Contact Management Magazine Issue 2 2013

News

THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MAGAZINE ISSUE 2

Oh Canada Canada's place in the new era of Contact Centres

❯❯Contact centres under attack ❯❯Building people-focused contact centres

Issue 2

contactmanagement.ca | 1

News

31,133 Sq. Ft. Commercial Space Available

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❱ 31,133 square feet of contiguous commercial space available. ❱ The site is owned and managed by Crombie REIT. ❱ Fibre optic connections are available in Port Colborne from Bell Canada, Cogeco, and the Niagara Regional Broadband Network. ❱ Ample parking at front and rear of building with over 600 spots on site. ❱ Electrical service available to the mall is 750 kVA. Upgraded service is available. ❱ Integrated public transit service.

With affordable labour rates, no local competition, and a regional workforce of over 200,000, Port Colborne is positioned to welcome its first call centre. The city has a long list of advantages for contact centres that includes: ❱ No local call centre competition; ❱ Population of 26,000 (Port Colborne and Wainfleet); ❱ An opportunity for over 2000 more jobs to meet local community needs; ❱ Workforce of over 200,000 people within a 30 minute drive;

❱ Regional economy that can support an additional 2500 call centre jobs; ❱ Knowledgeable workforce, with a higher rate of bilingualism (English and French); ❱ Available student workforce; ❱ Training programs available locally from Niagara College; ❱ Redundant fibre network with service from the major providers plus Niagara Region Broadband Network; ❱ Integrated public transit service; ❱ Located just 25 minutes from Buffalo, New York and an hour from the Greater Toronto Area.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh Katz, Crombie REIT

905 671-6034 Josh.Katz@crombie.ca www.crombie.ca

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Stephen Thompson, City of Port Colborne

905 834-1668 x500 stephenthompson@portcolborne.ca www.portcolborne.ca/page/contact_centre

Issue 2

Feature

Under attack!

The contact centre’s role in security management Social engineering: Social engineering, in the context of information security, is understood to mean the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. This is a type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or gaining computer system access. It differs from traditional cons in that often the attack is a mere step in a more complex fraud scheme ~ Wikipedia

By Katherine Thompson

W

e live in a world where information, communication and access is truly at our fingertips. Between the continued emergence of mobile applications and online resources, we are the generation of empowered consumers able to conduct our daily lives with more convenience and access than ever. But with that access comes inherent risks. The information we share, whether it’s through the companies we do business with or through online social media sites, is quickly becoming a lucrative and sought after commodity. The experienced and professional hacker has many methods to access and extract this information. While online (cyber) and physical security tactics are most prevalent, the emerging strategy of social engineering is starting to capture the attention and concern of many in the business of protecting your information.

“How hackers hack—protecting yourself and your customers” was the topic of a recent Greater Toronto Contact Centre Association (GTACC) morning meeting hosted by the Peel Regional Police. The well-attended event attracted an interesting crosssection of industry and responsibilities, all sharing a mutual interest and concern in the growing demand for cybersecurity mechanisms. Derrick Webber, Penetration Testing and Forensics Team Lead at CGI presented a very entertaining and insightful look into the innovative and aggressive means professional hackers are using to gain access to your company’s systems and data. Following the event, I had the opportunity to sit down with Derrick Webber to discuss the impact, responsibilities and opportunities the contact centre will play.

The emerging threat of social engineering “There’s a saying in our industry—amateurs attack systems and professionals attack people” says Webber. “We are seeing more attacks being carried out through human channels”. Webber goes on to point out that one of the key areas being exploited is verification services. He references the recent hacking of the Associated Press Twitter account which falsely announced explosions at the White House that resulted in temporarily wiping out

Highlights from 2013 Internet Security Threat Report, Volume 18 Key Findings » 42% increase in targeted attacks in 2012. » 31% of all targeted attacks aimed at Issue 2

businesses with less than 250 employees. » One waterhole attack infected 500 organizations in a single day. » 14 zero-day vulnerabilities.

$136 billion in value from the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. While this exploit resulted in Twitter implementing upgraded online security, frontline verification methods still pose a significant threat to security.

The contact centre has a role to play in security management While there are a growing number of acknowledged security breaches through social engineering, there are much more that go unreported. “Where we see an emerging role for the front line representative is being able to identify and track attempted breaches through channels like the phone and online means such as chat and social media sites” says Webber.

“This would involve training representatives to be able to identify these attempts. By tracking and reporting this data companies will be better able to identify trends, adjust internal management protocols and protect important data.” With the inevitable changes in global legislations surrounding breach management and reporting, Webber believes the investment in training your frontline staff will safeguard against legal action, severe penalties and loss of customer loyalty.

Communication is key but still lacking Many companies have established protocols in place for the management of breach attempts, yet many overlook the role of the contact centre in managing the flow of communication both within an organization and to the customer.

Legislative changes to PIPEDA open the door for the contact centre to play a much larger role in breach management, especially as it relates to time sensitive communication to those impacted by the breach. “From a compliance perspective, the need to communicate will be required. In terms of managing and monitoring social engineering attacks, the frontline representative can become your company’s most important safeguard” says Webber.

Katherine Thompson is a passionate and committed voice of the global BPO industry focusing on current and emerging trends that impact how customers engage, respond and commit to your company’s brand. » 32% of all mobile threats steal information. » A single threat infected 600,000 Macs in 2012. » Spam volume continued to decrease, with 69% of all email being spam. » The number of phishing

sites spoofing social networking sites increased 125%. » 5,291 new vulnerabilities discovered in 2012, 415 of them on mobile operating systems.

Source: Symantec Security Response

“The presentation for GTACC at Peel Regional Police Station was amazing. The focus of the session was on security and more importantly information security. I thought the speaker did an excellent job at showcasing the relevance of information security and made his examples applicable to all industries. The venue was excellent, audience participation was high, and the topic was extremely relevant for the current social/ political climate. Kudos to a great job GTACC!” ~ Nygel Weishar, Sr. Manager Scotiabank “There was so much to learn from the Peel Police tour put on by the Greater Toronto Area Contact Centre Association. The lessons on cyber crimes and the criminals behind them were alarming and insightful. I have always ensured my client data is encrypted and secure and I walked away with a better understanding of how to continue to protect my own personal information (e.g. two factor authentication).

In the “old” days we knew not to click on unknown attachments in emails, modern cyber-criminals have replaced the attachment attack with a seemingly harmless link from a friend or colleague who’s computer has already been hacked.

You click on the link from that friend or colleague and now cyber-criminals have full access to your computer (and all the databases and files connected to it). This, according to the experts in the demonstration, is the biggest risk to the security of business data. Cyber-criminals will use call centres as an avenue into customer accounts and agents are a first line of defence. Agents are often the first to receive a call from a customers when their account has been compromised. In both cases the call centre plays a very big role in defending the advances of cyber-criminals. The organizations that take this threat seriously and prepare front line agents for these situations will be in a better position to defend against these real threats to their customers and their data.” ~Graham Kingma, President Imagen Business Solutions

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Feature

Canada’s place in the new era of Contact Centres A summary of 12 interviews with influential thought-leaders from around the world.

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By Bruce Simpson The early days of the Global Contact Centre Marketplace were a bit like watching 4-year olds play soccer … a herd would rush from one side of the globe to another chasing lower wage rates in untapped labour markets.

Today, much of the thrashing has stopped, as just like Zellers we’ve learned that “the lowest price is not always the law”. This especially applies when deciding who takes care of a company’s most valued asset Issue 2

Cover … their customers. The revolution from productivity-only call centres to influential Interaction Centres has changed the value proposition for our industry and could redefined Canada’s role in the Global contact centre marketplace.

Drivers of Change

Customer Experience matters: there was a time when customers were taken for granted, where every cost reduction action plan started by reducing headcount in the contact centre and making it harder for customers to get service.

Now with very little differentiation between products, and the advent of a megaphone called social media, the customer experience matters and poor service is publicly punished. Your Brand = Your contact centre Anywhere + Always On: supporting your 7x24 website, being truly active in social media (beyond a pilot-phase) and mobile-everything (banking, marketing, payments) is once again increasing the need for contact centres. Just like the internet fueled a growth in customer contact, interaction centres are now the hub of an increasing number customer touchpoints.

High-Value Work: as most of the simple work has gone to automation, self-service or gone away (EX: consumer Telemarketing), what is left is lots of complexity that customers can’t figure out by themselves OR work that has previously been done face-to-face. What is needed most is a remote counselor / co-pilot who is able to build a human relationship, understand context and solve problems (including selling!).

Key Point: Welcome to the “Age of Effectiveness” in contact centres where instead of being just Efficient (Faster!

AHT!) we need the work to be done Effectively (FCR, Resolution, CSat and Sales). Canada could be a leader in the type of work that is complex, constantly changing and is really important to companies.

What we learned while chasing lowest cost models: We learned that outsourcing anywhere works best for high-volume, simple, repeatable and unchanging contact types. Dynamic + Complex work doesn’t do well in the command + control environment of most 3rd party contact centres.

Offshore labour rates increased faster than forecasted and the cost of supporting and managing a provider Issue 2

of service in a land Far Far Away had companies incurring significant costs that were not originally accounted for. We also learned that attrition rates have become a qualifier for many types of complex work; if it takes on average 3-6 months for a rep to get good at complex work, yet the average lifeexpectancy of an agent is say 6 months (60% of attrition is in the 1st 90 days) … this means people leave before they even get good at the job.

Customers seem to care less about where they are serviced and more that they are being heard, being understood, and can understand the person they were communicating with. Often what challenging is not just accents or nuances in language, but context; hard to understand and service a credit card when you’ve never seen or used one before.

Key Point: The utopian view of huge savings, with easy implementation of a static turn-key solution turned out to be a mirage. There are clear reasons why Outsourcing or Insourcing onto Canadian soil makes sense for the types of work that matter most to companies today.

Oh Canada!

Our Product: our well-educated, easy-going workforce with diverse language capabilities is at the core of our industry’s value-proposition. We should not take this for granted as we are, and have always been, in a war to get, keep and develop the right talent.

Stability: we have clients whose customers are serviced in developing countries where political instability can shut-down whole centres and causes chaos. We also take for granted Canada’s telephony, IP cloud-based infrastructure and power grid are some of the most advanced in the world.

Canada = Reliability.

The New Math: when the Canadian dollar was at 75¢ US we competed based on price. Now if your CFO or consultant is comparing fully-loaded wage rates world-wide they might miss the point. This analysis ASSumes equal effectiveness rates (Resolution rate, FCR, CSat, Sales) and any real-world analysis should factor in both these differences AND a long ramp-up period for these to be obtained.

If it takes a Canadian centre 1.2 contacts to resolve a customer’s issue (with lower transfer + error rates) and it takes the Far-Far-Away Contact Centre 1.6 contacts; the cost difference is huge.

As Geoff Oakie SVP of HGS Canada points out; ”companies are often pointing at the wrong metric, usually at the transactional-level, not the business-benefit level. Getting the compass right means Canada can compete world-wide on Value and Performance.

Discipline of Great Execution: many of the symptoms that appear in contact centres are “upstream” issues; how we plan work, how we implement anything new, how we manage and share knowledge and how we lead + coach people. Canada needs to be the leader in our ability to execute well in a multi-channel highspeed world.

As Don Moffatt CEO of Millennium1Solutions proclaims; ”after 20+ years there is still a void in the marketplace for delivering consistent quality. That only happens if you are bird-dogging what the management team should be focused on everyday.” If Canada can lead in our ability to execute the hard work every day instead of leaving it for agents to figure-out … that is a strategic advantage!

Most Canadians view of a CALL centre was formed when someone called them during the dinnerhour to sell them long-distance or duct-cleaning. This dated and distorted view of a CALL centre, by both executives and prospective employees, is our biggest constraint to innovation and growth.

For companies … we need to educate firms on the contact centre’s potential business value, and the risks of not investing in this channel. For banks that means positioning the contact centre as a strategic partner to service and sell to the 30+% of customers that no longer go into a branch.

For almost every B-to-B sales organization it means changing their beliefs of what a world class inside sales team can do. For our overwhelmed healthcare system this means piloting proven methodologies that other countries are using to proactive monitor and manage patient care before it gets expensive (maybe we can do this for other countries?). We need to change the antiquated view of what a contact centre is and what it can do.

For prospective employees … we need to give-up our blind over-management of productivity for a more balanced, value-oriented and effective approach. This includes a focus on doing the job well, not just fast and paying employee more for the value they generate. With new tools contact centre reps can often do more than a field tech / field rep, and do it any-time and without wasted travel-time … why wouldn’t we not pay them more? We work with 2 centres where the reps have 2-3 certifications and will make $80k - $120k this year. We need to challenge our leaders to prioritize the needs of employees so they can have a life; by creating flexible work arrangements like work at home. Our industry needs to re-think old management practices AND get a reputational make-over.

The Last Word: Never before has the potential value of a world class contact centre been so significant. In this new era, innovative approaches bundled with new technologies combined with talented and motivated people could allow Canada’s contact centre industry to compete based on business value, and not on price.

SwitchGear has been Canada’s premiere contact centre consultancy for over 10 years. Mr. Simpson co-founded North Direct Response (became ClientLogic, now Sitel International) and has worked with clients that outsource to Egypt, Philippines, India, Canada and across the world. To know more about Canada’s role in the “Age of Effectiveness” you can reach Bruce at Bruce@switchgear.ca or sign-up for the monthly SwitchGear Insights at www.switchgear.ca contactmanagement.ca | 5

Employee Engagement

Building a people focused contact centre –Part 1 of 3 Employee engagement - the secret to building a highly connected culture, one employee at a time

By Jeff Doran & Sangeeta Bhatnagar

This is the first of a 3 part series where we will look at building an engaged workforce culture from both a centre-wide and individual level. Part one focuses on strategies for attracting top talent.

In most organizations, culture is formed from the top down. The CEO/President strongly influences the type of culture and branding that exists in their company. They set the tone. Their words and actions re-enforce the values, behaviours and characteristics they want to see in the organization.

This has a trickledown effect with the rest of the company. Managers tend to emulate the words and actions they see from their bosses and so on down the line.

A great example of culture and branding comes from the Lululemon website where they recently advertised for a new CEO. Here is a summary of the job description: • You communicate powerfully, often through Sanskrit.

• You are disciplined, focused and can hold a headstand for at least 10 minutes.

• You’re a long-term thinker. You already have a plan to bring yoga and luon to Mars by 2018.

• You break all the rules like getting your OM-on (loudly) whenever the urge arises.

• You elevate and cultivate the level of talent within the senior leadership team by holding The Bachelor lululemon. Only one successful SVP will get the final rose.

• Not only do you lead the organization to create components for people to live long, healthy and fun lives, you know the secret to how they got the caramel in the Caramilk bar.

• You wear The Mansy to lead our company-wide morning chant and kombucha ritual The job description was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. But from reading these bullets, you get a pretty good idea as to the type of culture you might expect if you were to work for this company.

Any organization that wants to build a better culture to attract top talent needs to develop a positive internal brand. This is more than just holding Monday morning “Raw-Raw” sessions and wearing company logo pins. Building a strong internal brand involves understanding employees’ deeper emotional and physical attachments to work, company, community and global impact.

Organizations need to understand how employees personally feel about their workplace with regards to: company image/reputation; products & services, community involvement; innovation; financial stability and future direction to name a few.

Once an organization has a clear view of employee motivators, they need to align them to corporate strategic objectives. Now they can start to re-enforce an internal brand message that resonates with employees and encourages them to push past limitations. Employees need to be involved in crafting and communicating the message. The message needs to be real, honest, relatable and immediate. Having employees involved from the start will go a long way in helping them take ownership, develop pride and become more engaged overall.

A great example of the power of internal branding comes from a New York based company called arc90. They are a software development and design firm specializing in complex web applications.

Their culture is based on creativity and innovation. A big part of their day to day consists of developers collaborating and sharing ideas. The challenge was that they needed to do it in a more consistent or expedient manner. To that end, they developed their own software to more effectively manage the flow of ideas, comments and conversations. This innovation management tool became so effective, that they started to introduce it to their clients and they loved it. The demand was so strong, arc90 set up a dedicated company to develop market and service their software on a global basis. The product is called Kindling and currently sells across North America and overseas. They are now one of the leaders in this very competitive market. If arc90 did not have such a strong internal support for their brand, they would not be where they are today and they would not be attracting the top talent that will keep them in the forefront of innovation.

When it comes to building a vibrant, people focused culture like ark90, you need to find out why people were attracted to your organization in the first place. I recently conducted a diagnostic review with a client going through their employer of choice assessment and discovered that most people were attracted to the organization due to positive experiences they had as a customer or through 6 | contactmanagement.ca

favourable conversations they had with friends and family. So before they were even hired, they were already highly attracted to the organization and advocates for the brand.

There are many methods of promoting a favourable culture to the general public but the bottom line is that you need engaged employees to make it stick. In order to create an engaged culture where people want to be involved and “go the extra mile”, you need a high degree of trust and respect at all levels. This must be part of the leadership mantra. If employees feel that they will be supported, encouraged and recognized, they will be more motivated to contribute and become more connected. If they feel their opinions and actions don’t count, they will tune out.

In the contact center environment, it is sometimes difficult to get people involved in special projects without adversely affecting productivity. But creative managers are introducing some interesting and unique opportunities for employees to be more involved. Two key areas companies are focusing on these days to drive employee engagement and attract top talent are community support and social innovation.

• Community Support – If managers want to create a close-knit, supportive, productive team, they need to be more proactive in creating opportunities for employees to connect outside of work.

One manager at a large Canadian contact centre, invited her team out on a Saturday to volunteer with her favourite charity – Habitat for Humanity. Almost everyone on her team came out, put on a hard hat, picked up a hammer and spent the day building a house. They all had a lot of fun but more importantly, they developed a real sense of connectivity to their team, the company and the community. Helping a family achieve their dream of owning a home, instilled a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment in everyone.

• Social Innovation Management – organizations need innovation development/management systems that will stimulate employees to think of new ways of doing things. Employees must also be encouraged to submit their ideas anywhere, anytime. These systems need to capture and process ideas quickly so people can see the results of their efforts Issue 2

Employee Engagement immediately. Having an innovation system in place not only improves employee morale but also allows you to measure and manage the employee involvement process.

Suggested reading on this topic: Ideas Are Free by Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder.

Building and sustaining a people focused culture, for the purposes of attracting top talent is a no-brainer.

But it’s easier said than done. Strong, consistent leadership is critical to building and maintaining an engaged culture and therefore, having the right people in the right positions doing the right things are the key elements to success.

Look out into your contact center.

How are your internal branding initiatives affecting your centre’s ability to attract top talent? The secret is to develop an engaged workforce that wants to be involved. If you can do this, you are well on your way to developing an enthusiastic, supportive and connected contact centre culture.

It all comes down to you Attracting and retaining top talent to your team depends a lot on your company’s Recruitment and On-boarding processes.

Recruitment does not end at the time of hire and on-boarding does not start at the time of hire. Instead the two processes are intertwined and create your brand in the industry. How people are treated from the first step will influence their pride and engagement in the company. People are looking to work for an organization that they can belong to and feel a part of.

There is a need for stability, appreciation, and fun in the workforce.

While increased use of technology to start the process is helpful, we must ensure that we do not lose the Human element which all people crave and ultimately work for. We as human beings have some common desires; the need to belong is right up there with oxygen!

Your brand as a company needs to be represented right from the beginning of the recruitment process, that is, from the initial job posting that your external Recruiter or internal HR department uses.

Have you ever wondered why after several interviews, background checks and new-hire training that “star” candidates quit and go somewhere else? Some may think it had to do with the Recruiter not exercising proper due-diligence, but have you Issue 2

ever wondered what may have gone wrong in the Recruitment/On boarding process?

Here are some points to consider when starting the recruitment and on-boarding process.

Think of the different personality blends Have the personality blends/temperaments of the different candidates as well as that of your company brand been considered as you proceed through the Recruitment/on-boarding process?

Personality Traits

What is Important in the Recruitment/On-boarding Process

D

❯❯ All relevant tasks should be completed quickly and efficiently ❯❯ All interviews and training should start on time and be conducted in a professional manner ❯❯ Expects RESPECT throughout the process

Fast paced, Dominant, Drivers, Quick decision makers, Task oriented and typically Extroverted

I

Fast paced, Inspiring, Innovative, Enthusiastic, Life of the party, High energy promoters and typically Extroverted

❯❯ Welcome with energy, excitement and genuine enthusiasm ❯❯ Welcoming e-mails, personal greeting and buddy system on First day ❯❯ Looks for a feeling of FUN & CELEBRATION

S C

Steady, Stable, Secure, People Oriented and typically Reserved

❯❯ Appreciate kind gestures showing your level or care for them such as warm e-mails and pre-hire phone calls ❯❯ Looks for BELONGING and APPRECIATION

Cautious, Careful, Compliant, Task Oriented and typically Reserved

❯❯ Expect all training materials to be organized and in order ❯❯ Proper completion of tasks is very important ❯❯ All contracts should be error free ❯❯ Training and first day logistics should be delivered in a logical manner, ensuring not to start late or waste time ❯❯ Looks for efficient Standard Operating Procedures and a feeling of VALUE

Since many companies rely on external recruiters to assist in the recruitment process, here are some best practices that will encourage Recruiters to represent your brand in the best possible light.

How quick is the turn-around time? Once your company’s internal or external Recruiter interviews the candidates, how quickly do you interview possible candidates? Typically the Recruiter (internal or external) should be able to get back to the candidate within 48 hours with an interview date and time. Remember, once someone starts looking for a job, they look aggressively.

If you use an external Recruiter, then it is imperative that the internal representative have seamless turnaround times i.e. 24 to 48 hours, as candidates can get frustrated with the poor communication and then look elsewhere. This lag in time can be the beginning of either a great corporate brand or a very poor corporate brand. If there is a lengthy delay then the candidate will not feel valued.

Enthusiasm for the organization will diminish as this experience was not welcoming or employee-centric. If you are recruiting agents, it is critical to deliver feedback quickly as the toptiered agents will get hired quickly – maybe even by your competitor if you take too long. Typically, an agent should know either way within 72 hours.

Additional points to consider are: • On the day of the interview at your respective organization, how are the candidates greeted?

• Are they treated with respect? Is each person being treated as if they are your valued customer?

• After the first interview, how are candidates left to feel? How quickly is the feedback given?

• Do you make candidates at the agent level come in for several interviews or do you show enough respect to have them come in once but meet with the respective managers and HR staff on the same day?

• On-boarding should be fully integrated into the Recruitment and Selection process.

• Process can be started online, with downloads and e-mails provided to the candidates ahead of the start date.

• Ensure that candidates are greeted with a warm welcome during the entire interview process.

• Ensure speedy and efficient communication throughout the process • Badges, computer/phone logins etc. should be ready on first day of orientation • Orientation should be Warm, Welcoming and a Fun experience.

All levels of Management should be involved in the Training process to start instilling the true corporate culture where Employees are valued and respected.

The success of the recruitment process comes down to how you treat the candidates throughout the process. An agent or any other candidate will deliver the service with which they are treated.

How one is treated early on is a key piece in defining the corporate culture.

If you do not treat people properly in the Recruitment/On boarding stage – then giving a T-shirt or a Mug with “We Care about You” means nothing. It is just another piece of meaningless swag.

All aboard!

People matter (not just a catchy phrase). Showing that you care should never stop.

Remember, by investing in a proper Recruitment and On-boarding process – You will reduce attrition, reduce on-going recruitment and save training time and dollars! contactmanagement.ca | 7

Customer Relationship Management

How to deliver a better pizza It’s not just about the food; It’s about the entire customer experience

By John Bardawill

I

don’t have to tell you that agents are the life-blood of a contact center.

The value of an organization’s customer experience relationship is directly related to, and highly influenced by, the quality of the customer-agent interaction.

So the end goal, obviously, is to ensure a consistently positive and high value customer-agent interaction. Sounds easy, right? Well, not really.

Take out or delivery?

Take a simple example like ordering a pizza. The customer states that they would like to order a pizza for delivery. The agent asks what size, what toppings, etc., and finally, ‘take out or delivery’? It’s a small thing, but if the agent had noted the customer’s request upfront, it would make for a better interaction, and potentially a less expensive call in terms of talk time.

It is commonly assumed that if an organization has a good recruiting process and first-rate training and incentive programs, their representatives will be able to deliver a positive customer experience. But it’s really not that simple. Even with all of these key pieces in place, you will still have good agents interpreting organizational mandates and training differently, resulting in vastly different customer experiences.

Many organizations focus their attention on call structure, but this alone will not maximize the customer-agent relationship. In addition to call structure, organizations should be focusing on the relationship building skills of the agent, and the quality of the interaction between the customer and the agent.

most organizations are coaching in a static environment and not in an evolving one. Typically, coaching training for supervisors is also necessary.

• Ensure that KPI reporting reflects the new state. This includes ensuring that the measures being tracked are the right measures, that they are highly visible to the agents, and that they are reviewed on a daily basis by all levels of the contact centre, from management to agents.

• Establish optimal performance management. In any substantial change management process, change does not come immediately, and does not happen “evenly”.

A tightly managed process is required to ensure that things progress positively and that gains are clearly visible while set-backs are minimized. Best practice dictates the development of a real time process that allows for corrective action “in the moment”, with daily coaching and performance management reviews to determine how teams of agents are progressing.

Developing better results in a contact center environment is about change management. It requires a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from the current state to a desired one.

To accomplish this successfully, a contact center must first redefine its customer-agent relationship, and then provide the necessary support to ensure a successful transition.

This does not mean that just one thing has to change, but rather a number of things need to change in an aligned and focused manner to ensure success. It’s not easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is!

John Bardawill is Managing Director at TMG International Inc., a consulting firm focused on Business and Marketing Strategy, Channel Management, and Contact Centre Development.

3 Requirements for improving the customer-agent relationship

1. A clear understanding of organizational objectives down to the agent level While many organizations have objectives for their agents, often we find that they do not align fully with the organization’s overall objectives. Every agent should understand the organizational objectives, and be held accountable for them. To accomplish this, their personal objectives must be tied directly to the overall organizational objectives. This provides agents with clear direction and the ability to measure their own success in supporting the organization.

2. A well-resourced contact center that is able to support the required change Contact centers must be appropriately resourced to effectively change. But I am not talking about having the latest in technology, generous staff levels, and a healthy budget. At a minimum, the following must be in place to ensure an organization is capable of making changes: • an appropriate supervisor to agent ratio (1:12-15) to manage change • a real-time reporting system to ensure ongoing effective measurement of key performance indicators • a training budget that allows for sales and service training on an ongoing basis • the ability to evaluate progress and provide ongoing communication on the state of the change 3. A methodology to ensure change at the agent level There must be a methodology in place to manage the agents through the change process. To do this the organization must: • Develop and implement a training program based on a redesigned future state call structure. This will help to ensure that current agent call behaviors change to match the requirements of the new call structure and objectives.

• Redesign the coaching model to reinforce the newly defined call structure.

Greater focus will need to be put on the amount and quality of coaching as 8 | contactmanagement.ca

Issue 2

CAM-X 49th Annual Convention & Trade Show September 24-27

CAM-X 48th Annual Convention & Trade Show

Message from Convention Chair

Keynote Speakers

This convention is not about the location!

Opening Keynote - John Ratliff

I am very pleased to invite you to join us in Bermuda this year. Our 49th Annual CAM-X Convention and Trade Show will be at the Fairmount Southampton.

There are a few of us still around who attended our last visit to Bermuda in 1986. It is amazing to think of how the business has changed. What hasn’t changed is the value each attendee takes from a conference.

Bermuda is a real treasure parked in the Atlantic almost an equal distance from the United States and Canada.

Over the years Bermuda’s seven larger islands and many smaller islands have hosted the likes of Babe Ruth, Albert Einstein, and Harpo Marx. Some like, Canadian industrialist K.C. Irving moved to Bermuda to escape taxes.

The Fairmount Southampton is a spectacular property with every room having a view. Perched on one of the highest points of land in Bermuda, the property includes a fabulous beach and one of the best executive par three courses in the world. The hotel provides a ferry service to downtown Hamilton.

Yes, the location is great but the real reasons we attend CAM-X conventions will be there in spades. We will have an excellent program planned around our theme “Connect with Culture”. I am very pleased that John Ratliff will be our opening keynote speaker. John Ratliff and “Connect with Culture” what a match! I am equally pleased that John Whitehead will be our closing keynote speaker. If you have heard the two Johns speak you know what to expect; if you haven’t you don’t want to miss them. In between the two John’s, we have an excellent program planned for you. Industry leaders will be sharing their ideas on social media, video, employee recruitment and retention. I am particularly looking forward to Mary Stewart’s panel on Hiring and Retaining Good Employees. We are also putting together a special program for the first day, to provide an opportunity to connect with fellow industry players and enjoy the sites, and culture of Bermuda.

Bermuda is easy to get to with direct flights from Toronto, Boston, New York, Atlanta and Chicago to name a few.

There are also cruises ships from the U.S. making regular trips to Bermuda. And of course you can sail to Bermuda, only 635 nautical miles from Newport and 720 nautical miles from Nova Scotia. However, September is not the recommended month for sailing to Bermuda.

Mark the dates on your calendar, September 24 to 27.

See you on the other side of the triangle for a Gosling’s.

Bill Tucker , Convention 2013 Chair

10 | contactmanagement.ca

Great company culture is not about posters on the wall or games in your break room. Great companies have a different philosophy about employees than good and mediocre companies have.

Come spend some time with John to learn about how you can change your philosophy to change your results!

John Ratliff started Appletree Answering Services from scratch in 1995.

The business grew steadily through summer of 2000, and allowed Appletree to upgrade from a small paperless system to an Amtelco Infinity. At the same time they tripled their advertising budget and hired a salesperson. The business began to take off from that point, and has experienced at least 40% per year growth every year since 2000.

John recently sold his company to Stericycle.

John graduated from the University of Delaware in 1992 with a double major in Marketing and Finance. Prior to his call center career he owned and operated two wireless phone retail stores in Pennsylvania.

John has been active in many industry groups including ATSI, CAM-X, SNUG and NAEO. He is a former ATSI and NAEO Board Member.

Closing Keynote - John Whitehead “You would expect that somebody worthy of sharing the secrets of living a good life would be a lot older, have a lot more experience, have climbed a couple mountains, won an Olympic gold medal, or maybe fought off a Polar Bear while skinny dipping in the Arctic! But then again, if none of us are ever going to do any of this stuff, why would we want to listen to somebody tell us about how to do it?

So…you get me. John. I’ve packed a lot into my first fifty years. I better share it now as I fear I may spend my next fifty years forgetting it all.

I’m a student of life getting wiser with every experience…both good and bad. I don’t know it all. But what I do know I’m happy to share. Get ready to think deeply…to be challenged…to laugh because humour is always needed... to confirm some of what you already believe…to let go of some of what you may have believed…and to cry because some of life’s lessons require that.”

John Whitehead and his wife Marie have two boys Jake 17 and Max 15. They live in Sudbury and love the outdoor life it provides. You can find them at their 85 year old log cabin on the lake in the hot days of summer. You will find them on the ski slopes or the hockey arenas in the winter. He coaches hockey and has done so for 14 years now. His priorities in life are health, family, and work.

Issue 2

News

CAM-X 48th Annual Convention & Trade Show

Schedule of Events

Monday, September 23 4:00 – 7:00pm Board meeting

6:30 am Tuesday to Friday: “Nature Walk with Michael Leibowitz? Explore the beauty of Bermuda on foot. We will walk for about an hour and discover the diversity of flora, and have many great photo opportunities. You can leave the walk at any point as we won’t venture too far from the hotel.”

Tuesday, September 24 1:00 – 4:00pm Taxi Rally / Amazing Race

6:00 – 8:30pm Opening Reception (poolside)

Wednesday, September 25 8:00 – 8:45am Networking Breakfast in Exhibit Hall

8:45 – 9:00am President’s Welcome

9:00 – 10:30am Opening Keynote: “Culture Creates Your Competitive Advantage” with John Ratliff

10:30-10:45am Coffee in Exhibit Hall

10:45 – 12:00 Let’s Socialize! Social Media Panel with Kevin O’Connor Panel: Kate Swift, Nancy O’Connor

12:00 – 1:00pm Lunch in Exhibit Hall

1:00 – 2:00pm AGM

2:00 – 2:30pm 30 Minutes of Fame

Issue 2

2:30 – 2:45pm

7:00 – 10:00pm

Coffee in Exhibit Hall

Gala Dinner and Silent Auction

2:45 – 4:30pm Hiring & Retaining Good Employees with Mary Stewart Panel: Michelle Matte, Julie Sparkin, Rob Leguerre, Jen Ferby

4:30 – 6:30 Rum Tasting Silent Auction Open

Friday, September 27 9:00 – 10:00am Vendor Time

10:00 – 12:00noon

Thursday, September 26

Closing Keynote: John Whitehead

8:00 – 8:45am

Board Meeting

12:00 – 2:00pm CAM-X Awards Luncheon

3:00 – 6:00pm

Networking Breakfast in Exhibit Hall

8:45 – 9:00am ATSI President Welcome

Vendors

9:00 – 9:45am

Amtelco Madison, WI Brad Swift bswift@amtelco.com 800-356-9148

Personal Story: Scott Lyons

9:45 - 10:30am Video: The Wave of the Present with Pat Taggart

10:30 – 10:45am Coffee in Exhibit Hall

10:45 – 11:15 Vendor 30 Minutes of Fame

11:15 – 12:00 “The Power of Trust and Credibility - How to build it and its impact on employees and customers” with Paul Roy

12:00 – 1:00pm Lunch in Exhibit Hall

1:00 – 1:15pm NAEO Update

1:15 - 1:45pm Personal Story: Don Swift

1:45 - 2:00pm SNUG Update

2:00 - 2:30pm Personal Story: Casey Smit

2:30 - 3:00pm Personal Story: Pat Vos

Professional Teledata Manchester, NH Pat Kalik pkalik@proteledata.com 800-344-9944 Startel Corporation Ivine, CA Steve Newell steve.newell@startel.com 949-863-8738 Szeto Technologies Inc. D.D.O. QC Charles Szeto charles@szeto.ca 514-421-3737 TAS-Innovations Sudbury, ON Mike Shantz mshantz@northern911.com 800-461-3317 TeamSNUG Plymouth, MN Dan L’Heureux dan@callconsult.net 763-473-0210

3:00 – 6:00 Free Time

6:00 – 7:00pm Cocktail Reception

contactmanagement.ca | 11

CAM-X 48th Annual Convention & Trade Show

FEATURE SESSIONS

Opening Keynote: “Culture creates your competitive advantage” with John Ratliff Great company culture is not about posters on the wall or games in your break room. Great companies have a different philosophy about employees than good and mediocre companies have.Come spend some time with John to learn about how you can change your philosophy to change your results!

Let’s Socialize!

Social media panel with Kevin O’Connor Panel: Kate Swift, Nancy O’Connor Still wondering how social media can be useful for the call center industry? Join the CAM-X communications committee to discuss all aspects of social media from what it is to focusing, maximizing and analyzing your efforts specific to the call center industry. Don’t be shy; bring your questions for our Q&A and let’s socialize!

Hiring & retaining good employees with Mary Stewart Panel: Michelle Matte, Julie Sparkin, Rob Leguerre, Jen Ferby How do you attract ‘that perfect candidate’ to your firm? * What methods do you use for recruiting and why? *What prescreening process works best in your opinion? * What method of interview do you feel in the most effective? * What are your top 10 questions and do you have specific interview guidelines? * Is retention important? * What are the top 5 retention programs? * What are the pitfalls of keeping employees who are not keeping up their end?

12 | contactmanagement.ca

Video: The Wave of the Present with Pat Taggart If the prospect of using video in your business is scary, you’re not alone. Who’s going to produce it? What good will it do, and what will it cost me? Pat Taggart (Appletree Answers, Stericycle) will speak about the practical application of video in a call center environment.

No longer the wave of the future, video is everywhere and provides a clear competitive advantage. In fact, there are few industries that can benefit as greatly from utilizing video as ours. Pat will arm you with a list of ideas and resources, putting your fears to rest and providing a clear understanding of exactly how video can improve employee engagement, save time and yes, even drive profits. If you have never used video in your organization, this is a session not to be missed. For those of you that have, find out how to take it to the next level. Learn to love video from someone who does!

“The power of trust and credibility - how to build it and its impact on employees and customers” with Paul Roy Paul’s presentation will be focused on the value of credibility and its’ relationship with trust with both your customers and your staff. We all like to deal with and work for people we trust however we can’t take it for granted. We lose employees and potential customers because of a lack of trust. We will explore the ways we can test if we have trust and the things we can do to get trust back if we have lost it.

Closing Keynote: At 50 this is what I’ve got for you so far…life’s lessons!

Stolen, borrowed, recognized, and made up! with John Whitehead

You would expect that somebody worthy of sharing the secrets of living a good life would be a lot older, have a lot more experience, have climbed a couple mountains, won an Olympic gold medal, or maybe fought off a Polar Bear while skinny dipping in the Arctic! But then again, if none of us are ever going to do any of this stuff, why would we want to listen to somebody tell us about how to do it? So… you get me. John. I’ve packed a lot into my first fifty years. I better share it now as I fear I may spend my next fifty years forgetting it all. I’m a student of life getting wiser with every experience…both good and bad. I don’t know it all. But what I do know I’m happy to share. Get ready to think deeply… to be challenged…to laugh because humour is always needed...to confirm some of what you already believe…to let go of some of what you may have believed…and to cry because some of life’s lessons require that.

Issue 2

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