The Difference Engine

With each turn of the crank, results are seen. The analogy of the "Difference Engine" can also be applied to training design and development. Too often we equate the ADDIE model to a 30, 60, 90 day review cycle. If it weren't for pressing business needs, this model would work fine. In reality, 90 days can mean the difference between keeping or loosing an account. We need to change our approach to the standard instructional design model in order to get faster, smaller, and regular updates to our curriculum. We need to continue to turn the crank and produce small results frequently in order to move our business forward.

Great Call Center Blogs

Obviously written by insiders, this team really puts out high-quality blogs on the business.

in reference to: Call Center Cafe Provides Call Center Management Tips and Tactics (view on Google Sidewiki)

Customer Satisfaction | Make an Impact (2)

Customers probably won't tell you when they're happy, but when they're not... you'll get an ear full. It is so important to capture what you're doing well and what you're not doing well. With that information, we can build a customer-satisfaction-focused industry that will propel your business.

Before venturing out to build your own survey, consider what is already out there. Look for things like: Industry recognition, detail level of available information, flexibility in adding and removing questions, and ability to compare your customer satisfaction to others within and outside the industry.

If you build your own survey, the same questions (above) are still relevant. But, also make sure the survey is simple enough that it is likely to be understood and completed. Also ensure you as well as the vendor has access to the survey results. Outsourcing vendors, who have the appropriate sticks and carrots, can drive your customer satisfaction in innovative ways that would be unlikely or impossible within your core organization. Isn't that a key reason for contracting with the vendor in the first place?

What to do with all that customer satisfaction results information? In the next couple of articles, we'll discuss what to do with it to drive your business. For now, here's what not to do, (but is done all to often)... look at one or two customer satisfaction results that justify your preconceived ideas of what is wrong and then force change based on your "analysis." I'm not saying you'd do that, but that other company might.

Customer Satisfaction | Make An Impact

I'm not going to say you "manage what you measure." Oh no! I said it. OK, it is cliche but true.

I think before I dive into this topic too much, I need to acknowledge a couple of things:

• Customer Satisfaction is subjective and flawed
• Customer Satisfaction is important and relevant

Now that we've acknowledge this, we can move on. :)

Look, it might not be perfect, but it is important and what is looked at (often) as the gold standard for performance. So, let's figure out how to pull the right levers to make this work.

Over the next few weeks, I will present blogs on customer satisfaction addressing:

• Rebuilding Customer Satisfaction
• Training
• Quality Assurance
• Coaching

Keep tuned for some great customer satisfaction insights. And please jump in with your comments and suggestions. This is a huge topic and deserves lots of attention.

Better Business One-Liners

We are all guilty of over-thinking solutions. Sometimes the solution to the big problem is just doing the tried and true.

• Treat employees like people ... guess what, they are (oh, and believe it or not, this is also true of callers)
• People want and need coaching: Yep, we want to look up to our boss. And, we want our boss to correct us... kindly
• Win their hearts: Remember, big changes are hard and take time to adjust, but people will rally and support something they believe in
• Before making a decision, think about how it will affect others and weigh that against how important it is to put the decision into action. Oh, and by the way... by "others" I mean the people that will have to carry out whatever the decision is (front-line employees)
• Give second chances: Look, we all make mistakes and everyone deserves to be forgiven
• That "golden rule" applies in business too: Oh, I sort of talked about this in the bullet above, but look... too many decisions are made in business without thinking of others. So, in business decisions, coaching sessions, or just the way we look at and greet others, use the golden rule
• That "do the right thing" rule applies in business too. This one is easy. When faced with a difficult decision, do the right thing. We're all blessed with a conscience and doing the right thing is always "the right thing"
• KISS (I won't soften it, but your HR staff might): Keep It Simple Stupid. Yeah! Really, it doesn't need to be complicated to be good. And if it isn't complicate, it is usually better

This week's blog is really sort of a random collection of simple things to do to make life and business better. Do you have a snippet to share? Please leave a comment with your better business one-liners.

You Get What You Pay For

Early on in my career in off-shoring a training manager said, "if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys." Compensation is tricky: Base pay, bonuses, signing bonuses, pay-for-performance, incentives, and it goes on and on. What should be considered for compensation? How is performance related to pay?

Look at the market. OK, that's too simple. But it is true. The problem with many cut-throat vendors is trying to one up the others with a few more pesos, rupees, dollars, etc. In the end, the industry suffers because we all end up pricing ourselves out of the market. Take a look at the current market and be relatively competitive. That's really it. If you pay above the market rate, you better demand higher skills and expect slow hiring. If you're below the market rate, expect to invest more in training and you better have a spectacular coaching culture if you want to survive.

How is performance related to pay? Beyond the skills mentioned above, compensation can be one of the tools used to reward behavior. This external stimulus for behavior should always be accompanied with pomp and circumstance however. What am I talking about?

Well, we all have two type of motivation, internal (intrinsic) and external (extrinsic). The extrinsic rewards get you so far (further with some). And internal motivation is that burning desire within to do a great job -- and with any fire, we can add fuel. Making a big deal out of performance-based rewards is critical to driving this much stronger motivation.

Basic Skills | A "Fresher" In Training

While setting up a training and quality department in India (2004), I learned much about the outsourcing business. While there, I learned a new term: "freshers." At first, I also had no idea what a "fresher" was, but I quickly learned, these are recent graduates who are taking their first professional job at a call center.

Vendors are now finding, as the market has become increasingly saturated, "freshers" are a necessity. Often, "freshers" lack sophistication and the business savvy needed to be productive in an outsourcing environment. But, don't loose hope! These may also be the employees who are willing to be trained and molded into customer service superstars. Basic skills training may be something you need to consider as part of the investment in your employees.

Basic Skills - Depending on the market where business is done, you may have to do an inventory of the basic skills of freshers. Do they posses the life skills to carry out the job -- such as planning for transportation, appropriate dress, workplace behavior? If not, this may need to be integrated into a training plan. Some organizations have gone as far as talking about other basic needs such as, money management, health risks, basic computer skills, etc. If planning is done right, the result will be a very loyal employee who lives the culture of customer service.

The ROI on these employees is something to watch. Get the most out of your employees by understanding the market, needs, and selecting or building the right training program.

On-the-Job Training: Phased Nesting Model

The phased nesting model and variants of this model can be a very strong process to bring qualified, confident representatives to your customers.

This model requires four roles:

• Representatives - your front-line workers
• OJT Coach - may be a dedicated position, a trainer, or a transitional supervisor
• Supervisor - the permanent line manager for the representative
• Tenured reps - These exemplary reps. serve as floor support

After the representative successfully completes training, he or she is introduced to the OJT coach. The OJT coach serves as the in-between for the associate as he or she transitions from training to operations. It is important that this transition be smooth, not only because you want to keep your representative, but ultimately the representative will be speaking to your customers and he or she will have a direct impact on your business.

How To Structure Phased Nesting:

Duration: The overall length of nesting may vary depending on need, contract details, and complexity of the account. Nesting must be a minimum of three days and may be as much as six to eight weeks if needed. Each phase should be approximately the same length and may be determined by dividing the total number of nesting days by three. For example a two week (10-day) nesting would divide into:

• Phase One: 3 Days
• Phase Two: 3 Days
• Phase Three: 4 Days

Phase One: This is the Hatchling Phase. In this phase, we're handling new representatives with care by easing them into call handling. A typical day in this phase should look like this:

• 30 min - Review of systems and updates (additional time on the first day to log in to phones and systems if needed)
• 75 min - Round Robbin (i.e., taking calls in three's, which includes a tenured representative in the trio. Each member takes one call while the other two observe, then rotate.)
• 15 min - Debrief call taking. Utilize a "parking lot" for questions requiring additional detail.

[15 min - BREAK]

• 75 min - Round Robbin
• 15 min - Debrief call taking. Review "parking lot" questions
• 30 min - Up-training / Skills training

[30 min - LUNCH]

• 105 min - Round Robbin
• 15 min - Debrief call taking. Review "parking lot" questions

[15 min - BREAK]

• 90 min - Round Robbin
• 30 min - Debrief and emphasize systems usage

Phase Two: This is the growing chickling phase. In this phase, we're increasing the amount of time on the phones. This is primarily accomplished by reducing the "Round Robin" teams to teams of two, instead of three. Retain half of your tenured representatives used in the previous phase as floor support for the representatives. The tenured associates should move between two teams, listening in as calls are taken and providing real-time feedback as appropriate. The same schedule shown for Phase One, may be used for Phase Two.

Phase Three: Our representatives are preparing to fly in this phase. Again, we will increase the amount of exposure to taking calls in this phase. This time we increase the amount of time for associates by putting each representative on their own calls. Retain half of the tenured representatives from phase two for this phase -- this gives you about one tenured representative for every four new reps. In the final day of phase three, make sure to build in time for reps to meet their supervisors and set up a formal hand off between the OJT Coach and the reps' supervisors.

Graduation note: Before allowing reps to go with their supervisor to take calls, ensure they've met minimum expectations for things like, AHT, FCR, Quality, etc.

If a phased approach like this is used, there will be a shorter learning curve, happier employees, and better customer satisfaction. The ROI on phased nesting has been proven time and again.

Customer Satisfaction: Offshore Language Woes

"The representative didn't understand me."

"I had to ask them to repeat what they were saying."

"Get employees that speak English!"

"Don't send our jobs offshore."

It looks like customer satisfaction complaints about "understanding," customer service representatives have grown since outsourcing offshore. How concerned should you be? And, what actions should be taken?

A knee-jerk reaction is to focus on the language and comprehension skills of the representatives. Many vendors ramp up language programs to improve grammar, reduce accents, or focus on many accents within a market. In most cases, this is a focus in the wrong direction and will not achieve the results you're after. Why? Well, great diction, enunciation, or even the ability to sound like your customers, isn't going to make them happy. Solving their problem in a quick and friendly way will.

If you're unsure about this, take a look at the correlation of any "language" metric on the customer satisfaction measurement and compare it with the metric most related to issue resolution. Without a doubt, there will be a high correlation.

So we know what to look at, but where should we focus our attention? Three areas:

• Issue resolution
• Average handle time
• Tenure

The three areas above are all related. Your front-line representatives who have done the job longer, will likely be more knowledgeable and comfortable with resources (such as systems, knowledge bases, etc.). As a result, they'll have the ability to resolve customer concerns faster. And, they'll typically have higher returns on customer satisfaction all around.

Waiting around for customer satisfaction to get better might be the most sure-fire way for it to happen. But, the lost revenue, customer churn, and bad public-relations justify a short-term solution as well. Not to mention, risk reduction is one of the reasons outsourcing was chosen and your reputation is on the line.

For new representatives: Build call simulation into the solution. High-tech or low-tech solutions will help to achieve the desired result. Ultimately, you need these new employees to have as much exposure to tools and resources as possible, before getting on the phone with customers. Don't wait until they're on the phone with your customer's to perform dress rehearsals with them.

Extend on-the-job training (OJT) and build in graduation requirements for new employees into the plan. This might hurt in the short-term as productivity will be lower, but the return on investment (ROI) will be quickly seen in the lift to customer satisfaction. A phased approach to OJT will be discussed in a future blog.

For existing representatives: Hold "Good to Great" sessions with existing representatives. In teams or in a classroom, discuss with representatives aspects of a great call. Listen to examples of good calls and great calls and discuss the difference.

Finally, ensure each representative has a solid understanding of how customer satisfaction is measured. This includes knowing the questions asked, how it is reported, current results, and desired results. For more impact, display customer satisfaction results prominently -- use a quantifiable way to display results and show, visually, where we are and where we need to be.

For management: In addition to what we would do for representatives, quality specialists and supervisors, should calibrate on good and great calls regularly. They should also receive coaching to better understand how to address behaviors that impact customer satisfaction.

Adjust your focus and reduce the risks for offshore language woes.

Before Outsourcing: Define Company Culture

Why is it important? Having a clearly defined and communicated company culture is essential for loyalty, vision, and driving results. When outsourcing your customer service, it is critical to be able to communicate expectations and have a theme of culture and values to tie those expectations to. Defining your company's culture in a strong and sustainable way will make the outsourcing experience consistent for your customers.

How? Most individuals within a company have some idea of what their company's culture is. You might be surprised though if you were to ask others to interpret the culture of the company. At the core, a company's culture is a set of shared values and practices. We've already established this is critical to the success of outsourcing, but where do you start?

There has already been work done for you in most cases. First, take a look at:

• Mission / Vision Statements
• Company Values
• Existing communication processes
• Logos and other related collateral
• Strong representatives of company culture

Here are some example characteristics of company cultures that others have used successfully:

• Mission clarity
• Employee commitment
• Fully empowered employees
• High integrity workplace
• Strong trust relationships
• Highly effective leadership
• Effective systems and processes
• Performance-based compensation and reward programs
• Customer-focused
• Effective 360-degree communications
• Commitment to learning and skill development
• Emphasis on recruiting and retaining outstanding employees
• High degree of adaptability
• High accountability standards
• Demonstrated support for innovation

Also consider these factors and their importance:

• Industry recognition (e.g., customer service awards)
• Communication style (dignified professional communication vs. relaxed friendly communication)
• Management engagement with employees
• Executive engagement with employees

Going Overboard: In the end, you are outsourcing because you trust the experts who will handle your business. Yes it is critical to establish your company's culture and gain commitment from your vendor to ingrain, promote, and foster the same culture, but there are limits. The vendor's culture will likely have points complimentary to your organization's culture. Use these complimentary points to your advantage. Also, realize the vendor will have processes in place that will enhance the experience of your customers. Allow within your culture, the opportunity to experiment and innovate and also accept variance from vendor to vendor when it comes to processes. However, demand the same results regardless of the vendor.

Make it stick. Defining and communicating your company's culture once will never be enough. Set up a clear and recurring method of communicating the culture of your organization. Utilize those who exemplify the company's culture and those who help to define and shape the culture to communicate this message. Test, that's right TEST, your vendors on the culture through audits, questionnaires, and discussions to ensure your customer service partners understand the culture inside and out.

What if? What if we've already outsourced, and our culture hasn't taken with the vendor? Use the above tips to define and communicate your company's culture. Do it now, do it again in a month, three months, and continually going forward. If you're behind with this, you're going to need to hit it big and keep plugging away to get it into the fabric of your vendor's business.

Customer Service Outsourced is...

Welcome to Customer Service Outsourced. Customer's know right away when their call has landed in a country far away. When companies first start outsourcing customer service, there is often a corresponding decrease in customer satisfaction. It doesn't have to be that way however. This series will address ways to make the best of the off-shoring situation for companies, their employees, and their vendor's employees.

Follow this blog today to begin getting the most for your customers and their experience with customer service outsourced.