Call center basics

Most banks have realised the importance of having a call center to address customer requirements. Banks do realise that servicing customers at branch can be an expensive affair for the bank and inconvenient for the customer. Many have either set up or are planning to set up a call center.

There are several basics to be kept in mind while setting up a call center and I try to capture a few of the important ones below.

1. Should ideally be accessible 24 x 7 - If not, should be available during normal working hours.
2. Should ideally be centralised but not necessary. Centralisation helps in managing costs and standardising output.
3. If centralised, should have at least 2/3 locations to manage disruptions
4. Should have adequate staff to cater to incoming calls. Optimising is required.
5. Staff well trained on
- Different products & technologies used
- Customer handling skills
- good listening / comprehension skills
6. Multi lingual staff capabilities
7. Top notch technology which can give
- On line status of accounts
- Status of deliveries
- Current offerings
- Single view of customer's various accounts
- ability to divert customer to correct desk depending on status, need etc.
- recognise the customer based on number
- authentication of customer
- speed in capturing requirements
- trail information of all past calls to / from customer
- ability to assign and track tasks till completion
- Recording calls for audit / training purposes

Banks have to take a hard look at the services that they would like to continue at the branch and those that they wish to migrate to the call center. While some essential services need to be done physically at the branch, there are many opportunities to innovate and migrate most of the activities to the call center.

Although, servicing of customers is the key activity of call centers, it is also used by banks for recovering loans, reminder management, selling products, market research activities etc. While inbound calling forms the bulk of the activities of call centers, outbound calling is also resorted to on 'need basis'.

One of the key challenges in the call center would be to ensure that customer calls are closed, to the satisfaction of the customer, with high level of speed and efficiency. In general, customers desire to have a quick resolution and an end to the call. The whole process at the call center should be designed to make this happen. For example, the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system should follow the 'KISS' principle (Keep It Simple and Short). Customers would get irritated if there are too many options or if they are not clear. Also, there should be no loops or dead ends.

The staff capacity should be managed so as to keep the 'wait time' to the minimum. Of course, this can be adversely impacted by sudden or unexpected surges of call volumes. If the customer finds the wait time unreasonably long, it will result in dropped calls and increased 'walk ins' by irritated customers in the branches. Also, if the wait time is too long, it may result in more calls coming in during 'office hours' when customers call call from their place of work without worrying about the call duration. This results in bunching of calls and a vicious cycle of delays.

Keeping the staff energetic, enthusiastic and motivated can be a challenge esp. if they are dealing with complaints or delinquent customers. A lot of counselling and hand holding may be required with regular breaks interspersed with recreation. Staff should be encouraged to share experiences and learning. Replay of recorded conversations is a useful method of imparting and enhancing call handling skills.

Staff should also be trained to identify / prevent potential frauds. The processes should be robust to ensure this is continuously monitored and improvised. Data security is a challenge and steps must be taken to prevent data thefts. This can be done in a variety of ways like preventing data copying facilities, non-use of pen & paper in the work stations, non-use of mobile phones at work stations etc.

If managed well, a call center can enhance the bank's efficiency and profitability significantly. It can also enhance the bank's reputation and help it sell and recover more.

I would love to hear your views on this blog. Please feel free to leave a comment on the blog or send me a mail at vish.sesh@gmail.com and I will quickly respond.

Find, Win & Keep Customers

The title of this blog is based on a slogan I heard long ago while working for GE Countrywide. Essentially, it is a strategy for customer management. I will explain this in the following paragraphs.

In the retail banking space, one of the key challenges is how to identify customers. Products can only be successful if it addresses the needs of customers and are designed with the customer in mind. It is, therefore, essential to identify our target customers and their needs. We must remember here that we are not talking about 'a' customer but about segments of like minded customers. The find part of the title is all about how to identify customer segments.

This can be done in a variety of ways. The easiest of these is to look at competition and what they are doing and whom they are focused on. There is no need to 're-invent the wheel' in a mature market. However, by doing this, a bank is only successful in taking away share from competition with better offerings. Sometimes, one can discover flaws in the competitors products and improve on them.

The other approach would be to do a market research to identify possible segments. Market research can be a costly affair and time consuming and, with changing needs of the customer, may also not be the best method. Most of the time, the best method would be to 'hear' the voice of the customers through formal / informal feedback and move accordingly. Most effective organisations extensively use the method of making 'test' offerings and closely analysing the results.

Once the activity of finding customers has progressed, the task of winning the customer is upon us. There are many imperatives for this. I will try to capture them in the form of bullet points below:
1. Solid brand image built through past performance and not merely 'brand ambassadors' or marketing efforts
2. Well designed product meeting customer needs
3. Smooth and speedy processing of transactions
4. Convenience and reach through multiple channels
5. Simple documentation
6. Effective methods of reaching out to target customers
7. Motivated and passionate sales team

Winning customers is not easy especially when there are so many banks offering similar products. More often, the banks with an effective sales team and sales management process wins the battle. More on this in a future blog.

The costs of winning / acquiring customers is usually high. This can best be offset by putting efforts on retaining the customer. Also, when one retains a customer, it provides opportunities to increase income by cross-selling or up-selling more products to the customer. This where the 'keep' part of the title plays a role. Most organisations fail in this crucial area.

In order to retain the customer, banks have to make sure that the customers is delighted with its services. This includes things like speedy processing, transparent dealings, value for money, convenience, complaint redressal and tracking etc. This is also about understanding the need of the customer through regular communication and also about anticipating the customer's changing needs. An effective team with its 'ears to the ground' and focus on customer can make this happen.

There is a need to constantly monitor attrition levels and have triggers based on this. Tracking of customer longevity and share of wallet is also important. Every customer attrition, whether natural or voluntary, whould be treated with concern and attempts must be made to retain the customer. A useful method would be to have an exit interview with attriting customers to understand the causes. A bank which is sincere with the customer and has an empowered front desk stands a better chance of retaining customers than others without these.

Find, Win & Keep Customers is a simple and effective slogan capturing the essence of customer management.

I would love to hear your views on this blog. Please feel free to leave a comment on the blog or send me a mail at vish.sesh@gmail.com and I will quickly respond.