How to Temper the Information Overload Plaguing Today’s Customer Service Operations

Many customer service operations face problems with information overload when it comes to operational performance, customer satisfaction, and financial related metrics. The problems are typically related to numerous reports and statistical indicators from multiple sources that do not provide a holistic view of how the operation is running at any given time.

This leads to chaotic situations of analysis and leadership teams constantly chasing the right metrics to get the most accurate performance view that can assist the operations management teams by making the right decisions. Leadership teams and expert consultants have many different ways to tackle these types of issues and concerns through different methodologies and analysis approaches.

 The most common approach is to have a meeting or two with the leadership team to get their opinion of the problem/s at hand in order to make recommendations that could solve the identified problems. Without verifying the actual problem, in most cases, the true root of the problem is not identified leaving the recommendations to address symptomatic issues that manifest themselves in different ways. In other words, addressing a symptom of a problem typically only band-aids the situation versus getting to the root of the problem and solving it permanently. That’s where implementing an Assessment Overview comes in to play…

The Assessment Overview

This process can be as wide and deep as required to cover the following areas that have both – direct and indirect effect on customer service, satisfaction & loyalty. Areas such as;

• Contact Center Operations
• Self Service
• Marketing & Sales
• Social Media

The key requirements to ensure a successful outcome necessitates executive sponsorship, the willingness to embrace significant change, staff understanding that deficiencies can be exposed without consequences and unrestricted access to all the required information.

OpsTel’s Consulting Methodology

Uncovering the root cause of the issues our clients are facing is the key objective of our assessment methodology. The process review and side by side observations will reveal the necessary insights to provide a credible assessment of the customer service delivery operation.

Assessment Components

• Customer Service Delivery Expert Interviews
  • Management staff (Site Directors, Supervisors, etc)
  • Support Groups (QA, Training, KM, WFM, Command Center, etc)
• Process, Technology, and Operations Assessment
  • Look for differences between service delivery & strategic goals
  • review and validate SOP’s
• Data & Reporting Analysis
  • Assess current & historic management reporting
  • Metrics management review (KPIs, goals, incentives, etc.)
  • Visibility, timeliness, accuracy
• Observations
  • Support Operations
  • Side-by-side with agents

Assessment Goals

Benchmarking current capabilities with industry standards not only validates operational objectives but helps understand and verify unique client needs. Developing examples that depict specific opportunities will identify potential annual savings, provide recommendations to increase revenue and show a focus on customer experiences and their overall satisfaction.

Assessment Deliverables

• Evaluation of contact center business environment, culture and goals.
• Analysis of contact procedures and contact reasons
• Gap analysis of the process, technology, and operations
• Examination of existing management tools/habits
• Impact assessment of current staffing and scheduling processes
• Analysis of current KPIs and how they are managed
• Proposal for recommended options based on desired requirements.

Learn more about OpsTel by visiting their listing on the AppFoundry marketplace. Be sure to connect on Twitter @OpsTelServices and @AppFoundry for more useful insights and also experience our suite of contact center solutions at www.OpsTel.com.

This post was co-authored by the OpsTel Services Team.

We are revolutionizing the way companies control costs associated with software asset management, profile identity provisioning, and proactive skills management. With thought leadership and innovation, we have created a solution suite that seamlessly integrates into the administrative functions of the point solutions that enable the contact center.  We enhance the operations staff’s ability to quickly react to the dynamic challenges of running a large scale contact center operation.