Custom CRM Solution Lowers Average Handle Time by 52% and Dramatically Cuts Costs by 20%

Services: Contact Center – Technical Support and Customer Service
Industry: B2C, Technology

01 | Problem

An international consumer electronics and business solutions company needed a customized software solution that offered real-time connectivity for the customer service representative to look up valuable information such as web links to owner’s manuals, product trending information, service center claims, part orders and store locations. At the time, the company experienced poor visibility into its customer experience metrics. It had outsourced its services to multiple suppliers but received little proactive advice on how and where to improve. Even more pressing, the company did not have a knowledge base to take its agents through the process requirements of a call. Agents had to follow along with a basic computer drawn flow chart to complete a call. The ideal solution would combine inside and outside reporting into one customized program, allowing the company to segment the data as it pleased.

02 | Solution

Dialog Direct was chosen as the strategic partner for call center and technology services based on its experience and technological capabilities. While launching this new customer service program, Dialog Direct’s team recognized multiple opportunities that would dramatically increase efficiencies while cutting costs. Dialog Direct already had a robust CRM system, but it wanted to tailor a customized solution to the specific needs of this client. To do this, Dialog Direct combined its unique system with the system of an award-winning technology partner. “With the pairing of our award-winning technology partner and Dialog Direct’s custom enhancements, the custom-developed system allowed for very specific information to be available to our frontline call center that was easily summarized and available at our client’s fingertips,” said Michelle Lhamon, Account Director for Dialog Direct.

The combination of custom software and Dialog Direct’s enhancements allowed for:

  • All-in-one database for customer data reporting/trending, links to website/outside software programs, and a built-in knowledge base
  • Advanced find feature that acts as business intelligence to create reporting to any degree of granularity without IT intervention
  • Step-by-step Dialog Direct sessions (instead of referring to paper flow charts) to help create accurate part ordering for warrantied TVs
  • Unlimited license to the program, without having to pay a per-person fee
  • Access to the program for both the client and Dialog Direct to update important information, for example, owner manuals of new products and scripts

03 | Results

The combination of the custom CRM software along with Dialog Direct’s call center expertise not only met but exceeded the client’s needs. Almost one year after using this new technology, Dialog Direct’s client has seen a dramatic difference in the efficiency of agent training, average handle time and customer service.

Through the proactive nature of Dialog Direct’s account executive team and its in-house IT team, Dialog Direct was able to create a completely new experience for both the client and its customers. The client’s customers were happier because its issues were resolved quicker and more accurately; the client was happier because its costs were significantly lowered and it gained access to multitudes of customer data; and Dialog Direct agents were happier because their job became easier.

Prior to partnering with Dialog Direct, the consumer electronics client was aware that 80% of inbound calls were for legacy products (expired warranty models), and 20% of calls were for specialty products (current warranty models). Dialog Direct’s technology allowed the company to prioritize its customer service by handling the 20% of calls that were still in warranty with distinct attention, while also providing a quality customer experience for the 80% of customers with expired warranty products.

This data helped Dialog Direct evolve its training efforts to be more efficient. All newly hired agents were trained solely on the legacy products. Once the agents mastered legacy products, they were moved to specialty products if a position was available and if they were qualified. This effort reduced training time by 27% and saved the client significant amounts of money.

Dialog Direct and its client took it a step further by creating a customized on-site lab with the client’s consumer electronics products so agents could see what the customer sees, enhancing the customer experience. With agents now proficiently trained, Dialog Direct has been able to considerably drop call handle times by 52%, drastically increasing the customer experience and cutting client costs by 20% each month! Part orders have also seen a 95% success rate of first-time resolution on warranty TVs due to the Dialog Direct sessions. The combination of the success from training and lowering of average handle time has increased customer satisfaction.

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