Executive summary
Today’s customer contact executives know that monitoring call quality and coaching customer service agents are two of the best ways to improve a contact center and achieve revenue or operating goals. But how do you monitor enough calls to make a difference, when the business grows faster than traditional monitoring methods can handle? An internet service provider, growing quickly in a fast-changing industry, with four contact centers and 700 internal agents, wanted to increase monitoring, improve customer service and keep quality levels up even as new companies were acquired and new customers were added. When agents were evaluated more frequently by an objective, third-party team, with comprehensive reports and daily feedback and coaching suggestions, the contact centers experienced improved quality scores and customers reported higher levels of satisfaction. The company discovered that with the right partner, it is possible to reinvest in the customer experience while simultaneously driving costs down – at any speed.
Frequent call quality monitoring is one of the best ways to improve any contact center – and help your customer service survive periods of change within the business.
Contact center managers know that performing evaluations of their contact center’s agents is an important way to gauge the center’s overall performance. Unfortunately, while most center managers agree on the importance of call monitoring, the average contact center evaluates far too few calls – an industry average of just five calls per every 1,000 calls per month, for each agent – at far too high a cost. In addition, call monitoring is rarely seen as a strategic business tool that can have an immediate and measurable impact on the bottom line.
A national provider of internet and telecom services realized the ROI associated with high performing contact centers so it contracted with Seattle-based HyperQuality, Inc., to conduct agent evaluations in its contact centers and to improve an internal quality system that needed a “shot in the arm.” In addition, the company had recently expanded its services and was simultaneously integrating an acquired company while rapidly expanding its presence in a relatively new field. The company’s customer service needed to keep up with the changes. HyperQuality delivered strong results and proof that with the right partner, any company can maintain stellar customer service, even in the face of changing business conditions.
Company background
This internet and telecom service provider owns a nationwide network covering more than 57 million homes and businesses, which represent over 50% of all United States homes and businesses.
The company’s operations include four customer contact environments for technical support, customer support, back-office service activation and diagnostics.
Approximately 700 agents handle about two million customer contacts per year. 80% of the customer contacts are via telephone calls, while other contacts take place via email or the Web. Most agents handle both calls and email contacts. The purpose of most calls is to establish service, follow-up on previous service orders, or to troubleshoot technical problems.
The challenge: maintain consistently excellent customer service for each and every call — but also drive double-digit growth every quarter in one division.
The internet and telecom service provider had several goals for improving its customer contact services.
First, the company wanted to maintain a consistent and unified customer experience across four potentially different environments. In fact, the company’s goal was to provide a “fantastic” customer experience and then repeat that experience for every call, every customer, every day.
The company also wanted to increase the number of calls evaluated overall, and establish monitoring for customer welcome calls and lengthy service design and set-up calls, which it did not have with its existing in-house monitoring system.
As the company grew, it was becoming more difficult to establish smooth standards among all its customer service areas. Some areas were rapidly improving, and others were experiencing little or no improvement. These challenges were unsettling as they were resulting in potential customer disconnects. The company’s management felt that a “shot in the arm” was needed to revitalize customer contact quality and bring all the company’s efforts into alignment.
Simultaneously, the company had recently acquired a competitor, presenting new service challenges, as well as new products. In addition, this new division is the primary growth area for the company with an average of 30%-40% growth per quarter, which in turn — placed quite a strain on a customer support center. Customer were complaining about its service activation process and the attendant customer service experience. Managers wanted to turn the situation around — fast.
After evaluating its options and considering the ROI of each, management decided a third-party would bring a fresh perspective to its customer contact evaluations, and eliminate any concerns about a “fox guarding the henhouse,” as could be the case when evaluations are handled internally.
Traditional in-house monitoring — up to the task?
Like many companies, the internet and telecom service provider’s monitoring and evaluation of phone calls were handled by its own internal teams, using QA tools and procedures developed by supervisors. However, the system was not ideal. First, with internal quality analysts evaluating an average of 3 calls per agent, per month, evaluations were too infrequent to meet the company’s goals: it would be impossible to increase that number without a massive (and expensive) increase in staff. In addition, the small number of evaluations created a statistically invalid sample size for evaluating center-wide or company-wide trends. Also, scores and comments were subjective, with little opportunity for calibration from supervisor to supervisor or from week to week. Finally, the schedule challenges and day-to-day reality of a busy contact center meant that supervisors’ availability — and thus, evaluations — were inconsistent. Add to this environment the company’s rapid business growth, and the challenges were multiplied even more.
This company typifies contact centers around the world. In most contact centers, quality monitoring and coaching is considered to be a “necessary evil.” It’s something that is mandated by others (upper management) and takes place – if at all – when time allows. In most contact centers, there is simply not enough staff to get the job done with any regularity, let alone multiply the number of evaluations significantly. And, of course, on any given day, if call volumes increase unexpectedly (as they often do), supervisors must abandon their monitoring to the back burner so they can jump on the phones and help handle calls. Often, supervisors run out of time and find themselves rushed to complete evaluations during the last few days of the month – certainly not the most accurate way to judge an agent’s – or a center’s – total quality. The transition from in-house to outsourced contact center also posed a whole new set of problems—and even more urgency.
Meeting the challenges required the perfect partner.
The company had two main options for tackling its call monitoring and evaluation challenge. First, the company could have continued its internal monitoring system, continuing to fall short of its goals — at continued great cost. The second option was to explore outsourcing their call centers’ quality monitoring, evaluation and quality analysis.
The most basic benefit of outsourcing call quality monitoring is simple: it gets done! Setting aside the cost savings (which can be substantial), simply increasing the number of evaluations will give you a much more accurate report of your call center’s performance.
From the typical contact center manager’s point of view, a number of companies offer so-called center monitoring, evaluation and/or improvement. In reality, most of these companies primarily provide recording solutions or surveys for agent performance. Monitoring is generally conducted randomly, with variable schedules from agent to agent, from contact center to call center, and from month to month. When feedback is given, scores are delivered via paper reports or email attachments, rather than a Web-based ASP-tool accessible from any location. Finally, these traditional call recording or monitoring companies tend to be heavily “consultative” in their approach. They can be expected to deliver a broad list of things to “fix,” but not at the agent-level. And, of course, rather than simply evaluating, the consultant’s ultimate goal is to sell its own solutions. When considering outsourcing options, it is vital that your partner be completely objective. This is the only way to get an accurate picture of your call center – and each and every agent’s – true performance. In addition, make sure your potential partner is truly focused on quality, rather than simply on “workforce management.” While many workforce management solutions will deliver some level of improvement in most contact center environments, to achieve truly substantive improvement that is long-term, that builds customer loyalty and that delivers a positive impact to your bottom line, your partner must focus on quality.
The internet and telecom service provider tests HyperQuality and sees results almost immediately.
The company contracted with HyperQuality to develop a custom monitoring and evaluation program, which ensured that internal quality standards were being met. In addition, HyperQuality and the company developed a program to focus on those things that delight the company’s customers, including three important attributes illustrated by the following agent statements:
| |
1. |
“I express, through the way I communicate, a willingness to help the customer.” |
| |
2. |
“I maintain a professional, friendly, polite tone and conduct with the customer.” |
| |
3. |
“I do not sound robotic or scripted.” |
| |
|
|
By focusing on these attributes, agents would refine and perfect their interactions with current as well as potential customers, and customers would continue to do business with the company.
HyperQuality’s custom-designed solution for this company was founded upon the proactive approach that is the hallmark of HyperQuality’s full-team service. Rather than a single solution or “magic bullet,” the HyperQuality team dedicated to the company worked hard (and continues to work hard) to stay ahead of the curve, spotting trends that managers were unable to see clearly. HyperQuality’s team members were able to locate gaps in service and question assumptions — from day to day, week to week and month to month. And as always, HyperQuality functioned from day one as an extension of the company business, with a dedicated Account Executive as a primary point of contact. This aspect of the HyperQuality philosophy has proved to be beneficial to the company — and most appreciated by management.
HyperQuality’s program was rolled out according to the following timeline:
Over the course of the initial program, HyperQuality conducted 600 evaluations in five months. Calls were monitored daily by HyperQuality staff, and the evaluations and scores were entered into HyperQuality's performance and workflow management SaaS solution. Supervisors — and later all of the agents — were able to log-in to HyperQuality's performance and workflow management SaaS solution at any time via any Web browser, to review agent evaluations, listen to recorded calls and create and review up-to-the-minute reports “on the fly.” These reports went well beyond merely compiling data or verifying compliance with a laundry list of requirements. Instead, the reports included useful direction and real advice for agent behavior that could deliver measurable improvements in customer care.
Supervisors logged-on to HyperQuality's performance and workflow management SaaS solution to view any of the following reports:
| |
|
- Periodic Report — Displays overall quality scores by agent and highlights opportunities for EvenBetter performance;
|
| |
|
Quality Score By Week — Weekly snapshot, showing the number of evaluations completed by agent, and the overall quality percentage achieved for all completed evaluations; |
| |
|
Stack Rank Summary — Shows agent results by quality percentage to compare individual agents’ performance within a category or among peers; |
| |
|
Performance By Threshold — Displays number of agents performing within each score threshold, emphasizing what percentage of agents need improvement; |
| |
|
Attribute Trending — Agent evaluations broken down to show strengths and weaknesses by attribute; |
| |
|
Comments Report —Displays all comments written, with selection available by attribute; |
| |
|
|
At first, some of the company’s managers were apprehensive as the tasks of call monitoring and evaluation were shifted to HyperQuality, a third party with seemingly less-than-complete knowledge about internet and telecom service. They weren’t sure how an outside company would be able to get up to speed, learn about their business and evaluate agents effectively. However, the managers were quickly impressed and soon realized the benefits of HyperQuality, with access to reports and tools they’d never had before (and faster than ever before). Since partnering with HyperQuality, managers and supervisors have said that they appreciate the frequent calibration of the program to ensure that everyone is “on the same page” and evaluations remain consistent. And once the managers saw how much time they gained, making them more available to coach agents directly and to work directly with customers, they became advocates for HyperQuality and helped spread the word throughout the company.
Results right away...delivered by HyperQuality.
The company’s initial program with HyperQuality yielded extremely positive results. With all the improved programs, new systems and outsourcing, one may think that costs increased, but in fact, the company’s quality monitoring and evaluation costs declined. The company had 20%-30% reduction in operating costs, while increasing the number of customers by 30% in the first year.
With HyperQuality, the company was able to increase the number of agent evaluations – by up to 400%. After just three months, HyperQuality was conducting an average of 12 evaluations per agent per month in queues with high customer impact. In addition, the company saw clear and immediate improvement on critical quality issues. Agents’ quality scores improved an average of 11%. The following charts illustrate the improvements in DRM, Welcome and FE types of customer calls:
   The company’s managers and supervisors appreciate knowing where they (and their contact centers and agents) stand almost instantly. Whereas in the past, managers received quality data at the end of the month, when it was stale and too late to affect change, with HyperQuality, managers have accurate, detailed and actionable data the very next day. The data provided by HyperQuality not only includes the program level reporting, as shown above, but also allows supervisors and managers to monitor specific attributes of the contacts. Managers and supervisors use these reports to highlight the areas in need of the most attention. The following charts show improvement in different attributes for each type of contact that is being monitored:
   Company supervisors and managers appreciate the clear and comprehensive HyperQuality's performance and workflow management SaaS solution reports which enable them to identify training needs and receive constructive feedback and suggestions every day. They feel this extremely powerful tool affects all groups and all levels within the company, allowing them to reinvest in the customer experience at every level.
The company uses HyperQuality in another aspect of its business — monitoring and scoring the performance of its network of “sales dealers,” who are part of the company’s distribution network and are responsible for customer installation, equipment sales and on-site customer support. HyperQuality monitors three-way installation and planning calls involving the company, the dealer and the customer, evaluating both the company agent and the dealer, to ensure the customer receives a flawless experience.
And, finally, the best result experienced by the company was in a clear and sustained improvement in customer satisfaction scores. For years, the company has conducted random post-call surveys, to find out how customers feel about their interactions with the company and the quality of service they received. In the surveys, the primary questions involve determining the customer’s likelihood to recommend the company to others in the future. Throughout their relationship with HyperQuality, the company has improved its percentage of satisfied customers from 79% to 85%.
For real success, use the power of contact center monitoring.
The internet and telecom service provider is a high-growth company in a fast-changing industry. Part of the company’s success lies in understanding the relationship between customer satisfaction – call after call, day after day – and the bottom line. Since the contact center is the primary touchpoint between the company and its customers, it goes without saying that improving the quality of the calls will improve the company’s relationship with customers, making them less likely to leave for a competitor. The company’s leadership agrees that partnering with HyperQuality was the best way to harness the power of call monitoring and ensure continued customer satisfaction as the company grows and changes at lightning speed.
 Download PDF
|
Back to Case Studies
