Service Vendor Revamps Call Centers

Shelley Rawlings had her work cut out for her when she joined Network Solutions in 2002. As the new vice president of customer operations and support for the Web solutions provider, she needed to find some solutions of her own for the company’s poorly performing call centers.

Rawlings was faced with five centers that were “in shambles.” It was immediately clear to her that all five ran by the beat of their own drum.

“Customers did not have good or consistent experiences with us,” Rawlings says. “They were just consistently poor. It was clear to me that in order to turn the operation around we needed to own the customer experience.”

The metrics showed excessive customer-wait times in queue. The average speed of answer (ASA) was running over 15 minutes. In some cases over an hour, she says. No doubt, many customers gave up–and hung up. The abandonment rate was 30%. And the customers who hung on were in a rage by the time they reached a rep.

Rawlings knew that she needed to understand the hurdles she was facing in order to turn things around. So she became a customer, ordering products and services and calling the call centers about them.

She listened to hundreds of calls from customers and fielded hundreds more to understand their dismay. And she monitored the handling of calls. Then she created a plan of attack.

All outsourced call centers were closed except for one offshore location to handle after hours and weekend calls. Most employees were “invited to leave” since the cultural changes planned were so monumental that changing attitudes would have been difficult, Rawlings says. Then a new 300-seat call center was built in a different state to allow a fresh start. The crème of the crop, less than 5% of previous call center employees, were selected to help seed the new center, she says.

“We were able to open the doors to a new philosophy, create a new culture and establish the way we wanted to treat our customers from the new recruits,” Rawlings says. Then she recreated the training curriculum. All employees were required to attend six weeks of training that included phone time, classroom instruction and heavy monitoring.

Although there was formal training in place, it was not managed, updated or written in a way that was actionable, says Rawlings. It was lecture based, not interactive. And it was heavy with words, not tailored to real life situations.

Today, computer-based training is part of the curriculum. Upon completion of the training, formal classroom pre-shift and post shift exercises keep employees up to date with new products and promotions.

Initially customer satisfaction metrics were at 40%, in 2002. Today customer satisfaction averages 87%, the average speed of answer is ten seconds and the call center’s abandonment rate is consistently under 2%.

In 2005, the company’s focus began changing from being domain centered to having a focus on solutions for over 4 million of their small business customers. Thus, the call center shifted gears from a contact center to a more consultative center.

Call center employees do not use scripts–they have guidelines. “As long as you know how to get to the root of the issue you should use your personality to make it all work for you,” says Rawlings.

Employees are monitored and scored on consistency, troubleshooting, communications, follow-up, actions and account documentation. Part of their compensation is tied to their ability to be consistent in meeting the objectives in the quality profile.

In a three-year period, Rawlings cut $30 million out of the budget through consolidation, better training, and greater efficiency. The call center operations, which were a cost center, have become a profit center–the second largest revenue producer for the company.

Meanwhile, the number of call center employees, both on- and off-site, has dropped from more than 600 to 250.

All customers get free 24 /7 customer support. However, the call center is segmented by customer account types, general customer service, Gold VIP Program and Platinum VIP customers, which comprise about 5% of the total customer base. Platinum customers have dedicated customer reps and a designated help number.

Today, the call center volume averages roughly 5,000 calls per day, approximately 25 calls per person per day. As for the length of time per call, time is no object for Rawlings.

“We keep an eye on it but in some cases our tech people are on a call for 45 minutes and if they help that customer, then I’m okay with it,” she says.

Customers are surveyed at the end of their call center experience to gauge their satisfaction. Those who voice difficulties are responded to personally.

“We will always need to be nimble,” says Rawlings. “We’re only as good as the last call.”