...designing and managing for world class Call Centre performance

World class Call Centres are designed and managed on systems principles. Vanguard leads the field in establishing systems principles in Call Centres; Vanguard clients have achieved remarkable improvements in service, efficiency, revenue and morale by adopting this thinking.

In five years time the Vanguard method for the design and management of Call Centre operations will be the industry standard.

This portfolio is designed to allow you to choose the services that will be of greatest benefit to you, according to your current circumstances.

Consulting Services

The Vanguard Transformation Programme

Finding Out What Matters To Your Customers

Demand Analysis – Why Do Our Customers Call?

Demand, Value And Flow – Understanding The ‘What And Why’ Of Call Centre Performance

Managing Call Centre Information Technology

Education Services

Leadership, Strategy And Operations For World Class Call Centre Performance

Managing Service Agents – The Role Of The First-Level Manager

The Vanguard Guide To Transforming Call Centre Operations

The Vanguard Health Check

The Vanguard Call Centre Health Check

Vanguard Consulting   return to top of page

Vanguard leads the field in applying systems thinking to organisation design and management.

Vanguard’s unique contribution has been to marry systems thinking – ‘how the work works’ – with intervention theory – ‘how to change it’.

This expertise has been extended through its application to transforming Call Centre operations. The Vanguard approach is not available from any other source.

Consulting Services   return to top of page

Vanguard consulting services work with the people who do the work – service agents and first-level managers. In that way the learning is built into your organisation. Vanguard will provide all of the practical know-how, your people will execute all of the steps.

The Vanguard Transformation Programme   return to top of page

The complete consulting service for transforming your Call Centre operations. This service includes all of the components listed in this portfolio and involves your leaders and staff in:

The value in taking a systems view

Analysis of the ‘what and why’ of current performance

Planning and executing interventions to change:

Roles

Measures

Methods

If you want to improve service, efficiency, revenue and morale – all in one go – this service is for you. We recommend, as a first step, that you take the Vanguard Health Check (see page 4) in order for us to help you determine the most cost-effective application of our methods.

Finding Out What Matters To Your Customers   return to top of page

The fastest way to create a service differential is to find out what matters to your customers and use that knowledge to design and manage the way you work.

Finding out what matters to your customers involves:

Analysis of customer demands by type and value to customers.

Choice of methods for and data collection from your customers in respect of:

• what matters to them
• current performance.

Vanguard has developed unique methods for both steps – methods that have been tried and tested with our Call Centre clients.

The analyses will enable you to:

Understand what matters to your customers.

Understand how you currently perform from your customers’ point of view.

Choose how to target changes that will produce immediate benefits in service and efficiency.

Use this knowledge to design and manage your work in such a way as to allow your customers to ‘pull’ you away from the competition.

Demand Analysis – Why Do Our Customers Call?   return to top of page

If you are not ready to engage your customers in finding out what matters to them, you can achieve performance improvements by conducting the ‘internal’ part of the finding out work – analysis of customer demands by type and value to customers.

The analyses will enable you to:

Establish why customers call in – from the customers’ point of view.

Establish the predictability of demand by type.

Establish the value created for each type of customer demand.

Focus changes in the way you service customer demands.

This service always reveals significant opportunities for improving service and reducing costs.

Demand, Value And Flow – Understanding The ‘What And Why’ Of Call Centre Performance   return to top of page

This service includes demand analysis (above) and takes an additional step. The objective is to understand the predictability of the organisation’s response (capability) to customer demands and the reasons for it (flow).

Sub-optimal performance, or sub-optimal flow, is usually caused by the way the work of the Call Centre is designed and managed.

As a result of this service, you will know:

The predictability of customer demand by type.

The value currently created in response to each type of demand.

The nature and causes of sub-optimisation and waste.

Where and how to act to achieve fast and sustainable improvement.

This service will enable you to make changes in absolute confidence that they will lead to improved performance.

Managing Call Centre Information Technology   return to top of page

Call Centres are characterised by significant investments in Information Technology. Your IT system should be helping you optimise the use of your resources and optimise the flow of your work.

Do you know how and how well your IT system helps you serve your customers?

Many Call Centres have far more ‘features’ in their IT systems than they need or use.

How can you ensure that your IT features actually work as benefits?

How do you get the best from your IT system?

How can you ensure it contributes to improved service and efficiency?

This service is designed to take stock of what IT you currently have (or are proposing to buy) and will result in recommendations about:

What to do with your current IT systems to maximise the value you get from them, in the short and longer term.

How to plan for future IT procurement to ensure value to your operations.

Education Services   return to top of page

What is the purpose of your Call Centre?

How should leaders lead for world class operations?

How can the Call Centre be at the forefront of service and product development?

How should purpose translate into measures and methods?

Why are customers, roles and measures the three key determinants of world class performance?

What measures are needed to manage the Call Centre at the macro and micro levels?

What is required to ensure that service agents become knowledge workers?

How do you engage your workforce in such a way as to improve performance and morale?

Understanding the answers to these questions requires leaders to take a systems view of their Call Centre.

This seminar will contrast a systems view with the more traditional mass production view of Call Centre design and management and enable participants to discover:

The shortcomings of mass production thinking in the design and management of Call Centres.

The advantages of taking a systems view.

The answers to the questions posed above.

Managing Service Agents – The Role Of The First-Level Manager   return to top of page

A two-by-two-day action-learning programme.

The role of the first-level manager is critical to Call Centre performance. Traditionally, this role has been designed to ‘manage standards’ and ‘manage people’. World class thinking shows the limits of the traditional approach.

In a world class Call Centre, the role of the first-level manager changes from managing standards and people to working on the system.

This action-learning programme takes first-level managers on a journey where they discover for themselves the limitations of the traditional role and learn to value the concepts and practice of managing by taking action on the system.

This programme creates a better working relationship between Call Centre service agents and their managers, with everyone in work teams involved in improving performance, resulting in better performance improved morale and reduced turnover of service agents.

The Vanguard Guide To Transforming Call Centre Operations    return to top of page

The Vanguard Guide to Transforming Call Centre Operations shows how Call Centres have earned the sobriquet ‘sweat shops’ – they have been designed and managed on mass production principles. It introduces better (systems) principles for the design and management of Call Centres and shows, with case studies, the steps required to transform a Call Centre into a world class operation.

The content of this Guide has been ‘tried and tested’ in Vanguard’s clients. In every case it has led to remarkable results.

This Guide can be used to transform your Call Centre and/or you can seek Vanguard’s assistance in applying the methods.

Our guarantee

The price of this Guide reflects the value of the expertise being provided to you. We anticipate that if you take action in accordance with this guidance, you will recover your investment many times over.

If, for any reason, you find yourself unable to determine how to realise the benefits we anticipate, we will provide you with up to one day’s consulting free of charge to help you decide how best to act in your particular circumstances.

Alternatively, if you decide to use Vanguard consultants to support part or all of your transformation we will credit the cost of this Guide.

The Vanguard Health Check   return to top of page

Not sure about where to start? Let us help you decide the most efficient and effective intervention(s) for your current circumstances.

The Vanguard Call Centre Health Check

Where you are now?

Where could you be?

The steps to take to get there.

How good is your current service?

Do you know how good it could be?

How efficient are you at what you do for your customers?

Do you know what scope you have for cost reduction?

How empowered are your service agents?

Do your current roles and measures help or hinder service delivery and efficiency?

Does your IT help or hinder performance – what do you need to do to get the most from your IT?

Do you need a fast and reliable view of the ‘what and why’ of your current Call Centre performance?

Would you like a route map for what to do immediately and over the longer term to ensure that your Call Centre becomes a world class operation?