The KPI Podcast

Hannah Steiman, President & Chief Strategy Officer at Peak Support, joins us to talk all about Quality and why it should be a top priority.

Quality starts with the best agents and people.

But you still need processes and technology to achieve those high scores.

At Peak Support, they focus on root cause analysis.

Their 5 level analysis lets them get to the root cause of the issue so they can continue to provide the best quality of service.

Traditionally fingers are pointed at the agent when scores aren't where they need to be.

However, in reality, there can be a variety of reasons - process, technology & product, performance management, or a combination of the three.

Listen to how Hannah breaks it all down!

Another Contact Center KPI episode has dropped and Peter Ryan is this week's guest!

Peter is the Founder & Chief Analyst at Ryan Strategic Advisor and has over 20 years of experience in the contact center consulting world.

Company culture discussions seem to be missing within the contact center community and Peter is here to help you set the foundation to help you get it right. 

Here are 3 things you can do that will directly impact company culture:

• Start with internal focus groups. Not online surveys. Find out a few things: what makes your employees want to come to work, what gives them a pit in their stomach, what motivates them, etc.

• Act on the valuable information. Once you get your "results", put together an action plan. If you don't do anything, you start to lose employee trust.

• Assign one person responsible for company culture that has a strong positive reputation. When you assign a committee, it never works as things don't get done. But remember this person needs to have the authority to be able to make changes.

Berny Miller, who has over 20 years of experience in contact centers, joins us to focus on agent attrition.

But this conversation dives into so much more. It was hard to narrow down which three points we wanted to share!

If you like what Berny has to say below, we HIGHLY suggest listening to this, even if it's on a drive.

1) Step back and listen before you make any changes. This means being on the floor with the agents, being in the breakroom, and getting to know your HR person/team. 

If you're a remote team, it's harder.

You just need to meet with agents and take the time to listen to as many calls as it takes to get an understanding of how things are going.

2) Understand - Are your agents quitting you? Or am I having to quit the agents?

This will help you find the disconnects and where to start to solve your attrition issues.

3) If you help take care of your agent's needs (transportation, daycare, food), you'll start to see a loyalty shift and a drop in attrition.

This isn't just "more money", there are many ways to help with this.

Jon Ellsworth, Chief Revenue Officer at ApexCX and over 25 years of experience in the call center space, joined us on the latest episode of the Contact Center KPI podcast.

And we dove head first into AI with a new KPI called AI First Resolution.

Here are two things you'll learn from this episode:

1) Change management is hard. People want to be told the truth on what is happening when you implement an AI solution. This includes what's expected of them.

Implementing a pilot testing period will help your agents understand those expectations.

2) Adding a new metric like AI First Resolution helps you determine the true impact of AI on your business.

For example, if you measure AHT before AI and with AI, the "with AI" metric will almost always win.

That's why you need a better representation of how AI impacted your business. Including customer retention, CSAT scores, and a few other metrics will help you accurately measure AI First Resolution.

Jordan Fleming, CEO of smrtPhone, joined us on the Contact Center KPI podcast for a phenomenal episode on agent performance and his steps to coaching & training.

Here is what you're going to learn in this episode: 

1) Three steps to agent coaching & training: I do you listen, you do I coach, you do I listen.2) The above steps won't work because you expect it to happen quickly. You need to implement the steps properly and realize you're teaching a process - it's not a "trick".3) If you have the agent just "listen", then you're missing the point. You need to break down the call, listen to the recording multiple times, explain each step, and work on building the skill.

If you don't have time to listen to the full 20 minute episode, you need to at least listen to 7:50-9:12!

Have you heard of GigCX? 

Well Nate Nammour, Director of Partnerships at ShyftOff, joined the Contact Center KPI podcast to discuss the gig economy for contact centers. 

Nate discusses the productivity stats of traditional W2 agents vs. 1099 gig workers.

The results are fascinating. If you're looking to move towards a gig model or hire an outside agency,

Nate shares his secrets on what steps you should take.

Today's guest on the Contact Center KPI podcast is Oliver Catt, Founder of The Cattalyst.

We talk all about agent attrition. A touchy subject in the contact center world.Here are three things you'll learn from Oliver's episode:1) It can cost 105% of an employee's salary to replace, recruit, and train and new person to replace them. 2) It has been normalized to expect higher levels of attrition instead of trying to do something to improve it. Companies just accept the sunk cost.3) Attrition occurs because of one of these three reasons:- Money: Not being paid enough- Motivation: No growth, no motivation to push themselves- Management: Bad leadership

Brian Jeppesen, Director of Contact Center Operations at Landry's Restaurants, has over 30 years of contact center industry experience.

Today he is sharing that experience with you. We're focusing on the customer and the return on the experience.

If you want to learn how to make it easier for customers to do business with you, you need to hear how Brian breaks it down.

Plus he gives you details of how he's implemented AI and virtual assistants. 

"Digital when you want, human when you need."

Clayton Drotsky joins us on the latest episode of the Contact Center KPI podcast!

With 18 years of contact center leadership experience, Clayton is taking a different approach in today's episode.

We're discussing the big picture and how leaders should approach KPIs!

KPIs are usually decided on at the higher levels and then are communicated down the ladder. 

But there is usually a communication breakdown which causes a gap in why these KPIs needed to be achieved in the first place. 

Where do you start?

First, ask yourself does everyone at your company (from the agents to the CEO) understand why these goals & KPIs are set? 

Listen to hear the rest of Clayton's advice!

This week's guest is Dan Smitley, 20 year workforce management industry expert, and he is diving into service level and occupancy.

Service level is focused on the customer experience. Occupancy is focused on the business & agency experience.

This is why they have to be measured together to get the best results!

Most contact centers only measure one of the two.

Biggest piece of advice from Dan to workforce managers - slow down and listen. It's absolutely worth it.