Business VoIP

 

How will your business change over the next few years? How about over the next 10 years? Technology advancements continue to compress the timeframes in which change occurs and allow us to innovate at an astonishing pace. What this means for businesses today and in the future is difficult to predict. What I do know is that to achieve sustainable success business executives must implement strategies and forge partnerships that are flexible and adaptable. Business relationships must be able to react quickly to client needs and marketplace changes.

 

One way to fortify your company against unpredictability, while at the same time creating an environment that is responsive to growth and change, is to create a flexible customer service organization. Many businesses today handle customer service using a team comprised solely of full-time agents. Simply put, whether in-house or outsourced, using strictly full-time personnel is expensive and can severely limit your ability to make quick corrections or adjust to changes in your anticipated forecast.

 

When determining how many customer service agents to hire, many businesses first look at their busiest times. Whether this is certain hours of the day or during a particular season, they need enough agents to provide adequate coverage during peak periods. However, hiring based on the estimated call volumes can, and frequently does, lead to overstaffing or understaffing during “off times.”

 

Consider this example:

 

An online retailer sets staffing based on the average call volume over a 12 month cycle, but knows that the majority of the company’s sales happen during three months in the spring. During the nine months of regular sales, the retailer will fully utilize the call center staff. However, when the surge comes in spring, there will not be enough agents to handle the increased volume, resulting in missed calls, poor service and lost revenue. In the reverse, had the retailer set staffing based on the anticipated surge volume, the company would have been overstaffed the majority of the year and under-utilizing its agents.

 

A more efficient and cost-effective method of providing premium-level coverage is to find a partner that can provide a customized workforce based on your company’s particular circumstances and specifications. Flexibility is key, and with a team composed of both full-time and part-time agents you will have skilled and trained service representatives exactly when you need them.

 

There are numerous benefits associated with having a team of agents assigned to your business according to your particular needs and circumstances:

 

Most companies receive the majority of their calls in “spikes” during the day. With a customized team, full-time agents can be hired for 8-hour shifts to handle the consistent call volume, with part-time staff, scheduled in 15-minute increments, providing additional support during spike time or off-peak times such as early mornings, late afternoons and evenings. In this way, it is possible to provide excellent customer service for the entire extended day and ensure appropriate levels of coverage during business hours across all time zones (6 a.m. EST to 8 p.m. PST). Reducing excess capacity during the slow periods results in operational savings the whole company can appreciate.

 

Some companies have steady, predictable sales that can be easily handled with consistent staffing levels. Yet even these companies face times of unanticipated increase in demand. Whether this is the result of extreme weather in a certain area or a successful marketing promotion, there are times when companies will be faced with surges in call volume. It is important to plan for the unexpected with a reserve of trained part-time help. Part-time agents offer assistance with little notice and can provide the temporary, additional resources needed to smoothly handle an unexpected situation.

 

The bottom line is that full-time agents are more expensive. Employee benefits can almost double the cost of your service organization. By filling some of the needed customer service hours with part-time agents, companies can lower their expenses without sacrificing quality.

 

In today’s business environment, change is going to happen whether you want it to or not. Those who will succeed are the ones who adapt without impacting the customer. For businesses whose brands are based on providing premium service, flexibility and consistency are of the utmost importance. Using a customized team of skilled and highly trained agents will give your organization staying power to seamlessly manage change and triumph over the competition.