. The contact center can deliver the feedback one-to-one or through group sessions. No matter what method is selected, individual members should be able to voice their opinions and concerns.

Provide skills training

This will definitely improve the performance of your advisors.

Have a competent team to assess quality

There should be a dedicated person to do the evaluation.  If the contact center is large, there should be a specialist team. You can't expect your supervisors to monitor quality. Their duty is to launch campaigns.

After identifying a person to handle monitoring, you should provide them with the resources, skills and training they need to efficiently carry out the appraisal. Call quality tends to improve when a monitoring system is implemented. That means, by investing more time and money into your monitoring, you can provide better service to your clients.

External benchmarking

You should also compare the performance of your contact center with your competition. If your contact center doesn't have a monitoring tool, you should consider outsourcing this to an external monitoring agency.

Reward best practice

You can improve the morale of your team by rewarding their work. For example, you can institute awards for advisors delivering exceptional performance.

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What Makes the Telephone the Most Effective Channel?

Some people believe that the traditional telephone is the most effective medium to provide customer support.

These days, the customer can communicate with the contact center through many channels. The telephone is just one among them. So what makes the telephone so special?

Thanks to the easy availability of multiple contact channels, customers now want the freedom to decide how they should communicate with the contact center. They may even switch between channels. For example, they may start the communication with an email and then switch to phone or social media, or web chat to discuss the same issue. No matter what medium they choose to contact the call center, they expect nothing short of excellent customer service. This poses many challenges for the call center. This also calls for a system that allows the call center agents to see the customer's messages across all mediums in one place. They should also be able to see the caller's profile and history for effective handling of the problem.

While such systems are available at the moment, the cost can be prohibitive. And hence the organization should carefully decide how the agent should respond when customers communicate through multiple channels. A telephone call is still the most effective way to respond. More sophisticated systems may be available, but nothing can beat the telephone in terms of efficiency and affordability.

Email communications can be quite time consuming. Tweets are very public. Verifying the identity of someone who contacts you through the web chat can be difficult. Text messages should be linked to a CRM system. A telephone call, on the other hand, is quicker. This is the channel a customer will prefer if they expect an instant reply.

When the customer makes a call, they can get to the point faster. Now this gives rise to another question. Are your agents capable of handling these calls properly?

The call center agent may have access to a sophisticated system that gives complete details of the customer across all channels. However, if the agent is too busy and takes time to respond, the call center fails to win its objectives.

Research reveals that even in inbound contact centers, up to 40% of the calls are outbound. This is because the call center has to return the calls and respond to emails. One way of getting around this problem is to install an outbound dialer to field calls.

This system will ensure that important customer promises, for example the promise to call back, are not forgotten. Call backs can be automatically set up or by the call center agents. If there is an efficient dialer, the customer will not have to call the contact center to follow up.

Thanks to precision dialing technology, tweets, chats and emails can also be fed into the dialer to send a fast response to customers. It is also possible to blend SMS with outbound dialing campaigns.

Once you have the right system in place, the contact center will work more efficiently and seamlessly. This may also encourage the customer to stay around and appreciate the improvement.

LeadXL provides accurate, actionable information and analysis, resulting in increased conversion of leads from ALL sources. Lead XL was built for lenders following a clear path to success: Analyze. Revive. Enhance. Contact Lead XL today!

How Computer Telephony Can Benefit Your Call Center

The main focus of a company is delivering service and making sales. The key is to make it easy for customers to get in touch with a business’ services. Computer telephony—sometimes referred to as computer/telephone integration or CTI—is a technology that was created to enable better contact between companies and customers.

Computer telephony is not one piece of equipment; rather, it involves interlocking technologies and combining two streams of information through open and standards-based systems: data and voice. It’s used in all areas of business today, but it really shines in the call center. Computer telephony has the potential to improve the way your company interacts with customers.

Here are some other benefits that computer telephony can offer your contact center:

Make more sales. You can build customer loyalty when you have more information about the caller. You can appeal to them on their terms with information in the corporate database.

Improve customer service. With more information in the hands of the customer, they can sometimes even serve themselves, costing you less for labor.

Reduce your telecom usage costs. You can also have shorter call times and cut hold time as well.

You’ll have happier customers. More of the customers’ problems will be solved the first time around.

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How to be a Contact Center Agent

Want to be a contact center agent? This informative video will show you what skills you need to have for a rewarding career:

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Thinking About Getting Your Contact Center On The Cloud? Here’s What You Should Know

Cloud-based contact centers are emerging as the preferred solution over on-premise IT infrastructure. The reason is quite understandable since cloud-based business centers offer the dexterity of scalability along with minimal maintenance and manpower costs.

Most contact centers run on small-to-medium budgets. They don’t have the capacity to incorporate ever changing applications or technologies. With evolving market and consumer outlooks, businesses find it difficult to sustain on-premise models.

On the contrary, solutions on the cloud are rather easy to access, cost effective, and offer a large scope for personalization. This allows contact centers to scale-up and upgrade their user and operational requirements on-the-go. However, assuming that a single ROI model is applicable for all contact centers is a mistake. At the outset, most client packages offered by cloud-based IT solutions providers seem similar. However, these options are created with a much broader perspective. However, a generic model might not be suitable for every business. Cloud-based IT vendors might present a similar sales pitch, making it even more demanding to identify a bundle of services relevant for your business.

Here, we discuss how cloud-based contact centers help you extract a higher ROI and some basics about how to strategize your cloud driven operations:

Hardware Capital Expenses

On-premise IT models present the major hurdle of purchasing new systems, server space, and upgrading existing IT infrastructure. On the other hand, cloud tech deployment is rather effortless. The vendor is responsible for setting-up the hardware. Some tweaking might be required to the existing laptops or desktops, but this isn’t demanding.

Software Capital Expenses

Your existing network might not be capable of handling increased consumer volumes. When upgrading your customer responses, you might need to install expensive software packages. Usually, software solutions include a hefty licensing fee. Cloud-based functionalities are rather simple. Here, the vendor takes care of the registration and licensing, leaving you with the responsibility of merely using the installed programs. You can personalize the usage levels and demand extra software capabilities. This impacts your monthly rental.

In-house set-ups often require large-scale, annual upgrades and might suffer from cyclical defects. This can lead to significant expenses and downtime. Being on the cloud means your vendor is responsible for providing the required services, inclusive of maintenance, repairs, upgrades, or modifications.

Disaster Management Expenses

Disaster prevention and management might not look like a major expense, but its installation and efficient working can take a serious toll on your organizational budget. On-premise management can include off-site maintenance too. This can be an additional cost where applications, hardware, and data need to be duplicated for an off-site workplace. However, cloud-based vendors need minimal inputs to duplicate your existing data infrastructure at remote locations. Similarly, cloud-based vendors offer packages where data recovery and backup, along with contemporary security measures, are often a part of standard offerings.

Maintenance & Operational Expenditures

Cloud deployment doesn’t present any operational expenditure. There is no need to employ qualified professionals for daily usage or for maintaining the cloud-based infrastructure. With a monthly billed, usage model, you have the liberty to scale up/down the services in accordance with your budgetary restrictions.

Most cloud-based vendors incorporate gradual, smaller software tweaks rather than a time consuming, major upgrade. This prevents downtime due to software issues. Some vendors might even appoint a weekly visit where a qualified IT professional spends a few hours at the client’s office. The idea is to provide hands-on assistance with frequently-used applications and understand the kind of customization needed by the contact center. The installation period and learning curve for a cloud driven IT infrastructure is negligible. Vendor sourced cloud solutions usually offer 24x7, round-the-clock support through the Web and telecalling.

Choose Wisely

We hope that you are not misled by the promise of saving enormous amounts of money. Yes, cost reductions are at the core of cloud-based contact center solutions, but they shouldn’t be the only consideration. When evaluating different cloud solution vendors, pay attention to the kind of security features on offer. Explore the kind of liberty offered when opting for additional users and growing data requirements. The proposed procedure of cloud deployment should not pose a threat to the inherent systems employed at your workplace. It shouldn’t compromise employee privacy either. The deployment should be simple and deliver quantifiable outcomes.

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How Cloud-Based Solutions Help Contact Centers Perform Better

We are witnessing an unprecedented preference, among businesses of all sizes, for adopting a cloud-based infrastructure. It seems that being on the cloud is perhaps the only choice for small-to-medium scale businesses. This includes contact centers that continue to evolve, becoming more customer conscious. As businesses grow, they need a platform that helps them comprehend changing consumer habits and raise their customer service benchmarks. As the number of cloud vendors grows, decision makers at contact centers need to familiarize themselves with the basics and finer nuances of being on the cloud.

Why are More Businesses Adopting a Cloud-Based IT Infrastructure?

Reduced capital expenditure combined with the ability to improve customer service levels is at the core of most decisions that favor a cloud-enabled infrastructure. Being on the cloud helps contact centers reduce their daily operational expenses, ensure faster deployment of software or hardware upgrades, and improve the brand’s image across various channels. Using the cloud infrastructure, businesses can concentrate more on their core processes.

For contact centers, this translates into addressing more consumer queries with better outcomes, improving internal training & development practices, and creating structured data warehouses. This helps contact centers stay leaner, more agile for future growth, and intuitive to changes in market or consumer outlooks. Rather than worrying about buying expensive servers or making software upgrades, managers can channel their energies towards ensuring better compliance with customer service and data privacy protocols.

How Cloud-based IT Infrastructure Helps Contact Centers Become More Flexible

As businesses become more consumer sensitive, data driven, and socially interactive, they need a cost-effective and easy-to-adopt IT infrastructure. Contact centers too need to grow across different consumer-oriented channels. They want a greater share of the revenue pie in a very competitive marketplace. Contact centers need an IT setup that can be quickly scaled up or down without compromising security of consumer data.

Rather than being restricted by an IT system or in-house technology, contact centers prefer hassle-free, ready-to-be-deployed cloud-based services. With cloud-based solutions, contact centers can ensure uniformity in customer services even across distant, remote locations. The concept of centralized contact centers is becoming outdated. With consumer data always available on the cloud, managers can better delegate and distribute their time and resources for training and employee-development initiatives.

How Cloud-Based IT Infrastructure Helps Contact Centers Ensure Business Continuity

As cloud-based contact centers don’t have any hardware, software, or location-related limitations, there are minimal chances of any downtime. This also helps contact center managers to establish smaller, regional (feeder) units. Cloud-based functionality makes it easier to get faster decisions from senior managers and administrators who are often on the move. These personnel merely need to log into the cloud-hosted interface and resolve queries. For customers, this means quicker resolution, improving the overall quality of customer service. This kind of business continuity advantage is difficult to find in any other type of IT infrastructure. Using cloud-fueled interactions, senior managers can run collaborative online training programs even as they travel to explore newer markets.

How Cloud-Based Contact Centers Benefit from Integration of Different Channels

Multiple channel integration has surfaced as the most talked about aspects of using cloud technology. For businesses, staying connected with customers and having conversations across different mediums has become a critical requirement. This kind of interaction cannot be limited to merely answering customer queries or offering product information.

As businesses become more data intensive, contact centers are turning into a key, integrated resource that helps to collate, interpret, and use data for driving profits. Today, contact centers are regarded as an important touchpoint where critical data about customer behavior is generated. Agents are expected to help customers drive through various channels such as social media and emailing.

With more customer data available for analysis, contact center managers can create better tools for predicting customer behavior. This interaction also provides clarity about the utility of different types of promotional campaigns—underlining why marketing departments are increasingly collaborating with contact center agents.

Decision makers at contact centers should fully understand the implications of adopting the cloud. When comparing different cloud vendors, evaluating how well the solutions on offer match the organizational objectives is recommended. Apart from being reliable and easily accessible, cloud-hosted solutions must be coherent with the ROI projections. It is better to make detailed ROI analysis before consulting a cloud solutions provider. Security is an equally important factor. It is better to search for vendors with a proven, solid platform on offer.

LeadXL provides accurate, actionable information and analysis, resulting in increased conversion of leads from ALL sources. Lead XL was built for lenders following a clear path to success: Analyze. Revive. Enhance. Contact Lead XL today!