16th Annual Call Center Industry FCR Best Practices Conference · First Call Resolution (FCR) Improvement, Highest Employee Satisfaction (Esat), Highest Customer Service, FCR Leadership,

OFFICIAL AWARDS GUIDE | 2015

16th Annual Call Center IndustryFCR Best Practices Conference

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho - June 2 - 4, 2015

ABOUT SQM

CALL CENTER FCR EXPERTS

Since 1996, SQM has been a leading North American call center industry research firm and FCR expert for improving organizations’ first call resolution, operating costs, employee and customer satisfaction. We have done this by being operationally excellent

at benchmarking, tracking, consulting and recognizing our clients’ first call resolution (FCR), employee (Esat) and customer (Csat) satisfaction performance. Over 70% of our tracking clients improve their FCR and operating costs year over year. SQM benchmarks over 500 leading international call centers on an annual basis. For the average call center SQM benchmarks, a 1% improvement in their FCR performance equals $256,000 in annual operational savings.

SQM offers four different post-call surveying methods (i.e., phone, IVR, online and SMS mobile). Our post-call survey is based on proven survey questions that provide accurate results and clear insights on areas to improve. SQM conducts all phone surveys using our own dedicated workforce. All post-contact survey methods can be integrated into one common database. We can also survey within five minutes of the customer’s call without having to rely on a call transfer into our technology. Our call list management system allows us to accurately deliver a survey quota at a CSR level or any other survey quota level that is required. To ensure the quality of our survey data and feedback collection, SQM monitors 100% of our survey calls. The accuracy of each telephone survey representative is individually tracked and must comply with our minimum error rate of less than 1%.

We have two state-of-the-art research call centers located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and Vernon, British Columbia, to conduct professional customer surveys with customers who used a contact channel. SQM is recognized by the call center industry as a leading research firm VoC expert for analyzing FCR, Csat, and customer experience performance. Our research analyst professionals have strong mathematical academic backgrounds. They also understand the call center industry and stay current with the best practices for capturing, analyzing and reporting VoC data and feedback. Specifically, SQM research analysts use VoC metrics such as FCR, Csat and the Customer Protection – CP SCORE™ to truly understand how your call center impacts the customer service experience, operating costs and the ability of the call center to retain customers.

www.sqmgroup.com SQM Awards Guide 2015 1

CONTENTS

02Letter from SQM’s President & Founder

03Award Winners and Finalists Listing

10SQM Announces 16th Annual Service Quality Awards

11Agenda

15Entertainment

16SQM Facilitators and Guest Speakers

23Call Center of the Year Winner

24Best Performing Small/Mid-Size Call Center Winner

25Interview with the 2013 CSR of the Year Winner

26Stories from CSR of the Year Finalists

32SQM Products and Services

AWARDS GUIDE 2015

2 SQM Awards Guide 2015 www.sqmgroup.com

LETTER FROM SQM’S PRESIDENT & FOUNDER SQM’s 16th Annual Most Prestigious North American Call Center Industry 2014 Awards for Service Quality Excellence Program

Dear SQM Guest,

Thank you for choosing to attend SQM’s 16th Annual Most Prestigious North American Call Center Industry 2014 Awards for Service Quality Excellence. As a result of benchmarking in excess of 500 call centers and surveying more than one million customers and 25,000 CSRs on an annual basis, SQM is pleased to announce our 2014 award winning call centers and frontline employees.

At this year’s awards ceremony, we will recognize 61 organizations with 65 different awards including Call Center of the Year, World Class Certification, First Call Resolution (FCR) Improvement, Highest Employee Satisfaction (Esat), Highest Customer Service, FCR Leadership, FCR Champion, and Industry Best Practice Awards.

We will recognize the Top 25 World Class CSR Finalists who are the “best of the best” Certified World Class CSRs, and of those 25 CSRs, we will announce the 2014 CSR of the Year. The CSR of the Year will be given $500 in cash at the awards ceremony. SQM will also recognize the Top 5 World Class Call CSR Improvement Winners for 2014.

Also, we will be recognizing the Top 6 World Class Supervisors who are the “best of the best” Certified World Class Supervisors, and of those 6 Supervisors, we will announce the 2014 Supervisor of the Year. The Supervisor of the Year will also be given $500 in cash at the awards ceremony. We believe that Supervisors are a key ingredient to creating World Class FCR, Esat and Csat call center performance.

This year, we recognized organizations and vendors that have demonstrated a best practice that they have used to improve or help maintain high FCR performance. We have 10 different Best Practice awards (i.e. Recognition Program, Desktop Application(s), Career Advancement, Quality Assurance, Call Handling Practice, Real-Time CSR Support Queue, Performance Management System, CSR Coaching, CSR Training, and CSR Hiring Process).

In closing, I would like to congratulate each of the award winning organizations and their CSRs and Supervisors who received World Class Certification. Your world class performance is vital to the success of your organization!

Sincerely,

Mike DesmaraisPresident & Founder | SQM Group

PRESIDENT’S LETTER


CALL CENTER OF THE YEAR AWARD

BEST PERFORMING SMALL/MID-SIZE CALL CENTER AWARD

CALL CENTER WORLD CLASS CERTIFICATION

ι Canadian Tire Financial Services (CRCC) Criteria used for Call Center of the Year are based on having the highest combined customer FCR and employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating

WINNER

FINALISTS

ι Arizona Public Service

ι VSP Vision Care

CRITERIA: ORGANIZATION:

WINNER CRITERIA: ORGANIZATION:

FINALISTS

ι TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc. Criteria used for Best Performing Small/Mid-Size Call Center (under 100 CSRs) are based on having the highest combined customer FCR and employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating

ι Alberta Blue Cross

ι BC Automobile Association (BCAA)

RECIPIENTS

CRITERIA: Criteria used for Call Center World Class Certification are 80% or higher of the calls are at the world class level for 3 months or more. SQM’s world class call criteria are based on the customer’s call being resolved, the customer is overall very satisfied (top box response) rating with their call center experience and the customer service representative (CSR)

ι 211 Ontario ι 407 ETR ι BC Automobile Association (BCAA) ι BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont ι Canadian Tire Financial Services

(CRCC) ι Enbridge Large Business Accounts ι ENMAX, Inc. ι FortisBC ι Insurance Corporation of BC (DTVI) ι Jackson ι MassMutual Retirement Services ι Prime Therapeutics (Nebraska)

ι Rogers Enterprise Service Delivery ι Scotiabank International (Dominican

Republic) ι Scotiabank International (Jamaica) ι Scotiabank International (Mexico) ι Scotiabank International (Trinidad and

Tobago) ι Sun Life Financial Group Benefits

(Toronto & Waterloo) ι Sun Life Financial Group Retirement

Services (Waterloo) ι VSP Vision Care (California & Ohio)


CALL CENTER FCR BEST PRACTICE AWARD WINNERS

CATEGORY ORGANIZATION:

1. Quality Assurance Program GOLD: 407 ETR SILVER: Millennium1 Solutions BRONZE: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

2. Desktop Application(s) GOLD: Comcast Cable SILVER: Nationstar Mortgage BRONZE: Starwood Hotels & Resorts

3. CSR Recognition Program GOLD: Regence BlueCross BlueShield SILVER: Canadian Tire Financial Services BRONZE: LoyaltyOne / Nationstar Mortgage

4. Career Advancement Program GOLD: Sun Life Financial SILVER: BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina BRONZE: ENMAX, Inc.

5. Call Handling Practice GOLD: Canadian Tire Financial Services SILVER: 21st Century Insurance BRONZE: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota 6. Real-Time CSR Support GOLD: VSP Vision Care Queue SILVER: Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts BRONZE: Cogeco Cable

7. Performance GOLD: Scotia iTRADE Management System SILVER: Regence BlueCross BlueShield BRONZE: Canadian Tire Financial Services / Millennium1 Solutions

8. CSR Coaching Program GOLD: MedSolutions SILVER: Nationstar Mortgage BRONZE: Scotiabank International (Mexico)

9. CSR Training Program GOLD: Premera Blue Cross SILVER: BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina / Canadian Tire Financial Services BRONZE: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

10. CSR Hiring Process GOLD: Canadian Tire Financial Services SILVER: SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) BRONZE: Sun Life Financial

CRITERIA: These awards recognize the organization that has demonstrated they have improved or helped maintain high FCR and Csat performance. Organizations submit specific practices they have used to improve or maintain high FCR and Csat performance


VENDOR FCR BEST PRACTICE AWARD WINNERS

CSR FINALISTS FOR CSR OF THE YEAR

1. Quality Assurance Program

2. Desktop Application(s)

3. Call Handling Practice

4. Performance Management System

5. CSR Coaching Program

6. CSR Training Program

7. CSR Hiring Process

ι Jordana White 407 ETR ι Daniel Waterman BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina ι Eric Marks BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina ι Erika Worthy BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina ι Anden Drolet BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont ι Candace Pischetola BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont ι Cindy Tilotson BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont ι Heather Young BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont ι Paula Miller CareFirst ι Patty Nauss Millennium1 Solutions ι Jerry Dormido Nationstar Mortgage ι Heather Sundheim Premera Blue Cross ι Leslie Wassmuth Regence BlueCross BlueShield ι Trisha Wells Regence BlueCross BlueShield ι Anna Gizicki Scotia iTRADE ι Melliza Beroy Scotia iTRADE ι Danielle Angus Scotiabank International (Jamaica) ι Erica Kelloway Sun Life Financial ι Genevieve Tees Sun Life Financial ι Kerri Schebesch Sun Life Financial ι Michelle Robinson Sun Life Financial ι Davor Ilic TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc. ι Jennifer Ryan TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc. ι Rachael Clarke TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc. ι Kelly Durkee VSP Vision Care

CATEGORY ORGANIZATION: CRITERIA:

These awards recognize the vendor organization that has demonstrated they have improved or helped maintain high FCR and Csat performance for their clients. Vendors submit specific practices they have used to improve or maintain high FCR and Csat performance for their clients

CSR NAME ORGANIZATION: CRITERIA:

To be eligible the customer representative must be a World Class Certified customer representative. The criteria for a Certified World Class Customer Representative is 80% or higher of the calls surveyed are at the world class call level. Call center management must also send an example of a great customer service story that the CSR delivered

ι Millennium1 Solutions

ι Oracle Corporation

ι Genesys / Virtual Hold Technology

ι CallMiner Inc.

ι Ulysses Learning

ι C3/ CustomerContactChannels

ι FurstPerson


CSR WORLD CLASS CSAT IMPROVEMENT WINNERS

CSR NAME ORGANIZATION: CRITERIA:

ι Lori Guy-Robinson Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

ι Amy Duhamel BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont

ι Peter O’Meara ICBC (Insurance Contact Centres)

ι Abraham (Greg) Mucyo Nationstar Mortgage

ι Lauren Balzer Sun Life Financial

To be eligible, a customer representative must have improved their WCC (World Class Call) performance by 10% from the previous year. SQM’s WCC criteria are based on the customer’s call being resolved, the customer is overall very satisfied (top box response) with their call center experience and very satisfied with the CSR. Call center management must also send an example of a great CSR Csat improvement story

SUPERVISOR FINALISTS FOR SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR

SUPERVISOR NAME ORGANIZATION: CRITERIA:

ι Janalee Willett BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont

ι Dede Tobin Regence BlueCross BlueShield

ι Sue Fordyce Rogers

ι Jefferian Thompson-Pratt Scotiabank International (Jamaica)

ι Alexandrea Roopram Sun Life Financial

ι Jennifer Riggle VSP Vision Care

To be eligible the supervisor must be a World Class Certified supervisor. The criteria for a Certified World Class Supervisor is 80% or higher of the calls surveyed are at the world class call level, in which customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their call center experience, very satisfied with the person who handled their call and that the call was resolved. Call center management or CSRs must also send an example of a great Call Resolution or Csat coaching story

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION & FIRST CALL RESOLUTION AWARDS

Highest Customer Satisfaction for the Call Center Industry Awards

ORGANIZATION: AWARD: CRITERIA:

ι Scotiabank 1. Best Selling Customer Satisfaction

ι Scotiabank 2. Highest IVR Customer Satisfaction Self Serve

1. This award recognizes the call center with the highest Csat (top box response) rating for selling approach

2. This award recognizes the call center with the highest overall Csat (top box response) rating for a self serve IVR


CUSTOMER SATISFACTION & FIRST CALL RESOLUTION AWARDS cont’d...

Highest Customer Service by Industry Awards


ι Scotiabank International (Jamaica) / Banking Scotiabank International (Trinidad and Tobago)

ι Jackson Financial

ι Canadian Tire Financial Services (CRCC) Credit Card

ι VSP Vision Care Insurance

ι Sun Life Financial Group Benefits Health Care

ι Petro-Canada Retail/Service

ι ENMAX, Inc. Energy

ι Cogeco Cable Telco/TV

ι 407 ETR Union

ι CNH Industrial Parts & Service Helpdesk

ι 211 Ontario Government

ι Jackson Business to Business

Based on having the highest FCR for an organization in each specific industry/sector

First Call Resolution Improvement Awards

ORGANIZATION: CRITERIA:


ι Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama

ι Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts

ι Highmark BlueCross BlueShield Delaware

ι Nationstar Mortgage

ι PerformRx

ι Prime Therapeutics

ι Scotiabank International (Peru)

Based on a 5% or greater annual FCR improvement from the most recent study within the last two years


EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION AWARDS

Most Improved Employee Satisfaction

ORGANIZATION: CRITERIA:

ι MassMutual Retirement Services Based on having the most improved employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating with working in their call center

Highest Employee Satisfaction by Industry Awards


ι Arizona Public Service Energy

ι Canadian Tire Financial Services Financial

ι BC Automobile Association (BCAA) Insurance

ι Alberta Blue Cross Health Care

ι TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc. Outsourcer

Based on having the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating with working in their call center for each specific industry

World Class Employee Satisfaction Awards

ORGANIZATION: CRITERIA: ι Alberta Blue Cross


ι BC Automobile Association (BCAA)

ι Canadian Tire Financial Services (CRCC & CSG)

ι CVS Caremark (Tennessee)

ι TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc.

Based on 50% or higher of employees rating their overall experience of working in the call center as very satisfied (top box response) rating

Highest Employee Satisfaction for the Call Center Industry Award

ORGANIZATION: CRITERIA: ι Canadian Tire Financial Services (CRCC) Based on having the highest employee overall very

satisfied (top box response) rating with working in their call center


Winner of SQM’s Vendor FCR Best Practice Award for Quality Assurance Program

The Millennium1 Solutions name may sound new, but they have been operating as a leading Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solutions provider for over 38 years. Millennium supports its clients in three main verticals: contact center, credit cards, and back office administrative functions, with many choosing an integrated solution across all three divisions. Their clients seek support for capacity and flexibility, but also with designing service solutions and strategies that surpass their expectations along with instigation of transformational change via delivery of valuable analytics and insights. Whether performing as an extension of a company’s existing capabilities or as a stand-alone service delivery channel, Millennium’s award-winning team brings the right expertise, best practice processes, technology, and focus on experiential delivery to ensure expectations are surpassed with consistency. They deliver sustained benchmark performance in the industries they serve and execute with excellence so their clients can rest easy knowing their brands are being managed with care.

Company information:(416) 503 1800

www.millennium1solutions.com

Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with Millennium – they have some great practices to share.

FCR LEADERSHIP AWARDSFCR LEADER NAME ORGANIZATION CRITERIA:

ι Dave Difelice Canadian Tire Financial Services

ι Tom Band Millennium1 Solutions

ι Joanne Walch Regence BlueCross BlueShield

These awards are judged by a panel of SQM Client Account Managers who work closely with our tracking clients on an ongoing basis. Final award determination made by Mike Desmarais, President and Founder of SQM Group

FCR CHAMPION AWARDSFCR CHAMPION NAME ORGANIZATION CRITERIA:

ι Emily Fair BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont

ι Geoff Adams MassMutual

ι Mauricio Ramos Scotiabank International

ι Laura Martin Scotia iTRADE

These awards are judged by a panel of SQM Client Account Managers who work closely with our tracking clients on an ongoing basis. Final award determination made by Mike Desmarais, President and Founder of SQM Group

Contacts here at SQM’s conference:

Holly Abbott(519) 217 [email protected]

Tom Band(613) 220 [email protected]


AWARDS 2015

SQM is p leased to announce our 2014 award winning call centers and

frontline employees. This is SQM’s 16th Annual Most Prestigious North American Call Center Industry 2014 Awards for Service Quality Excellence.

SQM benchmarks over 500 leading international call centers on an annual basis and has been conducting first call resolution (FCR), employee satisfaction (Esat) and customer satisfaction (Csat) benchmarking studies since 1996. On an annual basis, SQM conducts over 1 million surveys with customers who have called a call center. SQM also conducts over 25,000 surveys annually with employees who work in call centers. Based on our call center benchmarking studies, SQM awards excellence in FCR, customer and employee satisfaction for the call center industry. We have recognized leading North American call centers for customer and employee satisfaction since 1998.

For each call center that participated in our customer benchmarking study, SQM completed 400 post-call phone surveys, conducted by SQM’s telephone survey representatives. SQM uses an in-depth post-call customer survey approach that consists of both rating questions and follow-up customer feedback questions that can be used to help the call center improve their FCR and Csat performance. SQM’s call center awards are based on customers who have used a call center and employees who work in a call center. SQM conducted the benchmarking studies for the period of January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014. SQM has 65 different awards that recognize the top performing call centers.

Criteria used for Call Center of the Year are based on having the highest combined FCR and employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating. Criteria used for Best Performing Small/Mid-Size Call Center

(under 100 CSRs) are also based on having the highest combined customer FCR and employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating.

In 2014, SQM added five new FCR Best Practices. The categories for these 10 awards were: CSR Recognition Program, Desktop Application(s), Career Advancement Program, Quality Assurance Program, Call Handling Practice, Real-Time CSR Support Queue, Performance Management System, CSR Coaching Program, CSR Training Program, and CSR Hiring Process. These awards recognize the organizations that have demonstrated they improved or helped maintain high first call resolution and customer satisfaction performance as a result of their best practice. Submissions were invited from clients and non-clients through an online application and were judged by a panel of 6 subject matter experts to determine the finalists and winners.

In 2014, SQM introduced a new type of award to recognize FCR Best Practices on the vendor side. The categories for these 10 awards were: CSR Recognition Program, Desktop Application(s), Career Advancement Program, Quality Assurance Program, Call Handling Practice, Real-Time CSR Support Queue, Performance Management System, CSR Coaching Program, CSR Training Program, and CSR Hiring Process. These awards highlight the vendors who are vital to providing real and meaningful improvement of First Call Resolution in each of the 10 FCR Best Practice areas identified by SQM. These are the vendors who truly have an impact on their clients’ FCR.

In closing, SQM would like to congratulate all award winning organizations and their CSRs and Supervisors. Their world class performance is vital to their organization’s success!

SQM’S 16TH ANNUAL MOST PRESTIGIOUS NORTH AMERICAN CALL CENTER INDUSTRY 2014 AWARDS FOR SERVICE QUALITY EXCELLENCE PROGRAM


AGENDA

Agenda Overview Monday, June 1st – Meet & Greet Welcome Event

Time Location Details

8:00 am – 6:00 pm Spokane Airport Concierge Lounge

Refresh after your flight with juice, coffee and snacks at our relaxing Concierge Lounge at Spokane Airport before hopping on the shuttle to the resort

(Provided by SQM).

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm SQM’s State-of-the-Art Call Center

Staggered groups to be taken on buses throughout the afternoon for a sneak peek at SQM’s US state-of-the-art call center facility.

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Coeur d’Alene Resort Whisper’s Lounge

SQM cordially welcomes guests to Coeur d’Alene with an evening of fine Wine and Cheese at the Whispers Lounge and Lakefront Patio.

Tuesday, June 2nd – Day 1 FCR Research and Best Practices

7:30 am – 9:00 am Hagadone Events Center

Boat Cruise to Hagadone Events Center Meet at lakefront boardwalk at Coeur d’Alene Resort to board cruise boat at

7:30 am to cruise the lake on your journey to the Hagadone Events Center. Kick-off the SQM conference while enjoying a delicious breakfast to start your day

right. Boat departs at 8:00 am.

9:00 am – 11:30 am

Hagadone Events Center

Call Center FCR, Csat and Esat Research Speaker: Mike Desmarais, President & Founder

SQM Group SQM will share customer experience FCR, Csat and Esat research based on benchmarking over 500 call centers and conducting over 2.5 million phone

surveys. SQM will also share the highlights of its new findings from the Customer Channel Preference and Usage Study and what the data means for Call

Center Executives. Each conference attendee will receive a copy of SQM’s new book

“First Contact Resolved Best Practices”

11:30 am – 1:00 pm


Buffet Lunch & Hole-in-One Tournament Try your golf hand at SQM’s Hole-in-One Prize Tournament on one of the most

beautiful and unique golf holes in the world.

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm


World Class FCR Performing Organization Speaker: Dave Dobrosky, Senior Vice President

Scotiabank (Session 1)

Top 5 best practices they used to achieve world class FCR performance

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm


World Class FCR Performing Organization Speaker: Dave Difelice, Vice President of Customer Service and Operations

Canadian Tire Financial Services (Session 2)

Key strategies they used to achieve world class FCR performance

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm


Best Practices used for Improving FCR Speaker: Vicki Whichard, Customer Experience Officer

BlueCross BlueShield South Carolina (Session 3)

Top 5 best practices they used to improve FCR performance

4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Boat Cruise

Boat Cruise to Hagadone Gardens Board the boats at 4:00 pm to cruise to Casco Bay and stroll through the

stunning gardens of the Hagadone family estate (owners of Coeur d’Alene Resort), featuring over 25,000 varieties of plant species. Re-board cruise boat to

return to the resort. Boat departs at 4:30 pm.

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Coeur d’Alene Resort Lake View Terrace

“A Taste of Idaho” Themed Dinner Enjoy an evening sampling a variety of the best Idaho potato culinary creations,

featuring local beer and wine stations to enhance your taste buds.

AGENDA OVERVIEW


AGENDA

Wednesday, June 3rd - Day 2 FCR Best Practices Tracks All Day 2 Events (Excluding Dinner) Take Place at Coeur d’Alene Resort Convention Center

Executive Track (By invitation only) Boardroom 5 ABC

Mike Desmarais, President and Founder of SQM, will share best practices for improving FCR. In addition,

world class leaders interviewed for SQM’s new book “First Contact Resolved Best Practices” will share their

experiences. Each SVP participant will also share their good and bad FCR experiences.

Management Track (Available to all conference attendees)

Bay 2-3 World class leaders from some of the best known organizations in North America that

were interviewed for SQM’s new book “First Contact Resolved Best Practices”

will share their practices they used to be successful at improving or maintaining world

class FCR performance. 7:30 am – 8:30 am Breakfast Buffet at Club Coeur d’Alene Breakfast Buffet at Bay 4-5

8:30 am – 9:30 am Customer Channel Preference and Usage Speaker: Mike Desmarais, President & Founder

SQM Group

Desktop Application(s) Speaker: Jennifer Labs, Vice President, Customer Service Strategy & Systems

Comcast Cable

9:30 am – 10:30 am

Performance Management System Speaker: Laura Martin, Director,

Client Experience Scotia iTRADE

Quality Assurance Program Speaker: Anita D’Alessandro, Manager, Customer Service

407 ETR

10:30 am – 10:45 am Coffee Break at Boardroom 5 ABC Coffee Break at Bay 2-3

10:45 am – 12:00 pm

CSR Call Resolution Training Speaker: Dave Floden, Director, Customer Service Operations

Speaker: Anthony Ramos, Manager of Workforce Analytics & Planning

Premera Blue Cross

Performance Management System Speaker: Laura Martin, Director, Client Experience

Scotia iTRADE

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch Buffet at Club Coeur d’Alene Lunch Buffet at Bay 4-5

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Desktop Application(s) Speaker: Jennifer Labs, Vice President, Customer Service Strategy & Systems

Comcast Cable

Career Advancement Program Speaker: Jean-Pierre Chabot, Vice-President,

Shared Operations Sun Life Financial

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Quality Assurance Program Speaker: Anita D’Alessandro, Manager, Customer Service

407 ETR

Real-Time CSR Support Queue Speaker: Denise Bannister, Supervisor, Support Queue Speaker: Amy Debord, Service Delivery Manager

VSP Vision Care

3:00 pm – 4:45 pm

Vendor FCR Best Practice Award Winners Solutions Sessions at Casco and Kidd Island Bay, Bay 1A, 2, 3 Visit and learn from the 2014 Vendor FCR Best Practice Award Winners

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Western Style BBQ Dinner at Hagadone Events Center

Board the cruise boat to head over to the events center and join us for a western themed BBQ, complete with campfires and s’mores on the beach. Boat departs at 5:30 pm to Center.


AGENDA

Thursday, June 4th – Day 3 FCR Best Practices Tracks All Day 3 Events Take Place at Coeur d’Alene Resort Convention Center

Executive Track Boardroom 5 ABC

Management Track Bay 2-3

Analyst Track Bay 1A

CSR Appreciation

Day

7:30 am – 8:30 am Breakfast Buffet at Club Coeur d’Alene Breakfast Buffet at Bay 4-5

8:30 am – 9:30 am CSR Coaching Program Speaker: Brent Gardner, Vice

President, Operations, Contact Centers/WFM

Speaker: Mary E. Loots, Sr. Director Ops Infrastructure

CareCore National | MedSolutions

CSR Call Resolution Training Speaker: Dave Floden, Director,

Customer Service Operations Speaker: Anthony Ramos,

Manager of Workforce Analytics & Planning Premera Blue Cross Multi-Channel

Speaker: Sarah Moffat, Ph.D.,

Director of Research

SQM Group

CSR Appreciation

Day

Activities Available:

• Silverwood Theme Park

• Spokane White

Water River Rafting

• Paddle Boarding,

Mani’s & Pedi’s • Outdoor

Adventure Package

• Sushi, Sake &

Beverly’s Wine Tour & Tasting

• Golf Coeur

d’Alene Course • Body

Treatments at Coeur d’Alene Spa

9:30 am – 10:30 am CSR Call Handling Practices Speaker: Rosemary French,

AVP Sales and Retention Speaker: David Schlumberger, AVP

Customer Relations Contact Centre

Canadian Tire Financial Services

CSR Recognition Program Speaker: Joanne Walch,

President, Customer Experience Speaker: Penny Garrett, Director

of Customer Service Regence BlueCross BlueShield

Speaker: Connie Marinaccio, Manager of Operations

LoyaltyOne

10:30 am – 10:45 am Coffee Break at Boardroom 5 ABC

Coffee Break at Bay 2-3

Coffee Break at Bay 1A

10:45 am – 12:00 pm

Career Advancement Program Speaker: Jean-Pierre Chabot,

Vice-President, Shared Operations Sun Life Financial

CSR Call Handling Practices Speaker: Rosemary French,

AVP Sales and Retention Speaker: David Schlumberger,

AVP Customer Relations Contact Centre


IDCA/Call Resolution

Speaker: Sarah Moffat, Ph.D.,

Director of Research

SQM Group

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch Buffet at Club Coeur d’Alene Lunch Buffet at Bay 4-5

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Real-Time CSR Support Queue Speaker: Denise Bannister, Supervisor, Support Queue

Speaker: Amy Debord, Service Delivery Manager

VSP Vision Care

CSR Hiring Process Speaker: Rosemary French,

AVP Sales and Retention Speaker: David Schlumberger,

AVP Customer Relations Contact Centre


CQA Speaker: Charlene

Hutchison, BA, Client Services

SQM Group

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

CSR Recognition Program Speaker: Joanne Walch, Vice

President, Customer Experience Speaker: Penny Garrett, Director of

Customer Service Regence BlueCross BlueShield

CSR Coaching Program Speaker: Brent Gardner, Vice

President, Operations, Contact Centers/WFM

Speaker: Mary E. Loots, Sr. Director Ops Infrastructure

CareCore National | MedSolutions

New Web Portal Releases

Speaker: Charlene Hutchison, BA, Client Services

SQM Group

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Vendor FCR Best Practice Award Winners Solutions Sessions at Casco and Kidd Island Bay, Bay 1A, 2, 3

Visit and learn from the 2014 Vendor FCR Best Practice Award winners


AGENDA

Thursday, June 4th – Evening Awards Ceremony Celebration & Gala Dinner

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Whisper’s Lounge Cocktail Reception

Mingle in the lounge and enjoy a few drinks before the main event.

6:00 pm – 12:00 am Convention Center Ballroom

Awards Ceremony Celebration & Gala Dinner

Semi-Formal Attire – Black Tie Welcome This is SQM's 16th Annual Prestigious North American Call Center Industry Awards Program for Service Quality Excellence – as judged by customers who used a call

center and by employees who work in the call center.

SQM will be presenting Service Quality Excellence Awards and Certificates for the following categories: • Call Center of the Year Award

• FCR Best Practice Awards

• World Class Call Center Certification Awards

• World Class Supervisor and CSR Certification Awards

• Call Center First Call Resolution Improvement Awards

• Call Center Customer and Employee Satisfaction Awards

• Customer Service Representative of the Year and Finalist Awards

• Supervisor of the Year and Top 5 Finalist Awards

And many more!

Featuring Live Entertainment by The Rhythm Dawgs

End of Conference


SQM Conference & Awards CelebrationFeatured Live Entertainment

Kosh has been performing for over 25 years across the nation and will perform at SQM’s dinner on June 3, 2015. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and a member of the 80’s metal band TSUNAMI, Kosh has shared the stage with many national and international acts such as Kid Rock, Bret Michaels, Metallica, Heart, Billy Squier, Loverboy, Starship, Montrose, Hagar and Cheap Trick to name a few.

The Rhythm Dawgs will be performing live on the night of June 4, 2015 for the Gala Dinner and Awards Celebration. They are a premier dance band offering a wide variety of musical styles. From 50’s rock to today’s Top 40, the Dawgs play songs everybody loves.

ENTERTAINMENT


SPEAKERS

MIKE DESMARAISPresident and FounderMike Desmarais is the President and Founder of SQM Group. Mike has over 25 years of call center service quality measurement, benchmarking and consulting experience. As a consultant, Mike has experience in working with leading North American call centers on improving their first call resolution, cost, employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction performance. Mike has also written and published dozens of articles on call center service quality in many leading journals and call center customer service publications and is the author of the thought-provoking books: World Class Call Center, First Call Resolution and FCR Best Practices. Mike is considered North America’s leading authority on call center first call resolution and customer protection best practices. In addition, Mike owns and operates two call centers, located in Vernon B.C. and Coeur d’Alene ID, with over 100 frontline representatives who conduct telephone customer satisfaction surveys and call quality assurance assessments.

SARAH KENNEDYPartner and Senior Vice President of Client AdvocacySarah Kennedy, BSc, is a senior managing partner for business development and customer relationship management with SQM Group. Sarah has 20 years in the service quality field. She is the co-founder of the Customer Contact Strategy Forum, an association of senior contact center executives in North America. Sarah uses her skills of facilitation and speaking to work closely with clients to develop service quality improvement action plans. She has also written and published many articles on contact center service quality benchmarking for many contact center customer service publications.

CHARLENE HUTCHISONManager of Client AdvocacyCharlene Hutchison, BA, is a Manager of Client Advocacy and has been with SQM for 14 years. Along with her 14 years contact center industry experience, Charlene has over 16 years of educating and training experience. Charlene has the responsibility of assisting in the development of the mySQM™ Reporting Tool in addition to managing client relationships. Charlene brings a wealth of knowledge from SQM’s research/analysis and technology departments.

SARAH MOFFATDirector of ResearchSarah Moffat, Ph.D., is the Director of Research with SQM Group. Sarah completed her Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of British Columbia, with a focus on Analysis and Optimization. She has 9 years of research experience and her responsibilities include quality assurance, data analysis, customized research, and compliance.

SQM CONFERENCE SPEAKERS & FACILITATORS


SPEAKERS

DENISE BANNISTERSupervisor, Support Queue VSP Vision CareDenise has been a Supervisor with VSP for 15 years, and has managed the Support Queue for the last 7 years. Prior to coming to VSP she had a successful career in Retail Management, where she developed her leadership talent with Macy’s, Pfaltzgraff, Bloomingdales, and Nordstrom. Throughout these experiences, and now with VSP, Denise has developed a strong passion for the Customer. This permeates all that she does at VSP and has been a key influence over the success of her team.

JEAN-PIERRE CHABOTVice President, Shared Operations Sun Life FinancialJean-Pierre Chabot is Vice President, Shared Operations at Sun Life Financial. He holds a senior leadership role responsible for leading a service focused organization with other Canadian Business Unit leaders. The customer contact centre (850 people) supports customers, advisors (and others) who have dealings with the Company’s Business Units: Individual Insurance and Investments, Group Benefits and Group Retirement Services. He has led a major initiative to move the organization from a service focus to a ‘service to sale’ environment in the past 4 years. He has 20+ years of CC experience and holds an MBA.

ANITA D’ALESSANDROManager, Customer Service 407 ETR Concession Company LimitedAnita D’Alessandro joined 407 ETR, the concession owner of Highway 407 ETR, the world’s first all-electronic, open-access toll highway which extends 108-kilometres east-west, just north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 2006 and has over 20 years of experience in customer service call center management, coaching, motivating, analysis and budgeting. As the Manager of Customer Service at 407 ETR, she is responsible for providing leadership to 6 Team Managers and over 100 employees in multiple areas including the Call Center, Customer Service Center, Video Exception Processing and Early Cure departments within Customer Service. She is accountable for performance management, financial performance, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. Anita is also responsible for setting and implementing strategic business objectives relative to customer service and guiding its positive outcomes. She holds a Degree in Marketing from Seneca College.

AMY DEBORDManager, Call Center VSP Vision CareAmy has been a Manager in VSP’s Ohio Call Center for 16 years. Prior to joining VSP she had a successful 16 year career in Cigna’s Call Center operations. Throughout her 32 years in the customer service industry she has refined her skill in operations management with a keen focus on customer satisfaction. Being part of VSP’s award winning team and partnering with SQM to focus on First Call Resolution has inspired Amy to continually raise the bar for her team and to approach her work with a high level of energy.

GUEST SPEAKERS


SPEAKERS

DAVE DIFELICEVice President, Customer Service and Operations Canadian Tire Financial ServicesDave is the Vice President of Customer Service and Operations at Canadian Tire Financial Services. In his 20 year career at CTFS, Dave has held a variety of roles within the company and the Contact Centers, including workforce management, HR, and Collections. Dave is passionate about building and fostering a highly engaged and Customer focused culture. Dave has a M.B.A from McMaster University and has earned his CMA designation.

DAVE DOBROSKYSenior Vice President ScotiabankDave is the Senior Vice President in charge of Scotiabank’s Customer Contact Centers located in Canada. His 27 year career with Scotiabank includes roles in Retail, Commercial, Projects, Operations and most recently, progressively more senior positions in the Customer Contact Centres. Dave is passionate about working to enhance the ‘Customer Experience’ through the delivery of ‘Best in Class’ service experiences. He has an Economics degree from The University of Calgary and is currently a Fellow of The Institute of Canadian Bankers, where he earned a ‘Gold’ Medal for Honors in their Professional Banking Program.

DAVE FLODENDirector of Customer Service Operations Premera Blue CrossDave is responsible for Customer Service for the Employer and Individual Lines of Business as well as the Workforce Management team. He is also responsible for the overall Customer Service strategy for Premera and LifeWise. Prior to this, he was Director for Claims Operations for the Employer Group. Prior to joining Premera in 2009, Dave worked in Customer Service and I.T. for Texas-based Atmos Energy and Canadian Airlines in Calgary, Canada. He has been working in Operations since 1990. He holds a Bachelors degree in Music from the University of British Columbia in Canada and studied Radio Broadcasting.

ROSEMARY FRENCHAssociate Vice President, Sales and RetentionCanadian Tire Financial ServicesRosemary has been with Canadian Tire for 30 years and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Business) from Brock University. She has a strong Marketing background with previous experience in financial services and roadside assistance. She has 10 years of contact centre experience with responsibility for business integration, sales and retention.


SPEAKERS

Since 1997, FurstPerson has helped contact centers improve their frontline service, sales, and support hiring. Through a blended approach that integrates assessment content, simulations, analytics, and deep contact center hiring expertise, FurstPerson customers are able to reduce 0 to 90 day attrition by up to 45% and improve new hire performance by up to 30%.

FurstPerson operates on five core principles that distinguish it in the highly competitive talent-assessment industry:

1. Create a quick, engaging candidate experience via Audition® simulations and computer-adaptive tests.

2. Produce unmatched ROI via employee lifecycle analytics, which ensure continuous improvement.

3. Provide global customers with award winning customer service and technical support 24/7.

4. Deliver technology solutions reliably and with exceptional uptime - previous18-month-uptime is 100%.

5. Design a custom, competitively differentiating solution that will enable customer to achieve its strategic goals.

Winner of SQM’s Vendor FCR Best Practice Award for CSR Hiring Process

Contact here at SQM’s conference:

Darren Ross(404) 272 [email protected]

Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with FurstPerson – they have some great practices to share.


www.furstperson.com

BRENT GARDNERVice President, Operations – Contact Centers / WFMCareCore | MedSolutionsBrent is a career proven high performer and consummate professional. He has assembled over 20 years of industry experience, primarily within operations and IT disciplines. Over 90% of his career has been spent in leadership capacities, at Fortune 500 organizations within Healthcare, Communications and Service professions. In his role as Vice President, Operations at CareCore | MedSolutions, Inc., Brent maintains responsibility for core Operations groups, including all inbound contact center teams along with all Workforce Management functions. This spans multiple locations within FL, SC, CO and TN company facilities and indirect leadership of over 800 people. Brent’s accountabilities include oversight of respective business unit budgets, call center metrics performance, contractual Service Level Agreements and facilities leadership functions.Brent came to MedSolutions from Express Scripts, Inc., where he spent over 9 years. Prior to joining Express Scripts, Inc., Brent worked for Sprint PCS as an Operations Manager, overseeing outbound marketing and sales efforts for the company. Brent graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science Degree (Biology). He is also actively working to complete his MBA, with a concentration in General Management. Brent is married with 3 children and enjoys many family activities like camping and fishing as well as sports related hobbies.


SPEAKERS

PENNY GARRETTContact Center DirectorRegence BlueCross BlueShieldPenny leads a 237-person team of customer service representatives charged with helping people use the most complicated product they buy: health insurance. Her team has performed to award-winning standards during the biggest change to health insurance in 50 years: the multi-year rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Penny’s team in Washington State earned an SQM award in 2014. In 2012, her team earned a Best of Blue award for first contact resolution, and her four teams serving Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington placed in the top 10 among the Blues’ 37 plans nationwide for meeting comprehensive member touchpoint measures in 2014. Penny also represents the voice of the customer in departments across the enterprise to influence business decisions that improve the customer experience. Penny brings three decades of proven success and award-winning service in call centers and banking to Regence.

JENNIFER LABSVice President, Customer Service Strategy & SystemsCustomer Service, Comcast CableJennifer Labs is Vice President of Customer Service Strategy and Systems for Customer Service at Comcast Cable. She is the business product owner for all enterprise call center employee tools supporting Comcast’s frontline employees. Her role includes leading the complex, multi-year business transformation effort to implement a new enterprise-wide internal universal CRM application, Einstein, which has already won SQM Group’s 2013 Best Practice Award for Knowledge Management Tools and 2014 Best Practice Award for Desktop Applications. Jennifer joined Comcast in 2006.A native of Ocean City, NJ, Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona in Interdisciplinary Studies: Communications, Psychology and Spanish. She also attended San Diego State University, earning her Master of Business Administration in Marketing. An active member of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and the Comcast’s Women’s Network, she is also a graduate of Comcast’s Executive Leadership Forum (ELF), the Comcast Women in Leadership at Wharton Program and a participant in the exclusive Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Betsy Magness Leadership Institute (BMLI) Program.

MARY E. LOOTSSenior Director, Operations InfrastructureCareCore | MedSolutionsAs the Senior Director of Operations Infrastructure and Voice of the Company for CareCore National | MedSolutions, Mary oversees the quality management and training areas for the Non-Clinical departments. She is also responsible for the management of vendor relationships relative to the contact center customer service, quality and training initiatives. Mary has demonstrated a passion for healthcare over the years and found her niche with a successful utilization management company when CareCore National opened a contact center in Colorado Springs, CO. A recent transplant to the Savannah, GA area, Mary now works in the CCN/MSI Corporate office in Bluffton, SC. Mary has a diverse background, having served honorably in the US Navy for 9 ½ years as a communications expert. She then began pursuing her passion for health care by working as a licensed massage therapist in a physical therapy office and as a certified nursing assistant for the Penrose-St. Francis Healthcare system in Colorado Springs for many years, gaining both health care and customer service skills.


Winner of SQM’s Vendor FCR Best Practice Award for CSR Coaching Program

Our success in helping contact centers improve performance at the point of contact can be attributed to our unique blend of simulation based e-learning, focused feedback coaching and ongoing consultative support. Our learning solutions focus on the needs of the learners, taking into consideration their learning style and level of experience including:

• Just-in-time coaching methodology that provides feedback when the recipient is most open to receiving the feedback and changing behaviors.

• Self-directed, self-paced learning allowing for a safe environment to make mistakes and learn from the mistakes

• Ongoing mentoring and coaching development so learners can learn from experts and peers and sustain performance over time

Ulysses Learning spent four years in research and development to create the validated content and proven methodologies to help companies effectively develop their frontline staff, engage all levels of leadership in accountability and coaching and ultimately increase the voice of the customer and FCR.


Dina Vance(704) 957 [email protected]

Susan Meyer(704) 942 [email protected]


www.ulysseslearning.com

Plan to connect with Ulysses and learn best practices for building a different customer experience.

SPEAKERS

CONNIE MARINACCIOManager of OperationsLoyaltyOneA creative and inspiring people manager with an extensive background in the Travel Industry as well as Call Centre Management. Connie has a degree in Travel and Tourism and a background in Call Centre Management. Connie has been with LoyaltyOne for 18 years and has managed teams with Customer Service, Travel, Workforce Planning, Email and Social media skillsets. Prior to LoyaltyOne , Connie worked in both the retail and wholesale sector of the Travel industry. Connie has a passion for building relationships and as a result has been able to produce high performing teams that drive for results. Employee engagement is her strength and she has been able to create meaningful and relevant Rewards and Recognition programs that empower Associates and foster collaboration, teamwork and a spirit of accountability.

LAURA MARTINDirector, Client Experience Scotia iTRADELaura currently holds the position of Director – Client Experience with Scotia iTRADE an online brokerage division of Scotiabank. Laura champions the client experience at Scotia iTRADE, leading the development of strategies and programs to optimize exceptional client experience and satisfaction across the division at all touch points. An experienced Banker with 20+ years proven track record at Scotiabank in progressively more senior roles. Prior to joining Scotia iTRADE in 2013, Laura has held various positions in Retail Banking Branches, Wealth Management and Real Estate Secured Lending Executive Office. Laura holds a Financial Services MBA from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor Business Administration degree from Brock University.


SPEAKERS

ANTHONY RAMOSManager of Workforce Planning & Analytics Premera Blue CrossAnthony’s responsibilities include First Call Resolution, Workforce Management, Email and Social Media. Anthony was nominated for the CEO Award in 2014 and won the Leading Excellence Award for exemplifying Premera’s Core and Leadership Values. Prior to joining Premera in 2011, Anthony worked in Children’s Health Insurance Industry and has over 18 years of contact center management experience.

DAVID SCHLUMBERGERAssociate Vice President, Customer ServiceCanadian Tire Financial ServicesDavid has been with Canadian Tire for 7 years. David holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Business Administration from Queen’s University. He has over 20 years of leadership experience with a background in telecommunications and financial services. David has deep knowledge of contact center operations and customer experience management.

JOANNE WALCHVice President, Customer ExperienceRegence BlueCross BlueShieldJoanne has been with Regence since 2001. She has held various roles during that time with responsibility for customer service, the Federal benefits program, member enrollment, billing and print and mail services, and with current responsibilities for customer experience. Prior to coming to Regence, Joanne served in a similar role with strategic and operational accountability for service at PacifiCare Health Systems, now part of United Healthcare.She holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration and is a senior fellow in the American Leadership Forum, Oregon Chapter. Joanne also serves on the Board of Directors of the Oregon Historical Society and is an Alumnus of the Cascade AIDS Project Board of Directors. She has two children at Oregon State University and lives in Portland with her husband, Patrick.

VICKI WHICHARDCustomer Experience OfficerBlueCross BlueShield South CarolinaVicki Whichard is Customer Experience Officer at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. She has more than 19 years of insurance marketing, product development, operations and project management experience. At BlueCross, she recently oversaw a First Call Resolution increase of 13 percent in 12 months. Vicki has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree from Webster University. She is also a recipient of the SQM FCR Leadership Award.


WINNER PROFILE

Call Center of the Year:

CANADIAN TIRE FINANCIAL SERVICES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP CONTACT CENTER

AT CANADIAN TIRE FINANCIAL SERVICES, delivering consistently high-quality service experiences is a philosophy that is woven into the fabric of the organization’s “Customers for Life” culture. Every representative at its award-winning Customer Relationship Contact Center (CRCC) is fully aligned with the mission to deliver world class customer service, and is accountable for first call resolution (FCR) and customer satisfaction. A look inside the CRCC reveals a best-in-class contact center with consistently high FCR performance and employee engagement. Some of the elements that contribute to this customer-driven environment include:

• A solid employee connection: The average tenure for a call center rep is 12 years. One reason why employees tend to stay is that their input is valued and acted upon—especially when dealing with process improvements that involve customers and efficiency.

• Highly empowered front line: First call resolution is a core component of its Customers for Life culture. Call center reps understand that taking care of the customer’s needs is the top priority, and they are empowered to take the time to satisfy their customers.

• Process improvements driven by employees: Frontline staff are also actively involved in improving FCR and reducing customer effort. They participate on process improvement project teams from the initial idea generation and input stages through to the solution design.

• Customers for Life culture reinforced daily through team and peer recognition activities: One of the most visible mechanisms is the Customers for Life awards, which serves as both an individual commendation for promoting the culture and a companywide reminder of the importance of making the right choices for the customers. It is a peer-nominated award, open to both customer-facing and back-office staff.

• Strong connection to the local community: As one of the major employers in the Niagara region, the organization extends its Customers for Life culture to the local community. In fact, the focus on investing back into the community is another key contributor to its high employee satisfaction and longevity.

It’s a winning combination, to be sure. Yet the CRCC is not one to rest on its past achievements. The center continuously improves its performance year after year by reviewing and recharging processes and programs. Overall, consistency is the key to the CRCC’s strong performance.


WINNER PROFILE

Best Performing Small/Mid-Size Call Center:

TELUS SOURCING SOLUTIONS INC.

Putting Customers First is both an enterprisewide vision and the No. 1 priority of all team members at TELUS Sourcing Solutions (TSSI). The

foundation for TSSI’s customer-centric culture is built upon leadership values to embrace change and initiate opportunity, have a passion for growth, believe in spirited teamwork and have the courage to innovate, according to Linda McCutcheon, Vice President, Operations. “Within our contact centers that support our client’s employees, our team members ensure that the vision becomes a part of everyday practice by adhering to TSSI’s Customer First Commitments”:

• We take ownership of every customer experience.• We work as a team to deliver on our promises.• We learn from customer feedback and take action

to get better, every day.• We are friendly, helpful and thoughtful. “Alongside our TELUS leadership values, our

Customer First Commitments guide our actions and interactions with our customers, and have become an important element of our performance culture,” she says. “Our Customer First Commitments drive what we do and our values define how we do it.”

First call resolution (FCR) plays a key role in TSSI’s focus on it’s customers. “Measuring, analyzing and improving on FCR are fundamental activities in delivering on our Customer First Commitments,” she explains. “We know through our quality program, post-call electronic surveys and deep trending from our CRM tool, who, what and where we need to train, improve or celebrate, as appropriate.”

TSSI’s collaborative performance development process aligns every team member’s efforts and contributions with the contact center’s common goals, and ensures that individuals are provided with the growth and learning opportunities they need to be successful. Importantly, contact center leaders discuss individual development progress regularly with their team members. This ongoing focus on performance management helps to promote individual responsibility

and creates shared understanding between team members and leaders, McCutcheon says.

Ongoing performance development is supported formally in the contact center by:

• Setting expectations related to a team member’s role and TELUS’ business needs in meeting the center’s Customers First commitments.

• Defining employee-specific learning and development activities that will enable team members to achieve and exceed expectations.

• Assessing performance on an ongoing basis and providing feedback to continually raise the bar.

There are a number of other processes in place to ensure ongoing attention to team member development. How? “By regularly supporting, coaching, developing and recognizing the contributions and efforts of team members consistent with TSSI’s high-performance culture,” says McCutcheon, adding that “to support high performance and drive business priorities throughout the year, TELUS uses a suite of online and social media based tools to help team members document, track and share their progress in reaching both their performance and career goals.”

With such attention to helping employees achieve strong performance and success, it’s no wonder that employee satisfaction is high at TSSI. “We believe that great customer experiences start with great team member engagement, which is why we place a significant focus on ‘Fair Process’ (ensuring that our team members are a part of all aspects of a change), ‘Own-It’ (continuous improvement methodology), and annual employee surveys,” McCutcheon explains. “Our surveys give us an appreciation of how engaged our employees are. We also use the feedback to build action plans and work with our employees to implement them. This entire approach and process has afforded us with annual results that outshine the typical ‘Best Employer’s’ award criteria. Last year, we achieved 100% engagement, and we have had consecutive wins in our category as Outsourcer and


WINNER PROFILE

World Class in this same category.” In addition to high employee satisfaction,

over the past 12 to 24 months, TSSI has brought about remarkable improvements in its FCR performance by supporting its staff with an extensive knowledge base (to which customers also have access via the website), and just-in-time assistance provided by dedicated staff who sit with the CSRs to answer their inquiries on the spot. The center also has engaged a dedicated call center trainer to support a new training program with checkpoints on weeks 2, 4 and 6, and monthly check-ins with team members to identify any areas of opportunity. In addition, frontline staff receive proactive training based on monthly call trending, mentors who provide real-time coaching (in addition to a quality coach who provides more formal monthly coaching), ad hoc classroom training on pending top topics, and training on tone of voice to ensure that agents communicate in a confident manner.

TSSI also ensures successful customer interactions by providing the front line with integrated systems that allow agents instant access to required data, reducing both additional handoffs throughout the workflow and callbacks.

While the technology and tools, as well as call trending and customer data analytics, help to ensure TSSI continuously improves the contact center’s processes, when it comes to delivering on the Customer First Commitment, McCutcheon says that “hands down, the key strength of our center is our people. While each team member has personal passion and fun while delivering on our Customer Commitments, they also display high levels of organizational loyalty.”

“My name is Tara, and I am a customer service representative for Sun Life Financial. I have been with Sun Life since October of 2012, so I am coming up on my year and a half. Last year was actually my first year to even qualify for the SQM award. For the award, first I had to have 80% of my calls world class certified, which means they like me, they like the call center they are calling, and they like the overall customer experience and of course first call resolution. I was able to get over 80%, I think I hit 85% and with over the 25 calls, so then I wrote my story. The story was about a couple, it actually happened in March of last year. It kept playing in my mind over and over what had happened to them and just the difficult situation they had gone through. I took a few extra steps to help them along the way and was actually really proud of what I had done for them. For me it’s just about listening, it’s about honestly listening to what the person is saying, not assuming when they call in that I know what they are talking about, but actually taking what they are saying and thinking: how can I make this better for them or what situation are they dealing with in their life. If they call me and they are having a bad day, I don’t know that, I can’t take it upon myself, I need to make sure that however I end that phone call I make it better for them. Improving is actually my goal for this year. To become 10% above what you did the previous year, to become most improved, so I can do it, but it might be difficult. So far this year I have had 22 surveys, and 21 have been world class, so I am making my way there. But, honestly it’s just doing the same thing day in and day out, taking every call as it comes, treating every call individually and every person with the same respect that I would expect when I call in.”

Tara Gray – Sun Life Financial

SQM Interview with 2013 CSR of the Year Winner: Tara Gray – Sun Life Financial


CSR OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

When we think about the characteristics that we would want all customer service advocates to possess, there are several traits that

come to mind. Knowledge, compassion, empathy and leadership are just a few. Selflessness, willingness to advocate on behalf of others, and thinking outside the box to find a solution for a member, these are the other qualities. A customer service advocate should bring these traits to work every day. Eric Marks does just that. Eric provides a world-class level of service on each and every call by using these traits to ensure our members have their issues resolved on the first contact with our call center. Eric has been a customer service advocate for two years and has grown into one of our strongest silent leaders. He leads by example but often fades into the background. He does not seek recognition or accolades for providing world class service. However, Eric strives to take ownership over the issues he finds our members in. This isn’t just a one-time occurrence for Eric. He is always resolving issues for our members. Eric’s goal is to help whomever he comes in contact with.

For instance, one Friday night after 5:00 PM, Eric’s path crossed with one of our members who needed help with his medication. The member was new to our plan and was trying to get his prescription filled at the pharmacy before the weekend. The member was at the end of his rope when the phone rang at Eric’s desk. Eric immediately recognized that this member had a trying experience up until this point. Eric took ownership of the issue and worked with our internal drug support team to figure out why the prescription was being rejected. Once they figured out what was wrong, Eric reached out to the pharmacy and asked them to rerun the prescription. The fix put in place

by drug support worked and the pharmacy had the medication ready for the member upon his arrival back to their store. Eric called the member and let him know his prescription was ready and even told the member how much it would cost. The member was grateful for this. He could not thank Eric enough. Eric found a way to get the much-needed medication for the member when the member truly felt as if all hope was lost. Why? Eric

wanted to own the issue and make sure the member did not have any additional issues with this prescription. Eric wanted to take care of this matter on the first call. He did just that and helped solidify the member’s perception of how much his health insurance carrier cared for him as a person. This was due to Eric’s willingness to put his own needs aside on a

Friday night and get the job done. Over the course of his two-year tenure, Eric has only

had two escalated phone calls. This is phenomenal. This is a true indication of his ability to own every call. He listens to the caller’s needs and even hears the needs when the member is not speaking them. Eric has an innate ability to understand what the member is trying to say. He is a calming force on the phone. He de-escalates any issue and works to find a solution to whatever the problem our members are facing. He takes on their problems and for a small moment in time he is their warrior as he finds a way to get their needs taken care of. By always putting our members first, handling their issues on the first contact, and providing superior customer service on every call, I believe Eric Marks is a wonderful representation of what a customer service advocate should be.

—Eric Marks BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina

AWARD-WINNING STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINE FOR CSR OF THE YEAR

OWN EVERY CALL

“For a small moment in time, he is their warrior.”

He leads by example but often fades into the background. He does

not seek recognition or accolades for providing

world class service.


Winner of SQM’s Vendor FCR Best Practice Award for Performance Management

CallMiner helps businesses and organizations improve contact center performance and gather key business intelligence by automating their ability to listen to every customer interaction.

CallMiner’s market leading cloud-based voice of the customer analytics solution automatically analyzes contacts across all communication channels: calls, chat, email, and social.

CallMiner offers both real-time monitoring and post-call analytics, delivering actionable insights to contact center staff, business analysts, and executives. The results include improved agent performance, sales, operational efficiency, customer experience, and regulatory compliance.

With over 10 years of industry leadership and over 2 billion hours of conversations analyzed, CallMiner serves some of the world’s largest call centers, delivering highly effective, usable, and scalable speech analytics solutions.

Debbie Peterson(239) 292 [email protected]


www.callminer.com

Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with CallMiner – they have some great practices to share.



I received an early morning call just after we opened at 7:00 AM; the caller was a frantic mom calling about her son. I could barely hear the mom’s soft and

distant voice; it was really hard to identify the problem at hand because we had such a bad connection. This mom was calling from Thailand, she did inform me that there was poor phone service, and they are twelve hours ahead of us. I knew I had to talk fast so I didn’t use up all her time on the phone she was using, but be clear so we could get the issue resolved.

A speeding truck had hit her son and his friend in Thailand. The other boy did not survive and her son was in serious condition. Once the mom learned of the accident, she booked the next flight out to Thailand. She

got there with little money, no one to help her navigate, and her U.S. cell phone would not work there. She had to buy a cell phone from that area and still there was little service. This is about the time she called me at BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont. The mom poured her heart out to me, and I could feel her pain. I listened to her speak, I acknowledged her and asked validating questions back. She explained the whole situation, and stated that the hospital was demanding money from her because they were not getting an authorization or approval to move forward from blue card. She was being pressed against the wall; she had called our blue card worldwide call center a few times and was getting nowhere. Her concern was to be with her son, not

TAKING OWNERSHIP TO OBTAIN RESOLUTION“I put myself in her shoes, followed it to the

end and made sure this was resolved.”


Brian LaRoche(781) 547 [email protected]



chasing down an authorization. I wanted to make sure that she knew I was taking ownership of her situation to get a resolution.

While she was on the phone, I conferenced in the blue card worldwide call center to speak to a representative to find out what was going on, to see if they had been contacted and why an outreach to the out of country hospital had not been done yet. We did find out that the call center was waiting for an authorization from us. They received all other eligibility but needed an authorization from us to give to the hospital in Thailand. Since I was on a conference call with the mom and the blue card worldwide call center, I wanted to get an authorization during the call, but it was so early our IHM (Integrated Health Management) department was not open yet. The mom indicated the best way would be to communicate through email as the phone service was costly and unreliable.

As I worked with IHM in the early morning hours to put in place an authorization for the son, I kept the mom constantly up to date by communicating through email. I was also able to be in constant email with the supervisor of IHM as well. I was in contact with their dedicated BCBSVT case worker, making sure she also

was communicating with the mom via email. We got the authorization in place, sent it to blue card worldwide, and then followed up with blue card worldwide’s call center to make sure they called the authorization over to the hospital in Thailand.

One of the mom’s touching emails back to me read, “Thank you so much, Candace. You have not lost your humanity, despite working in a huge and unwieldy system.” I cannot begin to imagine how she was feeling when jumping on a plane to see her son who was barely hanging in there, then the hospital demanding money from the family because they do not have an authorization from the insurance company, and then the mom having to make numerous calls. I was so thankful for my co-workers in case management and in IHM for their quick response and assistance with this case. I personally would not want to be in another country worrying whether my kid was going to live or die, and on top of that, wondering what was going on with my insurance. I put myself in her shoes, followed it to the end and made sure this was resolved.

—Candace Pischetola BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont


I often handle call types where customers are concerned about interest or other charges on their

credit cards. Recently, I handled a call with a credit card customer that from the opening had the potential to be challenging. This caller came in quite displeased and clearly had a very negative view of the credit card company. He started off by introducing himself as a professionally employed individual

with knowledge of the finance sector. Reading between the lines and factoring in his tone, he was warning me that I better get this interaction right!

As I listened intently while he explained the situation, I learned of a $3.50 statement balance that went unpaid for two statement periods, which resulted in a delinquent status being automatically applied to his credit file. He kept repeating

how he could not believe that such a small amount could negatively impact him and then he shared more details that helped explain his level of displeasure. He was in the process of applying for a mortgage so the timing could not have been less ideal.

To start, I explained how the small unpaid balance had ultimately been the root cause of the situation and educated him on options to avoid

STRONG PARTNERSHIP WITH SUPPORT TEAM ENSURED A POSITIVE RESULT

“I wasn’t sure if our procedures would allow for anything to be done, but I wasn’t willing to give up just yet.”


Winner of SQM’s Vendor FCR Best Practice Award for Call Handling Practice

UNLEASH THE POWER OF GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Genesys is the market leader in omnichannel customer experience and contact center solutions in the cloud and on-premises. Genesys is trusted by over 4,500 customers in 80 countries to orchestrate more than 100 million digital and voice interactions each day .

With over 20 years of expertise, the award-winning Genesys Customer Experience Platform powers optimal customer journeys consistently across all touchpoints, channels and interactions to turn customers into brand advocates for organizations of any size or vertical industry. Through cloud, on-premises or hybrid deployment options that can be easily integrated and extended to both front and back office environments, the scalable Genesys platform enables enterprises to design, implement and manage journey-specific customer experiences that are consistent, seamless, and personalized.

Contact here at SQM’s conference:

Francine Moore(856) 986 [email protected]


www.genesys.com

Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with Genesys – they have some great practices to share.


this issue in the future. He explained that the card is not used frequently, and that his wife used his card in error. He had not checked for statements or payments, as he did not realize it had been used. This client was not speaking of his credit card company in a very positive light and I knew that this interaction was our only opportunity to turn around his view. I told him I was not sure if our procedures would allow anything to be done, but that I was not willing to give up just yet. I wanted to see if there was anything creative we could do to change the impact that this small error was having on his credit score.

I understood why he was upset, so my empathy was certainly natural. I

did not know at this point if I could earn back this client’s trust, but I wanted to try. While the customer was on hold, I escalated his concern to have his credit file reviewed. It did take a bit longer than initially anticipated, so I refreshed the hold a couple of times, and ensured he knew I was working on a solution. As a part of the escalated credit review process, I was able to remove the delinquency status from his credit bureau file, which immediately corrected his credit rating. I was finally able to deliver good news to the client and he became speechless. I simply reassured him that I meant what I said when I told him I understood and was not going to give up.

This tough situation was resolved in one call, which made me proud, but I could not have done it without the help of our support team. With the help of my Team Leader, we were able to immediately engage the proper channels and resolve with positive results – all while the client was on hold. This correction of the client’s credit file not only improved his view of his credit card company, but also allowed him to secure the best rate for his mortgage.

—Patty NaussMillennium1 Solutions





One memorable call I had was five minutes right before the end of my shift and I was

excited to finish the call as soon as possible. Instead, I got an angry and troubled voice. The customer was so furious he told me that if I could not assist him I should connect the call to a manager or someone else. Though I was tempted to pass the call off, I knew that he needed help and I needed to do something to help him. I decided to provide my empathy statements differently from the standard responses and not only did it lessen the aggravation, but it also gave me the opportunity to bring up his account information and learn that there was a four month negative credit reporting dispute.

As the customer’s emotions hindered him from explaining the situation thoroughly, I used effective probing questions to obtain more information. Bit by bit, the story unfolded making me realize that the situation was far more challenging than I first thought, but I encouraged myself not to give in and to focus on the goal of resolving the call. The customer’s mortgage servicing rights were recently transferred to Nationstar. He was very particular with all his payments so he had set up an automatic payment with a third party vendor to make sure all his payments were made on time. However, the customer

was unaware of the transfer to Nationstar and his payments were sent to the prior mortgage servicer address instead of being sent to the new payment processing address. The customer had made multiple attempts to submit a credit dispute to our research team. However, the

research team’s instruction was that the customer must contact the third party vendor and ask for a letter stating that it was the third party vendor’s error of sending the payment to the wrong payment processing address. He rebutted that he already made the request to them but failed to get such a letter.

Being fully aware of the situation, I realized that it was up to me to fix this and no one else. I told my customer that I would be the one to talk with the third party vendor to help him with the request. We attempted a 3-way call, but we got an uncooperative representative. I kindly asked the representative

if there is a way he could contact someone to make a follow up on the request. The representative decided to connect us to another agent who agreed to email me the required document. I let the customer know that I felt even more confident now that the situation

could be corrected. Before concluding the call, I contacted his prior mortgage servicer to get more details. This time, the customer thanked me for my patience and willingness to make another conference call though it was getting late in the evening.

After the last conference call, I learned that the prior mortgage servicer forwards any excess payment to the new mortgage servicer automatically but could take up to 30 days after the transfer. I filed a credit

dispute, which I escalated to the research team with the attached supporting documents. I monitored the submitted research request daily, and contacted the customer as soon as I got a response.

A month passed when our CEO received a letter from this customer recognizing my efforts. I could have passed the call off that day. I could have gone home when I was scheduled to. I could have given him a canned response about contacting the third party vendor as he was instructed prior, but I chose not to. I chose to serve. —Jerry Dormido Nationstar Mortgage

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A REAL CSR?“I chose to serve.”

“I could have passed the call off that day. I could have gone home when I was scheduled

to. I could have given him a canned response about contacting the third party

vendor as he was instructed prior, but I chose not to.

I chose to serve.” Jerry Dormido




TURNING AROUND THE CLIENT EXPERIENCE“Nothing motivates me quite like turning someone’s

negative experience into a positive one.”

The primary goal of a customer service representative is to get the call resolved. The

primary goal of an SQM World Class Certified representative is not only to get the call resolved, but to provide a unique, memorable and pleasant experience whether starting with a blank slate or turning around an experience that started badly. When faced with a new situation, I take the steps necessary to find a permanent solution and to educate the client of all applicable information and consequences. With situations where I am not the first contact regarding a situation, I take extra care to ensure that I am the last, most accurate and most helpful person the client speaks to. Nothing motivates me quite like turning someone’s negative experience into a positive one. In situations where the client gets the short end of the stick, I work on behalf of the client to come to a reasonable and speedy solution the client can be satisfied with.

One example of this is when I had a client who was confused about a transaction that occurred on an account. There was a movement of assets from her husband’s non-registered account to her son’s Tax-Free Savings account as a contribution. She has authority on both accounts so she was able to see this transaction but could not remember asking for the transactions. Upon further investigating I found a letter of direction she had sent attempting to

set up power of attorney (authority to transfer shares and cash between these two accounts on an ongoing basis), signed by all three family members. It was not the required Power of Attorney form, I confirmed with her that it was not an instruction to transfer specific assets, but rather an attempt to set up sufficient authority to do so in the future. The damage was done and assets were already contributed from the husband’s non-registered account into the son’s TFSA, causing a taxable over contribution. Someone else had interpreted the letter differently.

I empathized with the client’s shock and disappointment and guaranteed that everything will be resolved as soon as possible in a method that inconvenienced her the least. As a permanent solution to her original problem, I showed and explained the Power of Attorney form to set up authority for the future, and the proper procedure and letter format required for movement of cash or securities between ownerships. I apologized, explained to the client what went wrong, confirmed the original request with her, and corrected the incorrect or incomplete information she received before ensuring that she understood my message as I intended her to. I requested the client to allow me what I believed was a reasonable time frame to resolve the issue, committed to keeping her informed along the way.

I pulled all available strings, provided proof of error and expressed the client’s point of view while coordinating and negotiating a solution with other departments involved, and the solution was found quicker than expected. I called her the next day to let her know that the correction will be processed within days, and the contribution will be cancelled. As the letter provided originally was misinterpreted, no further action by the client or her family members would be required. Again, I committed to call her with updates and leave messages as required. Within the same week, on the Friday just before leaving work for the weekend, I was pleased to receive an email informing me that the error was corrected and the client had been made whole. With a smile on my face, I called and left a message with her husband (as instructed) to let his wife know that the issue was resolved, and to wish her a happy and stress-free weekend. Leaving on vacation the next week, I put the situation out of my mind. As it was resolved I did not expect for the client to communicate with me again. To my pleasant surprise, upon my return to work, I had received a hand-written thank you card from this client. For me, it was just a regular part of my daily duties, but to her it was so much more.

—Anna Gizicki Scotia iTRADE


Multi-Channel Impact on the Call Center and Channel-Specific Studies

Why measure the multi-channel impact to the call center?• 18% of customers who used the call center also used other contact channels to resolve their

inquiry or problem• Customers who used another channel with the call center has increased by 38% in the last 5

years

The 6 Key Performance Indicators for Multi-Channel:

• Multi-Channel Customer Satisfaction Experience

• Multi-Channel Contact Resolution

• Customer Effort

• Company Endorsement Score

• Customer Protection Score

• Call Avoidance

SQM offers a step-by-step progression (shown below) to full multi-channel measurement. Most call center leaders start by focusing on the most expensive channel, the call center, knowing that if a self-service channel fails the customer usually then defaults to the call center.

Once call center leaders have a firm grasp on the impact of multi-channel customers on the call center, the next logical step is to measure the performance of every customer contact channel. This is critical to do through the same vendor using a unifying survey method and design to answer the ultimate question of First Contact Resolution.

SQM offers the following multi-channel surveying products:

1. Benchmarking Study – Multi-Channel Impact on the Call Center

SQM conducts approximately 2000 customer surveys leading to 400 multi-channel and 400 call center uni-channel surveys.

This study gives:

• Benchmarking data on volume of multi-channel users

• Impact of multi-channel on customer experience

• Impact of multi-channel on customer revenue, retention and operating costs

• Insights as to how to deliver on the omni-channel experience

Cost: $16,000

MULTI-CHANNEL PRODUCTS


MULTI-CHANNEL PRODUCTS

2. Tracking Study – Multi-Channel Impact on the Call Center

SQM “bolts on” a suite of questions designed to leverage the existing survey work to deliver on the same core metrics as the baseline study.

This study gives:

• Benchmarking data on volume of multi-channel users

• Impact of multi-channel on customer experience

• Impact of multi-channel on customer revenue, retention and operating costs

• Insights as to how to deliver on the omni-channel experience

• Ability to leverage existing survey

Cost: $5 extra for every multi-channel survey.

3. Channel Specific Survey Studies (Benchmarking or Tracking)

SQM has developed core surveys that understand the customer experience using the common alternative channels of:

Typical Method of Channel Specific Surveying

Web Channel Survey conducted through web pop-up or email

IVR Channel Survey conducted through live, IVR or email

Email Channel Survey conducted through live or email

Chat Channel Survey conducted through web pop-up, email or live

SMS Channel Survey conducted through live, SMS or email

Retail Channel Survey conducted through live or email

These surveys quantify the experience within each channel and also the use of multiple channels in conjunction with the same inquiry.

Cost is dependent on survey design and methodology (live, IVR, web or SMS surveys)


The reasons why you should coach to Call Resolution and Voice of the Customer data are compelling…• The CSR is the source of error for 38% of repeat calls• When a call is unresolved, 40% of those customers felt the CSR could have done more to help them• When a call goes unresolved, 23% of customers expressed the intent to defect as a result of their call center experience• There is a 45% difference in call resolution performance between a world class CSR performing at 95% call resolution

and a fourth quartile CSR• When a customer calls the contact center, their expectation is that the CSR will resolve their call, preferably on the first

call. The customer forms their impression of the contact center experience within seconds of reaching the CSR – there is no second chance to make a positive first impression

How to coach to Call Resolution and Voice of the Customer is the big question faced by so many of our clients.Here are two training programs that deliver the answer.

1. Train the Trainer Call Resolution Training Program

A two day Train the Trainer program to give your trainers and supervisors the skills required to facilitate a CSR Call Resolution Training program for your CSRs. This ensures that your CSRs have the skills needed to accomplish world class call resolution using the Call Resolution Delivery Model (CRDM). This program is delivered in 6 steps:

Step 1: Introduction to FCR and call resolution and its importance to the contact center Step 2: Performance review of the individual CSR based on customer survey dataStep 3: Education on the Call Resolution Delivery Model Step 4: CSR self-assessment of call recordingsStep 5: CSR group call calibration using call recordingsStep 6: Establishing CSR call resolution goals and improvement plan

2. VoC Coaching Guide for Supervisors

A one day training program to support your CSRs to maintain their world class call resolution skills using CRDM, your supervisors need to know how to coach. This one day Train the Trainer Program will provide the tools to teach contact center front-line managers and supervisors the skills to effectively coach their CSRs to achieve world class call Csat and retention performance using the CRDM model.

Step 1: The call assessment process is an ongoing customer survey business practice. When a supervisor assesses CSR calls, they need to determine the strengths and weaknesses for resolving calls and improving Csat. Step 2: The supervisor develops an action plan for improving the CSR’s call resolution performance. Step 3: The supervisor communicates with the CSR about their call resolution and Csat performance in a private setting. Step 4: The CSR consistently receives feedback on areas identified in the action plan to check on the progress.

Cost: For the two training programs $7,500 We recommend that they are run back to back.

Contact CenterCall Resolution Delivery Model Training

CALL RESOLUTION TRAINING


DO YOU:• Want to drive higher FCR numbers?• Feel like you’re not doing all you could to use the FCR data?• Feel like FCR doesn’t get all the attention and resource it deserves?• Wonder what is getting in the way of implementing the Best Practices?

The SQM Consulting team is headed by Mike Desmarais, President and Founder of SQM with the expert team of Laura Costa, Andrea Pow and Nader Ghattas. Laura has a career leading VSP’s customer service operation with a track record of certified world class performance since 2006. Andrea and Nader both have customer service backgrounds with 5 years plus knowledge of SQM processes and methods. They have consulted at many leading North American companies and fine-tuned a unique approach that follows the 4 steps shown on this page and delivers powerful and practical guidance to improve your FCR performance.

What makes the SQM approach so different and effective is that:

1. It starts with a deep analysis of customer, employee and operational survey data

2. The consulting team go on site armed with data to ask insightful questions that can only come from people who know and understand both call centers AND data

3. The final recommendations are focused on no more than 5 clear improvement opportunities

4. The final recommendations are quantified in terms of % FCR improvement

5. The final recommendations are supported with practical “how to do it” knowledge and training from SQM

Hear what recent Clients have said about SQM’s Consulting work…

“The SQM Consulting team arrives day one and immerses themselves as part of the team. They show up well educated on your data and results beforehand which leads to insightful questions and learning about your operations. We felt their final recommendations were not only clear and quantifiable, but coupled with real world explanations of how those suggestions could be executed.“—Chris Browning, Director Operations, Sitel

“SQM’s depth and expertise in the call center business uniquely qualifies them as FCR thought leaders. Their dedication to understanding our business and processes, and their approach in consulting with our people, surfaced a rich list of improvement insights and opportunities. I was thoroughly impressed with the breadth and thoroughness of their recommendations. An “exceeds expectations” experience from start to finish. Thanks for helping us accelerate good to great”—Brent Scowen, VP Operations, Cogeco Cable

Call your Account VP or Sarah Kennedy, 1-800-446-2095 or [email protected] to discuss your needs.

SQM CONSULTING SERVICES

FCR Improvement Consulting Services

FCR Improvement Consulting Steps

Step 1 – Conduct Surveys and/or Analyze Data:SQM will conduct customer, employee and an FCR operational survey, if not already completed by SQM or another vendor.

Step 2 – Review Business Practices and Analyze Data:SQM will conduct a comprehensive analysis of your FCR, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, operational performance and call center operating practices for opportunities to improve your FCR performance.

Step 3 – Develop FCR Improvement Recommendations:SQM’s consultant team will develop an FCR Improvement Plan focusing on the Top 3 to 5 opportunity areas for FCR improvement, based on the Top 10 FCR Industry Best Practices. Step 4 – Assess Implementation of the FCR Improvement Plan:SQM offers the option to lead on the final step of assessing what percentage of the FCR Improvement Plan has been implemented effectively and then provide recommendations if requested.

The process takes 3 weeks with 1 week spent on site. The cost is $30,000 which covers an on-site team of 2 consultants and a team of analysts over 3 weeks.

Looking for payback?Remember that 1% improvement yields an average of $256,000 in terms of cost savings for the average call center.


CONFERENCE NOTES

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NOTES:

Introducing SQM’s New Book

FIRST CONTACT RESOLVED

Best PracticesTop 10 FCR & Multi-Channel Customer Experience Best Practices from Award Winning Contact Centers

As a result of benchmarking over 500 leading North American contact centers and surveying over 1 million customers and 25,000 CSRs on an annual basis, SQM has gained valuable insights into contact center FCR performance and best practices for improving FCR.

This book covers the Top 10 FCR & Multi-Channel Customer Experience Best Practices from our Award Winning Contact Centers.

Since 1996, SQM has been the leading authority for measuring, benchmarking, tracking, consulting, awarding and improving contact center

FCR performance in North America.

For more information on purchasing the book…Contact SQM Group: 1 (800) 446-2095

www.sqmgroup.com

Documents

16th Annual Call Center Industry FCR Best Practices Conference · First Call Resolution (FCR) Improvement, Highest Employee Satisfaction (Esat), Highest Customer Service, FCR Leadership,