The Taylor Reach Group - Call Center Consultants

The Fastest and Most Effective Way to Improve your Call Centre Operation (Promo)

colin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:58:16 +0000

We are already 1 month into the new year and how is your call center performing, really? Are you achieving your goals? How do your metrics and KPI’s compare to your peer centers? Do you know?
What if you had a one time opportunity to invest $50,000 in your call center, would you know where to spend it to get the ‘best bang for you buck’?
If you answered ‘no’ to one or more of the above questions, don’t feel too bad, most center operators don’t do any better. We are often to busy and consumed by the day-to-day operation of our center to develop or maintain a true and objective view of our center and its relative performance.
You can retain a consultant who can complete an assessment of your center and deliver that point of view perspective. This will cost, of course likely $40,000 or $50,000. That’s a lot of money.
What if you could compare your center to hundreds of centers worldwide, to best practice centers, and gain a completely objective assessment of your center across more than 700 data points?
Would this be worthwhile? Would this be worth $5,000, $10,000?
If you answered Yes or even maybe, then Snapshotz could be the solution for you. Snapshotz is the only completely objective call center audit tool on the market today. Snapshotz allows you to assess your call center over 700 data points, prioritize improvements, assign and manage your tasks and deliver improvements. You can compare centers, compare year over year or period over period performance, all against the same metrics.

Well if you are willing to invest some time then you can complete an audit from only $2,500[Level 1 Audit] per center. Snapshotz is a global company that launched the first and is still only SaaS based call center assessment tool.
To find out more about Snapshotz visit our website www.customerservicesaudit.com, give me a call to discuss at 416-979-8692 x200 or send me an email at ctaylor@thetaylorreachgroup.com .
Improve your center today, take a Snapshotz.

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Zappos – The Emperor has No Clothes?

colin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:48:04 +0000

I am not sure if you saw this news story. Zappos got hacked on the weekend and data related to 24 million customer was exposed in whole or in part, see the story below. The most interesting thing about this event from my perspective was the last line in the article which states that due the the expected high call volume, Zappos is temporarily closing its call center. Zappos has built its reputation and success based on promoting their quirky, ‘no rules’, “show us your weirdness” approach to customer service and satisfaction. The knee jerk reaction to close the phones is, I think, insightful of the of what could be a triumph of marketing and positioning BS versus substance and a true customer focused organization. When people, customers are concerned that their personal data has been compromised and they are worried about identity theft is the time when they most need personal contact in order to hear an apology, receive reassurance and to begin to rebuild trust. Instead Zappos is forcing customers to deal through email, an antiseptic, isolating and impersonal channel, perhaps the Emperor has no clothes.

(Reuters) – Online shoe retailer Zappos told customers this weekend that it has been the victim of a cyber attack affecting more than 24 million customer accounts in its database.
The popular retailer, which is owned by Amazon.com, said customers’ names, email addresses, billing and shipping addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of credit cards numbers and scrambled passwords were stolen.
But it said the hackers had not been able to access servers that held customers critical credit card and other payment data.
“We were recently the victim of a cyber attack by a criminal who gained access to parts of our internal network and systems through one of our servers in Kentucky,” Zappos chief executive Tony Hsieh said in an email to staff which was posted on the company’s blog on Sunday.
“We are cooperating with law enforcement to undergo an exhaustive investigation,” he added.
Zappos said it was recommending that customers change their passwords including on any other website where they use the same or similar password.
The company, which is well known for its customer service, said due to the high volume of customer calls it is expecting it will temporarily switch off its phones and direct customers to contact via email.

Customer Interaction, Service & Experience – January 17

colin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:12:14 +0000

Below are some of our favorite blogs and posts on call centers, customer service, and customer experience that we have come across in the past few days. Hope you enjoy reading them as well. Let us know your thoughts comments and suggestions- we appreciate the feedback.

Customer service needs friendly return
Delaware News
Imagine how much longer the “reason for the season” would linger if customer service employees were kind. Reach regular SNP guest columnist Dina Giddens through her blog at momsisms.blogspot.com.

“Southwest Is The Best!”
The Star-Ledger – NJ.com
Clearly their organization knows the secret to winning customer service and it shows. I had a TRUE customer service experience!! Think about it, who in the hell has the time or the passion to write a blog this long about flying??? LOL. …

Shocks & Stares » Blog Archive » Digital Customer Service – 5 …
Spurred on by a recent article, ‘Why social customer service will come of age in 2012′, below is my work-in-progress Top 5 social media customer service …

My favorite of the day.
Though I’m not sure if turning off the phones is the best strategy for a customer focused organization in the face of a significant security breach. Read the post below. the last paragraph states “The company, which is well known for its customer service, said due to the high volume of customer calls it is expecting it will temporarily switch off its phones and direct customers to contact via email” – Does this sound like a company that is a leader in Customer Service and Customer Care? Of course as Richard Stevenson commented on LinkedIn “imagine what it does for their KPIs … calls resolved 100% calls solved first contact 100% calls passed to superior 0%”. Read it for yourself…

24 million customer accounts hacked at Amazon’s Zappos
Online shoe retailer Zappos told customers this weekend that it has been the victim of a cyber attack affecting more than 24 million customer accounts in its database. The popular retailer, which is owned …

Customer Interaction, Service & Experience – January 16

colin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:20:36 +0000

Personalizing customer experience at every touchpoint
KMWorld Magazine
The software delivers a personalized customer experience across all channels including the Web, contact center, mobile devices, social media and in stores, according to Oracle. American Apparel wanted a scalable, reliable platform with the ability to …

The Monday Line: Why UK Supermarket Chain Tesco is in Trouble – Part One
UK Progressive Magazine
All the metrics in the world could not fix their broken customer experience. As a Comprehensive school student (and throughout University) in the 1970′s, I worked part-time in Massachusetts for Angelo’s Supermarkets. It was a chain started by Italian …

The number one business mistake
Voxy
By Chris Bell I am often asked what the one thing is that’s holding business back from developing and capitalising on a consistently delivered quality customer experience. My answer is that there is rarely one thing but if I was pushed to think of just …

Brands, As Filtered Through Customer Experience | Best Brand Blog
Every business wants to build a brand. The brand is more than just the logo or the tagline, and extends further than just the Atlanta websites or the 30-second.

Customer Experience: What You Need to Get to Make a Success of Your CX Initiatives
Business 2 Community
By Maz Iqbal, Published January 15, 2012 I have been reading Forrester’s 2012 Customer Experience predictions. Forrester is making three predictions: C-level execs will officially name customer experience as a top strategic priority; companies will …

Customer Interaction, Service & Experience – January 12

colin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:15:37 +0000

Below are some of our favorite blogs and posts on call centers, customer service, and customer experience. Hope you enjoy reading them as well. Let us know your thoughts comments and suggestions- we appreciate the feedback.

Customer service lessons learned from CBC’s Marketplace …
GoForth’s favourite small business blog posts of 2011 | Home … CBC’s Marketplace aired an episode called “Canada’s Worst Customer Service: Store Edition. …
canadianentrepreneurtraining.com/customer-service-lessons-le…

Allianz Life Hires Exec With Customer Intelligence Focus
Insurance & Technology
As senior director of market management, Lisa Hoene will be responsible for the company’s customer experience and intelligence initiatives. By Nathan Golia Minneapolis-based Allianz Life has named Lisa Hoene senior director of market management.

Who said all the Call Center Incentives were Gone?
Just read the Site Selection Groups’ Economic Incentives market Report for December 2011 and it became very clear to me that incentives can still be a significant inducement to business locations and drive localized economic development.

Who said all the Call Center Incentives were Gone?

colin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:42:18 +0000

Just read the Site Selection Groups’ Economic Incentives market Report for December 2011 and it became very clear to me that incentives can still be a significant inducement to business locations and drive localized economic development.

The December reports references 186 projects garnering incentives of more than $750 million. The largest project listed is a $250 million dollar incentive to Prudential Financial for a Business Services project. At one time call centers were all the rage and seemed to Economic development people to be the holy grail. Good dependable jobs paying a decent if not great wage. For many years the incentive gravy train ran on and on, with one jurisdiction outbidding another. Capital grants, interest free loans a design built call center for $1, those were the salad days. We may not be in the salad days any longer when we search for new call center locations but there are still incentives available. Two of the projects on the December report are for call centers: one for Sprint in Bristol TN and the other for Home Depot in Kennesaw, GA, each worth $2.7 million.

What form these incentives take is not known, they could be tax credits, wage subsidies, loans or grants, regardless they are incentives and remind us that we always need to be aware of what could be available to our organization if only we can ask the right questions.

Customer Interaction, Service & Experience – January 11

colin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:04:32 +0000

Alaska Airlines ranks high with WSJ
TheNewsTribune.com
The Wall Street Journal’s Middle Seat blog is out with its 2011 airline customer service ratings, and SeaTac’s Alaska Airlines once again is at the top of the list. Alaska also was in first place in 2010. The Wall Street Journal’s Middle Seat blog is …

Web key to customer service in UK
Warc
A further 19% posted queries on question-and-answer properties such as Quora or Yahoo Answer, 11% viewed tips provided on a blog, and 4% tweeted their enquiries. Women were more likely to use Q&A websites, while male shoppers displayed a stronger …

Top 5 predictions for Customer Service in 2012 … – Blog – Kana
I may very possibly be the last to blog on the theme of technology trends and predictions for 2012 with every blogger worthy of a following already having done …

Forrester’s 2012 Customer Experience Predictions | Forrester Blogs
Blog post body. 2011 was a pivotal year for the field of customer experience. A major increase in the number and types of consumer technologies had a …

Dave Johnson: India And Philippines Declare War On Call Center Bill
By Dave Johnson
Last month I wrote about a bill before Congress that would both help fight the offshoring of call-center jobs and protect consumers. Now the … This post originally appeared at Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. …

Self Service – Of Cents & Sensibility
By: Colin Taylor
A 1% improvement in customer satisfaction in utilities is worth 4.6% in market value growth so says Claes Fornell of the University of Michigan, producers of the American Customer Satisfaction Index. So if good service pays such high dividends: why is there so much poor service around?

This daily compendium is brought to you by Taylor Reach, a mid sized call center consultancy. For more information on our service visit our website follow us on twitter or connect with us on LinkedIn

7 Reasons You Need a Consultant when Looking for a New Call Center Site

colin — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:12:59 +0000

By: Colin Taylor

Why would you want to retain a consultant? Common wisdom would have it that all they do is “borrow your watch and tell you the time”. What can a consultant really bring to the table that can assist your center and your organization when you a looking at moving or establishing a new center?

Seven reasons come to mind quickly, I will let you be the judge as to whether or not they are good reasons.
1. You don’t know what you don’t know. This may sound trite, but it is also true. Unless you have been through this process repeatedly it is unlikely that you have the same level of insight as a consultant could bring to the table.
2. Eliminates internal bias. Now internal bias often exists in organizations. It may not be overt, and is often spawned by a belief that if we can put the center anywhere, then why not near the VP’s summer home or the CEO ranch. In a consultant lead process this bias is eliminated or at minimum challenged.
3. Eliminates external bias. Your CEO and your board have friends, and they have friends of friends. It is likely that at least some of these folks will be contacted through personal or social networks by one or more jurisdictions that wish to attract the call center. The people in Economic Development (EcDev) are professionals, they have fine-tuned their pitch and can make any location sound like it is Shangri-La. A consultant lead process eliminates this lobbying and restricts the EcDev pros from contacting anyone but the consultant.
4. The reasons for hiring consultants are generally that either you don’t possess the knowledge/experience internally of you have the talent, but don’t have the bandwidth to complete the specific task while completing the existing work and job activities. In Site selection experience can be crucial. Many consultants have developed proprietary models (I know that Taylor Reach does) and methodologies that facilitate a deeper analysis of the relevant data points than can be completed internally.
5. Incentives are always available. Now the salad days of site selection are gone, you can no longer build and outfit a center for $1. There are tax credits, low interest loans, and still grants in some markets all tied to the local wealth created by the operation of the call center. Consultants will have more experience dealing with the EcDev and government agencies and can ensure that all possible incentives are evaluated against a realistic and sustainable job creation model.
6. Track record is important. With the experience of building center domestically and internationally consultants can bring their experience to bear on any future site selection project. Local laws, customer and work practice knowledge is essential. What is the cost to terminate an agent in the Dominican Republic? How does long term service leave affect Australian call centers? What are the specific advantages of locating in a ‘Right to Work’ state? In each case a consultant can leverage their experience in order to properly cost and budget for a new center.
7. Consultants offer one final advantage in this or any consulting engagement. That advantage is that you didn’t execute the project the consultant did. This positioning means that you can take credit for the astute decision to bring in a consultant on any successful project and be insulated from blame if the project is less than successful. You can always fire the consultant. Of course whether it is credit of blame will have a lot to do with your due diligence in selecting the consultant in the first place. But that is the topic of another post.
It is unlikely that this article will change anyone’s mind about hiring a consultant. I do hope that I have reminded the reader of the advantages that can be achieved when working with the right consultant and highlighted some of the risks associated with treating selection as a DIY project, or investing in an inexperienced or unprofessional consultant.

Colin Taylor is the CEO of The Taylor Reach Group, Inc. a call center consulting and research firm based in Toronto and with offices in New York, Atlanta and Sydney Australia. With more than thirty (30) years of call center leadership experience operating in-house call centers, building one of the most successful BPO organizations and now consulting since 2003, Colin and his team stand by ready to assist you.
Like to chat?
Please feel free to reach out by phone (877-979-8692 x200 or email (ctaylor@thetaylorreachgroup.com) and we can set up a one hour telephone meeting to discuss your needs and whether Taylor Reach has the experience and capabilities to assist you.

New Service From Taylor Reach Equips Call Centers to Measure Customer Satisfaction, First Contact Resolution and Net Promoter Score

colin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:57:32 +0000

New tool from Leading Call center consulting firm allows call centers to listen to their customers tell them how they are performing and measures true Customer Satisfaction, FCR and Net Promoter score.

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) December 21, 2011

Colin Taylor, The Chairman and CEO of The Taylor Reach Group, Inc. today announced Customer Quality Reporting, a new tool that makes it easy and inexpensive for call centers to measure their Customer Satisfaction, First Contact Resolution and Net Promoter Score.

“Historically, one of the challenges experienced by call centers has been the inability to accurately gauge the level of Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) delivered and the percentage of calls or contacts that are resolved on the first attempt. Customer satisfaction, has been proven to drive customer loyalty and repurchase and First Contact Resolution (FCR) is both a quality measure- how well we serve our customers and a cost metric- how much money could we save if we resolved the issue on the first contact”, said Taylor.

“According to the Harvard Business Review, Companies could improve profit be at least 25% Just by reducing Customer Defections by 5%,” said Taylor. The key to reducing defections is to ensure that companies and their call centers are delivering a satisfying experience when they phone the call center.”

Customer Quality Reporting (CQR) allows call centers to determine the overall level of Customer Satisfaction with the call centre service, the level of First Contact Resolution in the center and even calculate their net promoter score (NPS). In addition CQR tracks the CSAT and FCR right down to the individual agent level. This agent level reporting means that centers can target training and coaching to the individual agents that need this assistance and who maybe costing the company money. In addition trend reporting highlights performance improvement, as a result of coaching and training initiatives.

“CQR is accessible to centers of all sizes with the service priced at $35 per agent, per channel (voice, email, chat etc.) per month,” said Taylor.

About The Taylor Reach Group, Inc.

With three offices in North America and one in Australia, The Taylor Reach Group, Inc. (Taylor Reach) a leading Call Center Consulting and Customer Service consulting firm. This award winning company founded in 2003 by Colin Taylor today boasts a stable of Fortune 1000 companies. The consulting staff at Taylor Reach each possesses more than 20 years of Call/Contact Center, Customer Service and Customer Satisfaction experience in delivering effective and significant benefits from Operational Innovation.

The Snapshotz Online Update December 2011

colin — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:35:11 +0000

The Download
The Snapshotz Online Update December 2011

A Snapshotz of December 2011
In spite of the trying economic conditions globally we had had a 250% growth in customers employing Snapshotz over 2011 and have forecast to double growth in 2012. Over two thirds of Snapshotz users have a subscription purchase.

Snapshotz today can still claim to be the only holistic web based (SaaS) tool available to contact centres for regular assessment and continuous improvement programs. Covering over 700 variables and continually being updated with approaches and technology in the customer service world.

In this festive issue, we tackle 2 important topics that perennially accost us and will serve us well as we dwell on the year ahead. Darlene Richard has us dwelling upon leadership: reflection and resolution and includes an amazing thought proving clip that is guaranteed to change your views on change. Colin Taylor tackles a subject that we cannot seem to keep the lid on over the last 20 years! staff and agent retention. Two must reads as you emerge into the New Year!

Get well soon Don, Don Hales the doyen of customer Service in the UK and a Snapshotz contributor took ill recently, we wish him speedy recovery and a restful season ahead.

A note to those of you who wish to have Snapshotz Download delivered to another email address other than the one you currently receive this monthly ‘download’ please click here to include another address

Several international publications on carry articles from the Snapshotz monthly download over 5 last month, see link to the Call Center Times article.
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Is It Time for your Call Center Check Up? Colin Taylor
Clients frequently ask me what is the single most important activity they should undertake to ensure that their center is operating and performing at an optimal level. Like all of us they are looking for the magical, simple solution to their issues and challenges; just one thing; the magic pill, silver bullet, panacea that makes their jobs as center managers easier and more productive. Unfortunately there is no ‘Silver Bullet’.
What I tell these call center operators is that to be effective they need to know their center…at this point I get a look of indignation…”of course I know my center., what are your suggesting?”. They are thinking and assuming that this consultant has finally lost touch with reality. But what I mean is that to be effective you must really, really know and understand your operation.
There is a Zen dialogue where a student asks the teacher what the secret to meditation is. The teacher tells the student the secret is Attention, “what is attention”, the student asks and the answer from the teacher is “Attention means Attention”, We must pay attention to each and every activity in the center, every day.
While this sounds simple or at least simplistic, this can be a huge challenge. Most managers manage from point to point in a sequential process, “OK, today I will focus on the new cross selling initiative and tomorrow on agent occupancy and then Thursday on the forecast revision that we need to do based upon the new marketing materials we are using next quarter. This sound perfectly reasonable and it is, but it reflects our linear and sequential management approach…first this, then that and later the next thing. This approach is great for knocking tasks off a “To Do’ list, but by its’ very nature it ignores all of the other aspects and activities that are not on the “To Do List”.
Fire Fighting or Fire Prevention?
We know that there are literally thousands of activities that take place in a call center. Each call may involve tens or hundreds of discrete activities, knowledge points, applications, processes, clicks and keystrokes. It is these activities that are the ‘meat and potatoes’ of a call center operation. It is also these activities that receive very little attention until something goes wrong.
Once there is a problem then the specific activity in question is a candidate for inclusion on the “To Do List”. For many organizations the “To Do List”, devolves into little more than ‘firefighting; dealing with crises rather than proactively improving the call centers’ operation, fire prevention. But given the vast scope of potential customer interaction activities in the call center what other options are there for staying on top of the ‘thousands of moving pieces’ that are occurring in real time every minute of every day?
How do we effectively manage these interconnected processes and systems; the ‘thousands of moving parts’ that make up every call center? Contact us to find out more
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Closing the revolving door Part 1 and 2 – Colin Taylor (Taylor Reach Group)
Staff and agent retention is an issue that has plagued centres for over 20 years and still does. Learn why this is still a current issue and how to start closing that revolving door! Read Colin’s article

Leadership: Reflection and Resolution – Darlene Richard
Find out what the key distinguishing qualities of a leader are and what inspirational leaders focus upon as a legacy.Read Darlene’s article.
Watch this 10 minute video that Darlene recommends in her article guaranteed to change your outlook!
Wish to provide feedback or comment? We welcome comments on Darlene’s article and all other information presented in the Download. Place feedback…

May this holiday season be blessed and restful.
Wishes for a family filled Christmas and to a great 2011.
All the best from the Team @
WWW.CustomerServicesAudit.com
Other news you may have missed…
Snapshotz approach delivers savings. read how using the simple but structured Snapshotz approach, this team was able to drive a seamless customer experience, reduce costs to serve, gain greater agent engagement and increased interdepartmental cooperation. Read how the team achieved savings…
2011 TRENDS to watch for in customer Service and IT Support
Times they are a changing – China comes calling. Read more in our news and events section.
New Partners join the Snapshotz Online brigade Feb 2011 Snapshotz Download Newsletter.

Developed in NZ but gaining ground around the world, Snapshotz is the cheapest tool to keep track of the entirety of the customer experience. Check out the website http://customerservicesaudit.com/ See sample reports generated as well as other links such as customers experiences Customer Experiences
Snapshotz Online has multiple applications – audit, planning, training, comparison of teams and performance, review and reporting.
If you wish to find out more contact us or our certified partners and we will be happy to discuss any questions you may have. Contact information: Email: Info@customerservicesaudit.com
Customer Services Audit Ltd, TeleConsultants House, 31 MacKelvie Street, Grey Lynn,
Auckland1144, New Zealand. Phone: 0064 9 376 2806 .
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