CRM - October 2008 - (Page 24)

COVER STORY FLEXIBILITY AND FAMILY Tim Houlne, chief executive officer at Working Solutions, says his company did an internal survey of its agents to find out why people were really working from home. “We originally thought it was to earn extra or additional income,” he recalls. “However…it was the flexibility as to projects and hours they could work.” That flexibility primarily revolves around family. Joell King, a 53-year-old resident of Blairsville, Ga., is an agent for Santa Clara, Calif.–based virtual contact center firm LiveOps. King worked as an assistant manager and trainer in a brickand-mortar contact center facility on a seasonal basis for two years, and wanted a change. “My mother doesn’t live in the same state as [me],”she explains.“I just enjoy being able to go down and see her and help her out when I need or want to.” Christine Meade, a 47-year-old resident of Ocala, Fla., also wanted to stay at home so she could take care of family. Now, she’s a home agent for West at Home, a division of Omaha, Neb.–based outsourcing and consulting firm West Corp. “I knew it would just work for me better if I could find something that I could do from home on a regular basis,” Green Fields Work-at-Home Agents and the Environment Reduction in Air Pollution Reduction in Gasoline Consumption Savings from Reduced Gasoline Consumption Savings from Reduction in Commuting Expenses Home-based Agents Industrywide in 2007 473,013 Metric Tons 58 Million Gallons $175 Million $640 Million Home-based Agents Industrywide in 2010 1,267,000 Metric Tons 156 Million Gallons $468 Million $1.7 Billion Source: IDC Home Sweet Home The most logical clients of home-based agent services, in descending order, as rated by analyst firm Datamonitor: • • • • • • Healthcare; Insurance; Media & Entertainment; Travel & Tourism; Technology; and Public Sector Source: Datamonitor Meade says. “That way, I could meet my family’s needs and take care of the kids because I have a handicapped child.” Juggling family priorities drove two more Working Solutions agents, Mary Lenci and Michelle Roy, to become WAHAs. Lenci, a 41-year-old Congers, N.Y., resident, has three boys extremely active in school, sports, and work. “The kids were older and I felt it was time to get back in the swing of things,” she recalls. “I tried to figure out what type of position would accommodate my responsibilities as a wife and mother.” After talking to one of her friends, who had also been working from home, she decided to give it a shot. Three years later, after a stint at West at Home and now a gig with Working Solutions, she’s convinced she made the right choice. “I cannot say enough about the flexibility,” she says. “Setting your own hours and days is fantastic—especially when you have children!” Roy, who is 39 years old, lives with her husband and their three children—aged 19, 8, and 6—in Madawaska, Maine. When the third child was born, she says, both she and her husband knew they needed a second income, but that meant finding daycare—and they couldn’t afford to pay for that on the typical Madawaska salary. “We live in a very rural area, where minimum wage—or close to it—is the norm,” she explains. Starting as an agent for Working Solutions in March 2005, Roy says she’s amazed how quickly the time has passed. “I get to see my kids before school, after school, [attend] all their activities, and bring them to appointments, which is by far the most important benefit,” she says. GREEN ACRES The environmentally friendly revolution of the last few years is making itself felt in the contact center, too. “My big topic right now is green support,” explains John Ragsdale, vice president of research for the Service and Support Professionals Association. LiveOps Vice President of Community Operations Tim Whipple says that many people are rethinking their long commutes—whether driving or using mass transit—and as a result looking into becoming a WAHA. Roy, one of the Working Solutions home agents, agrees that the set-up “definitely saves on the money and wear-and-tear of commuting,” especially with gas prices at their current levels. However, not only is money saved, but carbon footprints are greatly reduced, as well. According to statistics from IDC, in 2007 alone WAHAs saved $175 million by using 58 million less gallons of gas. Additionally, WAHAs reduced air pollution by 473,013 metric tons and are projected to save 1,267,000 metric tons in the year 2010. (See sidebar,“Green Fields,” above.) Bearing this in mind, Dulles, Va.–based NEW Customer Service Companies, a third-party administrator of extended service plans and a customer of workforce www.destinationCRM.com 24 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | OCTOBER 2008 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - October 2008

CRM - October 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality�Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Sprinting Toward Disaster? SAP�Retains Market-Share Lead in�CRM A�Week of Strong Customer�Service CRM�on Twitter Build a Good Event and They Will Come Required Reading There's No Place Like Home The New Breed of CRM�Consultant The Price is Right...You Hope How Much Marketing is Too�Much? The�Sweet Smell of High-Quality�Service The Next Act! For An Acquisition Some Stories Never Get Old CRM�Eases the Pressure For WIKA�Instruments Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Scouting Report Pint of View

CRM - October 2008

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