Measures, Measures!

I recently facilitated a strategy course with a group of leaders in Orlando, and measures and objectives was one of the key topics we kept coming back to. Here are seven areas of measures that we agreed must absolutely, positively be in place (building from tactical to strategic):

• Forecast Accuracy. If you don’t have an accurate prediction of the workload coming your way, it’s difficult to consistently achieve good results in other categories.
• Schedule Adherence. Having the right number of properly skilled people in place at the right times is an important enabler to everything else you’re trying to accomplish.
• Service Level and Response Time. If contacts don’t get to the right places at the right times, then little else can happen. (And remember to include social media and other newer types of interactions – getting them to the right desktops in a timely fashion is a prerequisite to other furthering other objectives.)
• Quality and First-Contact Resolution. Quality is the link between interactions and the organization’s most important objectives. First-contact resolution is essentially an extension of quality — a tangible result of getting quality right.
• Employee Satisfaction. Employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction are (in virtually every center we’ve studied!) positively correlated.
• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty. How is the call center impacting customer satisfaction and furthering the organization’s brand?
• Strategic Value. What is the call center learning and sharing across the organization that contributes to better products, services and processes – and overall business results?

Other types of measures may also be important – e.g., revenues and retention in a sales environment, or call prevention and first level resolution in a tech support center. But these seven are a great start. In fact, many centers are admittedly underemphasizing or entirely ignoring at least some of these areas… so getting them in place will put you ahead of the pack.