Workforce Management Featured Article
October 23, 2008
Workforce Management Leads to Customer Satisfaction
Measurable customer satisfaction is essential to the overall effectiveness of the contact center. To achieve the level of service that the customer expects to receive, contact centers must be properly managed. Such management is often the result of workforce management solutions.
According to the Aspect (News - Alert) Contact Center Satisfaction Index, consumers who have an exceptional contact center interaction have reported several commonalities, such as the agent or center quickly responded to inquiries or issues; provided accurate detailed product and service information; set expectations for what would transpire after an interaction; and transferred knowledge to customers so they could quickly make informed decisions.
When a contact center has an effective workforce management solution in place, the center is able to produce higher customer retention as a result of increased satisfaction. Many traditional call centers will employ workforce management professionals instead of relying on robust workforce management solutions. While this can be a successful strategy, these professionals are often responsible for more than their job title implies.
Workforce management professionals often perform other duties, according to a study by the Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (News - Alert) (SWPP). This study found that 80 percent of respondents perform analytical duties such as reporting and ACD maintenance. Another 72 percent are responsible for forecasting and 71 percent are responsible for scheduling.
These professionals also handle intra-day management tasks (63 percent), while 58 percent management the workforce management team. Only 7 percent of these professionals manage a team of agents. In certain smaller environments, it may be effective for professionals to take on such tasks, but in reality, it may leave too much for manual processes which have a higher margin for error.
Contact centers can find a variety of benefits by implementing a robust workforce management solution that replaces specific manual processes. Vendors such as Monet Software offer such solutions that can eliminate the need for multiple professionals in these positions and instead rely on automated processes. Such an approach considerably lowers overhead costs and can significantly improve performance.
At the turn of this century, just over half, or 53.9 percent of contact centers had implemented a workforce management solution or system and the majority had done so between 1998 and 2003, according to a BenchmarkPortal (News - Alert) study.
This strong growth within this time period demonstrates that there was a significant need for workforce management systems within the contact center industry to control costs and deliver better performance. Implementing a workforce management solution from Monet Software can deliver the same benefits for contact centers today, ensuring that customer service initiatives are met, no matter what the demand on the center.
When a contact center has an effective workforce management solution in place, the center is able to produce higher customer retention as a result of increased satisfaction. Many traditional call centers will employ workforce management professionals instead of relying on robust workforce management solutions. While this can be a successful strategy, these professionals are often responsible for more than their job title implies.
Workforce management professionals often perform other duties, according to a study by the Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (News - Alert) (SWPP). This study found that 80 percent of respondents perform analytical duties such as reporting and ACD maintenance. Another 72 percent are responsible for forecasting and 71 percent are responsible for scheduling.
These professionals also handle intra-day management tasks (63 percent), while 58 percent management the workforce management team. Only 7 percent of these professionals manage a team of agents. In certain smaller environments, it may be effective for professionals to take on such tasks, but in reality, it may leave too much for manual processes which have a higher margin for error.
Contact centers can find a variety of benefits by implementing a robust workforce management solution that replaces specific manual processes. Vendors such as Monet Software offer such solutions that can eliminate the need for multiple professionals in these positions and instead rely on automated processes. Such an approach considerably lowers overhead costs and can significantly improve performance.
At the turn of this century, just over half, or 53.9 percent of contact centers had implemented a workforce management solution or system and the majority had done so between 1998 and 2003, according to a BenchmarkPortal (News - Alert) study.
This strong growth within this time period demonstrates that there was a significant need for workforce management systems within the contact center industry to control costs and deliver better performance. Implementing a workforce management solution from Monet Software can deliver the same benefits for contact centers today, ensuring that customer service initiatives are met, no matter what the demand on the center.
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Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Michelle Robart
