2012 Year in Review by Bruce Belfiore, CEO, BenchmarkPortal

One of the key words for 2012 was "multi." There was a noticeable increase in interest in multi-channel benchmarking, to which we are responding with an expanded survey, due out shortly. 

We also saw a desire to take a multi-year approach to contact center performance measurement, as we signed a record number of agreements that last up to four years. Multi-country, multi-cultural and multi-lingual call center challenges have also taken increasing amounts of our attention. 

There is an emerging multi-level approach to training of personnel. Managers are seeing an advantage in having complementary best practices baked into courseware for call center leadership, supervisors and agents. That way they know their people are not just learning good skills, they are acquiring a cohesive culture that favors continuous improvement - - top to bottom. 

We also saw increasing numbers of centers striving for and achieving certification as Centers of Excellence. Partly as a result of this, our Call Center Campus event in Las Vegas attracted a record number of people and included inspiring presentations and a lot of sharing among the participants. 

For 2013 we expect the "multi" phenomenon to grow significantly, and social media will start to increase its mindshare in the "multi-channel" category. 

In addition, people will be less inclined toward the "once and done" approach to assessment and improvement anymore. They want ongoing information and tracking to help them manage; they crave a supportive community to which they can turn for advice and assistance. Every manager and every management team can use a sounding board to bounce off ideas and seek solutions. We are creating a community membership program for 2013 to respond to this need. 

A corollary of this is a move toward making benchmarking (and the improvement processes that go with it) into a management tool, instead of just a once-a-year report card. Automated benchmarking, which is provided by our new iBenchmark product, will allow managers to track their progress against their industry on a monthly basis, providing the feedback needed to stay on top of things, and not be taken by surprise at the end of the year. 

We wish everyone in our industry a wonderful 2013. We have no illusions about the financial challenges that face us all, but remain convinced that a strong customer contact function is the best defense in tough economic times. Also, experience shows that communication, peer sharing and trying new best practices are the ingredients that help make our sector exciting and fun. Happy New Year! 

Bruce Belfiore
CEO, BenchmarkPortal
BruceBelfiore@BenchmarkPortal.com

MAXIMUS Georgia Childcare and Parent Services Contact Center Achieves Second Certification as a BenchmarkPortal Center of Excellence

MAXIMUS Georgia Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) Contact Center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’s operational metrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key data from the contact center applying for certification.

Factors (called key performance indicators) such as first call resolution, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and utilization of human resources are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center being studied compares to other centers in the same industry, and if the performance of the contact center is superior. Customer satisfaction is the goal, balanced by financial metrics which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer service within a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "A great contact center operation reflects its management's passion for balancing the demands of high quality and low costs. MAXIMUS Georgia CAPS operations has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that MAXIMUS is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate MAXIMUS on a job well done.”

“Benchmarking delivers a crackerjack profile of a contact center’s operations that can inspire management to move forward aggressively, even in a less-than-robust economy,” added Belfiore, who has been with the company since 2000.

About BenchmarkPortal 
BenchmarkPortal’s founders pioneered the first contact center benchmarking study in 1995. Now custodian of the largest database of contact center metrics in the world, BenchmarkPortal is a leader in certification, training, consulting and research for the customer contact industry. Its team of professionals has gained international recognition for expertise and innovation in best practices. BenchmarkPortal’s mission is to help management optimize the performance of their center in terms of both cost and quality, encourage customer loyalty and build enterprise value. For more information on BenchmarkPortal, call 1-800-214-8929 or visithttp://www.BenchmarkPortal.com.

About MAXIMUS MAXIMUS is a leading operator of government health and human services programs in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia. The Company delivers business process services to improve the cost effectiveness, efficiency and quality of government-sponsored benefit programs, such as Medicaid, Medicare, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Health Insurance BC (British Columbia), as well as welfare-to-work and child support programs around the globe. The Company's primary customer base includes federal, provincial, state, county and municipal governments. Operating under its founding mission of Helping Government Serve the People®, MAXIMUS has approximately 8,800 employees worldwide. For more information, visithttp://www.maximus.com.

GE Capital Fleet Services’ U.S. Maintenance Control Center Achieves Its Second Certification as a Center of Excellence

The GE Capital Fleet Services’ U.S. maintenance control center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’s operational metrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key data from the contact center applying for certification.

Factors (called key performance indicators) such as first call resolution, cost per call, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and utilization of human resources are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center being studied compares to other centers in the same industry, and if the performance of the contact center is superior. Customer satisfaction, which relates to customer loyalty and business growth, is the goal, balanced by financial metrics which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer service within a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "A great contact center operation reflects its management's passion for balancing the demands of high quality and low costs. GE Capital Fleet Services has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that GE Capital Fleet Services is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate GE Capital Fleet Services on a job well done.”

“Benchmarking delivers a crackerjack profile of a contact center’s operations that can inspire management to move forward aggressively, even in a less-than-robust economy,” added Belfiore, who has been with the company since 2000.

Survey Underway on Call Center Travel and Hospitality Reservations

Over the next two weeks, call centers will have the opportunity to participate in a study about travel and hospitality reservations. BenchmarkPortal invites you to complete this short questionnaire on reservations metrics, methodologies and strategies. Don't miss this opportunity to gain competitive market intelligence that is not available anywhere else.

Online surveys conducted by BenchmarkPortal began on Nov. 28 and are available for anyone to complete at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1084912/Hospitality-Travel-Reservation-Survey-November-2012.

"This survey is intended for the travel and hospitality industry only," said Crystal Kay, BenchmarkPortal's marketing director. "Please complete the survey and forward the survey link to other appropriate contact centers. Participation in the survey will take no more than 10 minutes and is confidential. Participants will receive the results of this survey and a complimentary call center e-book of your choice via e-mail, at no cost, within 10 business days of the survey’s close."

The survey will be completed by Dec. 7, at which time BenchmarkPortal will compile and report the results within 2 weeks.

Click the following link to access the Travel and Hospitality Reservations Survey

Canon U.S.A’s Contact Center Achieves Its Fourth Certification as a Center of Excellence

December 4, 2012 - BenchmarkPortal recognizes the exceptional efficiency and effectiveness of the Canon U.S.A. Contact Center by awarding it Certification as a Center of Excellence for the fourth year in a row. The granting of certification is based on a company’s operational metrics, customer satisfaction and agent satisfaction.

The Canon Systems and Technical Support Division call center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”    

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’soperationalmetrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key data from the contact center applying for certification.

Factors (called key performance indicators) such as first call resolution, cost per call, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and utilization of human resources are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center being studied compares to other centers in the same industry, and if the performance of the contact center is superior. Customer satisfaction, which relates to customer loyalty and business growth, is the goal, balanced by financial metrics which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer service within a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "This certification attests to the fact that call center leaders have successfully balanced efficiency and effectiveness in their operations. By optimizing their cost components and their ability to satisfy customers, they exemplify best practices in a very important consumer products sector. Canon has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that Canon is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate Canon on a job well done.”

About BenchmarkPortal
BenchmarkPortal’s founders pioneered the first contact center benchmarking study in 1995. Now custodian of the largest database of contact center metrics in the world, BenchmarkPortal is a leader in certification, training, consulting and research for the customer contact industry. Its team of professionals has gained international recognition for expertise and innovation in best practices. BenchmarkPortal’s mission is to help management optimize the performance of their center in terms of both cost and quality, encourage customer loyalty and build enterprise value. For more information on BenchmarkPortal, call 1-800-214-8929 or visithttp://www.BenchmarkPortal.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. With approximately $45.6 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. ranks third overall in U.S. patents registered in 2011† and is one of Fortune Magazine's World’s Most Admired Companies in 2012. In 2012, Canon U.S.A. has received the PCMag.com Readers’ Choice Award for Service and Reliability in the digital camera and printer categories for the ninth consecutive year, and for camcorders for the past two years. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting http://www.usa.canon.com/rss.

Management Certification in Orlando, FL, January 22-24, 2013

The first management certification workshop of the New Year is taking place in Orlando, FL at the Embassy Suites on International Drive. The Management Certification workshop is composed of ten information-rich modules that include lecture, discussion and learning activity case studies that focus on practical problem solving and current best practices.

BenchmarkPortal offers one of the most highly regarded Call Center Training Certification programs in the country. Our program is led by the industry's top-rated instructors, with over 150 years' combined experience.

Location:
Orlando, FL at the Embassy Suites on International Drive | View Map

Hours:

8:00am - Lunch Provided
Tues. Jan. 22: 8:00am - 5pm
Wed. Jan. 23:  8:00am - 5pm
Thur. Jan. 24:  8:00am - 5pm
(Breakfast provided with lodging at hotel)

Price: $1995.00
Includes 3-day workshop, lunch and snacks, course handbook, certificate of completion and a call center benchmarking survey/report with a follow-up web-ex style presentation of your benchmarking results.

Discounts:

$200 Discount to attend the Orlando, FL workshop

Promo Code: EARLY200FL | Expires 12/21/12

Who Should Attend
Call Center Management,
C-Suite Executives, Vice Presidents and Directors. These courses will help you better manage your call center and strengthen relationships with other departments (for example: Marketing, MIS and telecommunications).

Topics Covered
Organizational Leadership
Human Resources
Quality Monitoring & Coaching
Customer Satisfaction
WFM Forecasting & Scheduling
Call Center Technologies
Tech-Enabled Processes
Knowledge Management
Benchmarking
Self-Service Analytics & Reporting

Sauder’s Customer Support Contact Center Achieves Its Eighth Certification as a Center of Excellence

The Sauder Woodworking Co., customer support contact center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’soperationalmetrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key data from the contact center applying for certification.

Factors (called key performance indicators) such as first call resolution, cost per call, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and utilization of human resources are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center being studied compares to other centers in the same industry, and if the performance of the contact center is superior. Customer satisfaction, which relates to customer loyalty and business growth, is the goal, balanced by financial metrics which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer servicewithin a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "A great contact center operation reflects its management's passion for balancing the demands of high quality and low costs. Sauder Woodworking Co. has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that Sauder is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate Sauder on a job well done.”

“Benchmarking delivers a crackerjack profile of a contact center’s operations that can inspire management to move forward aggressively, even in a less-than-robust economy,” added Belfiore, who has been with the company since 2000.


About BenchmarkPortal
BenchmarkPortal’s founders pioneered the first contact center benchmarking study in 1995. Now custodian of the largest database of contact center metrics in the world, BenchmarkPortal is a leader in certification, training, consulting and research for the customer contact industry. Its team of professionals has gained international recognition for expertise and innovation in best practices. BenchmarkPortal’s mission is to help management optimize the performance of their center in terms of both cost and quality, encourage customer loyalty and build enterprise value. For more information on BenchmarkPortal, call 1-800-214-8929 or visithttp://www.BenchmarkPortal.com.

About Sauder Woodworking Co.
Headquartered in Archbold, Ohio, Sauder Woodworking Co. is North America’s leading producer of ready-to-assemble furniture and the nation’s fifth largest residential furniture manufacturer. Sauder also sources furniture from a network of quality global partners, including a line of office chairs. Sauder Woodworking Co. is a privately-held, third generation, family-run business. Subsidiaries include: Progressive Furniture Inc., a designer and importer of wood bedroom, dining and accent furniture; and Sauder Manufacturing Company, a leader in church, educational, and health care seating. For additional information about Sauder, visit the web site athttp://www.sauder.com.

Birch Communications Contact Center Achieves Certification as a Center of Excellence

The Birch Customer Service Department has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”    

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’soperationalmetrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key data from the contact center applying for certification.

Factors (called key performance indicators) such asfirst call resolution, cost per call, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and utilization of human resources are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center being studied compares to other centers in the same industry, and if the performance of the contact center is superior. Customer satisfaction, which relates to customer loyalty and business growth, is the goal, balanced by financial metrics which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer service within a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "A great contact center operation reflects its management's passion for balancing the demands of high quality and low costs. Birch Communications has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that Birch is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate Birch on a job well done.”

“Benchmarking delivers a crackerjack profile of a contact center’s operations that can inspire management to move forward aggressively, even in a less-than-robust economy,” added Belfiore, who has been with the company since 2000.

Proctor Financial, Inc. Call Center Achieves Its Second Certification as a Center of Excellence

The Proctor Financial, Inc. customer contact center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’s operational metrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key data from the contact center applying for certification.

Factors (called key performance indicators) such as first call resolution, cost per call, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and utilization of human resources are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center being studied compares to other centers in the same industry, and if the performance of the contact center is superior. Customer satisfaction, which relates to customer loyalty and business growth, is the goal, balanced by financial metrics which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer service within a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "A great contact center operation reflects its management's passion for balancing the demands of high quality and low costs. Proctor Financial, Inc. has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that Proctor Financial, Inc. is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate Proctor Financial, Inc. on a job well done.”

“Benchmarking delivers a crackerjack profile of a contact center’s operations that can inspire management to move forward aggressively, even in a less-than-robust economy,” added Belfiore, who has been with the company since 2000.

New Show on CallTalk Discussing Transitioning Customer Service Teams For Success With Generation Y

BenchmarkPortal will air a new online radio show on CallTalk, discussing transitioning customer service teams for success with Generation Y. Your company can have a more engaged workforce, decrease your attrition, increased customer satisfaction and experience some profound financial impacts to the organization by placing a much stronger focus on redefining what development and growth means for Generation Y. Kevin will discuss four critical pillars to consider to keep their attention and engagement.

The host for this show is Bruce Belfiore, CEO at BenchmarkPortal. Bruce hosts the monthly online radio show "CallTalk", which discusses hot-button issues with industry experts and interacts with a large audience of call center managers. Bruce is also Chancellor of the College of Call Center Excellence, which provides certificated courses to call center professionals. He has also taught the course "Call Center Management" at Purdue University. He is the author of the book Benchmarking At Its Best for Contact Centers, a manual for best practices benchmarking, and has written numerous research papers and best practices studies focused on contact center topics. He is a consultant to call centers in a wide variety of industries seeking to improve their results, and is noted for helping to calculate the financial impact of proposed changes.

The guest speaker is Kevin Childs, Senior Partner with OneSource Consulting. Mr. Childs co-authored the book Interpreting the Voice of the Customer, with Dr. Jon Anton, of Purdue University. With career experience built on human capital/staffing and on-demand/Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and workforce optimization industries, he has held numerous executive leadership positions that have influenced the Contact Center, Customer Service and Help Desk Industry.

The free online radio show will air Wednesday, October 17th, 2012, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. Click here to listen to CallTalk, (http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/calltalk-online-radio-show.)

Next CallTalk Show: How Training Can Set The Atmosphere in a Contact Center

 

How Training Can Set The Atmosphere in a Contact Center

Join host Bruce Belfiore with Fidel Ligsay, VP of Call Center Operations, and Ezra Easley, Director of Call Center Operations, Health Net Federal Services, as they discuss best practices in contact center training. Health Net Federal Customer Service Representatives are always thirsting for more knowledge, whether it's regarding the markets they serve or the health benefits available to service members. Health Net employees focus on empathy with their military community. This has helped Health Net create a unique culture where everyone feels a purpose and a mission to serve those who serve our country.

About CallTalk 

Broadcast monthly, directly over the Internet to your desktop, CallTalk covers informative and educational topics that impact today's call center. This show is hosted by Bruce Belfiore, CEO of BenchmarkPortal. It is aired without the participation of vendor sponsorship, so that topics are free from their influence and guided solely by the needs of our listeners.

Guest Host: Fidel Ligsay, VP of Call Center Operations, Health Net Federal Services

Fidel Ligsay is the Vice President of Call Center Operations for Health Net Federal Services, based in Health Net's Rancho Cordova, California office. He has been in that role for the past 6 years, supporting the TRICARE managed health care support contract for the country's North Region. This region supports close to 3 million beneficiaries, their families, and the providers of care in that region. Prior to that, Fidel held a similar role with Health Net's commercial managed care operation in Shelton, Connecticut. He also has extensive call center leadership experience in a number of other industries, including banking and insurance. Fidel earned his MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and currently resides just outside of Sacramento, California with his wife and two sons.

Guest Host: Ezra Easley, Director of Call Center Operations, Health Net Federal Services

Ezra Easley is the Director of Call Center Operations for Health Net Federal Services, based out of Health Net's Johnstown, Pennsylvania office. He has been in that role for almost 2 years, supporting the TRICARE managed care support contract for the country's North Region. Prior to this role Ezra served as the Director, Patient Appointing Services for 4 years, managing Health Net's Appointing contract for the Puget Sound region, located in Tacoma, Washington. He has been with Health Net since 2004. Ezra has over fourteen years of call center leadership experience, including a background in health care, telecommunications, and sales. He currently resides in Greensburg, Pennsylvania with his wife and three children.

Date: Wed., Sept. 19th, 2012, Add to Your Outlook or iCal Calendar
Time: 10am PT / 1pm ET 
Duration: 30-45 Minutes 
Topic: How Training Can Set The Atmosphere in a Contact Center 
Special Offer: The first listener to ask a live question will receive a complimentary $1500 Benchmarking Survey. Please call (347) 857-3117. 
Archived Shows: If you missed this show or would like to view our archived shows, please  follow this link.

BenchmarkPortal Improves Call Center Evaluation Through Automation

Bruce Belfiore from BenchmarkPortal explains how automation helps deliver better and more timely benchmark data on call center metrics and performance.

Health Net Federal Services Call Centers Earn Center of Excellence Award

The Health Net Federal Services Call Centers have been certified as Centers of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’s operational metrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key data from the contact center applying for certification.

Factors (called key performance indicators) such as first call resolution, cost per call, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and utilization of human resources are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center being studied compares to other centers in the same industry, and if the performance of the contact center is superior. Customer satisfaction, which relates to customer loyalty and business growth, is the goal, balanced by financial metrics which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer service within a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "A great contact center operation reflects its management's passion for balancing the demands of high quality and low costs. Health Net Federal Services has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that Health Net is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate Health Net on a job well done.”

“Benchmarking delivers a crackerjack profile of a contact center’s operations that can inspire management to move forward aggressively, even in a less-than-robust economy,” added Belfiore, who has been with the company since 2000.

About BenchmarkPortal.

BenchmarkPortal’s founders pioneered the first contact center benchmarking study in 1995. Now custodian of the largest database of contact center metrics in the world, BenchmarkPortal is a leader in certification, training, consulting and research for the customer contact industry. Its team of professionals has gained international recognition for expertise and innovation in best practices. BenchmarkPortal’s mission is to help management optimize the performance of their center in terms of both cost and quality, encourage customer loyalty and build enterprise value. For more information on BenchmarkPortal, call 1-800-214-8929 or visithttp://www.BenchmarkPortal.com.

About Health Net Federal Services
Health Net, Inc. is a publicly traded managed care organization that delivers managed health care services through health plans and government-sponsored managed care plans. Its mission is to help people be healthy, secure and comfortable. Health Net, through its subsidiaries, provides and administers health benefits to approximately 5.6 million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare (including the Medicare prescription drug benefit commonly referred to as “Part D”), Medicaid, U.S. Department of Defense, including TRICARE, and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Net’s behavioral health services subsidiary, Managed Health Network, Inc., provides behavioral health, substance abuse and employee assistance programs to approximately 4.9 million individuals, including Health Net’s own health plan members. Health Net’s subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs. For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit Health Net’s website at http://www.healthnet.com.

Inbound Sales Best Practices Survey Opportunity for Community Members & Complimentary Results Report

BenchmarkPortal is conducting a survey on inbound sales best practices. This is our third year of collecting metrics for call centers involved in inbound and blended (inbound and outbound) sales. 

Please take a moment to complete this brief, 20-question survey. The survey link below will ask you questions about this important topic. As always, by participating in the survey, you guarantee yourself a complimentary copy of the results ($199 Value).

Please Click Here To Take This Complimentary Survey

This survey is intended for call centers that primarily handle inbound sales calls. If your center does not handle inbound sales calls, please forward this email to the appropriate contact center group manager within your company. If you have colleagues in other call centers who you feel might want to participate, please send this survey invitation to them.

You will also be invited to join our new community of inbound sales specialists which will focus on best practices in this sector. Don't be left out! As indicated above, participants will receive the results of this survey via e-mail, at no cost, within 10 business days of the survey's close. It's our way of showing our appreciation to you for your input.

Thank you very much for your participation.

Bruce Belfiore
Senior Research Executive &
Chief Executive Officer
BenchmarkPortal

Survey Opportunity On Language Interpretation Within Contact Centers

Dear BenchmarkPortal Community Member,

BenchmarkPortal is conducting a survey of our industry to determine what steps contact centers are taking to service customers who prefer to communicate in their own language.

Non-English call handling has become a hot topic for many contact center managers due to increased immigration and globalization and the unique customer service issues they may present.

Please take a moment to complete this brief, 15-question survey. The survey link below will ask you questions about this important topic. As always, by participating in the survey, you guarantee yourself a complimentary copy of the results ($199 Value).

Please Click Here To Take This Complimentary Survey

If you have colleagues in other call centers who you feel might want to participate, please send this survey invitation to them.

As indicated above, participants will receive the results of this survey via e-mail, at no cost, within 10 business days of the survey's close. It's our way of showing our appreciation to you for your input.

Thank you very much for your participation.

Bruce Belfiore
Senior Research Executive &
Chief Executive Officer
BenchmarkPortal

Agent Appropriate - The ABC's For Contact Center Employees

"OMG, did you see what Olga is wearing today!?"

Contact Centers are generally not venues of high fashion, but sometimes they are the sites of some pretty eye-opening sights. Skirts that go too high and blouses that go too low; jeans that look painted on and sweatshirts that could fit three people.

Not all of the fashion statements are problematic. However, those that state too much (or too little) can take away from the professional atmosphere which managers want to promote in their workplace. Beyond clothing, there are codes of conduct that should be adhered to for all of the right legal and managerial reasons. Let's face it - the media sets a terrible example of workplace employee conduct. As managers we work to set high standards, standards that are not reflected in "The Office," "30 Rock" or many other workplace-based shows that permeate and pollute our popular culture.

When teaching call center managers, I frequently hear complaints on these topics and have developed what I call "The ABC's" for contact center employees.

"A" is for "Apparel." If your center has a specific or stringent dress code (e.g., uniforms, business casual or coat and tie) then make sure that people know what it is from the first phone interview. You don't want to waste the time of people who do not want to meet the dress code on the one hand, and you want to begin acculturating people to your standards on the other.

New hire training should indicate whatever detail is necessary to describe your standards. Also, the company handbook should be clear on what is and what is not acceptable.

In most call centers, a fairly wide range of apparel will be acceptable. However, the following areas should be highlighted in your training and in your handbook:

Health and Safety. Jewelry and accessories which have the appearance of weapons should be strictly forbidden. Other elements that affect health and safety in different climates and cultures should be taken into appropriate account.

Business Appropriate Garb. Describe what is appropriate and what is not. Good example should be modeled by management so that employees can see for themselves what appropriate apparel looks like.

If you hand out prizes for performance and these include shirts, then the shirts should be what you would like to see around the office. Pay a little more for a classy golf shirt or good looking collar shirt, perhaps with your logo on it.

"B" is for "Behavior." This reflects the right attitude for which you should be hiring and which you should nurture in all of your employees. You can teach content and technique, but you should screen and hire for people who naturally fit the proper mold for cheerful customer service.

"C" is for "Conduct." This is for the specifics of workplace interaction and needs to be carefully monitored for legal reasons as well as managerial and morale reasons. Some of the key elements include:

Language. This is where the media have really affected (or better, infected) our culture, by making the offensive seem "normal." As a manager you may not be able to single-handedly reverse the "crudification" of the popular culture, but you can set a good example and require that others follow.

Proselytizing. On the opposite side of the profane is the sacred. In many contact center settings references by individual employees to their faith and their faith communities is normal and accepted. However, if it crosses the line to evangelizing and becomes an annoyance to other employees, it must be dealt with in a sensitive but clear way.

Political shrillness. My advice to managers has always been to keep their political views to themselves when it comes to the workplace - for all the right reasons. One of the right reasons is that you can intervene with more impartial authority should one of your employees spend too much time on his or her soapbox. Agents should know that the center is a place of work and not a radio talk show or a polling station.

Sexual innuendo / sexual harassment. These are, of course, verboten. Your company may already have a well-developed program to address this issue. If so, follow the program. If it does not, you need to work with HR and senior management to develop one, or to acquire a program that is available from a vendor specialist. Anyone who crosses the line is out. Anyone who is getting near the line should be given a warning plus sexual harassment training.

As indicated above, the ABC's should be made clear in initial training and in the company handbook. When you need to call someone into your office for an ABC transgression, be sure and follow your company's procedures (you may need to have a second management person, or someone from HR, sitting with you) and be clear. Document what happened. Keep in mind that most agents want to do the right thing, but they may need some mentoring from you to learn their ABC's and apply them in the future.

Bruce Belfiore
BruceBelfiore@BenchmarkPortal.com

United Concordia Dental’s Customer Call Center Achieves Certification as a Center of Excellence

BenchmarkPortal recognizes the exceptional efficiency and effectiveness of United Concordia Dental’s Customer Call Center by awarding it Certification as a Center of Excellence. The granting of certification is based on a company’s operational metrics, customer satisfaction and agent satisfaction.

United Concordia Dental’s Customer Call Center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center researchand consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer service within a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "A great contact center operation reflects its management's passion for balancing the demands of high quality and low costs. United Concordia has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that United Concordia is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate United Concordia on a job well done.”

About United Concordia Dental
United Concordia is a leading national dental carrier and delivers high-quality, cost-effective dental programs. Headquartered in Harrisburg, Pa., the company has more than six million members, a network of more than 76,000 unique dentists at over 164,000 access points nationwide and is licensed in all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico. United Concordia has a companywide dedication and commitment to superior customer service, which is evident in the design, implementation, administration and servicing of its dental benefits programs. For more information about United Concordia products, visit http://www.UnitedConcordia.com.

Florida Power & Light Company’s Customer Care Center Achieves Certification as a Center of Excellence

Florida Power & Light Company's Customer Care Center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’s operational metrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key data from the contact center applying for certification.

Factors (called key performance indicators) such as first call resolution, cost per call, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and utilization of human resources are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center being studied compared to other centers in the same industry, and if the performance of the contact center is superior. Customer satisfaction, which relates to customer loyalty and business growth, is the goal, balanced by financial metrics which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

"A great contact center operation reflects its management's passion for balancing the demands of high quality and low costs,“ said Belfiore. “FPL has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that FPL is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate FPL on a job well done.”

“Benchmarking delivers a crackerjack profile of a contact center’s operations that can inspire management to move forward aggressively,” added Belfiore, who has been with the company since 2000.

About Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest rate-regulated electric utility in Florida and serves the third largest number of customers of any electric utility in the United States. FPL serves approximately 4.6 million customer accounts and is a leading Florida employer with approximately 10,000 employees as of year-end 2011. During the five year period ended December 31, 2011, the company delivered the best service reliability among Florida investor-owned utilities, while its typical residential customer bills, based on data available in December 2011, are about 25 percent below the national average. A clean energy leader, FPL has one of the lowest emissions profiles and one of the leading energy efficiency programs among utilities nationwide. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.FPL.com

CallTalk, Wed. 8/15 - Eliminating Your Customer Service Blind Spot With Co-Browse Technology

 

Eliminating Your Customer Service Blind Spot With Co-Browse Technology 

Join host Bruce Belfiore and Dusty Stanford, Sales Director, LiveLOOK, as they co-browse technology. Customer service strategies have evolved over time to cover every communications channel - phone, chat, email, social media and more. But, with the exception of in-store service, most companies have lacked a visual component to customer service communications. Learn how Co-Browse Technology is now being used in call centers to create a visual connection, enabling agents to see exactly what a customer sees on the screen during a call or chat.

About CallTalk 

Broadcast monthly, directly over the Internet to your desktop, CallTalk covers informative and educational topics that impact today's call center. This show is hosted by Bruce Belfiore, CEO of BenchmarkPortal. It is aired without the participation of vendors so that topics will be free from their influence and guided by the needs of its listeners.

 

Guest Host: Dusty Stanford, Sales Director, LiveLOOK 

Dusty Stanford is the Sales Director at LiveLOOK. He has been involved with technology for the last 25 years and has worked with some of the leading call center companies in the world. Dusty has held numerous positions in the contact center environment, and he successfully leading his own center. Dusty has extensive knowledge about call center operations.

Date: Wed., Aug 15th, 2012

Time: 10am PT / 1pm ET

Duration: 30-45 Minutes

Games Agents Play, Tips From Our CEO, Bruce Belfiore

Ah, agents. We love them. We nurture them. We mentor them...and there are times we would like to strangle one or two! In particular, when they learn to game the system in one way or another, it makes us want to give them the boot.

By gaming the system I mean finding ways to shirk their responsibilities or provide sub-optimal service to customers. Let's review a few of the most common challenges and discuss ways to deal with them.

Excuses. This is fertile ground for issues that drive us nuts. There are excuses for being late or absent for work, excuses for not adhering to schedule and excuses for shoddy performance. Please send me your favorite “silliest excuse of all” and I may feature it on a future posting.

Aux-Out. This goes by different names, but it is when agents place themselves into Aux and then back into Available. The act of switching into Aux, even if for a brief period, takes them out of queue. Then when they go back into Available mode, they are put at the back of the line and will be the last to be sent an incoming call by the system. Agents who have low average number of calls handled per hour or per shift may be playing this game.

Transfers. Agents who don't want to handle difficult calls are often tempted to simply toss the call up the line, rather than become competent to answer a difficult question themselves. Keep any eye out for excessive calls transferred.

Hold Time. I still remember the first time I went to a center that indicated "zero" after-call work time. I thought I would find a wonderfully trained workforce using a wonderfully functional knowledge management system. Instead I plugged in for my side-by-sides and heard "may I put you on hold for a second" and saw the agent filling in the caller’s CRM record while pretending to be looking up the answer. After-call work time had "migrated" to hold time! It turned out that the agents did this because their system allowed them only a few seconds between calls, so they created their own ACWT during the call itself by putting the caller on hold. I have seen variations on this numerous times since.

So what is a manager to do?

First, try to have "game-proof" technology insofar as possible. Second, build a culture of honest dealing right from the interview and training stage. Talking openly about these issues lets agents know you are on to games and that you expect them to be honest in their work. Third, have sanctions for people who disobey. Make the consequences of gaming the system clear to all, then enforce them when violators are discovered.

Always try to foster an open and positive environment. Agents are less likely to shirk their work if they enjoy performing it and respect you as their manager.

Do you have other stories of games your agents play? Please send them in and we may utilize them in a future posting. Thank you!


Bruce Belfiore
BruceBelfiore@BenchmarkPortal.com

TMC.net Interviews Bruce Belfiore about iBenchmark

CEO, Bruce Belfiore was recently interviewed by TMC.net to discuss Benchmarking automation. Watch this video to learn about how automated benchmarking can help improve your center.

BenchmarkPortal Announces: Teachers Credit Union (TCU) Achieves its second Certification as a Center of Excellence

BenchmarkPortal recognizes the exceptional efficiency and effectiveness of the Teachers Credit Union Member Call Center by awarding it Certification as a Center of Excellence for the second year in a row. The granting of certification is based on a company’s operational metrics, customer satisfaction and agent satisfaction.

The Teachers Credit Union (TCU) member call center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”    

To achieve certification as a Center of Excellence, a company must undergo a rigorous benchmarking process, which compares the organization’s operational metrics to those of its peers, using the world's largest database of contact center metrics. During this process, BenchmarkPortal experts audit and verify key call center data from center applying for certification.

Factors (called key performance indicators) such as first call resolution, cost per call, call waiting time, customer satisfaction, agent satisfaction and utilization of human resources are taken into account. BenchmarkPortal is able to scientifically gauge how the contact center being studied compares to other centers in the same industry, and if the performance of the contact center is superior. Customer satisfaction, which relates to customer loyalty and business growth, is the goal, balanced by financial metrics which show that the center is being operated efficiently.

“Center of Excellence certification indicates that the contact center delivers superior customer service within a responsible cost structure,” said Belfiore. "A great contact center operation reflects its management's passion for balancing the demands of high quality and low costs. Teachers Credit Union has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that Teachers Credit Union is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate Teachers Credit Union on a job well done.”

“Benchmarking delivers a crackerjack profile of a contact center’s operations that can inspire management to move forward aggressively, even in a less-than-robust economy,” added Belfiore, who has been with the company since 2000.