Principles of Effective Contact Center Management Workbook - ICMI @ Dreamforce 2010 Handout - Brad Cleveland

ICMI: Principles of Effective Contact Center Management

Brad Cleveland

Monday, December 6, 2010 – 2:00pm – 5:00pm

Session: Principles of Effective

Contact Center Management Track: Service & Support Professionals

Date: Monday, December 6, 2010

Time: 2:00pm – 5:00pm

The Principles of Effective Contact Center Management

Brad Cleveland

Senior Advisor and Former President/CEO, ICMI

208-928-7311

[email protected]

Session Description

Level: Beginner

In step-by-step format, Brad Cleveland walks you through principles that will remain with you throughout your

career: the immutable laws and service dynamics that are part of any customer contact environment; what it takes

to accurately forecast, staff and schedule; the tradeoffs between service level, agent occupancy, staff and costs;

how service level and quality are highly interrelated; how to apply time-tested management principles to new

contact channels, i.e., social media; and, how to explain these principles to others in your organization and get them

on board. Whether you are a new manager or a veteran in search of a dependable refresher, this session provides

the essential knowledge and confidence you need to succeed!

Speaker Background

Brad Cleveland

Brad Cleveland helps organizations maximize their returns on customer relationships – by harnessing the potential

of call center, self-service, social media, and peer-to-peer capabilities. Brad has worked across 45 states and in

over 60 countries, and his clients have included many of today’s service leaders – Apple, HP, American Express,

and others. He’s also advised governments in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and

elsewhere. Brad is author/editor of eight books, including Call Center Management on Fast Forward: Succeeding in

Today’s Dynamic Customer Contact Environment, which won an Amazon.com best-selling award. He has

discussed customer service issues in publications ranging from The Financial Times to The Wall Street Journal, as

well as on major television networks, NPR’s All Things Considered, and the in-flight programs of several airlines.

One of the initial partners in and former President and CEO of the International Customer Management Institute

(ICMI), Brad grew the firm into a global industry leader that is now part of United Business Media (London: UBM.L).

He now serves as a Senior Advisor to ICMI, and is an in-demand author and speaker.

mailto:[email protected]

Copyright © 2010 International Customer Management Institute (ICMI). All rights reserved.

1

The Principles of

Effective Contact

Center Management

Brad Cleveland,

ICMI

blog:

www.bradcleveland.com/blog

Twitter:

www.twitter.com/bradcleveland


2

Learning Objectives (1 of 2)

• Learn a useful definition of call center management

• Identify the three driving forces of call center dynamics

• Understand the nine steps essential for effective planning and management

• Identify the key immutable laws of call center dynamics


3

Learning Objectives (2 of 2)

• Identify the 10 key customer expectations

• Define the three levels on which call centers can create value

• Identify the common components of a quality contact

• Define the seven key areas of measures/objectives


4

Contact Centers – Emerging Hubs of Communication


5

Contact Center Management Is...

…the art of having the right number of skilled people and supporting resources in place at the right times to handle an accurately forecasted workload, at service level and with quality.

Right people in place at the right times…

Doing the right things…


6

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

Cal

ls

Minutes After the Hour

Calling Pattern A Calling Pattern B

The Effect of Random Call Arrival

The Workload Bunches Up!


7

Visible or Invisible Queue?

Time

VISIBLE QUEUE- bank, post office, stadium

INVISIBLE QUEUE: most call centers (not all)


8

The Seven Factors of Customer Tolerance

1. Degree of motivation

2. Availability of substitutes

3. Competition’s service level

4. Level of expectations

5. Time available

6. Who’s paying for the call?

7. Human behavior


91. Choose

service level/ response time

objectives.

2. Collect data.

3. Forecast call load.

4. Calculate base staff.

5. Calculate trunks (and

related system resources).

6. Calculate rostered staff

factor (shrinkage).

7. Organize schedules.

8. Calculate costs.

9. Repeat for a higher and

lower level of service.

The Planning and Management

Process


10

The Two Major Types of Contacts

1. Those that must be handled when they arrive.Performance objective: Definition:

2. Those that can be handled at a later time.Performance objective: Definition:

Service Level

Response Time

100% response within N hours

X% answered in Y seconds


11

Two Approaches to Forecasting

Quantitative

Judgmental


12

Four Key Terms

• Talk Time:

• After Call Work:

• Handling Time:

• Call Load:

Everything from hello to goodbye

Immediately follows call

Talk time + after call work

Volume X AHT


13

Monthly Contacts Offered

Use data from three or more years.

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Month

Co

nta

cts

in T

ho

usa

nd

s

Yr. 1

Yr. 2

Yr. 3


14

Contacts by Day of the Week

Use data from four or more weeks.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

Day of the Week

Co

nta

cts

06-May

13-May

20-May

27-May


15

Half-Hourly Contacts

Use data from at least one “typical week.”

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

8:00

9:00

10:0

0

11:0

0

12:0

0

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

5:00

6:00

7:00

8:00

Time of Day

Co

nta

cts

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

SUN


16

500,000

X 1.1

550,000

X .068

37,400

÷ 21

1,781

X 1.125

Current year’s contacts

To add 10% (Add after month prop. ?)

Estimated contacts in forecast year

January proportion

January contacts

Operation days - January

Average contacts per day

Monday index factor

Monday’s contacts

10:00 to 10:30 proportion

Forecasted contacts 10:00 to 10:30

Breaking Down a Forecast: The Basics

Example:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Prop

.225

.201

.184

.185

.205

Avg.

Prop

÷ .2

÷ .2

÷ .2

÷ .2

÷ .2

Index

Factor

1.125

1.007

0.921

0.924

1.023

2,004

X .055

110


17

Forecast Accuracy

Forecast Actual Difference Percent

8:30 9:00 342 291 51 -17.5%

9:00 9:30 399 343 56 -16.3%

9:30 10:00 461 499 -38 7.6%

10:00 10:30 511 582 -71 12.2%

10:30 11:00 576 649 -73 11.2%

11:00 11:30 605 578 27 -4.7%

11:30 12:00 572 513 59 -11.5%

12:00 12:30 505 412 93 -22.6%

12:30 1:00 456 540 -84 15.6%

4427 4407 20 -0.5%

Call VolumeThe accuracy of

resource planning must be measured

here…

Not here!


18

Average Handle Time

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

7:0

0

8:0

0

9:0

0

10

:00

11

:00

12

:00

1:0

0

2:0

0

3:0

0

4:0

0

5:0

0

6:0

0

7:0

0

8:0

0

Avera

ge H

an

dle

Tim

ein

Seco

nd

s

Time of Day

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat


19

Blending in Judgment

• Put someone in charge

• Get the right people together!

• Often…!

• Track – how’s it going?

• Adjust as you go along


201. Choose


objectives.

2. Collect data.






factor (shrinkage).


8. Calculate costs.




Process


21

Response Time Calculation

Basic Formula:Volume

= AgentsRT ÷ AHT

KEY: Volume = Volume for forecast increment (e.g., volume per hour)

RT = Response time (note: RT for staffing is the time available to do the work, which may

be less than the RT promised to the customer)

AHT = Average handling time


22

P >O

A

N

N

N A

N

x O

A

x

A

N

N

N A

N

x N( ) !

! !

1

Where

A = total traffic offered in erlangs

N = number of servers in a full availability group

P(>O) = probability of delay greater than O

P = probability of loss -- Poisson formula

Erlang C…


23

Average talk time in seconds = 180

Average after call work (wrap up) in seconds = 30

Calls per half hour = 250

Service level objective in seconds = 20

Input:

Output:

30 208.7 23.5% 97% 54.0

31 74.7 45.2% 94% 35.4

32 37.6 61.3% 91% 30.2

33 21.3 73.0% 88% 28.0

34 12.7 81.5% 86% 26.8

35 7.8 87.5% 83% 26.1

36 4.9 91.7% 81% 25.7

37 3.1 94.6% 79% 25.4

38 1.9 96.5% 77% 25.3

39 1.2 97.8% 75% 25.2

40 0.7 98.6% 73% 25.1

Agents SL Occ TKLDASACalls / Agent

8.3

8.1

7.8

7.6

7.4

7.1

6.9

6.8

6.6

6.4

6.3

Base Staff Calculations

Source: ICMI QueueView


24

QueueView Staffing Calculator by ICMI, Inc.Average Talk Time (Sec.) = 180After-Call Work Time (Sec.) = 30Calls per Half-Hour = 250Service Level Objective (Sec.) = 20

|<========= Number of callers waiting longer than x seconds =========>|

Agents SL% 5 10 15 20 30 40 50 60 90 120 180 240

===== === ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ====

30 24 203 199 195 191 184 177 170 163 145 129 101 80

31 45 156 149 143 137 126 115 105 97 74 57 34 20

32 61 118 111 104 97 85 74 65 56 38 25 11 5

33 73 89 81 74 67 56 47 39 32 19 11 4 1

34 82 65 58 52 46 37 29 23 18 9 5 1 0

35 88 47 41 36 31 24 18 14 10 4 2 0 0

36 92 34 29 24 21 15 11 8 6 2 1 0 0

37 95 24 20 16 14 9 6 4 3 1 0 0 0

38 97 16 13 11 9 6 4 2 2 0 0 0 0

39 98 11 9 7 5 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0

40 99 7 6 4 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

41 99 5 4 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

42 100 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Caller Delay Module

Source: ICMI QueueView


25

Agents: Number of agents required to be in place, either

handling contacts or waiting for them to arrive.

ASA: Average speed of answer in seconds.

SL: Service Level. The percentage of contacts that will be

answered in the number of seconds you specify.

OCC: Percent agent occupancy. The percentage of time

agents will spend handling contacts, including talk

time and after-call work.

TKLD: The hours (Erlangs) of trunk traffic, which is the

product of (talk time + average speed of answer) x

number of calls in an hour.

Terms to Know…


26

Key Immutable Laws

• When service level goes up, occupancy goes down

• The law of diminishing returns

• The powerful pooling principle


27

Scenario

Talk: 180 seconds

After-call work: 30 seconds

Service level: 80% in 20 seconds

The Dynamics of Size and Pooling

Calls Agents Occupancy Calls per Agent

50

100

250

1000

9

15

34

124

65%

78%

86%

94%

5.6

6.7

7.4

8.1


281. Choose


objectives.

2. Collect data.






factor (shrinkage).


8. Calculate costs.




Process


29

Where Are They???


30

Thank you for holding. Our agents are currently…

On a breakAt lunch

Making internal callsIn a meeting

In the bathroomRebooting their computers

Researching somethingSick

On vacationGetting supplies

Completing after-call workIn training

With other callers

Your call is important to us. Please continue to hold…


31

Uncontrollable: An outcome of size, SL,

and handle time; becomes smaller

when contact center doesn’t

schedule properly

Schedule Influenced Activities: Coaching,

training, lunches, non-phone, etc.

Agent Controlled: Must be tracked,

actual results incl. in schedule

Schedule Influenced and

Anticipated Activities: Annual Leave, FMLA, Sick

Agent Capacity

Planned Hours (40 hrs/wk)

Available(33.8 hrs/wk)

Scheduled for Phones(28.5 hrs/wk)

Manned (login) Time(25.3 hrs/wk)

Call Handling and Wrap-up(21.3 hrs/wk)

Talk Time(13.4 hrs/wk)

Hold Time(3.4 hrs/wk)

After-Call Work Time(4.5 hrs/wk)

Non-production Utilizing(including all breaks)

(5.3 hrs/wk)

Unavailable(absent)

(6.2 hrs/wk)

Idle Time Required to Meet SL

(4.0 hrs/wk)

Non-adherence(3.2 hrs/wk)


32

Rostered

Base Staff Required On Staff

SL RT Absent Break Training Schedule Factor

08:00-08:30 18 4 2 0 0 24 1.09

08:30-09:00 20 4 2 0 4 30 1.25

09:00-09:30 20 4 2 0 4 30 1.25

09:30-10:00 25 5 2 3 4 39 1.3

10:00-10:30 25 5 2 3 4 39 1.3

10:30-11:00 31 5 2 3 4 45 1.25

Rostered Staff Factor


33

Scheduling Realistically

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

9:0

0

9:3

0

10

:00

10:3

0

11

:00

11

:30

12

:00

12:3

0

1:0

0

1:3

0

2:0

0

2:3

0

3:0

0

3:3

0

4:0

0

4:3

0

5:0

0

5:3

0

Nu

mb

er

of

An

aly

sts

Time of Day

Rostered Staff Assigned

Rostered Staff Required

Base Staff Required


34

Scheduling Alternatives

Utilize conventional shifts

Stagger shifts

Adjust breaks, lunch, meeting and training schedules

Forecast and plan for regular collateral work

Schedule part-timers

Establish internal part-timers

Create a SWAT team

Offer concentrated shifts

Offer overtime

Give agents the option to go home, without pay

Offer split shifts

Arrange for some agents to be on call

Set up a telecommuting program

Use hiring to your advantage

Send calls to a service bureau

Collaborate with similar organizations

Sacrifice service level for a planned period of time

Potentially, many others…


35

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

110%

8:00

9:00

10

:00

11

:00

12:0

0

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

5:00

Cal

ls A

nsw

ere

d in

30

Se

con

ds

(%)

Time of Day

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Objective

Service level fairly consistent and meeting objective

Service Level Revisited


36

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

7:00

8:00

9:00

10:0

0

11:0

0

12:0

0

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

5:00

6:00

7:00

8:00

Cal

ls A

nsw

ere

d in

20

Se

con

ds

(%)

Time of Day

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Objective

Service level erratic and below objective



37

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

8:00

9:00

10:0

0

11:0

0

12:0

0

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

5:00

6:00

7:00

Cal

ls A

nsw

ere

d in

20

Se

con

ds

(%)

Time of Day

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Objective


Service level fairly consistent and below objective


381. Choose


objectives.

2. Collect data.






factor (shrinkage).


8. Calculate costs.




Process


39

Be accessible

Treat me

courteously

Be responsive

to what I need

and want

Do what I

ask promptlyEnsure I deal with

trained and informed

employees

Meet your

commitments, keep

your promises

Do it right the

first time

Tell me what

to expect

Be socially

responsible and

ethical

Follow up


40

Components of a Quality Interaction

• Customer can access the contact channels desired

• Contact is necessary in the first place

• Customer is not placed in queue for too long

• Customer is not transferred around

• Customer doesn’t get rushed

• Agent provides correct response

• All data entry is correct

• Customer receives correct information

• Agent captures all needed/useful information

Continued….


41

Components of a Quality Interaction (cont.)

• Customer has confidence contact was effective

• Customer doesn’t feel it necessary to check-up, verify or repeat

• Customer is satisfied

• Agent has “pride in workmanship”

• Unsolicited marketplace feedback is detected and documented

• Others across the organization can correctly interpret and effectively use the information captured

• The organization’s mission and brand is furthered


42

Costs When Quality Is Lacking

• Unnecessary service contacts

• Repeat contacts from customers

• Callbacks to customers for missing or unclear information

• Escalation of contacts and complaints to higher management

• Contacts to customer relations

• Handling product returns

• Expenses to re-ship

• Wrong problems get fixed


43

Costs When Quality Is Lacking (con’t)

• Loss of revenue from cancellations

• Cancellations causing inaccurate inventory status

• Cost of closing accounts

• Negative publicity from angry customers

• Loss of referrals

• Diversion of agents to activities that should be unnecessary

• Agents “taking the heat” for mistakes made by others


44

Average talk time in seconds = 180

Average after call work (wrap up) in seconds = 30

Calls per half hour = 250

Service level objective in seconds = 20

Input:

Output:

30 208.7 23.5% 97% 54.0

31 74.7 45.2% 94% 35.4

32 37.6 61.3% 91% 30.2

33 21.3 73.0% 88% 28.0

34 12.7 81.5% 86% 26.8

35 7.8 87.5% 83% 26.1

36 4.9 91.7% 81% 25.7

37 3.1 94.6% 79% 25.4

38 1.9 96.5% 77% 25.3

39 1.2 97.8% 75% 25.2

40 0.7 98.6% 73% 25.1

SL Occ TKLDASAAgents

Service Level and Quality, Revisited…


45

Objectives with Big Payoffs

• Business unit value

• Customer satisfaction / loyalty

• Employee satisfaction

• Quality / first contact resolution

• Service level / response time

• Adherence to schedule

• Forecast accuracy


46

Customer Loyalty

Business Unit Value(Strategic Value)

Efficiency

Three (Potential) Levels of Value


47

Look for Leverage… Every Role, Every Activity!

Improvements in FCR

Strategic contributions

Contacts handled; < AHT

The CC’s Value


48

To Contact and Connect:

ICMI Office:International Customer Management Institute: www.icmi.com or 719-268-0305

Brad, direct:Brad ClevelandSenior Advisor, [email protected] 208-928-7311 (direct)

Blog: www.bradcleveland.com/blogTwitter: www.twitter.com/bradcleveland

Empowering organizations worldwide to provide the best customer experience possible through industry-leading professional services such as consulting, events, training and information resources.

International Customer Management Institute

ImproveContact Center Operations

EmpowerContact Center Employees

EnhanceCustomer Loyalty

Notes

Notes

Documents

Principles of Effective Contact Center Management Workbook - ICMI @ Dreamforce 2010 Handout - Brad Cleveland