I firmly believe in opportunities during a crisis. When everything is in chaos, I am at my best. And challenges? There were plenty when I started in early 2020 with a project seeking someone to “straighten out customer service.” The pandemic quickly added more fuel to the fire, compounding the existing challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Extremely high absenteeism among permanent employees, fallen team leaders, outsourced first-line customer contact, and in-house second-line with a process between them \u2013 if there was any \u2013 that completely missed the mark. And the cherry on top? The hits taken by the travel industry when travel was completely halted and the explosive growth in the e-commerce sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Can This Be Different?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nFor all my clients, I work from three themes around customer contact improvement: people<\/em>, processes<\/em>, and pennies<\/em>. Let me take you through this story using those themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thecaringcompany.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/PPP-2-1024x411.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCustomer Contact Improvement<\/strong> Challenge: People<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsenteeism of 25% and Fallen Team Leaders<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImagine 25% of your customer contact team is out sick, and the two team leaders and the manager are also out. Tough, right? You understand that this impacts the remaining team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer contact is about working with people, for people, by people. It\u2019s essential to ensure the right people are in the right place. High turnover, absenteeism, or frequent dropout indicates there\u2019s (a lot of) room for customer contact improvement. But what can you do? These are the steps I took:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Good Team Leaders<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy hiring good team leaders, the right balance was created between managing people, focusing on processes, and taking a leading role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Recruitment Policy<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nInstead of the selection criterion “can you blink and have a heartbeat?” we switched to: “will my life go terribly wrong if I don\u2019t hire you now?”. This allowed us to select employees based on quality. We dared to say “no,” even when staffing was tight. Because once we found the right top performer, they made a much bigger difference, with shorter training times, for example. These employees stayed longer with us and scored very well on KPIs. We spent less time on recruitment, which also saved costs. In short, by selecting for quality, we made tremendous progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Appreciation for Employees<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nThe team had not received appreciation for their work for a long time. It\u2019s important to understand that appreciation has multiple facets: salary, recognition, attention, growth, and feedback. The team missed all of this. Salary steps were unclear, and there was no structure in raises. The team leaders were insufficiently available for the team, both emotionally, intellectually, and physically. By focusing on appreciation, the department’s atmosphere improved. Employees felt valued. We also introduced a clear \u2018salary growth plan\u2019 which included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- This is your job profile<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- This is how you can grow<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- By mastering these competencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- And this is your reward<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thecaringcompany.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Career-EN-1024x585.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI created a pleasant environment for the team, with available team leaders, motivated colleagues, and a central focus on appreciation. The long-term sick employees fortunately returned to work. We had hardly any new sick employees. Absenteeism was reduced from 25% to 2%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer Contact Improvement Challenge: Processes<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nUnclear Processes, No Decision-Making Authority, High Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOutsourcing your first-line customer contact can work well, provided decision-making authority isn\u2019t completely absent. And that was the case here. The first line functioned as a relay when an item was defective. Cases piled up in the second line due to smaller capacity and the fact that those employees were too far from the customer. This resulted in unnecessarily high \u2018internal bickering\u2019 between the two lines to clarify and handle the customer case (an average of 11 interactions per case). The average value of a defective item to be replaced was between 20-25 euros. What did we find? Handling the case costs twice as much. That had to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Process Adjustment for Defects<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy adjusting the process, customers with a defective item were now directed to an online form (pushed). The problem, a clear description, the desired solution, and required attachments were requested in the form. This instantly removed four interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Automatic Compensation<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy setting a business rule<\/em>, all defect requests under \u20ac15 were automatically compensated. (With a rule that after a certain number of times, the customer enters a review process to prevent abuse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Decision-Making Authority up to \u20ac50 for First-Line Staff <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAlthough the first-line staff was not on the payroll, it was a deliberate choice to give them authority up to 50 euros to resolve the case. An interesting issue that involves having and giving trust, looking at costs and what it yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Automation<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAutomation eliminated useless work and increased efficiency and customer experience. For a case that initially required almost 12 interactions (mainly due to coordination between first- and second-line staff), we reduced it to 1.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The further results of the process adjustments were also significant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- 75% fewer manual actions by the employee to resolve defects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 64% fewer customer contact moments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 8% less repeat traffic<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 13% higher customer satisfaction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thecaringcompany.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Results-EN-1024x585.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCustomer Contact Improvement Challenge<\/strong>: Pennies<\/em> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nInvesting in Improvement with Minimal Funds When Everything Is on Fire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you have a pretty good picture of the challenges on my plate by now. Yet, customer contact improvements had to be implemented, which, at first glance, cost money. Therefore, investments start with providing insight to senior management. If they are convinced and support the decisions, only then can improvements work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I always work from the three themes: people<\/em>, processes<\/em>, and pennies<\/em>. In this case, it was more about improving people <\/em> and processes<\/em>, so the pennies <\/em> automatically came into better balance. I\u2019d like to share one more handy tip with you about the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHandy Tip About Pennies <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s essential to map out the costs currently being wasted and how much money you can save by better organizing departments and processes. The potential for cost savings and efficiency improvements in customer contact improvement is often significantly greater than initially estimated. By presenting this business case to senior management, it becomes possible to justify the necessary upfront investments. This way, it\u2019s an investment that not only pays for itself but also lays the foundation for a sustainably successful organization, starting with your customer contact improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is Your Contact Center on Fire?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn challenging situations like the one described above, when the contact center (thankfully figuratively) is on fire, it\u2019s always a matter of finding out: what is better for the customer, the employees, the relationships between employees, and what is better for your wallet? These are delightful issues that I love to tackle. Could you use some help with your customer contact improvement? I\u2019m just a phone call away.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thecaringcompany.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/JoyceAfuaFotografiexCynthia-6-scaled-e1712926935544-1024x588.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCustomer Contact Improvement<\/strong> Challenge: People<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAbsenteeism of 25% and Fallen Team Leaders<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImagine 25% of your customer contact team is out sick, and the two team leaders and the manager are also out. Tough, right? You understand that this impacts the remaining team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer contact is about working with people, for people, by people. It\u2019s essential to ensure the right people are in the right place. High turnover, absenteeism, or frequent dropout indicates there\u2019s (a lot of) room for customer contact improvement. But what can you do? These are the steps I took:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Good Team Leaders<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy hiring good team leaders, the right balance was created between managing people, focusing on processes, and taking a leading role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Recruitment Policy<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nInstead of the selection criterion “can you blink and have a heartbeat?” we switched to: “will my life go terribly wrong if I don\u2019t hire you now?”. This allowed us to select employees based on quality. We dared to say “no,” even when staffing was tight. Because once we found the right top performer, they made a much bigger difference, with shorter training times, for example. These employees stayed longer with us and scored very well on KPIs. We spent less time on recruitment, which also saved costs. In short, by selecting for quality, we made tremendous progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Appreciation for Employees<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nThe team had not received appreciation for their work for a long time. It\u2019s important to understand that appreciation has multiple facets: salary, recognition, attention, growth, and feedback. The team missed all of this. Salary steps were unclear, and there was no structure in raises. The team leaders were insufficiently available for the team, both emotionally, intellectually, and physically. By focusing on appreciation, the department’s atmosphere improved. Employees felt valued. We also introduced a clear \u2018salary growth plan\u2019 which included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- This is your job profile<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- This is how you can grow<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- By mastering these competencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- And this is your reward<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI created a pleasant environment for the team, with available team leaders, motivated colleagues, and a central focus on appreciation. The long-term sick employees fortunately returned to work. We had hardly any new sick employees. Absenteeism was reduced from 25% to 2%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer Contact Improvement Challenge: Processes<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nUnclear Processes, No Decision-Making Authority, High Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOutsourcing your first-line customer contact can work well, provided decision-making authority isn\u2019t completely absent. And that was the case here. The first line functioned as a relay when an item was defective. Cases piled up in the second line due to smaller capacity and the fact that those employees were too far from the customer. This resulted in unnecessarily high \u2018internal bickering\u2019 between the two lines to clarify and handle the customer case (an average of 11 interactions per case). The average value of a defective item to be replaced was between 20-25 euros. What did we find? Handling the case costs twice as much. That had to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Process Adjustment for Defects<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy adjusting the process, customers with a defective item were now directed to an online form (pushed). The problem, a clear description, the desired solution, and required attachments were requested in the form. This instantly removed four interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Automatic Compensation<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy setting a business rule<\/em>, all defect requests under \u20ac15 were automatically compensated. (With a rule that after a certain number of times, the customer enters a review process to prevent abuse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Decision-Making Authority up to \u20ac50 for First-Line Staff <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAlthough the first-line staff was not on the payroll, it was a deliberate choice to give them authority up to 50 euros to resolve the case. An interesting issue that involves having and giving trust, looking at costs and what it yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Automation<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAutomation eliminated useless work and increased efficiency and customer experience. For a case that initially required almost 12 interactions (mainly due to coordination between first- and second-line staff), we reduced it to 1.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The further results of the process adjustments were also significant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- 75% fewer manual actions by the employee to resolve defects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 64% fewer customer contact moments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 8% less repeat traffic<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 13% higher customer satisfaction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCustomer Contact Improvement Challenge<\/strong>: Pennies<\/em> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nInvesting in Improvement with Minimal Funds When Everything Is on Fire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you have a pretty good picture of the challenges on my plate by now. Yet, customer contact improvements had to be implemented, which, at first glance, cost money. Therefore, investments start with providing insight to senior management. If they are convinced and support the decisions, only then can improvements work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I always work from the three themes: people<\/em>, processes<\/em>, and pennies<\/em>. In this case, it was more about improving people <\/em> and processes<\/em>, so the pennies <\/em> automatically came into better balance. I\u2019d like to share one more handy tip with you about the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHandy Tip About Pennies <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s essential to map out the costs currently being wasted and how much money you can save by better organizing departments and processes. The potential for cost savings and efficiency improvements in customer contact improvement is often significantly greater than initially estimated. By presenting this business case to senior management, it becomes possible to justify the necessary upfront investments. This way, it\u2019s an investment that not only pays for itself but also lays the foundation for a sustainably successful organization, starting with your customer contact improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is Your Contact Center on Fire?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn challenging situations like the one described above, when the contact center (thankfully figuratively) is on fire, it\u2019s always a matter of finding out: what is better for the customer, the employees, the relationships between employees, and what is better for your wallet? These are delightful issues that I love to tackle. Could you use some help with your customer contact improvement? I\u2019m just a phone call away.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Imagine 25% of your customer contact team is out sick, and the two team leaders and the manager are also out. Tough, right? You understand that this impacts the remaining team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer contact is about working with people, for people, by people. It\u2019s essential to ensure the right people are in the right place. High turnover, absenteeism, or frequent dropout indicates there\u2019s (a lot of) room for customer contact improvement. But what can you do? These are the steps I took:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Good Team Leaders<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy hiring good team leaders, the right balance was created between managing people, focusing on processes, and taking a leading role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Recruitment Policy<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nInstead of the selection criterion “can you blink and have a heartbeat?” we switched to: “will my life go terribly wrong if I don\u2019t hire you now?”. This allowed us to select employees based on quality. We dared to say “no,” even when staffing was tight. Because once we found the right top performer, they made a much bigger difference, with shorter training times, for example. These employees stayed longer with us and scored very well on KPIs. We spent less time on recruitment, which also saved costs. In short, by selecting for quality, we made tremendous progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Appreciation for Employees<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nThe team had not received appreciation for their work for a long time. It\u2019s important to understand that appreciation has multiple facets: salary, recognition, attention, growth, and feedback. The team missed all of this. Salary steps were unclear, and there was no structure in raises. The team leaders were insufficiently available for the team, both emotionally, intellectually, and physically. By focusing on appreciation, the department’s atmosphere improved. Employees felt valued. We also introduced a clear \u2018salary growth plan\u2019 which included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- This is your job profile<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- This is how you can grow<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- By mastering these competencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- And this is your reward<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI created a pleasant environment for the team, with available team leaders, motivated colleagues, and a central focus on appreciation. The long-term sick employees fortunately returned to work. We had hardly any new sick employees. Absenteeism was reduced from 25% to 2%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer Contact Improvement Challenge: Processes<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nUnclear Processes, No Decision-Making Authority, High Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOutsourcing your first-line customer contact can work well, provided decision-making authority isn\u2019t completely absent. And that was the case here. The first line functioned as a relay when an item was defective. Cases piled up in the second line due to smaller capacity and the fact that those employees were too far from the customer. This resulted in unnecessarily high \u2018internal bickering\u2019 between the two lines to clarify and handle the customer case (an average of 11 interactions per case). The average value of a defective item to be replaced was between 20-25 euros. What did we find? Handling the case costs twice as much. That had to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Process Adjustment for Defects<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy adjusting the process, customers with a defective item were now directed to an online form (pushed). The problem, a clear description, the desired solution, and required attachments were requested in the form. This instantly removed four interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Automatic Compensation<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy setting a business rule<\/em>, all defect requests under \u20ac15 were automatically compensated. (With a rule that after a certain number of times, the customer enters a review process to prevent abuse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Decision-Making Authority up to \u20ac50 for First-Line Staff <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAlthough the first-line staff was not on the payroll, it was a deliberate choice to give them authority up to 50 euros to resolve the case. An interesting issue that involves having and giving trust, looking at costs and what it yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Automation<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAutomation eliminated useless work and increased efficiency and customer experience. For a case that initially required almost 12 interactions (mainly due to coordination between first- and second-line staff), we reduced it to 1.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The further results of the process adjustments were also significant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- 75% fewer manual actions by the employee to resolve defects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 64% fewer customer contact moments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 8% less repeat traffic<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 13% higher customer satisfaction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCustomer Contact Improvement Challenge<\/strong>: Pennies<\/em> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nInvesting in Improvement with Minimal Funds When Everything Is on Fire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you have a pretty good picture of the challenges on my plate by now. Yet, customer contact improvements had to be implemented, which, at first glance, cost money. Therefore, investments start with providing insight to senior management. If they are convinced and support the decisions, only then can improvements work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I always work from the three themes: people<\/em>, processes<\/em>, and pennies<\/em>. In this case, it was more about improving people <\/em> and processes<\/em>, so the pennies <\/em> automatically came into better balance. I\u2019d like to share one more handy tip with you about the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHandy Tip About Pennies <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s essential to map out the costs currently being wasted and how much money you can save by better organizing departments and processes. The potential for cost savings and efficiency improvements in customer contact improvement is often significantly greater than initially estimated. By presenting this business case to senior management, it becomes possible to justify the necessary upfront investments. This way, it\u2019s an investment that not only pays for itself but also lays the foundation for a sustainably successful organization, starting with your customer contact improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is Your Contact Center on Fire?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn challenging situations like the one described above, when the contact center (thankfully figuratively) is on fire, it\u2019s always a matter of finding out: what is better for the customer, the employees, the relationships between employees, and what is better for your wallet? These are delightful issues that I love to tackle. Could you use some help with your customer contact improvement? I\u2019m just a phone call away.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Instead of the selection criterion “can you blink and have a heartbeat?” we switched to: “will my life go terribly wrong if I don\u2019t hire you now?”. This allowed us to select employees based on quality. We dared to say “no,” even when staffing was tight. Because once we found the right top performer, they made a much bigger difference, with shorter training times, for example. These employees stayed longer with us and scored very well on KPIs. We spent less time on recruitment, which also saved costs. In short, by selecting for quality, we made tremendous progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Appreciation for Employees<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nThe team had not received appreciation for their work for a long time. It\u2019s important to understand that appreciation has multiple facets: salary, recognition, attention, growth, and feedback. The team missed all of this. Salary steps were unclear, and there was no structure in raises. The team leaders were insufficiently available for the team, both emotionally, intellectually, and physically. By focusing on appreciation, the department’s atmosphere improved. Employees felt valued. We also introduced a clear \u2018salary growth plan\u2019 which included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- This is your job profile<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- This is how you can grow<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- By mastering these competencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- And this is your reward<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI created a pleasant environment for the team, with available team leaders, motivated colleagues, and a central focus on appreciation. The long-term sick employees fortunately returned to work. We had hardly any new sick employees. Absenteeism was reduced from 25% to 2%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer Contact Improvement Challenge: Processes<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nUnclear Processes, No Decision-Making Authority, High Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOutsourcing your first-line customer contact can work well, provided decision-making authority isn\u2019t completely absent. And that was the case here. The first line functioned as a relay when an item was defective. Cases piled up in the second line due to smaller capacity and the fact that those employees were too far from the customer. This resulted in unnecessarily high \u2018internal bickering\u2019 between the two lines to clarify and handle the customer case (an average of 11 interactions per case). The average value of a defective item to be replaced was between 20-25 euros. What did we find? Handling the case costs twice as much. That had to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Process Adjustment for Defects<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy adjusting the process, customers with a defective item were now directed to an online form (pushed). The problem, a clear description, the desired solution, and required attachments were requested in the form. This instantly removed four interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Automatic Compensation<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy setting a business rule<\/em>, all defect requests under \u20ac15 were automatically compensated. (With a rule that after a certain number of times, the customer enters a review process to prevent abuse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Decision-Making Authority up to \u20ac50 for First-Line Staff <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAlthough the first-line staff was not on the payroll, it was a deliberate choice to give them authority up to 50 euros to resolve the case. An interesting issue that involves having and giving trust, looking at costs and what it yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Automation<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAutomation eliminated useless work and increased efficiency and customer experience. For a case that initially required almost 12 interactions (mainly due to coordination between first- and second-line staff), we reduced it to 1.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The further results of the process adjustments were also significant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- 75% fewer manual actions by the employee to resolve defects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 64% fewer customer contact moments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 8% less repeat traffic<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 13% higher customer satisfaction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCustomer Contact Improvement Challenge<\/strong>: Pennies<\/em> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nInvesting in Improvement with Minimal Funds When Everything Is on Fire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you have a pretty good picture of the challenges on my plate by now. Yet, customer contact improvements had to be implemented, which, at first glance, cost money. Therefore, investments start with providing insight to senior management. If they are convinced and support the decisions, only then can improvements work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I always work from the three themes: people<\/em>, processes<\/em>, and pennies<\/em>. In this case, it was more about improving people <\/em> and processes<\/em>, so the pennies <\/em> automatically came into better balance. I\u2019d like to share one more handy tip with you about the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHandy Tip About Pennies <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s essential to map out the costs currently being wasted and how much money you can save by better organizing departments and processes. The potential for cost savings and efficiency improvements in customer contact improvement is often significantly greater than initially estimated. By presenting this business case to senior management, it becomes possible to justify the necessary upfront investments. This way, it\u2019s an investment that not only pays for itself but also lays the foundation for a sustainably successful organization, starting with your customer contact improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is Your Contact Center on Fire?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn challenging situations like the one described above, when the contact center (thankfully figuratively) is on fire, it\u2019s always a matter of finding out: what is better for the customer, the employees, the relationships between employees, and what is better for your wallet? These are delightful issues that I love to tackle. Could you use some help with your customer contact improvement? I\u2019m just a phone call away.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI created a pleasant environment for the team, with available team leaders, motivated colleagues, and a central focus on appreciation. The long-term sick employees fortunately returned to work. We had hardly any new sick employees. Absenteeism was reduced from 25% to 2%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer Contact Improvement Challenge: Processes<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nUnclear Processes, No Decision-Making Authority, High Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOutsourcing your first-line customer contact can work well, provided decision-making authority isn\u2019t completely absent. And that was the case here. The first line functioned as a relay when an item was defective. Cases piled up in the second line due to smaller capacity and the fact that those employees were too far from the customer. This resulted in unnecessarily high \u2018internal bickering\u2019 between the two lines to clarify and handle the customer case (an average of 11 interactions per case). The average value of a defective item to be replaced was between 20-25 euros. What did we find? Handling the case costs twice as much. That had to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Process Adjustment for Defects<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy adjusting the process, customers with a defective item were now directed to an online form (pushed). The problem, a clear description, the desired solution, and required attachments were requested in the form. This instantly removed four interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Automatic Compensation<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy setting a business rule<\/em>, all defect requests under \u20ac15 were automatically compensated. (With a rule that after a certain number of times, the customer enters a review process to prevent abuse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Decision-Making Authority up to \u20ac50 for First-Line Staff <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAlthough the first-line staff was not on the payroll, it was a deliberate choice to give them authority up to 50 euros to resolve the case. An interesting issue that involves having and giving trust, looking at costs and what it yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Automation<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAutomation eliminated useless work and increased efficiency and customer experience. For a case that initially required almost 12 interactions (mainly due to coordination between first- and second-line staff), we reduced it to 1.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The further results of the process adjustments were also significant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- 75% fewer manual actions by the employee to resolve defects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 64% fewer customer contact moments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 8% less repeat traffic<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 13% higher customer satisfaction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCustomer Contact Improvement Challenge<\/strong>: Pennies<\/em> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nInvesting in Improvement with Minimal Funds When Everything Is on Fire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you have a pretty good picture of the challenges on my plate by now. Yet, customer contact improvements had to be implemented, which, at first glance, cost money. Therefore, investments start with providing insight to senior management. If they are convinced and support the decisions, only then can improvements work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I always work from the three themes: people<\/em>, processes<\/em>, and pennies<\/em>. In this case, it was more about improving people <\/em> and processes<\/em>, so the pennies <\/em> automatically came into better balance. I\u2019d like to share one more handy tip with you about the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHandy Tip About Pennies <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s essential to map out the costs currently being wasted and how much money you can save by better organizing departments and processes. The potential for cost savings and efficiency improvements in customer contact improvement is often significantly greater than initially estimated. By presenting this business case to senior management, it becomes possible to justify the necessary upfront investments. This way, it\u2019s an investment that not only pays for itself but also lays the foundation for a sustainably successful organization, starting with your customer contact improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is Your Contact Center on Fire?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn challenging situations like the one described above, when the contact center (thankfully figuratively) is on fire, it\u2019s always a matter of finding out: what is better for the customer, the employees, the relationships between employees, and what is better for your wallet? These are delightful issues that I love to tackle. Could you use some help with your customer contact improvement? I\u2019m just a phone call away.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Outsourcing your first-line customer contact can work well, provided decision-making authority isn\u2019t completely absent. And that was the case here. The first line functioned as a relay when an item was defective. Cases piled up in the second line due to smaller capacity and the fact that those employees were too far from the customer. This resulted in unnecessarily high \u2018internal bickering\u2019 between the two lines to clarify and handle the customer case (an average of 11 interactions per case). The average value of a defective item to be replaced was between 20-25 euros. What did we find? Handling the case costs twice as much. That had to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Process Adjustment for Defects<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy adjusting the process, customers with a defective item were now directed to an online form (pushed). The problem, a clear description, the desired solution, and required attachments were requested in the form. This instantly removed four interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Automatic Compensation<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\nBy setting a business rule<\/em>, all defect requests under \u20ac15 were automatically compensated. (With a rule that after a certain number of times, the customer enters a review process to prevent abuse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Decision-Making Authority up to \u20ac50 for First-Line Staff <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAlthough the first-line staff was not on the payroll, it was a deliberate choice to give them authority up to 50 euros to resolve the case. An interesting issue that involves having and giving trust, looking at costs and what it yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Automation<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAutomation eliminated useless work and increased efficiency and customer experience. For a case that initially required almost 12 interactions (mainly due to coordination between first- and second-line staff), we reduced it to 1.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The further results of the process adjustments were also significant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- 75% fewer manual actions by the employee to resolve defects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 64% fewer customer contact moments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 8% less repeat traffic<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 13% higher customer satisfaction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCustomer Contact Improvement Challenge<\/strong>: Pennies<\/em> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nInvesting in Improvement with Minimal Funds When Everything Is on Fire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you have a pretty good picture of the challenges on my plate by now. Yet, customer contact improvements had to be implemented, which, at first glance, cost money. Therefore, investments start with providing insight to senior management. If they are convinced and support the decisions, only then can improvements work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I always work from the three themes: people<\/em>, processes<\/em>, and pennies<\/em>. In this case, it was more about improving people <\/em> and processes<\/em>, so the pennies <\/em> automatically came into better balance. I\u2019d like to share one more handy tip with you about the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHandy Tip About Pennies <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s essential to map out the costs currently being wasted and how much money you can save by better organizing departments and processes. The potential for cost savings and efficiency improvements in customer contact improvement is often significantly greater than initially estimated. By presenting this business case to senior management, it becomes possible to justify the necessary upfront investments. This way, it\u2019s an investment that not only pays for itself but also lays the foundation for a sustainably successful organization, starting with your customer contact improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is Your Contact Center on Fire?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn challenging situations like the one described above, when the contact center (thankfully figuratively) is on fire, it\u2019s always a matter of finding out: what is better for the customer, the employees, the relationships between employees, and what is better for your wallet? These are delightful issues that I love to tackle. Could you use some help with your customer contact improvement? I\u2019m just a phone call away.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
By setting a business rule<\/em>, all defect requests under \u20ac15 were automatically compensated. (With a rule that after a certain number of times, the customer enters a review process to prevent abuse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the first-line staff was not on the payroll, it was a deliberate choice to give them authority up to 50 euros to resolve the case. An interesting issue that involves having and giving trust, looking at costs and what it yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Automation eliminated useless work and increased efficiency and customer experience. For a case that initially required almost 12 interactions (mainly due to coordination between first- and second-line staff), we reduced it to 1.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The further results of the process adjustments were also significant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think you have a pretty good picture of the challenges on my plate by now. Yet, customer contact improvements had to be implemented, which, at first glance, cost money. Therefore, investments start with providing insight to senior management. If they are convinced and support the decisions, only then can improvements work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I always work from the three themes: people<\/em>, processes<\/em>, and pennies<\/em>. In this case, it was more about improving people <\/em> and processes<\/em>, so the pennies <\/em> automatically came into better balance. I\u2019d like to share one more handy tip with you about the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s essential to map out the costs currently being wasted and how much money you can save by better organizing departments and processes. The potential for cost savings and efficiency improvements in customer contact improvement is often significantly greater than initially estimated. By presenting this business case to senior management, it becomes possible to justify the necessary upfront investments. This way, it\u2019s an investment that not only pays for itself but also lays the foundation for a sustainably successful organization, starting with your customer contact improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In challenging situations like the one described above, when the contact center (thankfully figuratively) is on fire, it\u2019s always a matter of finding out: what is better for the customer, the employees, the relationships between employees, and what is better for your wallet? These are delightful issues that I love to tackle. Could you use some help with your customer contact improvement? I\u2019m just a phone call away.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Decision-Making Authority up to \u20ac50 for First-Line Staff <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
4. Automation<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCustomer Contact Improvement Challenge<\/strong>: Pennies<\/em> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Investing in Improvement with Minimal Funds When Everything Is on Fire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Handy Tip About Pennies <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Is Your Contact Center on Fire?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n