ICMI's Customer Management Insight - September 2007 - (Page 37) O P E R AT I O N S Figure 3: Changes and Improvements Planned for Multichannel Environment Improve service level/response time for all contact types Revamp training for e-contact/multichannel agents Begin monitoring all contact types to ensure quality and consistency Implement customer satisfaction surveys for all contact types Revamp recruiting and/or assessment methods for e-contact/multichannel agent applicants Start handling chat Implement a Web self-service application Implement an email response management system (ERMS) Start using Web collaboration tools Implement a multiple contact management system (MCMS) Start handling Web calls (VoIP) Start handling Web callbacks Start handling customer email Other biggest problem is that what needs to be tracked and measured in today’s dynamic environment often is not. Until centers begin to embrace first-contact resolution as a critical performance indicator across all channels, and until they start to formally monitor all contact types and capture customers’ experiences regardless of the channel used, centers will struggle to keep costs as well as agents’ and customers’ tempers down. Merely offering a variety of contact options does not make a multichannel contact center successful. Doing all or most of the right things on the traditional phone and email side while merely going through the motions, or worse, ignoring IVR and Web-based contacts will do little more than alienate the many customers who opt to use the latter channels — and render obsolete the technologies that the center has invested in to support those channels. icmi’s insight True, in most multichannel centers, traditional phone calls continue to comprise the bulk of the workload, but that does not mean that centers can become lax about how quickly and effectively they handle all other contacts — especially when you consider how swiftly an online customer can cause serious damage to a company’s service reputation with the click of a mouse. In the blink of an angry blog or email, one forsaken, disgruntled customer can create a public relations nightmare for organizations that have even the best intentions. Our industry collectively wonders why Web calls and chat have yet to truly take off in terms of customer use and acceptance, and why IVR- and Web-based self-service have done little to reduce traditional call volume. Well, it’s a pretty safe bet that the lackluster growth and impact of these channels has more to do with how centers are supporting and managing them and less to do with how well the required technologies work. Fortunately, many multichannel centers are aware of their shortcomings and the operational obstacles that plague them, and, more importantly, they have indicated that they are now — or soon will be — focusing on making critical improvements to key areas. It will be interesting to see, when we conduct this study again in a couple of years, if the majority of centers have evolved into highly efficient and customer-focused multichannel forces, or if, instead, they continue as centers that handle traditional phone calls well, email okay, and struggle to figure out how best to plan for and manage the rest of their customer contacts. Findings from The Multichannel Contact Center Study III will be presented at a session led by ICMI Senior Consultant Sandi Michel on Sept. 12th at ACCE (www.ACCEicmi.com). | SEPTEMBER 2007 • www.icmi.com 37 http://www.ACCEicmi.com http://www.icmi.com
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