Can You Switch Your On-Site Customer Care Team  To Work-At-Home During COVID-19?

Yes. Here’s How to Get Started

As we find ourselves in the strange, uncharted territory of the past few weeks, I’ve been struck by how very united we all are by two common goals.  1. We want to do everything in our power to protect the health and well being of our employees and customers; and 2. We know the long-term well being of our communities is riding on how well each of us, as business leaders, will be able to weather this storm, keep our doors open, and minimize the economic effects of COVID-19.

That’s a conversation I’m having many, many times every day.  In fact, I have never gotten as many calls, texts or emails from clients and potential clients than I’ve received in the past ten days. Many of you are reaching out for the first time because you’re facing urgent, tough choices. Will today’s coronavirus stay-at-home requirements force you to indefinitely furlough your call center employees?  Or can you successfully transition some or all of your agents to work-at-home roles?

As an American, I first want to say thank you for exploring every conceivable way to keep as many people working as possible during this disconcerting time. As a member of our leadership team at Skybridge Americas, I also thank you for turning to us as you examine how to proceed.

The truth is, we were early pioneers in the practice and the technology of running large, geographically dispersed teams of customer care agents who work from home. We validated a long time ago that work-at-home arrangements make for happy, highly productive, super customer-oriented agents. We’ve been perfecting our models and methods and we’ve consistently invested in the technology that makes it all work best.

And right now, as you try to move quickly to determine whether moving your team out of the office and into their homes is feasible, we’d like you to know that we are here for you.

There is a lot to consider as you make the decision to switch to at-home. If you’re leaning toward trying to do it all yourself, there are some basic start-up hurdles that you’ll need to face. These include the essential investments in the right hardware and software. But it also includes critical training for agents and, especially, for their supervisors.

If you find that idea overwhelming, rest assured, you’re not alone.  Switching to at-home as a rapid response to an unforeseen, national emergency was never anybody’s dream scenario.

But right now, this is the scenario.  And if making this transition to at-home might help you keep the trains running, please reach out.  This is our core business.  It is what we do, every day.  And right now, I’d like to share our knowledge with you.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more specifics here, on the most important factors to consider when considering this important move. In the meantime, I welcome your emails and calls, and I look forward to helping you move forward.

-Bobby Matthews

Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Skybridge Americas
bmatthews@skybridgeamericas.com

 


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