A couple of days ago, I answered a question on a linkedin group that I thought was interesting:

Should we Send Client Holiday Gifts?

Answer: Yes, but having the right motivation and choosing the right gift is key.

Here are some thoughts:

1. If you need to – don’t:
If we feel not sending a holiday gift would hurt our relationship with the customer, then it’s probably too late. The gift should not be seen as a way to improve the relationship, it will not. Ironically, holiday gifts are most effective when they are not needed.

2. The purpose:
the purpose of the gift is to remind the customer we are thankful for their patronage and are thinking of them at this special time.  But the power of the gift is in the opportunity to underscore what our customers should already know and feel about us; that we are aligned with their values; that we care for their success and for them as people. After all, they value us because we add value.

3. The right gift:
Choosing the right gift is not always easy; it should address the purpose above.  If the person in charge of maintaining the customer relationship has not thought carefully about what the gift should be then a card is probably best.

4. Personal gifts:
If we’ve developed a personal relationship with our customer then we shouldmake a personal gift in addition to the corporate gesture, where appropriate.

5. No self serving gifts:
Don’t send gifts that are boldly logo-ed, can be seen as advertising or mild reminders of our presence in the market.  Save those for the trade show. The customer should remember who sent the gift simply by knowing no-one else would have thought, would know or would care enough to send it.  Special offers, pricing are not gifts.  Send them at some other time.

6. Make it fun:
We rarely take the time to choose the right gift for a customer if the process is not fun.  Encourage relationship managers to think out of the box and to know that choosing the gift is important.  Small brainstorm groups for similar customer segments can save time.

7. The same gift?:
There is nothing wrong with sending the same gift to multiple or even all our clients, as long as it hits the mark.  In fact, if we can figure out that one gift that shows the essence of what we stand for as a brand, then sending them to every customer, maybe the best thing we could do.

8. A gift for every customer?
Depending on the business, a gift to every customer may or may not be a reasonable undertaking.  We should also consider than all customers are not created equal.  Some are more strategic and may warrant special attention, while others may suffice with a more generic or less costly approach.  I remember sending Christmas cards to 800 customers, where every employee wrote the card’s greeting for two customers and then asked five other colleagues to add their signature and role they played in providing great service.

Regardless of what we choose to do, our token should be true to our purpose and the essence as our company.  The customer should remember the gift fondly and after the second year of receiving such a gift, should suspect a potential theme or trend in our effort or choice.

The best business gift I ever received was a research project reviewing the best project management programs along with an independent assessment of which would be best for my company.  Beautiful ! – How did you know ?

Happy Holidays !

Committed to XCL
Rudy Vidal

A master of Experience and Differentiation

Friends,

Some of you may remember this posting from over a year ago.

As the need to differentiate becomes more and more critical, I thought I would have Johnny remind us
how its done.

This is a perfect example of the importance of the experience and the value of differentiation.

Enjoy.

Click for Johnny’s Video

Thank you.

10 Considerations for Successful Contact Center Culture Shifts-Part 1

In this series of 3 postings, we will cover 10 considerations for creating successful cultures shifts in support contact centers.  Although not a complete or exhaustive list, it calls attention to areas often overlooked or of critical importance.  These considerations can apply to other types of organizations and contact centers.

These postings will shortly be compiled into a whitepaper available on our website.  If you’d like to receive a FREE copy, please click hereand we’ll email you a copy once compiled, or click here to be notified of updates.

Introduction
Contact Centers form very specific kinds of cultures, which can present challenges not usually seen elsewhere in the organization.  The proactive management of cultures is often avoided because it is seen as a difficult and even dangerous long-term endeavor.  This does not have to be the case, in fact, the proactive management of cultures increases the likelihood of success and is rewarding to all those involved.

Bob Greenberg, CMO of Panasonic, a dear friend and mentor, once said to me: “left alone, disarray and lack of grace always prevails.  If we want to maintain grace and beauty in our systems, we must be involved”.  An example is: A house left alone will deteriorate faster than one that is lived-in and cared for.  For the same reason, we need to nurture cultures over time.  Left alone, the forces of everyday business as well as changes in management and staff can move cultures away from the desired focus.

Through experience, we can list a few guidelines for initial thoughts:

-        Cultures require management ownership
-        Cultures are not the employees.
-        Cultures are usually the effect, not the cause.
-        Cultures cannot be changed; they are either shifted or damaged.
-        Culture shifts cannot be mandated.  Mandate = Damage
-        Cultures must be seen as a labor of love.

We feel very strongly about these factoids forming a foundation for success.  If you disagree, we love your comments.

1. Definition

Although there is room for interpretation, an over-simplified definition of a corporate culture is offered as:

“The  generally accepted norms and values of an organization that result in a behavioral or operational paradigm”

In short, an organization adopts certain norms and values that result in certain consistencies in the way it thinks, feels and acts.

Considering the definition we are tempted to equate “culture” to “workforce”.  But that is an incomplete view.  The culture is not simply the sum of the workforce, but is instead, the result of what can be considered a “chemical” reaction between People, Purpose and Environment.

This interaction results in the set of values and norms that allow us to predict organizational behavior under certain conditions.  To the extent that these norms and values magnify or support the core purpose of the organization, we can say we have a satisfactorily aligned culture.

Let’s cover the components briefly:

People:
As mentioned, the people component is not limited to employees but include all those in the interaction: management, customers, vendors as well as employees.  Some organizational behaviorists may include special external influencers such as labor unions or immediate family.

The importance of managing the people component is obvious, but the reason often eludes us.  We must manage the people component because it is “the people” that set the stage for the purpose, the environment and the chemical reaction and it is in “the people” that the chemical reaction takes place.

People are the most important asset of the culture, nothing happens without people.

Purpose:
In today’s experience economy (“The Experience Economy“, Pine and Gilmore), products and services are no longer considered long-term brand differentiators.  The market differentiators have now become “experiences”.  Experiences are a broader output and are driven by the organization’s intention or purpose.

The purpose of the contact center goes beyond the pragmatic “job” to be done, it reaches for the “WHY” or essence for which the contact center stands. (see “Start with Why”, Sinek)

By aligning our departments, employees, policies, processes, etc., to this “WHY”, we can create consistent and repeatable experiences for our customers across the organization.  A clearly defined purpose simplifies decisions, facilitates empowerment, promotes employee engagement and creates focus.

The purpose defines the culture.

Environment
The environment is the sum of the all other variables creating the conditions for the chemical reaction.  It is comprised of processes, policies, systems, tools, expectations, metrics, etc.  The variables we normally manipulate to improve our performance are most often part of the environment.

In Short
The Purpose defines the Culture, while the People and Environment make it possible.
By managing People, Purpose and Environment we can shift cultures.

Next Posting:

2. Management Ownership
3. Ensuring a Need for a Culture Shift
4. Clarifying the “Purpose”
5. Identifying Needed Cultural Qualities
6. Employee Engagement

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCL

Staffing for Success in Customer Satisfaction

As we move towards customer loyalty through great service experiences the issue of Contact Center Staffing always arises as a major issue.

In my experience many Contact Centers accept the difficulty of “Staffing for Success” as insurmountable.  It is not.

The mantra for any contact center manager is:

The Right People in the Right Seats at the Right Time 

let’s split it into two sections . . . . .

1. Right people in the right seats (a reference to Good to Great-if you haven’t read it, I recommend it) and

2. At the right time.

1. Right People in the Right Seats- Although we value exceptional service as critically important, not all people have the mindset or the inclination to provide it.   Customer Centricity cannot be faked, or imposed.  Therefore, finding people with the “Right” aptitude is vital.   If our people do not derive pleasure from exceeding customer’s expectations, they can become more of a liability than an asset.

Employee attrition is at epidemic proportions, often reaching over 50%.  Most of these occur in the first 90 days, after we have spent time and funds to train them.  Did you know that the cost of attrition is between $6,000 and $8,000 per employee?  How many do you loose every year?  Do the math.

Countermeasures for ensuring a good fit are:  Make sure your prospects fully understand the scope of the job.  Do not oversell the position as a “sales executive position” when in fact it is an entry level customer support position.

A prospective employees psychological profile is also important.  A collections agent must be less empathetic than a customer support agent, for example.  It is important that the prospective employee fully understand the job and be the type of person that will derive pleasure from assisting customers with their needs.  it may sound unlikely to those not in our field, but there are people that actually enjoy helping others (sorry for the sarcasm)

I suggest the use of professional recruiters who utilize profile testing in order to ensure the right fit.  The benefits will be lower attrition rates, increased customer satisfaction and a more easily manageable culture.  

2. At the Right Time - Making sure we are ready for the customers when they need us is equally important, but not easily done.

Reasons for this shortfall may be, lack of forecasting ability, unpredictable employee compliance to work schedules, lack of budgets,etc.  Whatever the reason, creating dissatisfied customers because we are not ready to support our business is not good for anyone.  

Take a look at what is negatively affecting your efficiency so that you can reduce the insatiable need.  The answer to more people is not always people, but better processes.  How many times do your agents need to get up from their stations to complete necessary processes?  Are the agents properly trained to find the necessary answers easily or they fumble in their attempts.  Are you providing them with the information they need? 

If processes are not the problem, consider self help solutions in your phone queues as well as on your website (1 agent can handle up to 3 simultaneous web chats).

When customers don’t need to call back multiples times becuase they reached the right person and had their their problem addressed on the first attempt,  beautiful things begin to happen to your volume and customer satisfaction.   Volume usually goes down as customer satisfaction rises (satisfied customers don’t call back and don’t take 2 minutes ranting at the start of each call).

If you measure the First call resolution rate of your support staff you can calculate the savings in volume you will get from having the right people in the right seats at the right time.

Things to consider:

Integrated Workforce Management systems – will help you forecast the volume as well as the type of people you will need per Queue. 

ACDs with Skills Based Routing  – pay for themselves in no time, by bringing together the right customer with the right agent.

Integrated Training solutions – providing the appropriate training for your agents based on their customer’s satisfaction levels is critical to reducing Average Handle Time and increasing First Call Resolution.

Survey your customers – As quickly as possible after the experience and feed the results back to your agents.  Agents tend to listen to the customer’s comments much more than they do to your QA staff.

The biggest determinant of Customer Satisfaction is First Call/Visit Resolution.  To do this we must have the “Right People in the Right Seats at the Right Time”