Contact Center Excellence



The Model Dimensions

A maturity model is characterized by dimensions and levels. The model depicts how dimensions change across levels. Dimensions are key drivers of performance and can be considered critical success factors for the support contact center organization. Often, the dimensions cover areas of leadership, operations, and technology, again technology used in the broadest sense. These dimensions are covered in this section.

Leadership

The elements chosen for the dimension of leadership chosen are those important in setting direction and driving the organization forward. Key elements or aspects of leadership included are strategic planning, organizational leadership, succession planning and competency development. Maturity in leadership moves an organization from the directionless focus solely on the day-to-day operations of the business through the establishment of a strategic planning function, the development of core competency definitions and succession planning, and the shifting focus of management from cost control to revenue enhancement to value creation. Maturity in leadership is a necessary prerequisite to maturity in other dimensions.

Processes

The maturity of the organization in the leadership dimension drives the maturity of the other dimensions. Key elements of process management included are the documentation of processes, linkage to tools and technology, process management and improvement processes in place. Maturity in process documentation and management moves an organization from the day to day addressing of issues and problems that appear to be one-off and disjoint, to the establishment of clearly documented processes that are followed, measured and managed, and supported by technology.

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Tools and Technology

The dimension which is typically the most domain or industry unique is the tools and technology dimension. Whereas the process dimension may consider how tools and technology is acquired and managed, and whereas the leadership dimension may include project and portfolio management and the corresponding management of capital, the tools and technology dimension contains the ‘what’ rather than the ‘how’ (process) or ‘why’ (leadership) of tools and technology.

Support center tools and technology fall into five broad categories; workforce management, contact and queuing management, knowledge and workflow management, quality management and case or ticket management. Workforce management includes workload forecasting, staff scheduling and staff adherence to the schedules. Contact queuing management technology includes all of the functions needed to get a user of the service connected to a staff member or self-service. Knowledge and workflow management tools control the flow of an interaction between a staff member and a service user. Quality management tools allow for the inspection of in-process or completed calls or contacts. Case or ticket management tools allow for the documentation of the service interaction.

As with process, technology and tools maturity is primarily driven by maturity in the leadership dimension. .

Value

The notion of value is an important addition to the maturity model. Each level of maturity has an associated value, and it is the value element that informs the organization whether it is currently at the proper level of maturity. An examination of the maturity model with the value added for each level will give the organization an understanding of the return on their investment if they work to achieve a higher level of maturity. Otherwise, increasing maturity is an interesting exercise, but may have an organization chasing improvements that net no increase in value.

The Model

Initial

|Strategy and |No discernible strategy in place as the need for one is not recognized |

|Leadership |Core competencies not understood |

| |Focus is strictly on cost and cost control |

| |Management by crises drives action |

|Process |Processes are adhoc, reactive, and chaotic |

| |Success depends on heroes |

| |Budget frequently exceeded |

| |Staff poorly managed and morale is correspondingly low |

|Tools and |No workload forecasting in place |

|Technology |Workforce scheduling is via time block, i.e. matching resource to workload is |

| |not understood |

| |No telephony queuing in place. Multiple phone numbers or round-robin |

| |arrangement in place. |

| |Knowledge and work procedures are not documented, no QA function is in place |

| |No call or incident tracking system is in place |

|Value Statement|Value is not measured or understood. Morale is low, positive outcomes the |

| |result of chance and are not repeatable. Cost per transaction is not known by |

| |the organization, but is high as costs are not managed according to a budget. |

| |Client satisfaction is not known by the organization, but is low. Client demand|

| |is largely unfulfilled as they call only as a last resort or when otherwise |

| |compelled to. |

| |Key metrics affected: FCR, CpC, morale or engagement, client satisfaction. |

Managed

|Strategy and |Need for strategy recognized, but is adhoc and does not follow any |

|Leadership |industry-recognized management system |

| |Call center competency is recognized and identified, but focus of competency is |

| |on providing lowest cost service |

| |Rudimentary management by metrics is in place. Numbers are trended and goals |

| |are in place, but no industry benchmark comparison has been done, and there is |

| |little understanding of the relationship between the metrics and actions needed |

| |to improve. |

|Process |Current practices and procedures governing basic work functions are documented |

| |Each new case creates a new set of practices and procedures |

| |Budget still frequently exceeded as demand is not understood |

| |Management of staff is focused on cost and cost control. Morale is low. |

|Tools and |Workforce scheduling is performed via spreadsheet, and is frequently inaccurate.|

|Technology |Forecasting is recognized as needed, and is performed at a gross level. Any |

| |attempts at granularity produce results that are poorly predictive |

| |Phone and/or eMail queuing is in place, although to a single skill set |

| |Knowledge is decentralized and documented by each worker. The knowledge is |

| |periodically shared, but in an adhoc manner. |

| |Call recording may be done, but a comprehensive QA tool is not in use. |

| |A simple trouble ticket application is in place. |

|Value Statement|Value understood as low cost provider of service. Morale is low as employees |

| |are driven toward execution efficiency with no understanding of how their |

| |actions lead to the success of the organization. Organizational success factors|

| |are unknown. Cost per transaction is a key focus, but is high as management is |

| |unaware of actions needed to improve efficiency. Hence, employees are blindly |

| |driven toward an unattainable goal and management is frustrated. |

| |Key metrics affected: FCR (low), CpC (mid-high), morale (BTS- low), client |

| |satisfaction (low-fair). |

Defined

|Strategy and |Strategy is developed following internal practices and incorporates Call center|

|Leadership |best practices. |

| |Strategy is well communicated, but is not well supported by measurements and |

| |action plans. |

| |Call center is considered a core competency, and a management team is in place |

| |with some level of Call center experience. Supporting competencies are |

| |recognized, and a plan is in place to develop them. |

| |Management by the numbers is in place and well understood. |

| |Focus of management is on efficiency and cost control. |

|Process |Processes for the Call center are documented and the processes are supported by|

| |the Tools and Technology. |

| |Process is in place to introduce new workload into the Call center and focuses |

| |on employment of existing Call center processes. |

| |Staff management and process management is focused on organizational and |

| |individual efficiency. |

| |Rudimentary process improvement in place |

| |Client satisfaction is measured |

|Tools and |Workforce management tool is in place and being utilized for demand forecasting|

|Technology |and workforce scheduling |

| |Skills-based management is in place and is supported by toolset |

| |Knowledge is documented in a central online repository. Standards for |

| |knowledge documentation are in place |

| |A QA tool is in place and recording done, but it is not integrated with |

| |training or knowledge mgmt |

| |The trouble-ticket application is integrated with the knowledge repository |

| |A customer/client satisfaction feedback tool is in place |

|Value Statement |Value is still understood as low cost efficiency provider of service and the |

| |focus is on cost per call. Cost per call is low and efficiency is high as |

| |management understands how to drive the numbers with actions supported to a |

| |large extent by processes and tools. Morale improves as workers can see a |

| |strategy in place and have confidence in the management team’s ability to lead |

| |the organization in an efficiency environment with some level of call center |

| |experience and expertise. Processes and standards are in place, measurements |

| |are baselined and trended. This is the resting place for many Client Support |

| |Centers or Help Desks. |

| |Key metrics affected: FCR (low), CpC (low), morale (fair), client satisfaction |

| |(fair) |

Quantitatively Managed

|Strategy and |Strategy is in place, well developed, and supported by measurements, goals, and|

|Leadership |action plans. |

| |High level of expertise in Call center management is in place |

| |All supporting functions represent core competencies, all other out-tasked |

| |Management is focused on client value. Financial management is in place and |

| |well-executed. |

|Process |Sub processes and supporting processes measured and controlled using |

| |statistical techniques |

| |Quality and Operational improvement processes in place |

| |Management of staff and process is focused on quality |

| |Client satisfaction management process is in place |

|Tools and |Real-time adherence in place |

|Technology |Knowledge is being managed and the management is supported by the knowledge |

| |management tool/repository |

| |Blended contact center (across multiple channels) established, contact method |

| |supported by customer preference |

| |QA function is highly integrated with important feedback to training and |

| |knowledge mgmt |

| |Self-service towers established (web/IVR/eMail autoresponse) but with different|

| |capabilities and measurements |

|Value Statement |Quality balanced with cost to drive value. Strategy is in place and supported |

| |by plans and measurements. Morale is high as strategy, process, and tools are |

| |aligned to enable high level of productivity. Cost control remains a focus via|

| |self-service, but self-service impact on client value understood. Clients have|

| |multiple ways to contact the support center.. |

| |Key metrics affected: FCR (mid-high), CpC (low-mid), morale (high), client |

| |satisfaction (high). Top 10% of support centers or Help Desks reach this |

| |level. |

Optimized

|Strategy and |Strategy management in place using industry-recognized strategy management |

|Leadership |system/methodology (e.g. Strategy Maps and Balanced Scorecard or |

| |Malcolm-Baldrige) |

| |High degree of management expertise in all functions. All functions performed |

| |by the organization represent core competencies, and the competencies are |

| |managed. |

| |CRM principles, focused on value, are incorporated in the strategy |

|Process |Quantitative process improvement objectives are managed |

| |Innovation process supports organizational process improvement goals |

| |Total Quality Management is implemented throughout the organization |

| |Focus on management of variability |

| |Management of staff is focused on value and client relationship |

|Tools and |Self-service integrated across multiple channels |

|Technology |Virtual call center technology in place to manage an ‘anywhere’ environment |

| |Trouble-ticket application replaced by CRM application suite with capabilities |

| |for personalization, segmentation, and relationship development |

|Value Statement |High-powered management team is focused on client value and satisfaction, |

| |driven by CRM principles, and supported by CRM tools. Processes are tightly |

| |managed according to statistical techniques. Self-service is integrated within |

| |a multi-contact environment. Costs and resources are well managed, leading to|

| |efficiency, high morale, and superior quality. |

| |Key metrics affected: FCR (high), CpC (low-mid), morale (high), client |

| |satisfaction (high). No support centers are at this level today. |

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