"Aligned Yellow Bricks" author, Bob Woodward, cites a model flaw in Customer Service Call Centers. Where are the Customers? (CIO Magazine - July 24, 2005)
Call Centers Posted: JUL 26, 2005 02:30:59 PM
When incoming call centers were first adopted by large business organizations, they were typically set up as high-volume transaction-based cost centers. Their goal was to efficiently, expediently, and in a cost effective manner, act as a central repository and point of contact for customer inquiries, complaints and/or concerns.
Incoming call centers were typically cost centers, deriving little to no revenue from sales. In support of their mandate to keep costs low, call center employees followed highly scripted logical decision-tree cards to satisfy the bulk of the most common customer inquiries and requests, and keep talk times short. This process was both time-efficient for the customer and cost effective for the host company. Both call center managers, and their employees, were encouraged and motivated to keep costs to a minimum.
The productivity model:
Took a repeatable process,
Centralized, standardized and controlled it, and
Made it efficient through transactional-based operations and metrics.
This model had all the makings of an efficient system, except one. The customer was not considered as a central factor in goal fulfillment.
One of the first companies to identify the model flaw and rework the centralized incoming call center methodology to its aligned strategic advantage was USAA. USAA is a worldwide insurance and diversified financial service association, which has been publicly recognized for its long-term commitment to customer service. They used each customer contact as one more opportunity to reinforce that commitment.
One of the most obvious differences in the USAA model was their approach to the front-line interface position itself: the call taker. They believed that these front-line employees should be a highly polished group of professionals who became the primary ambassadors for its suite of offerings and services.
Persons applying for positions in the call center were extensively screened college graduates and thoroughly educated in USAA product offerings before ever being allowed on the phones. They were encouraged to spend as much time as needed to completely answer all customer questions and, in addition, trained to offer suggestions and advice on how other USAA products could be incorporated into a customer’s portfolio.
USAA’s call taking program became a successful differentiator within a highly competitive industry. These efforts paid handsome dividends in the form of soaring customer satisfaction scores and an extremely loyal customer base.
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