ICMI's Customer Management Insight - December 2007 - (Page 24) IN THE CENTER 3) defining reports; and 4) field testing. Our “Go Live” day went smoothly and was perceived as very successful. In the first months of operation with CRS and practicing the new standard guidelines, morale and performance noticeably improved. REALIZING BENEFITS FROM USING CRS tem enforces the quality of our replies to contacts by eliminating the manual error that occurred previously. ADVICE TO MANAGERS Our representatives quickly decided that they liked using the new system, and senior management liked the system’s reports. Within weeks, staff began showing productivity gains, even with an increase in call volume. Reps are now completing contact processing cycles more quickly and accurately, which frees them to do other tasks. Soon senior management wanted to know what else the CRS could do to produce more operational benefits and generate more useful customer insights. New inquiry demographics gained the attention of the sales organization, providing details about where consumers and customers were interested in purchasing our products, giving sales management indicators to help determine where new dealerships are likely needed. As our CRS administrator, I make adjustments to our product, location and subject hierarchy when new Yokohama products are available, when product items change, and when new issue subjects arise. I also keep abreast of new CRS capabilities so that I’ll be ready to apply them when changes in operations indicate that they can benefit Yokohama. PAPERLESS WORKFLOW IMPROVES PRODUCTIVITY Our daily contact processing is paperless now. Contact center reps are no longer failing to process contacts that formerly might have gotten lost in the shuffle of files. Our CRS’ automatic reminder messages help reps get more work done more accurately in less time. Reminders are color-coded in a set priority. Highest priority items are indicted sooner, helping guide reps to meet their 24-hour reply target. We’ve seen cost savings from this productivity improvement alone. Our consultant performed a time-series study to quantify the gain which enabled us to plan our work schedule better. Contact center staff now work on a staggered schedule that they like better and that enables the company to handle contacts economically. Using CRS reporting enables us to verify fulfillment. The CRS sysicmi’s insight Our Consumer Affairs initiative with the CRS solution and professional call consulting to apply best practices is a “first” for Yokohama Tire. We are sensing now that our consumers have a rising expectation for customer care in our industry and that is a great opportunity for us. We will continue calibrating our Consumer Affairs performance and do what is indicated to maintain and increase — by exceeding — our customers’ expectations. We have no doubt that adopting our specialized CRS and applying best practices, guided by an expert and accomplished by diligent effort, have created bottomline benefit for Yokohama. Smaller Consumer Affairs contact centers that want to advance quickly and efficiently will benefit from working with experts in applying current technology support systems and implementing best practice operations. Every contact center should monitor its reps’ calls and provide them with quick, constructive feedback. They should also provide tailored training that reinforces desired performance through coaching, education and incentives. As Daniel Guiney sums up, “We all hear a lot about the importance of being easy to do business with — of having ‘easy buttons’ — because our lives and the lives of customers become more hurried and complicated each day. Do yourself a favor: Ask for help from those who have pioneered and accomplished something good and are willing to share their path to the easy buttons. Managers need to concentrate on the hard teamwork required to create and push the right easy buttons for their customers each day. Using a CRS with digital call recording and professional call coaching can be very effective to guide you to your company’s particular customer care easy buttons.” • Karen Simmons is Manager of Consumer Affairs for Yokohama Tire Corporation. www.icmi.com | DECEMBER 2007 24 http://www.icmi.com
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