an agent’s role in contact centers

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AN AGENT’S ROLEIN CONTACT CENTERS

Participant Workbook

©2014 International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) | icmi.com WB-1

An Agent’s Role in Contact Centers | ICMI

AN AGENT’S ROLEIN CONTACT CENTERS

Participant Workbook



Purpose of An Agent’s Role in Contact Centers

A successful contact center requires a number of things to be perfectly balanced and aligned. Discover the important role that you play within the contact center and how the “power of one” impacts both your customers and fellow employees.

An Agent’s Role in Contact Centerscontains the following four modules:

Module 1: The Dynamic Contact Center

Module 2: The Three Driving Forces of Contact Centers

Module 3: The Planning and Management Process

Module 4: Key Individual Performance Objectives



Module 1:The Dynamic Contact Center

Objectives

Define “Contact Center”

Identify the Three Levels of Perspective

Describe the Role of a Contact Center Employee

Summarize the Characteristics of a Contact Center



Module 1:1The Dynamic Contact Center

An opening question!

What is your definition of a Contact Center? _____________________________________

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ICMI’s definition of a Contact Center: __________________________________________

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New channels, higher value contacts

Contact centers exist because there is an _____________, variable demand for

_____________.

Contact centers are focused on aligning _______________________ with customer

demands through any channel of communication.



The Hub of Communication



Module 1:23 Levels of Perspective

1. The ____________________ Perspective • Be _________________

• Treat me courteously

• Show ____________ about what I need and want

• Do what I ask promptly; save me time

• Be well-trained and informed

• Meet _____________________, keep ________________.

• Do it right the __________ time; follow up

• Tell me what to expect

• Be _____________

2. The ____________________ Perspective

• Contributes to _______________ unit strategies.

a. Enables improved quality and innovation

b. Enables highly-leveraged marketing

c. Enables _________ _____________ and ____________

• Major drive of ______________ _____________ and loyalty

• Provides efficient delivery of services.

• Cultivates _______-__________ usage and system design

• Creates revenue/sales* *In revenue-producing environments



Module 1:2 (continued)

3. Your PerspectiveWhat are the skills and knowledge required to do your job?

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Module 1:3The Profession

Contact center management is the ______ of having the right number of ____________

__________ ___________ and supporting resources in place at the ________ ________

to handle an accurately forecasted workload, at service level and with ____________.

EXERCISE: Is it a profession?

Do you need to have specialized knowledge? Yes | No

Do you need specialized technology? Yes | No

Is there a unique vocabulary? Yes | No

Is there a trade press? Yes | No

Is there formal training? Yes | No

Is there recognition as a market? Yes | No



Module 2:The Three Driving Forces of Contact Centers

Objectives

Explore the three driving forces of contact centers:

• Workload Arrival

• The Queue

• The Seven Factors of Caller Tolerance

Module 2:1Workload Arrival

Calls arrive randomly most of the time in a majority of inbound contact centers. In other words, calls _________ up!



Module 2:1 (continued)

There are three types of incoming traffic:

1. _______________________________

2. Smooth

3. _______________________________

The Implications of Random Call Arrival:

• Uses _______________________________ or Computer Simulation

• Requires Real-time Management

• Impacts ______________________________

• _________________________ Drive _________________________



Module 2:2The Queue

____________ Queue – The customer knows how he/she is progressing.

____________ Queue – Customer doesn’t know how long he/she will have to wait.

Is your contact center’s queue visible or invisible? _______________________

The Implications of an Invisible Queue:

• Customers may be ______________

• Quickly empathize

• ______________ handle their request

• ______________ to your schedule

• It’s the customers decision



Module 2:2The Seven Factors of Caller Tolerance

1. Degree of __________________________

2. Availability of substitutes

3. __________________________ service level

4. Level of __________________________

5. Time available

6. Who’s __________________________ for the contact

7. __________________________



Module 3:The Contact Center Planning

and Management Process

Objectives

Understand the process used to ensure that the contact center effectively

meets its objectives

Review the impact of this process on phone calls, emails, social media and

other types of contacts.



Module 3:1Choosing Objectives

Step 1: Choose Service Level and Response Time Objectives

Contacts are either handled ________ they arrive or at a ________ time.

Those that must be handled when they arrive.

Performance objective: ___________________________________________

Expressed as: ____________________________________________________

Those that can be handled at a later time.

Performance objective: ____________________

Expressed as: __________________________________________



EXERCISE: Categorizing Contacts

Inbound phone calls

Outbound phone calls

Email

Social – real time

Social – deferred

SMS

Webchat

Web call-me-now

Web call-me-later

Web click-to-talk

Fax

Postal mail

Video calls

Walk-in customers

Service Level Response Time



The Three Types of Response for Deferred Contacts:

1. Reply (automatic)

2. Response (completed or directed by an agent)

3. Resolution (in the case of an open ticket)

Your Impact #1:

_________ _________ _______________ _____________!

_______________

_______________



Module 3:2Collect Data

Step 2: Collect Data

Talk Time: __________________________________________________________

After Contact Work Time: ____________________________________________

Handling Time: _____________________________________________________

Call Load: __________________________________________________________

Your Impact #2:

_________ _________ _______________ _____________!

_______________

_______________



Module 3:3Forecast Workload

Step 3: Forecast Workload

It’s a prediction

Workload includes:

___________ ___________

___________ - ___________ ___________

___________ ___________

Based on past & future

Contacts arrive in three dominant patterns:

___________ of the year

___________ of the week

___________ of the day



Emerging Channels

How is social media having an impact on your business?

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What methods of social media is your organization actively pursuing?

__________________________________________________________________

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What volume of customer engagement exists in the social media you are using – Twitter, Facebook, blogs?

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How important do you feel social media is for your organization?

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With email, web, chat and now social media for reaching out to your customers, have you noticed a DECREASE in voice traffic to your contact center?

__________________________________________________________________

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Module 3:4Calculate Base Staff

Step 4: Calculate Base Staff

Erlang C formula: Calculates the number of base staff required to keep waiting times within target limit.

Erlang C Inputs for Calculation:

• Talk Time in Seconds

• After-Call Work in Seconds

• Calls per Half-Hour

• Service Level Objective in Seconds



Erlang C Calculation – Graph Key Terms

Agents represents the minimum number of people to achieve a given service level (also known as Base Staff)

Service level is the % of calls that will be answered within our stated objective.

ASA is the Average Speed of Answer, so in other words, if I were calling into the contact center – the average amount of time it would take for my call to be answered.

Occupancy is the percentage of time that I spend handling contacts.

Occupancy Exercise

1. How many calls did this agent take?

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2. What do you notice about when the dark blue boxes that represent after-call work appear?

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3. What do you notice about when the orange boxes that represent availability appear?

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4. Does the agent control when the orange boxes appear and how long they are?

__________________________________________________________________

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Your Impact #3:

_____________ _______________ _____________!

Module 3:5Organization of Schedules

Step 7: Organize Schedules



Module 4:Key Individual Performance Objectives

Objectives

Review the two key performance objectives:

Doing the Right Things – QUALITY

At the Right Times – ADHERENCE

Module 4:1Adherence to Schedule

You can do four things to ensure that you’re adhering to your schedule:

1. Use _________________ correctly

2. Practice good _________________ _________________

3. Be well _________________

4. Comes with experience

Other ideas?

__________________________________________________________________

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Module 4:2Importance of Quality

_______________ on the customer’s needs and expectations.

Self-reflection: What’s your worst customer service experience?

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We can still meet service level, but...

Misunderstand

Enter wrong information

Relay wrong information

Make callers angry

Miss our primary purpose

Cause repeat contacts

Miss valuable feedback



Self-reflection: What’s your best customer service experience?

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Self-reflection: What could you do differently in the future?

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Module 4:3Quality Monitoring

Quality monitoring is around to benefit __________________!

Monitoring considerations:

Measures quality

Provides insight for __________________________ improvement

The quality of the call is in your __________________________

Quality is just _____________ key aspect of your overall performance

Module 4:4You are a Vital Part of the Team

Three Areas of Impact

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

Do the _____________ _____________ at the _____________ ______________



What I found most valuable today:

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Notes:

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An Agent’s Role inContact Centers

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an agent’s role in contact centers

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