I once read an article whose title espoused the opposite perspective of this post.  Perhaps you saw it too.  I began reading it, in eager expectation of an enlightening and insightful discourse on the use of IVR (Interactive Voice Response) in the call center.  I was soon to be disappointed. 

Essentially, the author asserted that the masses (code for "customers") are selfish and shortsighted when they attempt to bypass IVR systems to talk to an agent.  Doing so, which he likened to fraud, causes call center costs to go up, thereby resulting in higher priced goods and services.

If a call center is a cost center for their company – one that has no real regard for their customers – then yes, tighten up the IVR.  Force callers to spend more time interacting with IVR so that agents can spend less time interacting with them; do everything possible to block callers from talking to your reps; and hold down costs to make the call center look good.  That works if you have a captive customer base, operate a monopoly, or find it easier to get a new customer than to keep an existing one.  Otherwise, we need to listen, really listen, to what the masses are saying — because they are right.

IVR has its place in the call center, but we need to not overstate what that place is.  If IVR can truly speed up the call for the customer or gather information that can assist the agent in providing better, more effective service, then use it.  However, when the primary goal of IVR becomes to save money, reduce the agent headcount, or limit customer service options, then it needs to be put on the scrapheap of bad ideas.

Here are my recommendations for the right way to use IVR in your call center:

IVR Dos:

• Always, always provide an option for the caller to press 0 to talk to an agent.
• Provide short and basic options that can be readily understood by someone from outside your company.
• Ask your customers, and even your friends, to call and test your IVR.  Then fix the things that bug them.
• Setup your call center’s IVR exactly as you would want one to work when you are calling someone else.

IVR Don’ts:

• Don't block the digit 0.  "The customer is always right" and if the customer wants to talk to a person, then let them.
• Don’t prompt for an account number if the agent is going to ask for it again.
• Don’t have callers make entries (such for "billing") and then not tell the rep which option has selected.
• Don’t route callers to a general agent queue after you have made them take the time to tell the IVR specifically why they're calling.  Skip the subterfuge and just route the call.
• Don’t provide level after level of menu options; keep it simple.
• Don’t force a mildly irritated customer through a frustratingly long and cumbersome IVR tree, because they will exit it highly irritated – and take it out on the agent.

Yes, the masses are right about IVR.  In most call centers, IVR is broken and needs to be fixed.  What are you going to do about it?

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I hope you are having a great summer!

This was a jam-packed conference and every session I attended was a huge success.  Here are some of my opinions and observations about this great conference.  These are from my meager notes not from the CDs.
I always buy the CDs even though I'm there, because that way I don't have to take notes or worry about the sessions I couldn't attend.  I share them with all of my senior employees and they always "hear" something I missed.  They are necessary to my company!  By the way we gave Scott Argo a plaque for his 28 years of service to ATSI!

The first Keynote Speaker was Tim Searcy of the ATA — now the American Teleservices Association rather than Telemarketing.  He gave some great statistics about our industry.  He also shared some information on lobbying that made me extremely glad that we have a man of Dave Wenhold's integrity at the helm of our lobbying efforts.

Stats — in 2007 there were approximately 354,000 people working remotely in the Teleservices industry.  This included inbound and outbound.

68.4% of interactions are handles by people versus automation.  Easy access to a person from an automated menu was the top concern of 88% of consumers.

My own side note, which I will share — Don't offer free programming as a new customer perk, offer programming "at cost."  Programming is going to become a more and more important thing as we script more and more new accounts, or add reporting capabilities.

Casey Smit stated that this is the "Tear of the Leader" at CAM-X, and shared more information on the upcoming convention at Deerhurst in Huntsville, Ontario

Marty Weems spoke on remote agents and legal issues.  He was wonderful, as always, and we didn't let him get to the end of his presentation — again!  I did note that we need to add to our own remote agreement that we must have a specific training session regarding working from home, (rather than just having an agreement — which is also a must).  We need to emphasis the remote employees equipment must face away from public areas so that no one can see the screens or overhear conversations.  I do not want to personally inspect my remote agent's homes, so I am going to ask for photos of their work area and a signed statement that they understand the privacy and HIPAA requirements.  OSHA does not require home inspection of the remote agent's worksite, but that may not stop the employee from making a workers comp claim.

We should also have our remote agents sign a statement that they are responsible for paying their electric and cable/phone bills on time so as not to chance interruption.  We can fire them if they do not.  If you don't what to buy all the CDs — just be sure you buy this one if you have or are planning to have remote agents.
We also touched on sending bills by e-mail and fax and if you have your agreement printed on the back, be sure to send that also.

We can call our agreement a Contract and we can call money collected up front a non-interest bearing deposit rather than trying to collect first and last — which puts us at a disadvantage if a client is trying to get out of paying us.  Deposits are not taxed.

Beth Cooper and Ray Shaw did a yeoman's job of talking about disaster planning and recovery, and site certification.  I did note that "Ray said, Go to the Public Insurance Adjuster prior to a disaster so they can review all of your insurance policies.  They will help you if you need to make a claim in the future — if you have a disaster call your insurance agent and call the public adjuster.  Your claims will be more likely to be paid properly without problems.

Finally, the first day we heard from Gary Pudles about the model contracts on the ATSI website.  There is terrific language in them that we should all be familiar with.  Please review them for yourself.  Some of what is listed under Marty above may actually have come from Gary, if so I apologize; I dropped my notes and may have mixed them up.

On Friday our keynote speaker was Doug Tatum who was absolutely fantastic.  His book, No Man's Land, What to do when your company is Too Big to be small, but too Small to be Big — is recommended reading and should be required reading for us!  Again I recommend getting the CD because I didn't take notes I simply sat and soaked it all in.  Many of us recognized ourselves in that in-between, and realized that we need to make some very smart decisions regarding our company growth.  This one session was worth the conference cost — and I for one wished he was an all day speaker.  (I believe he will be speaking at one of the regional meetings — get your reservation in early!)

The rest of the day consisted of break out sessions, and rather than describe the ones I went to, I'd encourage our membership to send in a brief synopsis of their presentation.

On Saturday our keynote speaker was Roger Pell of InMatrix who spoke on what we need to know about our financial data.  He explained the importance of being able to look ahead to see what effect our financial plans might have on our future growth.  From his examples it was clear that rapid growth could be devastating to your business, where as simple means — such as raising rates, lowering expenses, and collecting receivables even a few days sooner could easily net huge profit.  The key is knowing what to do.  Having a spreadsheet that will allow you to make assumptions and see how they will play out is essential to making good decisions in today's high tech world.

Following Roger was an outstanding session on FUSF with Darlene Campbell, new Board member, Brian Gilmore, and Dave Wenhold, of Miller Wenhold, who gave clear insight into where we stand on the fight for a carve out for our industry, and who with other members, did some fantastic role playing that gave good ways to talk to our congressmen and women.  It was also a mini sales course in body language and making the sale.  Dave is a wonderful representative for us.

The Education Foundation Auction was a huge success and SO much fun.  Ryan Chinosky missed his calling he is a fabulous auctioneer!  The foundation event — a trip to the City museum was outstanding, I'm hoping someone who attended will share the highlights, there was a waiting list to attend and I did not get to go.
Your Board is going to execute a survey to members and non-members alike to find out what ATSI can do to earn more members and satisfy more members.

This is enough — did I mention that you really need to buy the CDs — there was SO much to learn and absorb, I know when I get them I'll listen to them three times and still learn new things every time I hear them.  

Hugs
Donna G West
Focus Comm Centers

If your call center is only making EBR (existing business relationship) calls, you may think you have nothing to worry about, right?  No.  Just because it is legal to dial a number, doesn't mean you should.  Calling too often or for the wrong reasons could turn an EBR into a former EBR.  This happened when I retaliated against a company that overcalled me.

I used to have a weekend newspaper subscription.  Since I only had time to read it on the weekends, this was a splendid arrangement — one which I would have gladly continued if not for overzealous telemarketing.  One evening I received a call from an enthusiastic employee of the paper.  They had a special upgrade price so that I could enjoy the paper all week long.  I explained that I only wanted the paper on weekends.  A few months later, I received another call for the same offer from a different rep.  I assumed that turnover had occurred and my preference for weekend-only delivery had not been noted in my account (so much for an effective CRM).  I repeated my penchant for weekend-only delivery.

These calls became a regular occurrence — and I grew increasingly annoyed.  Sometimes the interval was two or three months, other times only a couple of weeks; once it was two days.  No one seemed to realize that regardless of how often it was offered, I was not going to capitulate to their plea to expand my subscription.  Even when it was offered at no additional cost, I declined.  I asked that they stop calling, but my request was disregarded.

My exasperation over the persistent phone calls grew until it exceeded my satisfaction in reading the paper.  I realized that by cancelling my subscription, the EBR provision would soon cease to be a factor and eventually I would have legal recourse should the calls continue.

I expected the effort to end my subscription would provide one final opportunity to stop the phone calls — and continue receiving the paper, sans telemarketing.  I was mistaken.  Incredibly, when I called to cancel my subscription, no one asked why.  They didn't say they were sorry.  Most surprising — especially given their proclivity for phoning me — no one made a follow-up call.  Even though there was a window of opportunity for them to call to win me back, that never occurred.  The unwelcomed calls stopped.

The paper thought they were safe by placing calls that complied with legal requirements, but they were wrong.  Their unrestrained calling turned a happy subscriber into an irritated ex-subscriber.  I wonder how much other business they lost because of their legal, but unrestrained calling practices?

Are your calling practices hurting your call center?

The 2008 ATSI Convention and Expo culminated with the annual awards presentation.  This year’s Call Center Award of Distinction winners are:

24-7 INTouch, Inc., Regina, SK
AAMCOM, Redondo Beach, CA
Answer 1 Communications, Phoenix, AZ
Answer Quick, Louisville, TN
Available Communications, St. Louis, MO
Contact One Call Center, Tucson, AZ
Direct Line TeleResponse, Berkeley, CA
Extend Communications, Inc., Brantford, ON
Fallon Communications, Houston, TX
FineLine, Winnipeg, MB
Focus Telecommunications, Inc., Burtonsville, MD
JAM, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, UK
Spectrum Communication Services, Inc., Brookfield, WI
Sundance Vacations, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Telelink Call Centre, St. John’s, NL
Tel-Us Call Center, Inc., Beverly Hills, CA
TransCore, Auburn, MA

For the ATSI Award of Excellence, Michigan Message Center and Rochester Telemessaging Center were recognized for the twelfth consecutive year.  See the complete list of all Award of Excellence recipients.

After a day packed with several general sessions, concurrent breakouts, and seven hours of the expo, the day ended with the ATSI Education Foundation Auction.  The total amount raised (through the auction, raffle, and foundation event) was $21,830!

Auctioneer Ryan Chinoski...



                   ...and his lovely assistant Sarah Krogsrud

ATSI's Education Foundation provides funding for of ATSI's educational programs.  It has been responsible for providing the seed money for the computer-based interactive CD-ROM programs: Professional Telephone Techniques, TeleServices Training, and Caring In Action.  Visit ATSI's website for more information.

The theme of the 2008 ATSI Convention and Expo is "Step Up To The Plate."

The Convention and Expo is being called a great success — both in terms of attendance and content — however, the allusion to major league baseball did not follow that example, with the local St. Louis Cardinals being swept by rivals Kansas City.  Some convention attendees may have snuck out to watch Wednesday's evening game or Thursday afternoon game, but if they were rooting for the home team, they would have been disappointed.  (Hence a reminder to stay at the convention.)

Given the rains and flooding Mississippi, it turns out that an alternate theme could have been "The River is Rising."

Yes, the mighty Mississippi river is again flooding its banks.  It reportedly crested this morning at about 37 feet.

The Mississippi River, St Louis MO, June 19, 8:00 pm



Observation Platform on the Mississippi

This was taken just east of the arch.  I understand it to be an observation platform.  Only the railing is above water; the rest is submerged.  (See more photos on Flickr.)

Fortunately, the flooding has not affected the Convention and Expo, where it is only the interest and excitement for the industry that is rising.

Doug Tatum, author of "No Man's Land: What to do when your company is too big to be small and too small to be big," gave the opening address for Friday's session at the 2008 ATSI Convention and Expo.

Doug Tatum, Tatum, LLC

In a presentation that resonated well with attendees, Doug shared the ideas from his book, "No Man's Land" as they applied to the telemessaging and call center industry.

Doug affirmed the important role of small business, especially the small business entrepreneur, in creating most of the new jobs in the US economy. 

Although 90% of these new small businesses fail within the first few years, those that do succeed are a boon to the economy and grow until they reach a condition he termed as "no man's land."  Specifically, they become too big to still be considered small, but are still too small to be considered big.

When businesses reach no man's land, there are important techniques that can be used to effectively navigate "no man's land" and emerge successfully on the other side.  Doug detailed these various scenarios and the methodologies for dealing with them.

(Contact ATSI for a recording of this invaluable presentation; Doug's book is available in print and electronic versions from Amazon.)

The grand opening of the 2008 ATSI Expo happened this afternoon.  Vendors at the expo included:

• Alston Tascom
• Amtelco
• Appointment Plus
• CAM-X
• CenturiSoft
• Copia International
• Creative Voice Solutions
• Hays Companies
• Inmatrix
• Infiniti Resource Management
• OnviSource
• Professional Teledata
• Startel
• Szeto
  
• Team SNUG
• TASBiller
• TasWare
• Telescan
• Unifund
• VACAVA
• WW Outsourcing International
• XLScheduler

Additionally, all of the items for the ATSI Education Auction were on display.

Jan Chinoski, Ryan Chinoski, and Pat Scott with auction items.

After lunch, the Expo continued to be open and more general session presentations were held.

The evening's special activity was the ATSI Educations Foundation Event at the City Museum; 100 people attended.

Tim Searcy, CEO of ATA (American Teleservices Association) and keynote speaker for the 2008 ATSI Convention, opened Thursday's session with his insightful presentation entitled: "Futurecast for the Teleservices Industry."


Tim shared that as an industry, we are at a fork in the road.  These options go in diverging directions and path we choose will pave the way towards success or failure.

Some of his candid and interesting comments included:

• Of all communication channels available, 64% of communication is via the phone.
• The benefits of focusing on high quality service versus low-cost service are a much better retention of clients.  The side-effect of this is better retention of agents, as they then become more satisfied with their jobs since they are able to do what they were hired to do.
  
• Despite a huge decrease in outbound calling and much communication shifting to the Internet, call center telephone traffic has not decreased, but remains flat.
• Offshoring will begin to settle.  This is due to customer backlash and a weakening dollar.
• Tim cited examples of other countries offshoring to the US to save money or achieve quality.
• Clients will complain regardless of what rates they are charged, so why not charge a premium price (and provide quality service).  That strategy is being used by some of the largest and most successful teleservice call centers.
  

His concluding summary was:

1. Outsourcing is growing
2. Live operators are key
3. More emphasis on the phone
4. Consumers determine the future
5. Ignore regulations at your peril

(Contact ATSI for a recording of this dynamic presentation.)