Attributes of High-Performing Contact Centers
What It Is
Across the government, contact centers are being stretched by increasing demands from customers, more complex systems, and escalating pressures to control bottom–line costs. While two centers may provide similar services, one center may deliver superior customer service while the other delivers services that are substantially below standard. What differentiate a high–performing contact center from one with subpar performance?
High–performing contact centers generally possess the following attributes:
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Clearly Defined Strategy—The center has a clear vision of its mission and goals. The strategy is customer–focused and service oriented, forward thinking and open–minded, proactive and willing to accept change, and committed to service excellence.
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Skilled Workforce—The single biggest investment for a contact center makes is in the human resources needed to operate and run the contact center. To achieve high performance, the center must have a well-trained, motivated and seasoned workforce with ongoing training to continually build business knowledge and customer service expertise. The employees must be committed to building trusting relationships with customers.
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New Technologies—To get the most productivity out of the skilled workforce and to provide the tools to deliver a superior customer experience, the center must invest in new technologies and provide self-service and multi–channel support to provide customers with choices and ease of access to information and services.
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Adherence to Best Management Practices—The center has a mature and flexible management team that adheres to best practices, encourages teamwork, and empowers team decision making.
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Total Commitment to Quality—The center preaches quality in all aspects of its operation and has an effective ongoing quality management/process program to improve performance and customer satisfaction.
- Effective Cost Controls—The center can maintain a balance of quality, quantity, and cost in delivering customer service.
Why It's Important
Managing and operating a contact center requires a constant balancing act of quality, quantity, and cost in order to attain the goal of ultimate customer satisfaction. Your center can only achieve this goal with proper support. If your senior management believes that operating and managing a contact center is a simple operation and that attaining these attributes is not critical to delivering good customer service, then the chances your contact center ever attaining high–performance status will be greatly diminished.
Content Lead:
Tonya Beres
Page Reviewed/Updated: April 23, 2012
