Availability in the contact center is the presence of an operator ready to take a call. It is a crime to create a contact center and at the same time avoid communication with your customers. And, nevertheless, many companies “pickle” their customers with tens of minutes of waiting in line, endless voice menus without the opportunity to get to the “live” operator.
The well-known telecommunications provider of Ukraine “sewed” in its model of operation the option of “no reach” to the contact center-IVR was made in such a way that even the most intelligent consumer could not “go” to the operator. Tangled branches, throwing from one branch of the menu to another, the absence in most branches of the button “connect to the operator”. Of course, in such a model, you can “save” on the salary of operators. Here only irritation of clients and loss of their money-a side effect of such “availability”.
By refusing to communicate with consumers, we lose the opportunity to learn their opinions and their weaknesses. If we need to reduce the cost of handling calls, we need to enable the consumer to solve their problems in a simpler way than a call or deprive them of problems at all. At the same time, the client should always be able to hear a “live” person. Quickly, while he has the desire to share the sore. Share with us, not Facebook, for example.
There is a common practice of Service Level-80/20 (80% of calls are accepted within the first 20 seconds). However, in reality, it is different for different kinds of projects. Waiting 15-30 seconds for an ice cream promotion is perfectly adequate. A long wait during an emergency call can cost a person’s life.
Therefore, there is a concept of “effective availability” – this is the operator, released a couple of seconds before the arrival of a new call – not earlier and not later. Because “before” is downtime and loss of financial efficiency, and “later” is lost calls and dissatisfied consumers.
Effective accessibility is not only the emotional perception of the consumer at the time of waiting for a call. It is also the balance of the load on the second participant of communication-the operator. After all, if we “adjust” the operator, they will burn out quickly enough and will hate the brand that represents, lose internal motivation, cease to enjoy the work. We will have to bear the cost of restoring the operator through training and additional team building. It is even more likely that he will leave the company and we will have to look for a new one. Now, to be honest, operators for reasonable money – the main deterrent to the development of contact centers.
In addition, the other extreme, when there are so many operators that they relax, look at the ceiling, shake the team and lead to fraud. As a result – low level of customer service and financial losses of business.
Another important point is how to measure efficiency? A long-known technique is to use weighted averages for the day, rather than their arithmetic mean. However, does it really show the true position of the day? Suppose the target value of SL is 80/20, and during the day, there were 24 time intervals for measurement (12 hours of operation with measurement every 30 minutes). In one time slot, SL was 75/20, in another 90/10, in the third 70/30. We suggest looking at the % of measurements during the day that were in the acceptable target range (for SL 80/20 the acceptable target range is from 75/25 to 90/15, for example, but this is set for business and for the project). In other words, it is important for the TOP Manager to look not at the SL figures themselves for the day, but at the fact that, for example, 80% of the intervals are within acceptable target values. This shows the big picture for the day and whether more resources were spent than needed and Vice versa.
Finally, one of the main questions is how to find a balance?
Availability management in the contact center is based on two wings-traffic forecasting and operator planning.
Forecasting is based on analysis of traffic and its causes in the past. We analyze retrospective data, look for patterns of spikes and load reduction in relation to different parameters-seasonality, time of day, weather, etc. Further, the forecast is adjusted taking into account the information received from the customer about marketing and other activities in the future.
Work planning is based on the balance of interests and life circumstances of completely different people. Session, kindergarten, vacation and other life circumstances affect the schedule of the operator. The working day will begin when it is convenient for everyone, and will last as long as it is convenient. At the same time, we take into account force majeure and the human factor. Operators have a flexible schedule, but they are responsible for the implementation of agreed plans.
Another way to “improve” accessibility is to force the operator to end the conversation, resulting in a mechanical, plastic voice. The call seems to be accepted, but the consumer does not feel real attention to himself or herself.
There is a stereotype that it is easier to fix information on paper, and then make a CRM-system, as it saves time. In fact, 60% of the information is lost, because after the conversation, not everything is recorded, and then not everything is transferred. After all, if the operator is in a hurry and wants to quickly get rid of the consumer, it is always felt. Our operator should want to communicate with the person, and the person should want to communicate with the operator. Then the desire to communicate with the operator is transferred to the desire to have a relationship with the brand. Moreover, if they wanted to get rid of him, he would notice.
And by the way, the same impression leaves a confusing audio-bot (IVR) of varying complexity and intricacy. 15 variants of branches with 8 variants inside each branch is an example from our reality… But objectively, the time during which a person walked on the “tree” and did not find an answer to his question is almost equal to waiting.
The best contact center is the one you do not need to call. Give the consumer the opportunity to solve their question through a chatbot, specifying information on the site, to pre-empt or solve the problem before there is a need for a call. But if there is already a question that the consumer cannot solve without a personal conversation, then he should have such an opportunity in a maximum of 20 seconds.