Strategy for Call Centre Development - Assignment Example

Strategy for Call Centre Development Introduction Call centres or technical support companies are one of the fastest growing industries in the world. We are in the midst of a fast-paced globalization and industrialization era which is greatly impacting on consumer usage and customer relations. With new technologies and new industries being developed and introduced into the market on almost a daily basis, the need for technical support has also risen dramatically. Hence, more and more industries are also linking their activities to call centres companies and technical support teams. Based on these considerations, this paper shall outline how a fully functional call centre could be implemented; including equipment use and usage of technologies alongside costs. This paper is being conceptualized for NUI Galway which is a third level educational institution with 15,000 + students and a staff of about 500 with many different departments. Discussion First and foremost, it is important to consider the labour pool for the call centre. This labour pool would trigger the decision on where to set the call centre up. The decision on where to pluck the labour pool for technical support should be based on labour availability in the area where Galway is located, the labour competition, the educational level of potential agents, and appropriate wages for potential agents (Copito, 2000). It is also important to consider geographical factors, cost of living, quality of schools, transportation and similar factors affecting the labour pool. After duly considering and establishing particular qualities which the company would need from its technical support agents, potential locations and areas where the labour pool would be recruited can be set forth. Next, Galway also needs to decide whether it would own or lease property for its call centre (Copito, 2000). Leasing or owning property would now be based on the availability of resources within Galway’s resources. If property is currently available for it to set-up its call centre, then there would be no need to lease property. The infrastructure involved in the call centre property should however be set-up in such a way as to meet the needs of the agents (Copito, 2000). In effect, the area should also house a place where the agents can park, eat, relax, and where they can avail of their immediate needs. Parking space is an important accommodation for the property because the most of the employees would be working night shifts and public transport would likely not be available to them (Copito, 2000). Parking should be on the ground level and should be outside to reduce the cost in accommodating indoor parking areas. Municipal incentives are also important elements in call centre development. These arrangements can be made with the municipal or city government representatives. Considering that the call centre would potentially bring forth jobs to many residents in the area, tax incentives, low-cost financing, workforce allowances, and road improvement subsidies can be worked out with the city or municipality (Copito, 2000). It is also important for the call centre to develop a customer profile – who the customers would be; their needs and wants; and how their needs can be served (Cleveland, 2003). Details on customer types should also be drawn. It is also important for the contact types to be defined by the company in order to anticipate the different kinds of interactions which would arise between the customer and the agents. These interactions may include: placing orders, changing orders, checking account status, resolving issues, and other specific details (Cleveland, 2003). Access channels should also be identified for the call centres. Channels of contact may include: telephones, internet, fax, e-mail, IVR, handhelds, face-to-face, postal mail and other forms of contact (Cleveland, 2003). Routing and distribution plans also have to planned, including details on how contact would be distributed. Based on studies on best practices in call centre development, it is important for the call centre to enable delivery of services in order to retain customers and increase sales (Lagace, 2000). In developing the call centre, it is also important for the organization to give as much autonomy to their agents as possible. This would help engage focus on representatives, not just its clients. In order to prevent high turnover rates, employees should be promoted from within the company and they should also be given more responsibility; such conditions send the message to the agents that the company trusts them to deal with a broad range of issues (Lagace, 2000). Consequently, the company has a greater chance of experiencing high turnover rates. In order to ensure successful strategy in call centre development, the energy of the agents need to be focused less on outbound calls and more on inbound calls. Outbound calls tend to distract agents in their delivery of services to their existing clients (Lagace, 2000). As the company focuses on their sales, the number of their existing customers may decrease because fewer services are being offered to the customers. The customers are not receiving adequate services for their needs and they are getting more sales pitches from the agents – more than assistance for their problems. In order to establish adequate call centre development, companies also have to balance between increased spending and increased benefits for their customers (Lagace, 2000). Institutions that focused their development on information technology were able to spend more time for their customers and less time putting them “on hold.” Customer retention is made stronger for these companies. Less time should also be focused on designing complicated voice responses, which may, in the end, be unnecessary to meet the real needs of customers. A more complicated IT response would mean more customers switching to simpler institutions, especially those which allow more personal customer interaction (Lagace, 2000). Finally, in the course of developing the call centre, the decisions have to focus more on the awareness of the client. The decisions of the company should be based less on financial considerations – but more on customer needs. In this case, the company should focus less on outsourcing because it reflects limited knowledge about the needs of its customers (Lagace, 2000). Moreover, “if it has outsourced primarily because it is not able to handle the volume of calls internally, it is not focusing on customer needs but rather is reacting to the company’s own organization difficulties (Lagace, 2000). In essence, in order to ensure effective call centre strategy, the focus of the company should be less on financial gain, and more on delivering customer services. Conclusion In order to achieve effective call centre development, NUI Galway needs to establish a strong and highly trained labour pool. The source of this labour pool needs to be established and the different needs of the customers must be discussed with the labour pool to ensure adequate resolution and response time. Land for leasing or for purchase must also be set-up in order accommodate the call centre. The infrastructure upon which the call centre would be built must also be based on the needs of the agents, including parking, food establishments, and similar employee centres. The strategies employed by the company must also be based on sound management principles – largely founded on rendering the best service for the customers and the call centre representatives. In effect, the development of call centres should be on the delivery of comprehensive and efficient services. Works Cited Cleveland, B. (2003) Shaping an Effective Call Center Strategy: A well-designed customer access strategy is essential to your call center's future. Call Center Magazine. Retrieved 27 October 2010 from http://www.callcentermagazine.com/shared/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=15201437 Copito, R. (2000) Considerations for call center development: A case history. Find Articles. Retrieved 27 October 2010 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3973/is_200001/ai_n8886515/?tag=content;col1 Lagace, M. (2000) Calling All Managers: How to Build a Better Call Center. Working Knowledge. Retrieved 27 October 2010 from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/1238.html Read More