Continuous Process Improvement: A Part of a Call Center’s DNA

June 26, 2017 Jim Iyoob

No matter what industry your call center is in continuous process improvement, a method of continually redesigning business protocols for increased efficiency is a vital cornerstone of business excellence. CPI can turn a struggling company into a major competitor in whatever industry your business is in. By systematically reviewing current company procedures and introducing incremental changes, you can provide the foundation for a breakthrough.

As the changes are incorporated into day-to-day business protocols, you will notice an increase in efficiency that can lead to better response times, faster call resolution and a more positive customer sentiment. All of this translates to more success as a company. By improving processes regularly, contact centers can better prepare themselves to meet major business goals.

Making Continuous Process Improvement a Habit

If a business really wants to be successful, CPI has to be more than a talking piece. It must be a habit. It must be a predominant characteristic of a call center rather than a technique that is implemented occasionally and forgotten about the rest of the time. If the latter is the case for a company, the executives may find themselves wanting to change without knowing what strategies would be the best to bring about that transformation. What can you do to make CPI a part of your company’s DNA? Consider using strategies, such as:

• Planning for the change you want to see. If you want improvements to be successful, you need to know what the company’s goals are. Is it more important for the contact center to improve customer satisfaction or safeguard personal data? Once you know what areas need to be improved, you will have a better idea what sort of changes to implement on the current processes.
• Preparing the team for the upcoming change. In order to test out planned changes, you may want to make the alteration on a small scale first. Even so, you need to be aware that people do not like change. In order to avoid resistance from the workforce, you need to incorporate training and dialogue into the process of improvement.
• Listening to the feedback. Some business processes seem efficient on paper, but once you have tried out the change on a small group, you may come to realize that the efficiency is lacking. In order to really find out what the merits of your improvements are, you need to be willing to listen to the thoughts of your supervisors and customer service representatives. This is the time to make minor changes to your new processes, so you can better meet your business excellence goals.
• Implementing the change on a large scale. After the initial testing of the new process, you may be ready to introduce the procedure to the entire center. Remember to still incorporate adequate training, so the larger workforce is able to make the alterations a normal part of their interactions with customers.

Incorporating this four-part, cyclical strategy into your business may make it easier for CPI to be a major part of the company. In order to really be successful with CPI, it has to be more than a fallback plan. It has to be etched into the DNA of your call center.

This blog was first published on LinkedIn.