{"id":11812,"date":"2013-08-27T14:36:05","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T19:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/?p=11812"},"modified":"2014-10-08T23:26:32","modified_gmt":"2014-10-09T04:26:32","slug":"call-center-balancing-act-cost-customer-satisfaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/call-center-balancing-act-cost-customer-satisfaction\/11812\/","title":{"rendered":"Call Center Balancing Act: Cost and Customer Satisfaction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a296a24fa2fc69ef5487857f02f111e8\" data-index=\"9\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Single Post readerboard -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8207522353004717\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1144967431\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>It&#8217;s not a surprise that most call centers are very cost focused and not <a title=\"toyota is too focused on the customer\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/customer-service-overdoing\/8506\/\">completely customer focused<\/a>. There&#8217;s an upside and a downside to this approach: on the one hand, call centers are traditionally &#8220;cost centers&#8221; &#8211; that is, they don&#8217;t provide revenue for the firm. From this perspective, it&#8217;s important that cost be contained and even reduced. On the other hand, the <a title=\"regression on service level and employee absenteeism\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/applied-regression-analysis\/192\/\">call center can become a differentiator in the marketplace<\/a>, where customer loyalty is harder and harder to come by.<\/p>\n<p>How <a title=\"remove wastes from a call center using lean\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/the-seven-wastes-of-contact-call-center\/2254\/\">does one balance cost and customer satisfaction in the call center<\/a>?<\/p>\n<h2>Not All Calls Are Created Equal<\/h2>\n<p>Not all customer queries into the call center are created equal. Some calls have a net negative to the firm&#8217;s bottom line, while others might initially be a cost, but then transition to a potential sale and hence revenue for the company.<\/p>\n<p>The challenge is in categorizing the calls and mapping them to the revenue the firm brings in. By doing this, it provides clarity on which types of calls we can afford to automate, which types of calls we should route to a live agent, and which types of calls can fall into a combination of both.<\/p>\n<p>The chart below shows a possible way of mapping inbound calls into a call center:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11813 size-full\" title=\"call centers and the value of a phone call\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/value-of-inbound-phonecall-call-center.png\" alt=\"call centers and the value of a phone call\" width=\"824\" height=\"625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/value-of-inbound-phonecall-call-center.png 824w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/value-of-inbound-phonecall-call-center-600x455.png 600w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/value-of-inbound-phonecall-call-center-300x227.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 824px) 100vw, 824px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There are other ways to categorize inbound contacts into a call center, but this is one easy way that provides clarity and ease.<\/p>\n<h2>How To Differentiate<\/h2>\n<p>But, we must be careful.<\/p>\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n<p>If Firm A decides that some calls should be automated, that company&#8217;s competitor might decide to make those very same type of calls route to a live agent. By doing so, the competitor firm is differentiating itself by providing a high touchpoint service agains its competitor who is routing to a live agent. And, we know, that most customers literally hate most automated channels &#8211; such an IVR, etc.<\/p>\n<h2>Self-Service is Self-Serving<\/h2>\n<p>Most self-service approaches taken by companies are an attempt at reducing cost. Let&#8217;s face it &#8211; sending a customer to the IVR or to the Web Channel is cheaper than if a live agent handled that call.<\/p>\n<p>But, just because most companies are doing this doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s good for the customer. In fact, it is likely that this approach is bad for the customer.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s needed is a way to categorize and determine the trade-off between inbound call center contacts so that the company can make wiser and more balanced decisions, instead of only cost reasons.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><object width=\"640\" height=\"480\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/tHJfaTd0-iI?hl=en_US&amp;version=3&amp;rel=0\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><embed width=\"640\" height=\"480\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/tHJfaTd0-iI?hl=en_US&amp;version=3&amp;rel=0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" \/><\/object><\/div>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s not a surprise that most call centers are very cost focused and not completely customer focused. There&#8217;s an upside and a downside to this approach: on the one hand, call centers are traditionally &#8220;cost centers&#8221; &#8211; that is, they don&#8217;t provide revenue for the firm. From this perspective, it&#8217;s important that cost be contained [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12327,"featured_media":11813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Call Center Cost and Customer Satisfaction - A Balancing Act<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Balancing Cost and Customer Satisfaction for Call Centers is challenge. 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