As I did in Feb I'm going to bump this to the top for
new members

DaveA

One of the jobs of a moderator on CCV is to promote
some of the posts from the past that we think would be of
benefit.

So once mor eto the top goes this one.

Anymore comments anyone?

DaveA

"many UK call centres being outsouced we might see a backlash as customer seek to do business with companies that have ethical policies to retain local jobs, minimises customer complaints and maximise customer satisfaction."

I said this in 2003...its happening. Now if I could only predict the lottery combination.

I think we'll see a decline in the number of call centre's as self service finally takes hold.

This self service will be through the Internet.

This will see a reduction in IVR systems on the phone, with this becoming a live agent only channel.

I think that management will realise that Customer Service is not about solving customer problems, but that it is about not causing customers problems in the first place.

So call centres will get smaller and eventually disappear as they cease to be necessary to solve all the gripes and complaints that are caused by the company. Instead, if they are still there, they will simply be there to give advice, take orders etc. I.e. provide value.

..that you believe a huge majority of call centre's are only there to solve problems, as opposed to answer queries or take orders.

Could you suggest what kind of split you think there is between problem solving / true customer service?

I agree that we will see a reduction in Call centers as Internet and self-service solutions become more the norm. But I don't think that this will apply to all industries.
In the fast paced industries where unforeseen random events still catch you off guard, being reactive to customer concerns/issues will require some level of telephone answering staff to allay customer fears.

Whilst I agree that self-serv and Internet can deal with the day-to-day issues, you will always have a portion of your customer base that’s wants to talk to someone rather than a machine.

Also if customer service evolves to reduce customer issues and therefore the need for call centre will we find that outsourcing becomes a more cost effective option than in house as the numbers of constant calls/staff required reduces to an ineffective 'in house' solution and fast short term ramping is used to deal with 'random events'?

Darryl,

In a survey with survey size of one, i.e. me, I find that I do what you suggest, I do the self-service thing over the internet and if that doesn't work I have to ring the call centre to sort out the problems.

That is why I have that impression.

Or you reply to the 'contact us' email address and no reply is received. Or if you're lucky an automated acknowlegement of your message arrives and then 24hrs later a real human being responds but uses a perfunctory generic catch all response and ticks their 'problem resolved' box.

It is interesting to note that in many call centers the vast majority of calls are due to failures elsewhere in the business and a small percentage are true opportunity (revenue potential) inquiries. One assessment that we examine in every call center we work with is what percentage of calls are failure related or failure fixes versus the percentage that are opportunities. The results are often astounding to the senior managers of the firm.

In one center we identified more than 80% of their call as failure related or fixes. By completing a root cause analysis we were able to cause changes to be made elsewhere in the organization which in turn reduced call volume by more than 60%.


Working to be efficient in handling the calls is often not terribly impactful as it is treating the symptoms while not addressing the underlying cause.

Colin Taylor
ctaylor@thetaylorreachgroup.com
www.thetaylorreachgroup.com