The Office Gurus is a leading BPO that operates contact centers in El Salvador, Belize, Jamaica, and the USA, with clients in Retail, Finance, Healthcare, Education, and more. They were able to leverage SpeechIQ’s capabilities in a multi-step process to quickly drive down average handle times in customer care for an industry-leading retail client, ultimately boosting customer and client satisfaction and lowering costs.
The challenge
The Office Gurus were experiencing increased handle times within a customer care operation (product replacement and warranty) they were running on behalf of a major home improvement retail company. This was a complex operation that involved multiple inbound gates covering a diverse range of products. The team was tasked with identifying the factors affecting these handle times and then implementing appropriate strategies to improve the trend.
The solution
The Office Gurus were able to utilize SpeechIQ®’s capabilities in a multi-step process, complimenting wider operational changes. It was used not only to identify causal factors affecting avg. handle time, but then also aid in ensuring that remedial strategies were being implemented properly and that agents received sufficient guidance and motivation to keep them on track.
Identifying the problem
The team focused on 3 inbound gates and were able to use SpeechIQ® to analyze, in-depth, and for all calls, how and when particular keywords and phrases were being used by agents. They then compared the best and worst-performing conversations in terms of handle time. They were able to identify that, in calls where agents initiated the conversation by asking the customer for their product ID, avg. handle time was significantly reduced. While professional instinct for many agents was to open with something like ‘How can I help you today?’, it was clear that these open-ended questions were often leading to long explanations by customers that were significantly driving up call times.
Implementing a new strategy
With this simple, yet vital, piece of information The Office Gurus were quickly able to implement a new strategy to combat the problem – and then use SpeechIQ® to ensure it was being adhered to by agents. Firstly, they created a new inbound script that led with a product ID ask. By developing new automated scorecards in SpeechIQ®, they were immediately able to determine script adherence levels – for every agent on every call. They also used the insight to reprogram their inbound voice recognition (IVR) software, to set expectations for customers calling in.
Coaching towards success
With detailed information on how every agent in their operation dealt with the new requirements, The Office Gurus were easily able to identify where extra support and feedback were required. They were then able to present these agents with clear and quantifiable evidence in integrated conversation analytics data alongside avg. handle times, that script adherence would improve their performance. They found that this evidence was deeply persuasive to their agents, and consequently saw script adherence levels rise
The results
By using SpeechIQ®’s capabilities in multiple ways throughout this process of improvement, The Office Gurus were able to drive down the average handle time on these inbound calls from 9:07 to 7:50 in just 4 weeks from the start of the project, an increase in efficiency which will save their client around $170,000 annually. They also saw a 63% increase in script adherence as a result of their data-led coaching methods. This is not to mention the implicit improvement in both customer and client satisfaction as a result of speedier resolutions.