Fighting CSR Churn

You employ hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people to fight customer churn. But have you taken a good look at employee churn in your customer-service center lately? Turnover rates in customer service fall at 30% to 35% each year, according to the Yankee Group. Charlie Falco, GTE Wireless director of customer care, said that in a billing department, customer-service turnover can reach as high as 100%.

"This is a difficult job. We don't want people to stick around for a few months and move out," he said. "It is management's responsibility to make it a fun place to work, otherwise you will be one of those centers with a high turnover rate."

Incentive programs are one way to keep your CSRs consistently excited to come to work. Incentives can come in the form of contests or recognition and rewards programs, and they range from the ordinary to the bizarre. Anything that keeps your reps motivated is fair game.

"In the call-center environment, we do childish things because we are trying to create an environment that fosters fun," said Paul Turner, PageMart vice president of customer service.

PageMart holds monthly contests in which CSRs compete for the most perfect call. Individual call-center managers have a monthly budget set aside to fund the prizes. Most recently the company ran a contest among CSRs based on the Super Bowl. Every team of representatives in the call center chose a football team. During games, they were able to move 10 or 15 yards toward a touchdown if their average speed of answering a call, average call-handle time, or number of calls taken per hour was better than their opponent's. The teams fought each other to play in the playoffs and eventually the Super Bowl.

Andie Neville, Aerial achieving call excellence (ACE) manager, said her company's teams also compete for the highest call excellence and have been known to make the losing team buy the winning team lunch, or even make them wash their cars. GTE Wireless runs a quality challenge where teams compete against each other for a trophy or banner based on the quality of service they provide in a given month.

Some call centers run contests at the individual level. Bonnie Youngblood, Cellular South human resources manager, said her customer-service managers vary the lengths of their call-center contests from weekly to quarterly. Prizes range from gift certificates to dinner for two. A few months ago, the winners made their supervisors clean their cubicles. Youngblood said managers base the contest parameters on sales and retention such as who can save the most deactivations or who can sell the most unlimited weekends.

"In our business, our primary goal is to maintain our customer base," she said. "Most of our contests are geared toward that goal."

WINNING RECOGNITION PROGRAMSSome carriers find recognition and reward programs are just as effective as contests when it comes to keeping CSRs motivated.

"We try to design our incentives by not just making it a carnival-like atmosphere, but with things that do align with our overall center objectives," said Sherrie Johnson, GTE Wireless quality training manager.

The company's Ben Franklin Blowout gives associates $100 for meeting objectives in attendance, service, quality and average handle time. The Eagle of the Moment program rewards CSRs immediately after they are found giving excellent service. They may get a smalltrinket or a $5 gas certificate.

"You have to measure everything that moves in a call center," said PageMart's Turner.

For example, PageMart gives out plaques to its CSRs. Pennants in different colors represent elements such as sales quotas, quality, reliability, productivity and special recognition from customers. As CSRs meet goals, they receive pennants for their plaques, which sit in their cubicles. Attributes important to Turner are attendance, 1-call resolution, how well CSRs know their jobs and the company's systems, and how well employees quickly identify and resolve complaints.

"Someone could start out performing at 79% and improve to 95%. That swing deserves some acknowledgement," he said.

Aerial Communications' Kansas City call center has realized tremendous success with its ACE program. When Neville began as ACE manager, her goal was to eliminate the negative stereotype associated with quality monitoring in call centers.

"Whenever you go into a call center and mention quality control or quality assurance, everybody goes, 'Oh, no! The phone police!' There is a connotation that it mentions everything you do wrong," she said.

She created the Acer Club to change that perspective. Three ACE advisers use forms to monitor customer-service advisers (CSAs) on hard skills such as greeting the caller, acknowledging a request, professional etiquette, exploration and resolution of the request, accuracy of information, and closing. They also look at soft skills, including listening skills, vocal and verbal quality, and following appropriate call flow. Anytime an ACE adviser scores someone 100% on an ACE form for a particular call, the CSA gets an Acer card.

"It is just little piece of paper, but it has worked wonders," she said. "People are excited about getting monitored now."

CSAs throughout the call center display their ACER cards for their fellow employees to see.

PrimeCo employees or supervisors can recognize people who set a good example by nominating them for the Prime Example Award. Recipients get a shirt with the company logo and award name, said Bob Young, PrimeCo vice president of customer care. Convergys, which handles some call-center activity for wireless carriers such as AT&T and Sprint PCS, offers various awards. The President's Award is the company's most prestigious award, said Patrice London, Convergys director of client services training. During the year, employees receive forms from other employees thanking them for a specific action. Forms represent the common-bond values of the company: integrity, respect and teamwork. At the end of the year, the president of the business unit picks several nominees to receive the award and invites them to a gala event.

The most popular award at Convergys is the Quality Parking Award. Parking is at a premium at some sites, London explained. When employees recognize each other for perfect calls, they are nominated for a parking place near the door.

"It sounds funny, but some people think that the quality parking award is much better than a gift certificate," she said.You never know which awards will have the biggest impact on a CSR. It might be food, or it might be football tickets. You don't need to spend significant money on rewards for them to be appreciated.

"These are $5 items, but when you put the right spin around it, and the management team is excited about it, people really enjoy it," GTE's Falco said.

THE PAYOFFWireless carriers have different ideas on what makes an incentive program work. Some carriers feel cash is too cold, so they prefer to give more personal rewards. Other companies give money because they know people always appreciate it. PrimeCo's Young said the best way to determine the reward is to ask employees for ideas. His employees like movie tickets, merchandise and, of course, time off.

"They are not bashful," he said. "We are close to our folks, and we will talk to them about what might work for them, either through small focus groups or just going out on the floor and walking around."

Young stressed you must mix programs and prizes to keep them fresh and exciting, and you should not run a contest longer than three or four weeks. To make an incentive work, employees need to have immediate feedback and a quick payoff. He has tried both individual and team contests, but prefers team-level programs.

"When you only have a single winner, you lose a lot of the value of a contest and make it too individualistic," he said.

GTE's Johnson aligns incentives around the overall objectives of the call center. Because the company believes quality is the most important goal, she rewards for quality behavior from associates. She agreed with Young that successful call centers have real-time incentives as opposed to quarterly or annual programs.

One carrier said that when it comes to contests, you need to be careful not to reward employees for doing a mediocre job. You should clearly outline and define what you expect from your CSRs, and should not reward them for the things they are expected to do every day. Instead, you should promote contests that encourage reps to use their downtime for special initiatives. If a CSR calls an 11th-month customer and offers him a package to extend his contract another year, you can reward the behavior because it is beyond the day-to-day job requirement.

Contests don't always have to relate to productivity. Young said PrimeCo sometimes holds contests to build camaraderie. His supervisors bring in pictures of themselves and have their CSRs guess who is in each photo. They also write down little-known facts about themselves and have CSRs match the description with the supervisor.

"Those contests are helpful as well because you are managing morale and productivity at the same time," he said.

CULTURE SHOCKPageMart's Turner said although incentive programs are a good way to retain employees, the entire company culture must attract them.

"Today's younger workforce demands an atmosphere where employees can participate in the managerial process," he said.

For instance, PageMart operates its customer-service centers via self-directed work teams. The company does not employ low-level managers; the employees help resolve all business issues through focus groups. Employees also make supervisory decisions and participate in the training and development of other employees.

PrimeCo's Young said that the environment of a company is an outgrowth of the company's culture. If the CEO does not pay attention to the company's culture, one will evolve on its own, and it may not the one you want. More wireless carriers are shedding the stodgy corporate image and going for something more offbeat, not only to appeal to consumers, but also to draw in employees. It is no longer unusual to see CEOs interacting with employees at every level. PrimeCo President & CEO Lowell McAdam has been known to dress up as a gangster for company lip-sync contests. GTE Wireless President Mark Feighner visits call centers on a monthly basis, and Aerial President Don Warkentin takes select CSRs to lunch when visiting call centers.

The secret to battling employee churn is part of that overall culture, said Marsha Bjerkan, Aerial Communications call-center director. To her, it is simple: caring for the individual. That shouldn't be hard for people who work in customer service, but some companies still are not getting it, she said.

"I don't know why when some people move up to leadership positions, where they have the opportunity to positively impact people in the organization, they forget about it," she said. "It is about knowing their names. It is the little things that mean so much."

To find out what incentives work best for your CSRs, it is best to go right to the source. Aerial's customer-service advisers (CSAs) spoke candidly about what keeps them motivated.

Besides incentives and bonuses, a positive atmosphere keeps Keasha McNeal motivated. At her call center, the culture starts with Marsha Bjerkan, call center director. Vance Fernandez agreed, adding that Bjerkan knows all 200 CSAs' first and last names as well as their spouses' and children's names.

"It is nice to know that someone knows who you are," he said. "At some other companies, the top person doesn't know you."

Bjerkan's enthusiasm is catching, said Aaron Bretton. At 7 a.m. she already is walking around asking how everyone is doing, even though they may not be awake, he said.

Aaron Frazier noted that communication between management and customer service keeps him going. If someone gets fired, they are one of the first groups to know about it. They don't hear anything through the grapevine.

"They also involve us in the operations, and I think that is important," he said.

Employees are encouraged to make decisions regarding customers on their own. It is to the company's benefit for them to do so, he said, because it saves the customer in the long run.

It is difficult to get to know teammates at work because everyone is on the phone all day. Fernandez said activities outside of work have helped assimilate everyone into the company and build camaraderie. Sometimes they go bowling, play softball or have after-hours get-togethers.

The four agreed that the possibility of advancement in a company would make them stay instead of leaving for another company. Fernandez pointed out that some companies are so big that employees get stuck in one position with no chance to advance. McNeal added that feeling there is no favoritism and that everyone has an equal chance for promotion is another factor in a successful call-center environment.