The client engaged Carpedia to assist them in reducing costs within their Customer Contact Center. This was considered a significant undertaking, considering that the customer service department was spread across time zones in three locations; Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec.
The project scope included working with the management team in the three locations to align business processes, implement common best practices, and drive coordinated continuous improvement initiatives.
A critical component of the initiative was to maintain, if not improve, the current grade of service of 72%. A global strategic initiative had recently been implemented that would require the company to be at 90% by the end of the year.
Carpedia and the client partnered to reduce direct labor costs, improve management decision making, and create a simplified continuous improvement system.
Key changes included:
- Blended 3 call queues which balanced resources and service levels across all inbound calls
- Identified training gaps among staff and conducted training / direct coaching to resolve gaps and support the blended queues
- Changed the function of leadership from balancing queues on a computer to managing staff on the floor
- Installed execution control tools to help management make real time decisions surrounding staffing to maintain service levels
- Improved active management through Carpedia College training and on-the-job coaching
The Results
As a result of the project exceeding its required financial results, a strategic decision was made to invest some of the additional savings in enhancing the client’s customer service quality program. This will better enable the company to continue down the path of penetrating the Regional Express Courier Market.
Specific results include:
- 3.8:1 Return on Investment
- 25% Reduction in Direct Labor Costs
- 32%-34% increase in handled calls per hour between the 3 locations
- 18% Improvement in Service Levels
- 240% decrease in abandoned rate in Quebec
