Guest Speaker: Chad McDaniel from Just Careers
Next Episode: February 3rd 10am PST/ 1pm EST
This episode's topic: Compensation strategies for agents and supervisors
Dear Community Members,
For this episode of CallTalk, Bruce Belfiore will be interviewing Chad McDaniel, an industry-leading call center employment expert, regarding Compensation Strategies for agents and supervisors. What should be in your compensation "mix"? How do you decide the levels of compensation and benefits that are right for your center? How do you justify increases to your finance department? Also, learn how you can use metrics and incentive pay to provide both higher compensation to your people and higher profits for your company - a wonderful win-win!
Bruce and Chad will speak from their experience and research, and will weave in the results of the One-Minute Survey on Compensation Strategies that was recently launched, so the data will be fresh and interesting.
As always, this show will be hosted by Bruce Belfiore, Senior Research Executive for the Center for Customer-Driven Quality (founded at Purdue University), and will be aired without the participation of vendors so that topics will be free from their influence and guided by the listeners.
Chad McDaniel combines a strategic vision of the company with over 17 years of direct marketing experience. Chad has held senior level call center operations and service delivery management positions for leading telecommunication, cable and wireless organizations. He has directed sales and marketing campaigns at international, national, regional and local markets and has spent the last six years working with customer care organizations in both the US and Canada in providing consulting solutions and executive recruiting for the ECRM, CRM and customer care organizations.
Broadcast bi-weekly directly over the Internet to your desktop, CallTalk covers informative and educational topics impacting the call center today.
Special offer- Each person that calls in will receive a free book covering call centers from Anton Press and 1 person will be randomly selected to receive a FREE In- depth RealityCheck ($1,500 Value)
Existing users:
• Just login on Wednesday at 1 pm ET/ Noon CT/ 11 am MT/ and 10 am PT
• Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
New users to BenchmarkPortal or CallTalk.TV can register here:
• Use the link provided or go to www.calltalk.tv to register
• You will get a username and password
• Use this to login on Wednesday at 1 pm ET/ Noon CT/ 11 am MT/ and 10 am PT
• Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
During the call we invite you to ask questions via email at calltalk@benchmarkportal.com or call in your questions at (347) 857-3117
It is that easy! See you on Wednesday!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
CallTalk.TV Online Radio Show Discussing Abandon Rate w/ Mike Mastro of Primas
CallTalk.tv
Guest Speaker: Mike Mastro, President of Primas
Date: 1 pm ET/ 10 am PT January 6, 2010
This episode's topic: Reducing Abandon Rate: Where to start, what to do.
Dear Community Members,
For this episode of CallTalk, Bruce Belfiore will be interviewing Mike Mastro regarding the important abandon rate metric.
Bruce and Mike will weave in the results of BenchmarkPortal's new One-Minute Survey on abandon rates, so the data will be fresh and interesting.
As always, this show will be hosted by Bruce Belfiore, Senior Research Executive for the Center for Customer-Driven Quality (founded at Purdue University), and will be aired without the participation of vendors so that topics will be free from their influence and guided by the listeners.
Mike Mastro, president and founder of The Primas Group, began his career as an R&D engineer who helped develop new technologies for call centers, including integration of Voice and Data in a PBX and development of CTI. In his current position, Mike has continued to focus on innovative solutions for call centers, including ways to reduce abandon rates.
Broadcast bi-weekly directly over the Internet to your desktop, CallTalk covers informative and educational topics impacting the call center today.
Existing Users:
Just login on Wednesday at 1 pm EST/ 10 am PST
Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
New user's to BenchmarkPortal or CallTalk.tv can register here:
Use the link provided or go to www.calltalk.tv to register
You will get a username and password
Use this to login on Wednesday at 1 pm EST/ noon CST/ and 10 am PST
Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
During the call we invite you to ask questions via email at calltalk@benchmarkportal.com or call in your questions at (347) 857-3117
It is that easy! See you on Wednesday!
For more information and to register please visit: www.calltalk.tv
Guest Speaker: Mike Mastro, President of Primas
Date: 1 pm ET/ 10 am PT January 6, 2010
This episode's topic: Reducing Abandon Rate: Where to start, what to do.
Dear Community Members,
For this episode of CallTalk, Bruce Belfiore will be interviewing Mike Mastro regarding the important abandon rate metric.
Bruce and Mike will weave in the results of BenchmarkPortal's new One-Minute Survey on abandon rates, so the data will be fresh and interesting.
As always, this show will be hosted by Bruce Belfiore, Senior Research Executive for the Center for Customer-Driven Quality (founded at Purdue University), and will be aired without the participation of vendors so that topics will be free from their influence and guided by the listeners.
Mike Mastro, president and founder of The Primas Group, began his career as an R&D engineer who helped develop new technologies for call centers, including integration of Voice and Data in a PBX and development of CTI. In his current position, Mike has continued to focus on innovative solutions for call centers, including ways to reduce abandon rates.
Broadcast bi-weekly directly over the Internet to your desktop, CallTalk covers informative and educational topics impacting the call center today.
Existing Users:
Just login on Wednesday at 1 pm EST/ 10 am PST
Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
New user's to BenchmarkPortal or CallTalk.tv can register here:
Use the link provided or go to www.calltalk.tv to register
You will get a username and password
Use this to login on Wednesday at 1 pm EST/ noon CST/ and 10 am PST
Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
During the call we invite you to ask questions via email at calltalk@benchmarkportal.com or call in your questions at (347) 857-3117
It is that easy! See you on Wednesday!
For more information and to register please visit: www.calltalk.tv
Monday, January 4, 2010
Blue Ocean Contact Centers Rated as Excellent
Blue Ocean Contact Centers Rated as Excellent
Blue Ocean Contact Centers has been certified as a Center of Excellence by the Center for Customer Driven Quality at Purdue University and BenchmarkPortal.
A database of best practice standards for customer service contact centers is maintained by BenchmarkPortal on behalf of the Center at Purdue. Only 10% of applicants are certified as a “Center of Excellence.”
To be recognized, Blue Ocean passed an on-site audit by representatives from the Customer Driven Quality Center. Measurements include customer satisfaction, efficiency of operations, service level standards, process management and employee training. In addition to interviews with management and a review of data, the assessment includes focus groups with employees and on-site observation. The audit was led by J.R. Hardenburgh, a Certified Call Center Auditor, based in Boston.
“Blue Ocean is an extremely impressive organization, “Mr. Hardenburgh said. “This was my first visit to Halifax and I was very impressed to find a responsive, leading-edge contact center outsourcer here,“ he stated. “Blue Ocean has a state of the art technology program, well defined processes and an exceptional leadership and employee team.”
“I can say with confidence that Blue Ocean is operating on par with the top 10% of all contact centers in the industry, “Mr. Hardenburgh pointed out.
Elizabeth Currie, Blue Ocean’s Chief Operating Officer, credited the entire Blue Ocean team with this recognition. “The people in this organization are exceptional. Their focus on customers and quality is key, not only for this recognition but in the success of our business,” she said. “It’s great to have an organization like the Center for Customer Driven Quality at Purdue, who have worked with leading organizations around the world, to recognize what we are doing here every day.”
Over 80% of Blue Ocean’s business comes from organizations outside Atlantic Canada, including almost 50% from the United States. Recognition from organizations such as the Center at Purdue adds credibility and impact to the Blue Ocean story and particularly to potential clients who may not know the company.
Headquartered in Halifax, Blue Ocean is a member of CCL Group. The company provides premium inbound customer support and customer service for some of North America’s leading organizations.
About BenchmarkPortal
BenchmarkPortal is the custodian of the Center Customer-Driven Quality at Purdue University’s database of contact center metrics, the largest in the world. Founded in 1995 by Dr. Jon Anton, it provides reports, products and services for contact centers in the areas of operational metrics, customer satisfaction measurement and agent satisfaction measurement. BenchmarkPortal’s Web site can be found at: http://www.benchmarkportal.com
For information contact:
BenchmarkPortal
Purdue Research Park
3000 Kent Avenue
West Lafayette, IN 47906
805.465.7201 ext. 1
Andrew O’Brien
SVP Business Development
Blue Ocean Contact Centers
Phone – 902-722-3294
Blue Ocean Contact Centers has been certified as a Center of Excellence by the Center for Customer Driven Quality at Purdue University and BenchmarkPortal.
A database of best practice standards for customer service contact centers is maintained by BenchmarkPortal on behalf of the Center at Purdue. Only 10% of applicants are certified as a “Center of Excellence.”
To be recognized, Blue Ocean passed an on-site audit by representatives from the Customer Driven Quality Center. Measurements include customer satisfaction, efficiency of operations, service level standards, process management and employee training. In addition to interviews with management and a review of data, the assessment includes focus groups with employees and on-site observation. The audit was led by J.R. Hardenburgh, a Certified Call Center Auditor, based in Boston.
“Blue Ocean is an extremely impressive organization, “Mr. Hardenburgh said. “This was my first visit to Halifax and I was very impressed to find a responsive, leading-edge contact center outsourcer here,“ he stated. “Blue Ocean has a state of the art technology program, well defined processes and an exceptional leadership and employee team.”
“I can say with confidence that Blue Ocean is operating on par with the top 10% of all contact centers in the industry, “Mr. Hardenburgh pointed out.
Elizabeth Currie, Blue Ocean’s Chief Operating Officer, credited the entire Blue Ocean team with this recognition. “The people in this organization are exceptional. Their focus on customers and quality is key, not only for this recognition but in the success of our business,” she said. “It’s great to have an organization like the Center for Customer Driven Quality at Purdue, who have worked with leading organizations around the world, to recognize what we are doing here every day.”
Over 80% of Blue Ocean’s business comes from organizations outside Atlantic Canada, including almost 50% from the United States. Recognition from organizations such as the Center at Purdue adds credibility and impact to the Blue Ocean story and particularly to potential clients who may not know the company.
Headquartered in Halifax, Blue Ocean is a member of CCL Group. The company provides premium inbound customer support and customer service for some of North America’s leading organizations.
About BenchmarkPortal
BenchmarkPortal is the custodian of the Center Customer-Driven Quality at Purdue University’s database of contact center metrics, the largest in the world. Founded in 1995 by Dr. Jon Anton, it provides reports, products and services for contact centers in the areas of operational metrics, customer satisfaction measurement and agent satisfaction measurement. BenchmarkPortal’s Web site can be found at: http://www.benchmarkportal.com
For information contact:
BenchmarkPortal
Purdue Research Park
3000 Kent Avenue
West Lafayette, IN 47906
805.465.7201 ext. 1
Andrew O’Brien
SVP Business Development
Blue Ocean Contact Centers
Phone – 902-722-3294
Blue Ocean Contact Centers has been certified as a Center of Excellence by the Center for Customer Driven Quality at Purdue University and BenchmarkPortal.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Recap of CallTalk.TV OnLine Radio Show with Adam Cincoski of Optum Health discussing Service Level/ASA
Our October 28th episode of CallTalk focused on what I call the "grand daddies" of call center performance metrics: Service Level and Average Speed of Answer, or ASA. With my guest, Adam Cincoski, we explored whether the traditional emphasis is still relevant. We drew on fresh research data from a large number of respondents that showed the following high level information:
- 95.2% of all call centers track Service Level or ASA
- 73.6% of call center managers said that ASA is one of the criteria on which they are judged; in fact 10.5% said they "live and die" by their Service Level ASA metrics.
- 78.3% of all managers reported that they normally achieve their ASA targets.
So it is clear that the importance of the metric lives on, and is a major KPI (Key Performance Indicator) weighing on the minds of most managers. How the ASA is determined, however, seems to be evolving.
"In the beginning, there was Service Level, and the best practice Service Level was 80% of calls answered within 20 seconds".
Still today, over 20% of call centers report that the original 80/20 rule rules them!
However, the nuance in determining the appropriate service level for one's own industry sector and enterprise is getting greater and, it appears, more customer-driven:
- Almost 12% of respondents indicated that they do statistical analyses against customer satisfaction, meaning that they calibrate their target ASA levels according to customer feedback. This would cause them to have more stringent Service Level if that were required to keep satisfaction high, or conversely, allow them to relax Service Level (and save money!) if feedback showed that customers did not mind waiting a few extra rings, other things being equal.
- Over 12% of respondents indicated that they do statistical analyses against abandon rates. This allows them to test their callers' patience by stretching ASA, as long as their callers stay with them. Again, this would allow them to potentially save money. Naturally, the analysis should include call value, since abandons may cancel the opportunities for real revenues. In fact, it should be noted that almost 7% of companies provide faster-than-normal response times for strategic and economic reasons. These are centers who have determined that the staffing costs that accompany aggressive ASA's pay for themselves in real financial returns.
- Over 9% benchmark against industry peers to determine a competitive ASA.
What this tells us is that a notable minority of today's call centers are not just accepting the dictums of the past. They are seeking to optimize this KPI in the context of other metrics (caller satisfaction, abandon, average call value, etc.) so as to balance the costs and benefits of their Service Level.
Naturally, there are also many managers who would like to be more analytical and optimal in determining ASA, but are simply working hard to keep up with the calls they receive using the agents they are given. In fact, 16% said that their service level is mainly the result of their budget and staffing, rather than a strategic choice.
Overall, however, it appears that this most venerable of metrics is being put under the microscope and is being placed in context of other KPIs, rather than on a solitary throne to rule by itself. For our part we encourage this as a best practice approach to managing Service Level/ASA.
- 95.2% of all call centers track Service Level or ASA
- 73.6% of call center managers said that ASA is one of the criteria on which they are judged; in fact 10.5% said they "live and die" by their Service Level ASA metrics.
- 78.3% of all managers reported that they normally achieve their ASA targets.
So it is clear that the importance of the metric lives on, and is a major KPI (Key Performance Indicator) weighing on the minds of most managers. How the ASA is determined, however, seems to be evolving.
"In the beginning, there was Service Level, and the best practice Service Level was 80% of calls answered within 20 seconds".
Still today, over 20% of call centers report that the original 80/20 rule rules them!
However, the nuance in determining the appropriate service level for one's own industry sector and enterprise is getting greater and, it appears, more customer-driven:
- Almost 12% of respondents indicated that they do statistical analyses against customer satisfaction, meaning that they calibrate their target ASA levels according to customer feedback. This would cause them to have more stringent Service Level if that were required to keep satisfaction high, or conversely, allow them to relax Service Level (and save money!) if feedback showed that customers did not mind waiting a few extra rings, other things being equal.
- Over 12% of respondents indicated that they do statistical analyses against abandon rates. This allows them to test their callers' patience by stretching ASA, as long as their callers stay with them. Again, this would allow them to potentially save money. Naturally, the analysis should include call value, since abandons may cancel the opportunities for real revenues. In fact, it should be noted that almost 7% of companies provide faster-than-normal response times for strategic and economic reasons. These are centers who have determined that the staffing costs that accompany aggressive ASA's pay for themselves in real financial returns.
- Over 9% benchmark against industry peers to determine a competitive ASA.
What this tells us is that a notable minority of today's call centers are not just accepting the dictums of the past. They are seeking to optimize this KPI in the context of other metrics (caller satisfaction, abandon, average call value, etc.) so as to balance the costs and benefits of their Service Level.
Naturally, there are also many managers who would like to be more analytical and optimal in determining ASA, but are simply working hard to keep up with the calls they receive using the agents they are given. In fact, 16% said that their service level is mainly the result of their budget and staffing, rather than a strategic choice.
Overall, however, it appears that this most venerable of metrics is being put under the microscope and is being placed in context of other KPIs, rather than on a solitary throne to rule by itself. For our part we encourage this as a best practice approach to managing Service Level/ASA.
CallTalk.TV Online Radio Show and The Importance of Email Metrics
*Guest Speaker: John Chatterley, Industry Expert
This episodes topic:
Unlocking the mysteries of e-mail metrics: what are best practices standards
Dear Community Members,
For this episode of CallTalk, Bruce Belfiore will be interviewing John Chatterley regarding e-mail metrics. We will ask the questions:
- What email metrics should you be following?
- What are current averages for these metrics?
- What are best practices for these metrics?
- How can I benchmark myself against my industry for these metrics?
Bruce and John will weave in the results of the One-Minute Survey on email practices that BenchmarkPortal launched last week, so the data will be fresh and interesting.
As always, this show will be hosted by Bruce Belfiore, Senior Research Executive for the Center for Customer-Driven Quality (founded at Purdue University), and will be aired without the participation of vendors so that topics will be free from their influence and guided by the listeners.
John Chatterley is known to many of you as the author of numerous research papers, benchmarking reports and books, including Offshore Outsourcing Opportunities with Dr. Jon Anton. With over 25 years experience in contact center operations and research, John has evaluated email centers for BenchmarkPortal and is able to discuss email traffic in the overall context of contact center operations.
Broadcast bi-weekly directly over the Internet to your desktop, CallTalk covers informative and educational topics impacting the call center today.
Special offer- Each person that calls in will receive a free call center book from Anton Press and 1 person will be randomly selected to receive a FREE In Depth Reality Check ($1,500 Value). The winner will be announced at the end of the show.
To join us for this week's show, Wednesday, November 11:
Existing Users:
Just login on Wednesday at 1 pm EST/ 10 am PST
Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
New user's to BenchmarkPortal or CallTalk.tv can register here:
Use the link provided or go to www.calltalk.tv to register
You will get a username and password
Use this to login on Wednesday at 1 pm EST/ noon CST/ and 10 am PST
Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
During the call we invite you to ask questions via email at calltalk@benchmarkportal.com or call in your questions at (347) 857-3117
It is that easy! See you on Wednesday!
For more information and to register please visit: www.calltalk.tv
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
CallTalk.TV OnLine Radio Show with Adam Cincoski of Optum Health discussing Service Level/ASA
Dear Community Members,
*Guest Speaker: Adam Cincoski of Optum Health
Join Bruce Belfiore, host of CallTalk for a session devoted to the grand daddy of all metrics: Service Level / ASA. We will ask the questions:
Join Bruce Belfiore, host of CallTalk for a session devoted to the grand daddy of all metrics: Service Level / ASA. We will ask the questions:
- Does the old 80/20 rule still rule? (80% of calls in 20 seconds)
- If not, how should we set our ASA target?
- How does industry sector affect service levels?
- What other metrics should we consider when looking at ASA (e.g. abandon and caller satisfaction)?
One Minute Survey (OMS) on: Average Speed of Answer - or Service Level, which is the oldest and most venerable of metrics for call center managers.
This One-Minute survey seeks to find out how today's call center manager views Average Speed of Answer (ASA). Bruce and Adam will review the results of the new One-Minute Survey on ASA
Click below, take the survey, and you will receive the results within 10 days.
This One-Minute survey seeks to find out how today's call center manager views Average Speed of Answer (ASA). Bruce and Adam will review the results of the new One-Minute Survey on ASA
Click below, take the survey, and you will receive the results within 10 days.
As always, this show will be hosted by Bruce Belfiore, Senior Research Executive for the Center for Customer-Driven Quality (founded at Purdue University), and will be aired without the participation of vendors so that topics will be free from their influence and guided by the listeners.
Broadcast bi-weekly directly over the Internet to your desktop, CallTalk covers informative and educational topics impacting the call center today.
Special offer- Each person that calls in will receive a free call center book from Anton Press and 1 person will be randomly selected to receive a FREE In-depth Realitycheck ($1,500 Value). The winner will be announced at the end of the show.
To join us for this week's show October 28th: Service Level: Does the old 80/20 (80% of calls handled in 20 seconds) still apply to everyone?
Existing Users:
Just login on Wednesday at 1 pm EST/ 10 am PST
Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
New users to BenchmarkPortal or CallTalk.tv can register here:
During the call we invite you to ask questions via email at calltalk@benchmarkportal.com or call in your questions at (347) 857-3117 New users to BenchmarkPortal or CallTalk.tv can register here:
Use the link provided or go to www.calltalk.tv to register
You will get a username and password
Use this to login on Wednesday at 1 pm EST/ noon CST/ and 10 am PST
Listen to the radio show and email or call in your questions
For more information and to register please visit: www.calltalk.tv
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