Good Service Delivered By Call Centers
1 Sep, 2008
By: Linda Driscoll-DobelGlobal Competition Proves Customer Service Professionals Really DO Care
Customer service representatives are a window to the company. We depend on the service team to solve product problems and to assist with financial and purchasing transactions. Organizations frequently make the claim that providing good customer service is among their highest priorities; however, there is a steady stream of news stories on just how ‘bad’ customer service is. Those of us in the industry are barraged with examples of service professionals who cannot think for themselves, that the voice on the other end of the phone is someone who just “follows the rules,” even if it does not make any common sense. Are these horror stories the rule or the exception?
Service Star, a live, Internet-based global competition designed for customer service professionals, was designed to demonstrate that customer service representatives not only take their positions very seriously, they also find creative ways to continuously delight their customers. The competition attracted customer service teams from around the globe. Hundreds of audience members and a panel of distinguished judges helped to select the winning team. The winner took home a handsome trophy, bragging rights and a $1,000 donation to the charity of their choice.
To challenge the teams, they were all given scenarios based on typical and exceptional customer requests and complaints. The contestants’ solutions needed to be both pleasing to their customers as well as profitable to their organizations. Following the principles of customer experience, each response was judged based on the following criteria
a. Originality of solutions
b. Emotionally engaging
c. Effectiveness of resolution
d. First call resolution
e. Personalization
f. Profitability
g. Usage of tools and information
h. Future customer retention.
Judges for the events included Penny Reynolds and Maggie Klenke, founding partners of The Call Center School; Sheryl Kingstone, director, Enterprise Research of the Yankee Group; and Eric Tamblyn, vice president, Product Marketing at Genesys. (Genesys was the event''s corporate sponsor.) Lior Arussy moderated the event and crafted many of the scenarios the contestants faced.
Following a tough preliminary round, the field was narrowed to six finalists: California Casualty, Caterpillar, Georgia Department of Administrative Services, MassMutual, McKesson and MetLife. The six finalists then competed “live” in online "combat" and the two teams with the lowest scores were eliminated each week until only one team was left standing as the champion.
You work for a software company that provides technical support to its customers. Hard times forced your company to reduce its technical support staff by nearly 25 percent, resulting in reduced service for customers, despite paying an 18 percent annual maintenance fee for service. One of your customers calls to complain about the reduced quality of service and demands a refund of his maintenance fee. How do you address this person’s request? What tools do you use? What training do you provide for your staff?
"The audience members as well as the customer services groups got so much out of this event," said Judge Sheryl Kingstone, director, Enterprise Research of the Yankee Group. "As judges, we dissected the contestant''s solutions and discussed ways in which they could strengthen them. We were all extremely pleased with the time, effort and thought that was put into each and every scenario response."
This year''s winner was the team at MassMutual Retirement Services Call Center. A check for $1,000 was donated to The United Way on behalf of MassMutual for their accomplishment. McKesson took second place, and a donation was made in their name to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
"It is an honor to be recognized as Service Star 2008 by the audience and such a distinguished panel of call center experts," said Marie Augsberger, senior vice president and chief operations officer for MassMutual''s Retirement Services Division. "This award is a testament to the passion for service and continued focus on service excellence that our call center representatives display each day. MassMutual''s Call Center professionals navigate our ship through operational business and service challenges and remain focused on our mission --- to be the best ''call center ship'' in the fleet."
The competition proved to be a learning experience for both the competing teams and for members of the audience. The scenario challenges each week consisted of a blend of common issues CSRs face mixed with very unique and highly unusual circumstances that forced the teams to be creative with their solutions. Being Internet-based allowed for customer service professionals from around the globe to participate in the event. The competition from each week was archived for the participants and members of the audience to watch again in the future. All three weeks of Service Star can be accessed by going to http://www.crmxchange.com/servicestar/main.asp.
“On the surface, the scenarios seemed very simple,” said Sheri Greenhaus, managing partner of CRMXchange. “We were surprised to see that no two teams had the same response to the scenarios. The biggest challenge to the teams was trying to balance the need to satisfy the customer while maintaining profitability. The amount of time and thought that each team put into their solution was remarkable.”
The rationale for competing differed from team to team. Some of the teams used the competition as an opportunity to evaluate and benchmark the solution their team crafted against other leading companies. Some teams saw this competition as a way to energize the group and improve morale while reaffirming how important the CSRs are to the company.
“Service Star is a celebration of all that is going RIGHT in customer service. It demonstrates the power of service to delight customers and drive profitability for corporations,” said Lior Arussy, Service Star co-founder and author of Excellence Every Day (Information Today 2008). “We hope business professionals will listen to the recorded events available online and utilize them as a training mechanism to focus on excellence.”
From what was demonstrated by Service Star 2008, customer service teams put in an incredible amount of thought and care into their day to day dealings with the public. Indeed, from what was witnessed during Service Star 2008, the stories we hear in the news about ‘bad’ customer service is the exception to the rule.
