Managing World-Class Call Centers: Site Visit Findings.

Business Editors

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 2004

Excellence in contact centers is becoming increasingly critical to driving client retention and boosting market share. A study by benchmarking leader Best Practices, LLC, reveals critical steps top executives undertake to ensure call centers achieve high-performance standards and deliver first-rate customer service.

"Managing World-Class Call Centers: Site Visit Findings," profiled in a summary available online at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr365.htm, details specific practices top companies use to increase call center performance. For example, top companies:

-- Develop early warning and monitoring systems to monitor and

manage call volumes.

-- Employ a team approach to resolve customer complaints.

-- Employ a multi-phased team recruitment process to select the

most qualified candidates.

-- Develop an integrated approach to orientation and initial job

training to support employee productivity and service

excellence.

-- Support career development by aligning performance appraisals 

with employee career planning to help employees' progress

towards career objectives.

-- Empower customer service representatives to make service

decisions that drive customer satisfaction and loyalty.

-- Develop process management and process control techniques to

ensure customer service quality.

-- Reinforce the customer-focused culture with job nomenclature 

and language to support that culture.

-- Provide orientation and training to align reps with

customer-focused culture.

-- Deploy risk and reward compensation systems to align with

employee development, teamwork and service excellence.

"Managing World-Class Call Centers: Site Visit Findings" compiles best practices from site visits at 11 world-class call centers, including two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winners. The study also includes the following findings:

-- Performance statistics, such as abandoned call rates, answer

rates, handling time, hold time and save rates

-- Call center organizational structures, including staffing

levels for management and customer service representatives

-- Employee reward and recognition systems, including salary

ranges and incentive programs

-- Call center rep evaluation and management practices, including

performance scorecards and coaching techniques

"Recent research has shown that 70 percent of customers will buy products from companies with excellent customer service reputations," said Chris James, Best Practices, LLC vice president. "Companies need to bolster call center proficiencies to capture and retain these empowered customers."

Download a summary of "Managing World-Class Call Centers: Site Visit Findings," at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr365.htm. For more information, contact Mike Rogers at [phone] or at [e-mail].

ABOUT BEST PRACTICES, LLC

Best Practices, LLC is a research and consulting firm that conducts work based on the principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic performance by studying the best business practices, operating tactics and winning strategies of world-class companies. For more information, call [phone] or visit http://www.best-in-class.com/.