Questar Assessment Inc. Customer Service Center Awarded BenchmarkPortal Center of Excellence Certification

September 30, 2015 -- Questar Assessment Inc., a K–12 assessment provider focused on building a bridge between learning and accountability, has achieved certification as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal.

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.


Click here to continue reading: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2015/09/questar-assessment-inc-customer-service-center-award

Health Net Federal Services Earns Center of Excellence Certification from BenchmarkPortal

Health Net Federal Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), is now certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal for the third consecutive year.

Click here to continue reading: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2015/08/health-net-federal-services-earns-center-excellence-

New Survey Design & Data Analysis Workshops!

Surveys are an invaluable tool for researching the attitudes, feelings, concerns, and priorities of your customers. By constructing a questionnaire and collecting responses, we can draw a profile of the group as a whole and/or gather their feedback. The survey findings can then support fact-based continuous improvement projects aimed at long-term competitive advantage.

The findings from well-constructed customer surveys can provide critical information about customers’ expectations and future needs when creating new service and product offerings. Surveys conducted after an interaction can monitor service delivery quality and product performance from the customers’ viewpoint and identify those customers in need of service recovery actions.

However, a survey program is only valuable if the surveying effort is properly designed and executed. A small mistake in the survey instrument or administration can skew the data, leading to erroneous conclusions.

Click Here to Learn More...

CallTalk Caramels: Investments in Employee Training… Are you getting bang for your buck?

Call center leaders want well-trained employees who are good performers, but they need practical training solutions that can be implemented quickly, without breaking the bank. IF they can be assured that the investment will yield the desired results; call center leaders are willing to invest in high-quality training, even in tough economic times.

BenchmarkPortal research has identified best practices that will result in optimal learning programs:
Create performance-based training: this is training designed to focus on job tasks and goes beyond topics such as corporate policies or use of software applications. Advantages include:

Click here to continue reading this article...

Mayo Medical Laboratories Earns “Center of Excellence” Recognition for Fourth Straight Year

In March, Mayo Laboratory Inquiry (the customer service center for Mayo Medical Laboratories) was certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a global leader in the contact center industry. This is the fourth year in a row that Mayo Laboratory Inquiry has achieved this honor.

Click Here to learn more... http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-certification/certified-call-centers-excellence/mayo-medical-laboratories

Egis Projects Canada certified for the 4th year in a row as Customer Service Center of Excellence

For the fourth year in a row, 2011-2012-2013-2014, the Egis Projects Canada Golden Ears Bridge Customer Service Center has earned recognition as a Certified Center of Excellence by Benchmark Portal! Egis also received, for the second year in a row, the Top 25 of the Top 100 best Customer service Centres in North America.

Click here to see more: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-certification/certified-customer-service-center/egisprojectscanada

Alliance Data's Card Services Business Customer Care Centers Mark Decade of 'Center of Excellence' Certification From Internationally Recognized BenchmarkPortal

  Alliance Data Systems Corporation, a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions, today announced its Card Services business, a premier provider of branded private label, co-brand and commercial credit programs, has achieved for the tenth time in a row the "Center of Excellence" certification by BenchmarkPortal, one of the most prestigious designations in the service and support industry, for the quality of its call center operations nationwide. Founded in 1995, BenchmarkPortal is a global leader in the contact center industry, providing benchmarking, certification, training, consulting and industry reports, and maintains the world's largest call center metrics database.

Click Here to Continue Reading: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2015/04/alliance-datas-card-services-business-customer-care-

QBE Nine Years of Call Center Excellence

QBE’s Mortgage & Lender Services has secured the Call Center of Excellence re-certification from BenchmarkPortal for the ninth year in a row. In addition, QBE also participated in BenchmarkPortal’s 2015 Top 100 Call Center Contest where QBE placed in the top 25 of the medium-sized call center category.

Click the following link to continue reading: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2015/04/qbe-recognized-call-center-excellence-9th-year-row

A Lean Six Sigma Approach to Contact Center Process Improvement

Customers are demanding more efficient and effective service from Contact Centers throughout all industries. Host Bruce Belfiore chats with veteran manager Walt Sweeney about a Lean Six Sigma approach to Contact Center process improvement that Contact Center leaders could use to improve their centers.

Click here to listen to this CallTalk show: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/calltalk-online-radio-show/6/4/lean-six-sigma-approach-contact-center-proc

Announcing The Top Ranking 2015 Top 100 Call Centers Contest Winners! Click the below link to see who won!

BenchmarkPortal ranks the top call center operations in North America based on operational metrics. Click here to see who won: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2015/04/2015-top-100-call-center-contest-winners

Top 100 Call Center ContestBenchmarkPortal, a leading call center consulting services group, announces the winners of its 2015 Top 100 Call Center Contest. Participants submitted performance data on key operating metrics. The three winners in each categories had the highest statistical values for efficiency and effectiveness, as computed by BenchmarkPortal's expert formula.

Ameritas Earns Eighth Consecutive Center of Excellence Award from BenchmarkPortal

Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.’s group division has been awarded the BenchmarkPortal Center of Excellence award for the eighth consecutive year. Among the top honors in the customer service industry, the award recognizes the company’s commitment to making access to care easy for its dental, vision and hearing care customers.

Click here to view all their latest press release: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-certification/certified-customer-service-center/ameritas

PFI Earns Esteemed Center of Excellence Recognition from BenchmarkPortal for Fourth Consecutive Year

Proctor Financial, Inc. (PFI) is announces the recertification of its call center as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal for 2014. PFI also received this honor in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Call centers certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal have surpassed rigorous standards for efficiency and effectiveness. The team at BenchmarkPortal audits and verifies key performance indicators and compares PFI’s data to call center data from other peer organizations. Call centers receive the “Center of Excellence” designation when ranked in the top ten percent of those organizations that are surveyed.

 Click here to read more... http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-certification/certified-customer-service-center/proctor-financial

 

Birch Earns Prestigious “Center of Excellence” Recognition

February 13, 2015 – Birch Communications, Inc., (“Birch”) a leading technology service provider of IP-based communications, broadband, cloud and IT services to small, mid-sized, enterprise and wholesale businesses, has achieved “Center of Excellence” for the third time by BenchmarkPortal for 2014.

Click here to continue reading: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2015/02/birch-earns-prestigious-center-excellence-recognitio

Synchrony Financial Re-Certified as 2015 Customer Service Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal

February 28, 2015 -- Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF), a premier consumer financial services company with 80 years of retail heritage, today announced it has been re-certified as a 2015 Customer Service Center of Excellence from BenchmarkPortal, LLC, a global leader in the contact center industry.

Click here to continue reading this article: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2015/02/synchrony-financial-re-certified-2015-customer-servi

Church Mutual Service Center Certified Sixth Straight Year

January 20, 2015 -- Church Mutual Insurance Company's National Customer Service Center (NCSC) has been recertified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal.
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.

Click here to continue reading: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2015/01/church-mutual-service-center-certified-sixth-straigh

McKesson Specialty Health’s Reimbursement, Access & Safety Services Solution Center Earns Sixth Consecutive prestigious Center of Excellence Certification from BenchmarkPortal

January 2, 2015 -- McKesson Specialty Health today announced that its Reimbursement, Access & Safety Services Solution Center has earned certification by BenchmarkPortal as a Center of Excellence for the sixth consecutive year. One of the most prestigious awards in the customer ser­vice and support industry, the Center of Excellence distinction is based on best-practice metrics drawn from the world’s largest database of objective and quantitative data that is audited and validated by researchers from BenchmarkPortal.
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.

Visit their certification page for more information and to see their full press release: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-certification/certified-call-centers-excellence/mckesson-specialty-health

MAXIMUS Contact Center Operations in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Vermont Achieve Recognition as Centers of Excellence

The MAXIMUS customer contact centers achieved the Center of Excellence distinction based on best practice metrics drawn from the world’s largest database of objective and quantitative performance data from thousands of contact centers. Performance data collected from all six MAXIMUS contact centers achieved BenchmarkPortal’s objective and quantitative criteria in areas such as operational efficiency, service-level standards, customer satisfaction and employee training. Georgia Health Services for Families and GACAPS have now received certification for five and four consecutive years, respectively. Indiana EBS, Michigan EBS and Vermont Green Mountain Care Member Services have now been certified for three consecutive years. This is the first certification for Illinois Modification and Employer Services.

Click here to continue reading this news release: http://investor.maximus.com/press-release/local-recognition/maximus-contact-center-operations-georgia-illinois-indiana-michigan-

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (Blue Cross) Retail Sales and Retention team 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.”

Click here to continue reading: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2014/12/blue-cross-blue-shield-massachusetts-call-center-nam

Canon U.S.A. Earns Center Of Excellence Certification By BenchmarkPortal

December 1, 2014 -- Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is proud to announce that for the sixth consecutive year it has earned the Center of Excellence certification by BenchmarkPortal, placing its customer support center in the top 10 percent for efficiency and effectiveness in the technical support category. The Center of Excellence is a prestigious recognition based on best-practice metrics drawn from the world's largest database of objective and quantitative data that is audited and validated by researchers from BenchmarkPortal. “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.”

Click here to learn more: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-certification/certified-customer-service-center/canon-usa

Contact Center Economics 101: Nobel Prize for Economics - The Link Between Customer Contact and Economic Growth

By Bruce Belfiore, Senior Research Executive and CEO, BenchmarkPortal

Ok.  Here’s my bid for a Nobel.  One of the macro questions for the customer contact industry is: “Does a robust customer contact industry correlate with higher economic growth?”

The implications of this question are enormous.  If such a relationship can be shown to exist, then governments that want to foster economic growth should actively encourage the growth of the customer contact industry within their borders.

As we grow our database of contact center performance metrics here at BenchmarkPortal, we look forward to the day that we will have enough data to prove a correlation between the state of the contact center industry and GDP growth in countries throughout the world.  However, there are already circumstantial indications that this relationship exists, and governments would do well to consider their policies even now.

I note as well that contact centers represent clean, non-polluting operations that involve “knowledge worker” skills at a variety of levels.  Contact centers are often the first point of entry for workers who later are promoted into other parts of the enterprise - - but hopefully retain their appreciation for customer service and bring their experience with them as they advance professionally.

Estimates regarding the number of people who work in contact centers in advanced economies is astounding. It was estimated that about 3% of the working population in the United Kingdom is employed in contact centers, while the estimated percentage is over 3% in the United States and Canada.  These economies have been among the most resilient over the last 20 years, while advanced, G7 economies like Japan and Italy, which have much less robust customer contact sectors, have languished.

My hypothesis is that consumers the world over are more likely to trust and buy a product or service when:

Click here to continue reading this article: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/news-articles/2014/10/contact-center-economics-101-nobel-prize-economics-l