The Contact Center Operations Audit - Part #2/3

A Blueprint Guide toBenchmark, Enhance Service Delivery & Realize Cost Savings All At Once.

This is the second segment of a three-part series. The first part described the objectives of the Call Centre Operations Audit and it also identified the value. This second part addresses the steps required for conducting an Audit and the things to look for. The final part will focus on results by industry, benchmarking and outcomes.

The Call Centre Operations Audit

The Key to Operational Excellence - Recap

In the first segment, we introduced the concept of the Audit. We addressed the purpose, scope and it’s value. The salient points follow:

1. The Operations Audit is not a solution but rather an organized way of flushing out opportunities for service, efficiency and revenue enhancements and identifying their value for implementation.

2. The purpose of the Audit is to: Identify the current cost per contact and\or cost per minute + Identify and evaluate service & efficiency issues relating to workflow and contact handling.

3. Once the method is in place, the Audit practice should occur annually. It should not be overly time consuming (such that it interferes with the daily routine) and it does not need to be an expensive practice. This is where the automated BaseLine audit process we've developed can really add value as it allows organizations to take full control of the assessment process without disrupting the day-2-day operations. And the fact that the cost is negligible (about the equivalent to the tax you would pay to have a consultant come in to do it in the traditional way) is a big bonus! 

4. The scope of the Audit needs to extend to every aspect of the Call Centre including over 30 critical Key Business Drivers (ie. Workflow, Technology, Service Metrics, Total Operations Cost, Human Resources, Quality, Workforce Management, Volumes, Back Office, Drivers, Blockage, Telephony, Software, Work Types – Incoming & Outgoing etc.) It must also recognize and thoroughly understand the corporate entity within which the call centre exists by identifying the corporate values, definition of “service”, short & long-term strategy and market positioning. This is critical in order to interpret the data in a meaningful and relevant way. 

5. It attempts to measure ALL work (phone and non-phone work).

6. The Audit must clearly define and identify a loaded cost per contact minute and per customer interaction.

7. There must be an exact and quantifiable cost or service enhancement for each proposed change.

8. The Audit must breakout and prioritize opportunities in terms of short and long-term implementation. One master project plan is required with two sub-plans in order to clearly define and ensure execution.

9. The Audit will allow you to benchmark your operations against previous studies, against your competition or other internal centres on a myriad of base-lines such as cost, service metrics, call effectiveness, etc.

10. The initial time and investment to embrace an audit process is nominal when compared to the substantial gains that will be generated.

How to Execute a Contact Centre

 Operations Audit…

In the previous article we identified that the Audit process was like taking a “snap shot” of your operations. It requires that an immense amount of information is captured and then organized such that nothing is missed; the various inter-dependencies, redundancies and/or synergies are clearly highlighted. This structure is a critical driver and influencer of the depth of the analysis and subsequent recommendations.

The Steps to Completing an Operations Audit

1. Pre-Site Visit – The Assessment Questionnaire

2. Site Visit

3. Data Analysis

4. Action Plan

Pre-Site Visit – The Assessment Questionnaire

This first section is by far the most important part of the Audit process. It determines what information and materials you have to work with and how it will be organized. If there were ever to be a more appropriate use for the expression “Garbage In – Garbage Out” it would apply to the Audit process.

The purpose of the Assessment Questionnaire is also to guide (provide structure) for the site visit portion of the Audit. The information required will be detailed in the form of questions. Questions should be organized by Key Functional Discipline (category). Key Functional Disciplines (KFD) can be analyzed for each channel in order to achieve a thorough understanding of the operations. Each Key Functional Discipline (KFD) should have numerous questions that address all aspects that relate either to the KBD  or the corporate strategic direction. The primary KFD’s along with their purpose follow.

• Key Contacts

• Strategic Direction - Should include long-term and short-term strategic plans in terms of service & sales  from two perspectives: corporate strategic direction and tactical strategic directions

• Operations Overview - A brief overview of the operations including, lines of business, products and services offered, size, scope, hours of operation, headcount, unique sensitivities, % Inbound & Outbound etc.The purpose of these sections is to get a high-level understanding of the business and contact centre operations.

• Communications Types - All incoming communications types broken out by the following distribution channels: telephone, email, fax, in-person, written, other – non-phone work. All outgoing communications types also broken out by the same distribution channels also need to be included. All other work executed by the contact centre that has not been addressed in any of the other categories. Examples include: fulfillment, research, administrative, other work types not identified. Each communication type must be assigned a unique reference number and distinctly separated by distribution channel.

• Volumes - For ALL the reasons why people contact the call centre  (all methods noted above – ie. phone, fax, email etc.), do this for Inbound, Outbound and Other (noted above). Remember to detail the following information  for each. Volumes are CRITICAL and should include an understanding/analysis of: volumes (by month), volumes (total year), length of time to process or complete, how many require french? If this information is not available try to estimate by providing a number AND percentage. Always create a documented audit control system that includes reference numbers for each communication type by contact channel along with all of the variables noted herein.

• Key Drivers - Addresses how the volumes of work (see above) are affected by seasonality and also identifies the number of times a customer will contact you. It should identify these trends by week, month etc.

•  Workflow - For the most common Communication Types (above –for all distribution   channels  detail all of the tasks & procedures from the beginning of the process through to conclusion. Remember to include:Interactions with other systems, other departments etc. It should also identify the value stream specific to complaint and problem resolution considering the same variables.

• Staffing - Questions should address all aspects of staffing so that you obtain a through understanding of all costs, use of full-time & part-time personnel by job function, headcount by day of the week and time of day, vacations etc. Roles & responsibilities (RACI analysis), overtime, turn-over rate by position, performance evaluation criteria , lateness & absenteeism tracking etc. Remember to Include support staff, admin, fractions of personnel (ie. Executives and support services/staff etc.)

• Shifts - For each job function, identify the actual time each person worked by day, week, month (identifying part-time and full-time personnel. Also identify the process of how schedules are determined. This is very important. Is a time of day erlang analysis part of the process?

• Training - Detail the entire curriculum for both initial and ongoing training including subject matter, methods used and time spent on each for all roles, frequency of ongoing training and the annual budget

• Database & Technology - Identify all of the database & software applications for contact management & outbound, email management, knowledgebase, chat, workflow & procedures including; complaints trouble-ticket, quality monitoring system specifications, license agreements, maintenance agreements etc. All costs related to capital purchase, leases, data transmission costs etc. A detailed understanding how each tool is used in the business. Limitations with the technical architecture, corporate biases with any functionality or supplier also need to be identified.What do agents have readily accessible and how is it used?

• Service Performance Targets - Phone and non-phone work

• Production Targets - Phone and non-phone work

• Agent Observation - Side-by-Side Monitoring for both Phone and non-phone work are critical. Time each function and log. Remember to include reason and result for each. Cross reference to the workflow for that particular contact or work type for a “reality” check against the way it is understood (or suppose to be conducted).

• Complaints

• Telecom - A complete understanding of the telephony platform from the perspective of cost, functionality, process flow &  programming and capacity (including lines) compared against current and traffic capacity. This is another large section and would typically comprise of 50 + questions.

• Reporting - Detailed reporting including: management and time of day reporting, reporting on other non-phone work where-ever possible and should also include an analysis of telephone bills by line.

• Financial - Total OPEX budget

• Facility

• Morale

A Co-operative Effort…

To be successful this process must be a co-operative process of sharing information and concepts.. Before the site visit can occur therefore, it is essential that your operations team also prepares in advance by:

1.   Identifying and assembling relevant reports or supporting materials for all sections

2.   Provide the ability for the auditor to listen to both sides of an agent conversation

3.   Identify Functional Experts And Make Them Available For Interviews  .

5.   Determine How The Assessment Will Be Positioned To Personnel.

This is not a “Make Work” Exercise…

If a report, manual or information requested is not readily available simply schedule some time to interview the appropriate individuals.

This process should been designed such that it does not distract you from your daily routine & responsibilities.

Site Visit

The On-Site visit should be fast and non-intrusive. No one should be occupied for more than 3 consecutive hours on any occurrence.

The site visit MUST be guided completely by the Questionnaire. The purpose in this stage is not to make any recommendation or conclusion but rather to obtain as many answers to the questions and to observe the day-to-day operations. The objective at this stage is simply to gather as much information as possible and quietly observe a typical day.

You need to be good at Puzzles…

In almost every case we have observed that at least 40% of the information is not “readily” available. The auditor therefore needs to be able to ignore the response….”sorry this information is not available” and tenaciously  (but respectfully) continue asking the same question in other (creative) ways to get at the same desired result. If after all of this, the information is still not available one must draw a line and make a decision as to when to end the data-collection phase of the Audit.

The auditor must then begin the Data Analysis stage by piecing the answers together using the information that was collected.

Data Analysis/Interpretation

Once the site visits are complete the remaining work can be completed off-site so there is no disruption to the daily operations. The information gathered should be analyzed in detail and then related to one another to identify issues and opportunities. The analysis phase is a critical portion of the Audit

Various templates can be developed for each KBD along with tools (ie. Erlang etc.) to help  interpret data.

Action Plan      

The Call Centre Audit will culminate with recommendations at the following two levels:

• The Call Centre Audited

• The Entire Customer Interactions Operations (macro picture)

The purpose in approaching the recommendations at two levels is to identify potential synergies that might exist between other areas that may currently be separate. This could open up entirely new opportunities for contingency, efficiency, revenue or service enhancements that may not have otherwise been recognized within the parameters of an existing call centre.

Recommendations can be benchmarked against similar centres in the same vertical and other call centre operations on key operating variables such as service metrics. – see next article submission for this

Qualifiers

In order to qualify as a recommendation, it must create one of the following results:

• Service Enhancements

• New Efficiencies

• Incremental Revenue

• Quality Enhancement

Recommendations should then be organized in one of the following two ways:

1. Recommendations that will not cost anything to implement

2. Recommendations that will have a +/- financial impact to implement         

Change Management Strategy & Project Plan                                              

Recommendations also need to be categorized further by the following priority codes:

• Priority #1 =  NOW

• Priority #2 =  6 – 12 Months

• Priority #3 =  Longer Term

Priority #1’s

Quick Fixes should be addressed immediately and should be placed on a project schedule and mapped to a specific measurable result upon completion. While short-term task-items will yield more immediate results and will likely be well received, you will also need to balance this with the potential for implementing task items that result in only short-lived gains.

Moreover the work to develop and implement many of these items could require re-doing if it is done in a manner that does not take into consideration the higher level priority items and longer term tactical direction. As a result, these items will need to be carefully balanced to avoid redundant work and subsequent confusion.

Longer Term Priority Items

The primary catalyst for realizing these gains will come from Isolating and mapping skill requirements to tasks and establishing common measurement processes for each. A detailed Action Plan should be developed to address this by systematically focusing on the overall infrastructure such that all work can be standardized, tracked and resourced appropriately.

The infrastructure therefore, should be the basis for service & financial gains. Once in place, virtually all of the recommendations could be implemented.

Summary

Although each category of recommendations will likely exist as independent endeavours with separate project plans, it is essential that they all roll-up to one higher level plan. This is done to reinforce the longer term goals and direction and also to ensure that the way in which work is done in the NOW stage lays a foundation for the future so that nothing has to be re-done in later stages. This is an important area to be aware of when implementing. It is far too easy to get caught up in the short-term gains with short-cuts to solutions. This approach may yield short-term results but high (unnecessary and frequently redundant costs) later on.

In order to achieve the best results and internal commitment to the recommendations, the effort regarding the implementation should come from inside wherever possible. The final report must include a high level project schedule that details the Priority #1’s along with recommendations for resources that could be utilized to help implement the action items.

Eric Young
President
Tele-Centre Assist Inc.
www.telecentreassist.com