A Campaign in a Wrong Direction

Most account in a call center are gauged by metrics.

These metrics are geared as a means of checking whether the account is meeting a specific degree of service level that the client is demanding from the call center. This metrics are supposed to be directly proportional to profitability.

But how do you formulate metrics? Is it formulated out of thin air? And if there is one, is it effective? Does it really represent or quantify the true service being delivered?

Let’s have a case study.

Let’s call this call center, “Ugong”

As I have mentioned in my previous blog, what you need to know in an account at face value would be the: Type of account and the Line of business (LOB) you are supporting in.

For this call center:

The type of account is Cable, Internet & phone.

And the LOB is Retentions.

The metrics are as follows: 25% Upselling; 15% Attendance; 20% AHT; 20% QA; 20% VOC.

What’s wrong with the picture?

Answer: 25% Upselling

Why? Because the LOB is Retentions wherein one of the staple metrics would be % Saves. Other metrics may be present or absent but the number of customer you are saving from cancellation will not change.

For the “benefit of the doubt,” what are the possible reason as to why this campaign is in a wrong direction?

First, it could be that the call center knew from the start that the campaign is geared towards “Sales” that is why they put “25% Upselling” as part of the metric and they sugar–coated it as “Retentions” for they know that once they advertise their Recruitment as “Sales” applicants will start rejecting it. In any way, it is a “misleading advertisement.”

Second, it could be that the Service Delivery Manager is totally unaware that if it is Retention, it should be the “number of saves” that should be quantified. But how can the Service Delivery Manager be wrong? Mataas na position na yan, magkakamali pa ba siya? Why not? It all depends, again, on how strong your foundation is when you got in this industry. Kung titignan mo yung profile ni Service Delivery Manager sa Linkedin, 2 years siya Tech Support then 2 years siyang TL ng Computer Hardware, then 4 years siyang Operations Manager ng Telco account then turning 4 years na rin siyang Service Delivery Manager ng Cable. Typical example ng isang marangal na empleyado na pinupuri ng mga Recruiter at mabenta sa mga call center. But it is also this type of “typical life cycle” that will destroy an account. Napako siya for 2 years sa pagiging Tech Support nung agent pa siya so technically, anong alam niya sa Retentions?

It could be na gina–gago ka na ng client and you are still clueless about it after all it is paid. Eh kung 200 seats yung kontrata, 200 seats na agent yung gina–gago mo din diyan!!

Further exacerbating the problem is this,

The most common verbiage you will hear from customer “transferred” in a “Retentions” Department is “I want to cancel my service” or “I got a better offer from another provider.” Most calls being diverted to “Retentions” are filtered first by Customer Care kasi walang company na magpapa–diretso to “Retentions” because cancelling customer means lost in profit.

As “Retentions” agent, anong gagawin mo? What you will do is to probe why the customer is cancelling? But how would your probe? Using open–ended question or close–ended question? Remember, “A wise person is not the one who gives the right answer but the one who ask the RIGHT QUESTION.”

Kung ang tanong mo eh, “May I know the reason why you would like to cancel the service?” Ibabalik kita sa product training!!! Dahil kapag sinagot ka ng customer ng “No” or “That’s none of your business,” Panigurado!!!?? Tikom na ang bibig mo!!!

The appropriate question would be: “Is it because of the price or the Channel Line Up that is why you would like to cancel?” Mas dadali pa yung trabaho mo!! If it is the price then, offer–an mo ng mas mababa. If it is the Channel Line Up eh di hanapin mo kung ano yung gusto niyang Channel which in return babalik kayo sa pricing. Ready mo na rin yung comparison against other provider. When I was profiled to another cable provider in another call center, kapag may ganyang cancellation at alam ko na yung customer eh galing dun sa cable provider na dati kong account at alam ko yung Channel Line Up, at binwisit ako ng TL ko doon, sisiguraduhin kong mawawalan sila ng customer!!! As the saying goes, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” That is why as an agent, learn as many account as you could possibly learn.

Customers who are cancelling their service in this cable account instead of being offered a better plan are in return being saved by “bundling” their service through “upselling.” And by “upselling,” that is, by adding either internet or landline phone and most customer are rejecting that offer because by “root cause analysis” that is not the solution to their issue.

The worse part of it is that by bundling the service, it would be at “reduced” rate. Example, if the customer has cable only “currently” and the price is $109.99, once you bundle the service with internet and phone, it will be $99.99 which is $10 less and the price reduction is to as low as $40 less for other option. And the discounted rate is good for six months to one year only.

What the call center is doing also is that they are giving “spot cash” for those who will be able to do “upselling” which is technically capable of “bundling” the service.

“Reduced rate” na yung service on part of the client, and as motivation, the call center is giving away “spot cash,” by analysis, “palabas lahat ng pera!!!” I don’t know what the “business acumen” of this people is.

By analysis also, if as “Retentions” agent you were able to save the customer at its “current” rate, you are technically contributing to the “profitability” of the company but what happen here is that agents who are “upselling poorly” who in return are not meeting their scorecard are being enrolled to “performance management” who if still “upselling poorly” will be terminated. Baligtad yata??!!

Moral of the story and its future implications,

On part of the call center, it wouldn’t be too long before they would realize that the campaign is in a wrong direction. With that, how many effort has been wasted because of that mistake? Is it reversible?

If you are one of the agent who was enrolled to “performance management” with the above metrics and you were terminated and the new call center you are working now make a background check and the HR of your previous call center says that you were fired because of performance issue, those words constitute lies. Lies which will become a phantom illusion of truth.

The metrics that comprises the scorecard doesn’t truly represent the actual performance of the agent being evaluated. I wonder how many call center belongs to this category.