What used to be called the Customer Service Department has now become the Call Center with added technology to monitor calls. A large office products manufacturer recognized that the majority of their customer interactions were conducted by a high stress department experiencing low morale and high turnover. The call takers felt they had little control over their work environment and higher levels of stress, because their work was even more scrutinized. A negative environment prevailed. Senior management recognized that each customer interaction was a critical moment of truth that impacted customer satisfaction rates and eventually the overall profitability of the company. The challenge was to create a world class call center with lower turnover and absenteeism and higher customer satisfaction rates.
A series of Strategy Meetings were held with key departmental managers who interact with the Call Center. These managers identified performance bottlenecks and an Ideal Customer Cycle. A supervisor development process was delivered over several months focusing on the new role of coaching and development (rather than the roles of walking help desk or police). Each Call Center group was divided into teams. By creating a team based environment with clearly defined measurable goals, the negative environment was greatly reduced. Personal Performance training and Team Skills training was provided for each call center counselor. Call Center Selection Systems was provided to insure that only quality applicants were interviewed by managers.
“Energies are focused on growing skills and attitudes of our counselors rather than policing their performance. On the business side, our satisfaction levels have grown as well. Thanks again for helping us in our quest to build a Call Center that provides world class ideals not only for our customers, but for our employees as well.”