Six Sigma Makes Its Way to the Contact Center
1 Jul, 2004
By: Rhonda C. ProctorIn contact centers there have been so many quality initiatives come and go that it’s sometimes like watching the revolving door at a major department store, where the stakeholder of each initiative is ousted onto the sidewalk for every failed attempt at success.
One quality initiative that has staying power is Six Sigma, which—in very simple terms—is a statistical methodology, adopted first in manufacturing, to decrease defects, increase productivity and quality. At the highest level, it consists of five steps: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC). This process allows an organization to identify a problem, measure the current performance, develop an improved process, and manage to an enhanced level of productivity and quality.
It’s not surprising that Six Sigma is migrating to the contact center. As noted by Dr. Jodie Monger, President of Customer Relationship Metrics who has extensive experience working with contact center on quality initiatives, “The beginning, middle and end of the Six Sigma process is the ‘voice of the customer’. A logical place to look for such information is in the contact center.”
To learn more, CP conducted roundtable interviews with consultants from a variety of disciplines as noted below. Their insight on the Six Sigma process was illuminating.
- Dr. Scott Spera, Director, Customer Experience Analytics and Six Sigma Black Belt at Convergys Knowledge Management Services. Convergys is the world’s largest outsourcer of customer care services, and has adopted a continuous improvement philosophy rooted in Six Sigma.
- Mark Selcow, President and Co-Founder of Merced Systems, a leading provider of contact center performance management systems. Mark has worked with clients implementing Six Sigma because its process intensive requirements match well with the firm’s ability to integrate, analyze and distribute data.
- Nancy Treaster, Senior VP of Global Marketing, and Oscar Alban, Principal, Global Market Consultant, Witness Systems, whose workforce performance optimization programs support Six Sigma in contact centers.
- Gerry Barber, Vice President, CIAC (Call Center Industry Advisory Council), who helps cultivate professionals with the specialized expertise to successfully implement and manage Six Sigma and other contact center initiatives through CIAC’s standards and professional credentialing framework.
Why is Six Sigma more than just another quality initiative?
Spera: There are some key lessons that have been learned over the years about why quality initiatives have failed. These have been “baked into” the Six Sigma approach to avoid being yet another initiative that becomes a “flavor of the month.”
Selcow: Because it’s a highly rigorous, tested methodology and tool set for improving productivity and quality. One of the keys to its success is that the framework only be applied to specific problems relevant to the customer and the customer’s experience.
Treaster & Alban: It’s a philosophy and mindset that drives cultural change, and instills a companywide belief system, touching every department and aspect of the business. What’s different is the entire company embraces the Six Sigma methodology.
Barber: Its critics are quick to call it a fad rooted in Quality Circles, but the reality is that it produces significant business results, when effectively managed.
Why have contact centers been slow to adopt Six Sigma?
Spera: One reason is that the call center culture tends to be impatient. We are taught early to react quickly to things that happen. That can be a strength, but it also runs counter to Six Sigma. That being said, I think that the call center is a perfect spot for Six Sigma. There are reams of data flowing about and call centers already have a mentality toward numbers and analysis. More call centers are adopting this approach and getting key contributors certified.
Selcow: Six Sigma was developed in the manufacturing industry, and when undertaking a productivity or quality initiative, it is often easier to change a machine rather than change a person’s behavior. It was only after Six Sigma was proven in more labor-intensive environments, and supporting tools emerged, that contact centers began to adopt the framework en masse.
Treaster & Alban: It’s not really so much that contact centers have been slow to adopt this philosophy, as Six Sigma is not a contact center initiative, per se. Rather, it’s a corporate-wide strategy that is used in the contact center and in all other departments of an organization.
Barber: At CIAC, we’d argue that it’s been slow to catch on because of an industry need for management standards and certification. In depth knowledge of the contact center enables the professionals charged with Six Sigma implementation to assure its effectiveness by doing important things such as identifying the right baseline metrics and aligning these with the properly related processes.
How has it been adopted in call centers?
Spera: The outsource vendors are probably the furthest along. They’ve made the investment because they can see how the approach can lead to healthier profits and superior service at a lower cost, and it enables them to take business from their competitors. In-house call centers can also gain from the approach, but it takes a little more vision. Also, there has been a general difficulty in gaining acceptance in service industries, but those who adopt these approaches first are the ones that are consistently ahead of the competition.
Selcow: We see contact centers are adopting Six Sigma in two major ways: driving increased agent performance and project management. First, agents are being managed to Six Sigma levels of quality and performance. Second, as it expands into contact centers, Six Sigma Black Belts are being recruited to manage projects and drive operational improvements.
Where has Six Sigma has been adopted, and where it is working well?
Spera: Two centers come immediately to mind and both provide technical support services for computer manufacturers. Six Sigma project teams focused on customer satisfaction issues and, through their efforts, were able to drastically improve customer satisfaction by 10–12 percent and they saved millions through first-contact resolution.
Selcow: Merced Systems has worked with a number of different contact centers managing to Six Sigma processes, including Carlson Leisure Travel Services and Electric Insurance Company.
Treaster & Alban: At Witness Systems, we’ve found that customers adopting Six Sigma have been successful because its philosophy and mindset is companywide. Its purpose is to identify and eliminate defects, determine root-causes and move toward models of improvement. In contact centers, defects can be quickly identified through customer interactions with agents, and even captured by recording complete contacts.
Barber: Its success is directly dependent on it being implemented and managed by knowledgeable, qualified professionals who possess a thorough understanding of the contact center environment and collaborate with stakeholders to establish realistic expectations and resources.
What is the impact of Six Sigma on vendors?
Spera: Six Sigma can help vendors in a number of ways. By continually looking at ways to shave costs—and maintaining or improving quality and customer satisfaction—adopters of Six Sigma are able to charge less for delivering better service. Better performance against the metrics key to the client organization makes the vendor less likely to be jettisoned when the contract comes up for renewal. Lower costs make them a more attractive choice to the selection committee. Also, there are a number of large client organizations who have adopted Six Sigma and who now expect their suppliers to fit that mold as well. Vendors who haven’t made the investment are at a severe disadvantage compared with those that have.
Selcow: As an organization adopts Six Sigma processes and levels of quality, vendors are often required to adopt and support Six Sigma principals. For example, one of our first customers was Electric Insurance Company, a subsidiary of General Electric—one of the pioneers of Six Sigma. As a result of working with them, and the need to support Six Sigma directly, our company prioritized the ability to display extremely specific information earlier than originally planned to support the Six Sigma initiatives.
What do you see as the future of Six Sigma?
Spera: The future of Six Sigma is really in the full adoption and adaptation to the call center environment.
Selcow: As Six Sigma continues to prove itself in a variety of different environments and industries, it is likely that it will continue to expand. As the expansion continues, it is also likely that many of the Six Sigma processes will soon be adopted as “good management” rather than just part of a specific framework.
Treaster & Alban: It’s an investment, commitment, cultural change and organizational mind shift that’s yielding amazing results among companies across industries that abide by it to run their businesses.
Barber: Over the past few months we have seen a ground swell of interest around Six Sigma in contact centers, and expect it to continue. Six Sigma, as implemented by professionals who understand the underlying principles of contact centers, is far more likely to meet expectations and result in ‘real’ operational improvements that have a direct impact on revenues.
