Take Your Customers off Hold and Hold on to Your Customers

by Shannon Hughes,
Blue Pumpkin Software Inc.

In the competitive and dynamic world of selling and supporting high-technology software, superior customer service is a critical differentiator. When many software products are sold in impersonal mega warehouses, telephone technical support or sales groups are important touch points, frequently serving as a customer's only contact with software vendors. Therefore, the response a customer receives over the phone leaves an indelible impression-positive or negative-of an organization.

Of course, you want everyone calling your support or sales center to have a positive impression of your company, but how can you ensure the quality of service they receive? When a customer calls a technical support desk, good customer service dictates that their call is answered promptly by a knowledgeable, pleasant agent. However, in order for the call to be answered promptly, the knowledgeable, pleasant agent needs to be scheduled to answer the phone when the customer calls. Unfortunately, most call centers leave scheduling to chance-employing only a spreadsheet and some guesswork to generate agent schedules. The good news is that improved staffing can be achieved with a simple dose of knowledge about how calls arrive at your call center. The result: current resources can be used optimally to dramatically improve customer service without radically changing call center operations. The effects of a correctly staffed call center will reach far beyond your call center, rippling through your organization in the form of increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Many call centers develop agent schedules as if their call center operated in a vacuum, assuming that calls arrive evenly over the course of the day. For example, consider a fictional technical support center providing assistance for users of home finance software program, FastCash, across the United States. This 20-seat inbound center is open from 9:00 am EST until 8 pm EST. Agents are split evenly between two basic shifts: 9 am-5 pm EST and 12-8 PM EST, with all agents taking half-hour lunches staggered between 12 and 2 pm. How does this schedule work in action? Unfortunately, Susie, the loyal FastCash customer who rushes home from work to call FastCash Technical Support at 6 pm EST, experiences the limitations of the staffing model. Susie must wait on hold for several minutes, along with other customers, before being assisted. When her call is finally answered, Larry, the FastCash technician assisting her, is overworked because of the deluge of calls he has been receiving. Larry is typically knowledgeable and pleasant, but he takes his stress out on Susie. Larry is short with her and fails to resolve her question. Instead of focusing on Susie's problem, Larry is distracted by the queue piling up behind her. A negative customer service experience like Susie's does not end when the customer hangs up-a bad customer service experience will be repeated more often than a positive one, multiplying one unpleasant interaction several times over.

While exaggerated, this example demonstrates the impact of a staffing model that clearly does not correspond to customer needs. Most FastCash customers live on the East Coast and use the software at home, calling into technical support after work (like Susie) or during their lunch breaks. One look at reports from FastCash's ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) system confirms that the current FastCash staffing model is highly inefficient-there are periods where many agents are basically idle (from 9 am-12 pm) and other times where they are overworked (5-8 pm). In this scenario, resources are not being maximized, and FastCash's call center is actually working against their business model. Moreover, the effects of poor customer service multiply- FastCash is now receiving some bad press as Susie relays her story to several of her friends.

After analyzing their ACD reports, FastCash makes several changes. FastCash now has five agents assigned to a 9 am-5 pm shift (with staggered half-hour lunches from 12-2), 12 agents assigned to a shift from 12-8 pm (with staggered lunches from 2-5). Three agents volunteered to change to part-time and are scheduled for a new shift from 4-8 pm. Simply adding this part-time shift has given FastCash a great deal of flexibility-agents are on-call for additional hours during other busy periods (like during 12-2 pm). FastCash is also considering extending this part-time shift into a full-time shift (4-midnight) as FastCash ramps up West Coast sales. Because of the money they have saved by changing some agents from full-time to part-time, FastCash is now able to hire another part-time worker to cover the busy 4-8 pm shift.

Although the changes FastCash has implemented seem minor, they have made a dramatic impact on the quality of customer service FastCash provides. Customers experience better service during the times they call the most (5-8 pm). FastCash has also made a crucial shift in the way they view their call center-moving the call center in line with their business objectives and customer base. FastCash now plans for their call center as they plan for their business (i.e., as they expand more on the West Coast, they will create a new shift). In short, FastCash has succeeded in using their resources for more optimal customer service.

The process of forecasting and scheduling can be further streamlined through the use of software solutions designed to interface directly with your call center's ACD. A growing number of call centers have implemented workforce management solutions and are now realizing the tremendous benefits of these systems. The benefits of automation are well documented and include maximized customer service, increased profit margins, greater overall efficiency, and improved agent morale.

Shannon Hughes is a Marketing Manager for PrimeTime F&S, a workforce management system developed by Blue Pumpkin Software. She is a graduate of Wellesley College. Thanks to Ofer Matan of Blue Pumpkin Software for his help with the article.