Our call center consultants are specialists with decades of experience helping businesses develop call centers and optimize operations. We provide objective insights into the operation of a call center and improve efficiencies in areas that are often difficult for existing staff to see.
Operational Processes
Operational processes are the starting point for our consultants in existing call centers. Operational processes are the basic actions necessary to perform any task such as taking an order, resolving a return or taking a break. Some call centers have processes that have evolved organically over time and that are accepted generally by the staff and management. These might not be the most efficient. Our consultants assess each of the steps in the call center and weed out inefficiencies. We take a systemic approach and attempt to consolidate or eliminate actions that are meaningless or redundant. The result is an optimized workflow that increases individual productivity.
Staffing And Organization
Some call centers grow quickly. This generally results in confusing staffing decisions and poor company organization. Consultants sometimes recommend that jobs such as a reports generator or a floor coach be eliminated and folded into other positions. This lowers overhead and consolidates different job positions. Similarly, the organization and structure of the call center might require changes. We might find for example that data entry can be performed between calls removing the need for dedicate data entry staff. These can be difficult decisions for existing managers to make without the outside help that a consultant provides.
Metrics
A large number of call centers feel than an 80 percent occupancy rate is optimal. We spend time evaluating whether current targets for key call center metrics are actually reasonable and necessary. Some companies might do better with a lower or higher occupancy. Certain metrics like handle time or service level might need to be adjusted because they are out of line with industry standards. Lowering target handle times and then working with agents to meet these goals could have a dramatic effect on the call center.
Strategic Goals
One of the goals of all call centers is profitability with minimal waste. We have extensive market experience in planning strategic goals and milestones that allow businesses to become more profitable. We also help plan other goals such as sustainability, lower turn times, or higher employee retention rates,and we utilize unfamiliar techniques to help management create actionable and achievable goals for the future.
Technology
Our call center consultants will review the technology that your business is using on a daily basis. This usually means reviewing the network infrastructure, agent workstations, and the phone system. It also means assessing the software used to manage calls, collect metrics, and even deal with ecommerce issues.
New call centers almost always see massive benefits from a technology assessment. We’ll identify areas that are below industry standards or programs that have been replaced with more modern software suites. Making these changes with the guidance of a knowledgeable consultant can increase the productivity of each agent while also improving the customer experience.