But we’re already as efficient as we’re going to get!
Today’s contact centers are equipped with some of the most sophisticated technology in the marketplace today. That’s because companies are waking up and responding to customers’ “right now” expectations. These customers are using web-based or IVR-based self-service to retrieve information, answer questions and conduct transactions, all without interacting with a live agent. Instant gratification is king and companies are deploying technology like never before to satisfy their customers using as few live agents as possible.
So many contact center managers believe they can’t possibly squeeze out any more inefficiencies, at least not from a technology standpoint. Perhaps that’s true, but we need to remember that there comes a time when just about everybody must talk with a live person in a contact center. That is the point at which technology and human skills intersect. People represent the greatest expense to the contact center, not the technology. Performance improvement is aided by technology but it is the people who close tickets and put numbers on the board, and it’s the people the customers will remember when conducting a transaction.
As soon as people are added to the mix, inefficiencies abound. It’s unavoidable. People get sick, run late, daydream, have problems, become angry and even quit. So there will always be a certain level of inefficiency to deal with.
The question is how to use real time performance management to squeeze as much out of the profitability equation as possible and not impair the effectiveness and the motivation of your workforce.
The chart above illustrates typical improvements in efficiency when performance management is introduced into a contact center, using a unit of '1' as a benchmark.Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on how visibility affects efficiency!
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