Integrating Workforce and Quality Management

The centrality of customer satisfaction is a given in today’s ultra-competitive environment. However, the focus on service quality in contact centers slows behind the rest of the business world because these organizations were developed primarily to serve customers in a cost-effective way. Even today, contact centers have become familiar with complex quality management systems designed to drive customer service but have yet to achieve the right balance of efficiency and service quality.

And so at first, contact centers focused on KPIs such as average call handle time (AHT), agent occupancy, agent adherence and efficiency of resources. Agents were evaluated on speed rather than building their company's relationship with customers, and management lacked a complete picture of their contact center’s performance.

Integrating QM and WFM Systems

On the surface, integrating service quality and efficiency may appear to present a conundrum. Efficiency requires speed, but service quality demands more time to understand and meet the customer’s needs. When the principles of cost control still likely to predominate and return the focus to efficiency, so how can contact centers reconcile the two? The best way involves integration of workforce management (WFM) and quality management (QM) systems used by contact centers to drive both efficiency and service quality.

The Areas of Integration

Here are some key areas open to integration between WFM and QM systems:

*Forecasting

*Integration of call classification data, call volume trends and improvement programs avoids unnecessary and repeat calls by enabling increased accuracy within a fluid, changing and more effective contact center environment.

*Scheduling

*Through integration of skill levels based on QM evaluation of agents, the WFM system can be used to schedule more skilled agents for complex call requests.

*Quality Measurement

*Integrating agent schedules with the QM system helps supervisors choose the best calls for evaluation.

*Allocating Training

Often, QM training is scheduled with little regard for the agent’s other commitments or changing service levels during the course of the day. As a result, agents may be penalized for lack of adherence during training, or for failure to improve if they skip the instruction. Training can automatically be scheduled at appropriate times by integrating the two systems – giving agents input to improve their skills without negatively impacting WFM service levels.

Eventually, each organization must determine the best way to retain and grow its customer and revenue base while keeping expenses in check. An integrated view of all drivers will prove essential for management to make informed decisions in this area.

The CRM Theory and the Art of Profit

Management and economic theory teaches us to examine options with relative scientific objectivity to determine the most efficient and profitable processes to increase revenue. Simply put, we look for the quickest and most effective way to make a profit.

What does economic and management theory teach us about CRM?

A psychologist named Frederick Herzberg, found that job-satisfaction and job-dissatisfaction acted independently of each other. The theory states that there are certain factors in the workplace that causes job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction. The factors that cause job satisfaction are called the motivating factors while the factors that cause dissatisfaction are called hygienic factors. In general, motivational factors tend to increase job satisfaction. Hygienic factors are necessary to prevent dissatisfaction, but only serve to de-motivate job satisfaction if these factors are not present.

If we relate this theory to CRM we can safely state that hygienic factors are those things that the customer expects whenever they purchase your goods or services; the phone is answered in a timely fashion, the bathrooms are clean, orders are fulfilled correctly, and the many things customers simply expect from your company every time they interact with you. Factors that motivates can further be defined (in relation to CRM) as those factors that increase your sales; lowering your price, customer loyalty rewards, holiday specials, and so fourth.

In economic theory, the law of demand states that, in general, price and quantity demanded in a given market are inversely related. In other words, the higher the price of a product, the less of it people would be able and willing to buy of it (other things unchanged). The overall purchasing power decreases and consumers move toward relatively less expensive goods as the price of a commodity rises. Other factors can also affect demand; for example an increase in income will shift the demand curve outward relative to the origin (increased demand leads to increased prices and vice-versa).

So we can say that customers have a certain level of expectations and are enticed to purchase our goods and services through sales, marketing, and other factors such as motivational and economic factors.

In other words, the customer is very complex. It is rarely only about price (unless you have a homogeneous product/service with an abundance of substitutes and a perfectly inelastic supply curve). Customers expect a certain level of service to accompany their purchasing experience. The key item here is what kind of experience, how much service, and what and how often they purchase.

So how can CRM provide us with the insight into our customer to determine the best methods to make more money? It’s all about history. The ability to track your customer and review what they have done in the past can give you insight into their new buying behaviors. Why is this important? The ability to review and analyze past behaviors and purchases allow you the ability to do two very important things:

1. Ensure you have resources (product and labor) at the right place and the right time in anticipation of demand for your goods and services.

2. Analyzing and trending information in order to predict future buying patterns.

CRM allows you to track a multitude of information about your customer, including personal information that allows you to build upon your existing relationship. It also ensures that your customer receives a level of service compassionate with their purchasing power by everyone who accesses your CRM. Most importantly, CRM is an essential tool, more so in a sluggish economy, that enables you to do what you do best – offer your goods and services at a price the market will bear.

Streamline Your Facilities Management Process

To create and maintain an efficient working environment is one of the largest continuing costs of operations that a company has to bear, and facility management department is a division who assigned to ensure that services are delivered in a way that contributed to productivity of public or staff who utilise a facility, maintain and repair for the efficient and safety operation of a facility and minimise operational life cycle cost of facilities.

In addition facility management department is not only be responsible for funding the planning and fit out but also have to control and maintain the ongoing support and servicing of the space that has been created for the organisation.

In order to keep ongoing support running smoothly while you handling a large volume of facility issues, you need to find a solution which allowing you to operate the facility with maximum efficiency, safety and staff comfort and dramatically reduce costs in the process. Outsourcing is the best solution for current situation, as you might be aware the cost of doing business today has never been an easy reality to face, and competition is becoming tougher and budget is getting tighter.

Outsource process was not much in vogue until a few years back, but times have changed. Today, not only has outsource process become very popular but it has also practically become the norm for businesses. The following are some benefits that you could accomplish by outsourcing your facility management process:

1. Tighter control by a centralised operation and contracted service level;

2. Extended hours of operation up to 24/7 live response;

3. Fast speed of answer, as call centre providers can optimise the rostering of staff and incoming traffic through call centre management system;

4. Cost Efficiency – reduce staffing cost while maintaining and extending service operation hours;

5. No employment problems – training, recruitment are all the responsibility of outsourced partner and

6. Continual improvement with benchmarked service levels and having up-to-date equipment and systems.

As we mentioned above that the outsourced contact centre industry has been growing rapidly, as well as number of suppliers who offer facility management solution so we are in the situation where we have to choose the best one from many. Generally speaking you might know which one the best or not for your business, however you must note following principal components when seeking a qualified provider:

*Proven Experience

*Measurable and Accountable

*Scalable and Flexible

*Disciplined Process Management