This approach was first shown to me when I worked in a call centre. You might be thinking, “I don’t work in a call centre, so this has nothing to do with me”. If you are in that camp, read on and imagine you do. There is something for you; you need to work down to the bottom of the page.
People talk about call listening, going “side by side” or back to the floor. It sounds great. Unfortunately, most of the time, it is like butterfly collecting. It is interesting, but nobody knows what to do with the results.
How do you get the most out of it?
Here are a couple of suggestions:
If You Are Going to Call Listen, Then Call Listen
Don’t pay lip service to the activity. An hour’s worth of call listening isn’t long enough to tell you what is happening. You won’t listen to enough calls to see (or hear) the big picture. Worse still, you might get the wrong idea entirely. Then waste time chasing down irrelevant issues.
Some people will tell you that you should work out how many calls you need to listen to for statistical certainty. But a nice big round number, like 50 calls, will give you a sound understanding.
Categorise the Call Reasons
As you listen to calls, categorise them by why the customer called. What did the customer want? Please do this in enough detail to be able to act upon it. But not so much detail that you won’t be able to see the wood from the trees later.
- Accounts call (too vague)
- Failure to set up a direct debit (just right)
- Mrs Smith phoned from Liverpool because she had received a call from her bank (too much)
If there are two issues in one call, capture both issues
Count the calls
Sorry if this is stating the obvious. It is essential to create a tally chart to see the relative size of different types of demands.
Identify the Waste
Listen to the reason for a call and the outcome, and ask yourself whether they were good calls or bad.
Think about the reason for the call
Why did the customer call? Determine if the call was valuable to the customer or not. Were they ringing because they wanted to or felt compelled to call? Classify reasons as “value” or “waste”.
- If the customer is ordering something, then that is value.
- If the customer is complaining because the order didn’t arrive, then that is waste.
- If the customer wants to change their address, then it is value.
- If you sent the order to the wrong address, then it is waste.
Was the issue resolved?
Then, at the end of the call, check if the agent resolved the customer’s issue. (To do this, think about how you would feel if you were the customer. This is not the same as checking that the call followed all the defined standards and policies).
The chart below should help:
There is a blank form you can download here.
Don’t Let the Tail Wag the Dog.
Draw up a Pareto chart (80:20) of all the reasons for bad calls. Start with the most prominent reason first and then work through to the smallest. Not all problems are equal; this approach will show you which issues to worry about.
And that is all there is to call listening. The next thing to do is act upon your most prominent reason for failure (or waste). The exercise is just about as useful as butterfly collecting if you don’t.
And if You Don’t Work in a Call Centre?
Use the same approach but think about it a little.
- If you are a receptionist, note down the reasons for customer visits.
- If you work an e-mail queue, why did people write?
- Telephony installation technician? Reason for a visit, and was it successful?
I think you get the gist of it.
Homework
This week’s task is simple. Spend some time understanding the demands your customers place on your organisation:
- Print off a copy of the form.
- Book a couple of hours in one of your customer contact areas.
- Explain to the customer service representative what you are doing. You are not “spying” on them.
- Note down all the reasons for failures.
- Discuss them with the staff member. Understand what caused the issues. Was it a policy, a procedure or maybe an incentive?
- Pick something to fix. It doesn’t matter what; all progress is good progress.
Related posts:
- Go, look and understand: Data is great, but it isn’t enough.
- What can you see?: The Ohno circle and why you need one.
- Are you doing what’s important?: The difference between management and customer work.
More information:
- Go to the Gemba: Deborah Adler’s TEDx talk explaining why meaningful innovation requires a deep understanding of the work.
- Eleven steps: KaiNexus’ guide to an effective Gemba walk.
- Gemba walk don’ts: Slideshare that explains what not to do.
(Gemba is just a Japanese word that means workplace)
Post Script
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