A leading U.S. wireless carrier had been using outsourced contact centers in the Philippines, India, Palestine, and Ohio to serve a segment of its market. Compared to the company’s benchmarks, none of the four centers converted enough calls into sales, resolved enough issues on the first call, or handled live chat well. Callzilla outperformed all four of the other centers on QA and First Call Resolution within about seven months. Among the improvements: contract renewals rose from 50 percent to 85 percent.
English language customer care with the carrier’s current outsourced partners was unsuccessful in resolving customer issues and complaints in an efficient, timely way. The client needed to increase First Call Resolution (FCR) in English and Spanish while reducing call abandons; and to boost QA scores to provide better customer experience.
Patterns discovered
We gathered data and thoroughly interviewed our client before making recommendations. For example, were there patterns in the repeated contacts by customers trying to resolve an issue? Were there scripts in use for live chat, and if so could we review them? How were agents communicating during attempts at account saves? Was language a barrier? Which techniques and messaging led to the largest orders?
Focused on First Call Resolution to improve CSat
Callzilla trained agents to take a consultative approach to handling calls, with emphasis on adapting to varying customer needs. We emphasized FCR while implementing a more thoughtful customer approach to increase satisfaction with their in-call experience and provide real solutions.
Selected and hired reps using detailed requirements
U.S. Hispanic customers are among this client’s base. But just because customers are of Hispanic heritage doesn’t necessarily mean they speak Spanish as a first language. (In fact, one of the problems with three of the incumbent contact centers was that its agents didn’t speak either language well enough.) Among other things, the agents we selected had to be fluent in both English and Spanish.
Aligned agent & supervisor incentives with business goals
Too often, incentives for agents and supervisors run counter to customer experience goals. As in other campaigns, we aligned agent and supervisor incentives with campaign key performance indicators.
Prepared for granular analysis by task, agent, shift, more
As in other engagements, each mission-critical task had its own line item and was scored individually. Our evaluations were performed on an individual call level basis, agent basis, shift (time of day) basis, program/campaign basis and other variables. This approach allowed us to take data samples and benchmark our performance against the criteria and standards that we agreed on with the client.
Familiarized with dozens of offers and products
Our client operates in a hyper-competitive environment, and we needed to be familiar with dozens of offers, past and present. We embarked on rigorous training in specific features and benefits of each offer and product we might discuss with shoppers and customers.
Leveraged gamification
We integrated e-learning and gamification into the client’s solution to enhance agent engagement. The shared vision was to reinforce team and individual engagement and speed to competency through social collaboration, support from a gamified platform, and ensuring a feeling of recognition.
Rehearsed for closing, upselling, saving
Callzilla practiced spotting appropriate opportunities for closing sales, upselling, and account saves on the course of diverse interactions. By practicing these kinds of scenarios, we reduce or eliminate the need for scripts. And that frees agents to have natural, trust-building conversations with customers and buyers about their options.
Deployment
As Callzilla began providing this client with customer care in both Spanish and English, call conversions improved, average order value rose, upsells increased, and average Customer Satisfaction scores increased.
Specifically, conversions rose from 30 percent to more than 50 percent, contract renewals shot up from 50 percent to 85 percent, upsells rose from under 15 percent to more than 35 percent, FCR rose from less than 75 percent to about 90 percent, and Customer Satisfaction (CSat) among distributors rose from 79 percent to 97 percent.
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About the Author: Neal Topf
