CIAC Announces Newest Industry-Certified Professionals

CIAC is pleased to recognize these customer care and support center professionals who have recently joined the growing ranks of CIAC-Certified Strategic Leader (CCSL); CIAC-Certified Operations Manager (CCOM); and CIAC-Certified Management Consultant (CCMC).

“CIAC Certification demonstrates a commitment to professional excellence and to the call center industry. Additionally, industry credentials like CIAC Certification provide a high level of credibility and recognition to the professional and his/her organization. Because of its many benefits, we are encouraging our entire call center management team to pursue CIAC Certification.”

Jim Skjeveland
CIAC-Certified Strategic Leader
Sr. VP Contact Centers, CSD

CHALLENGE	SOLUTION
As the largest provider of Relay Services in the U.S., CSD strives to provide customers with a superior value proposition.	As a CIAC Certification Pacesetter, CSD serves as a role model and sets the standard by which other Relay Service providers are measured.
Objectives: 1) To invest in CSD’s people in order to develop them into recognized experts. 2) To enhance the career growth of CSD employees and provide opportunities for advancement. 3) To build on the knowledge base of the CSD management team and establish consistent standards at mastery level.	Executed a contract with CIAC to industry-certify its center executives and managers. Is committed to a highly skilled CIAC-Certified management team. CIAC Certification provides the framework for continual learning and professional development based on industry-recognized best practice standards.
With rapid growth expected for the upcoming year, CSD desires to cultivate a strong organization that is highly responsive to change.	With CIAC Certification, the CSD management team is equipped with the specialized knowledge and skills to respond to the challenges that face our organization today and in the future.

	Beware of Six Sigma - It Could Be Hazardous To Your Call Center!
	By John Goodman and Christine White Mazu TARP

Call center executives are starting to hear the term Six Sigma used in conjunction with corporate quality improvement initiatives. Six Sigma originated in manufacturing quality and is predicated on reduction of defects to the level of 3 per million events. Call center executives need to be aware of Six Sigma because if incorrectly applied, it can do great damage and make life in the center very difficult.

Six Sigma, as applied in a manufacturing environment, is intended to drive variability out of a process, leading to less rework, less scrap and ultimately, reduced costs. When a company begins a Six Sigma quality improvement initiative, senior management is first trained on the methodology and then implementation experts, usually called Master Black Belts, are either hired or trained by outside consultants. The Master Black Belts then train others (called Black Belts) and start looking for opportunities to improve processes. The call center and customer service mechanism appear to contain significant opportunities because they have high expense. This is where the problems can begin.

Driving variability and error out of a process is an admirable objective. It makes total sense in a manufacturing environment as having a wheel out of round or a screw a quarter of an inch too short leads to product failure and customer dissatisfaction. A good way to produce screws the same length is to have the original input metal bars the same length – i.e., consistent inputs. However, the customer service process is more complex in that it must be tailored to the specific customer. The customer is always a primary input to the customer service process but their needs and expectations are anything but consistent!

One pitfall with Six Sigma is that it focuses on producing an output that has no variability, like the screws in the above example. However, marketing strategies such as one-to-one marketing and Customer Relationship Management both suggest that the output of the service process should be tailored to the individual customer, even to the pace of the call, (e.g., New Yorkers want fast efficient calls while an elderly caller from the south might want a warm, friendly, unrushed call).

An additional pitfall is that in most organizations, Six Sigma projects are selected and evaluated using a short term horizon, e.g., what is the opportunity and payoff at the end of a two month project? In most cases, improved revenue from customer satisfaction is not even considered in project selection because it is too long term and considered speculative. Presently, 80% of Six Sigma projects don’t even use Voice of the Customer data for project selection. The payoff must be in hard dollars, either costs saved or revenue gained. This evaluation approach does not lend itself to consideration of improvements in customer satisfaction, which as we all know are what lead to improved loyalty and enhanced long term revenue.

Considering all of this, are we suggesting that Six Sigma has no place in customer service? Not at all! For processes such as answering the phone, fulfilling requests for publications, or shipping products, Six Sigma makes sense because you want to drive variability out of those processes. Where it does not make sense is within the actual interaction with the customer, because the customer interaction has two highly variable inputs - the customer and the employee. The actual interaction is not an appropriate place to apply Six Sigma.

Given the above concerns, what should you as a call center executive do? We suggest three things:

To learn more about the information presented in this article, contact John Goodman, President or Christine White Mazu, Measurement Manager at TARP by telephone at 703-524-1456 or email info@tarp.com. Over the past thirty years TARP, a specialist and innovator in the measurement of customer satisfaction and loyalty located in Arlington, Virginia, has acquired substantial experience and developed sophisticated economic models to provide blue chip organizations with comprehensive insight into their customer performance. TARP's purpose is to assist clients in increasing customer loyalty and corporate profitability through improved customer service and product quality.

	Yes, You Too Can (and Should) be a Technology Leader!
	By Lori Bocklund President, Strategic Contact, Inc.

Call center professionals often have a love-hate relationship with technology. We love it for its successes, when it helps us service the customer better and more efficiently. More often, we dislike it for its complexity and costs, for falling short of our expectations, and for hindering rather than helping us.

Regardless, we are dependent on technology for so many things in the center that we really need to embrace it. Especially in today’s market, where we have tremendous changes occurring in the core technologies we use, every call center leader needs to take the time to learn about technology, and become an active participant in making sure it is an enabler of your center’s success.

Here are some things you should do to ensure the technology in your center succeeds:

Historically, one of the barriers to technology success in the call center has been the divide between the management team and the technology professionals that supported them. Fortunately, that gap has narrowed in most organizations. The business and technology teams collaborate more closely. You have a responsibility to build and nurture these relationships, get involved, and be a leader in using technology as an enabler to help your call center meet its business goals.

About the Author….
Lori Bocklund is President of Strategic Contact, an independent consulting firm that helps companies optimize the strategic value of their customer contact technology and operations. Lori is a recognized industry leader in contact center strategy, technology, and operations. She is a widely published author, including co-author of “Call Center Technology Demystified" (Call Center Press), and frequent speaker at industry events. She can be reached at lori@strategiccontact.com or 503-579-8560.

Leading Centers in Asia Standardize on CIAC Certification

Leading centers throughout Asia are standardizing on CIAC Certification to build top performing management teams. OmniTouch, CIAC's Asia-based Training Partner and Reseller, is working with companies including DHL, Marriott, IBM, Intel, Maxis Mobile, AXA Insurance, MCI, Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Standard Chartered Bank to develop and validate the expertise of customer care and support center managers to create and sustain organizations that consistently deliver high value services.

CIAC Leadership Team Development Program

The CIAC Leadership Team Development Program is designed to help customer care and support centers managers and executives develop the business acumen and leadership skills to increase organizational efficiency and profitability. This innovative program provides highly insightful and useful information in the form of individualized professional development roadmaps that enable the center's leadership team improve performance in the mission-critical areas that most impact bottom line results.

The CIAC Leadership Team Development Program consists of three components: 1) Evaluations, Reports, and Consultation.

EVALUATIONS
First, each member of the center's leadership team receives powerful insights and “must know” information by completing the CIAC Mastery Inventory and a 360° Review. Both evaluations are easy to complete and CIAC handles all the administration details.

The CIAC Mastery Inventory is an in-depth, self-evaluation of knowledge and mastery in four primary areas of center management – 1) leadership and business;   2) people;  3) operations and  4) customer relationships. A gap analysis is provided to highlight development opportunities for each member of the leadership team based on current industry standards for the specific job role.

The CIAC 360° Review is a customer care and support center specific tool that measures each leadership team member’s perception of her or his own performance, as well as the perceptions of other managers, direct reports, and peers with whom she or he works. The 360° Review examines seven key characteristics, representing the abilities and behaviors identified as most critical to center leadership and managerial effectiveness.

REPORTS
Next, CIAC provides a series of reports based on the information gained through the evaluations. The first is a Composite Mastery Inventory Report that provides useful behavioral and knowledge gap analyses that details the overall leadership team’s strengths and opportunities for professional development.

The second report is a detailed 360° Review Feedback Report prepared specifically for each leadership team member. This report provides meaningful insights into performance behaviors and capabilities as seen through each team member’s own eyes and the eyes of the people with whom she or he works. This perspective helps the leadership team make more intelligent and effective business decisions and with greater confidence and better results.

CONSULTATION
In addition to the recommendations provided in the reports, CIAC facilitates a session with the leadership team’s senior executive to debrief the Composite Mastery Inventory Report outcome and provide additional observations and recommendations to help fill any knowledge gaps indicated from the evaluations. The consultation is provided by teleconference with a CIAC Advisor - a well-seasoned center executive with special expertise in developing customer care and support center leadership teams.

OTHER DETAILS
The cost of the CIAC Leadership Team Development Program is $3,500 USD for up to six executives and managers. At least six executives and/or managers must be evaluated together to provide valid and meaningful information. An additional fee of $200 per person applies for more than six participants.

For additional information on the CIAC Leadership Team Development Program, contact CIAC at 615.373.2376 or info@ciac-cert.org.

Q. What is a CIAC PaceSetter?

A.   A CIAC PaceSetter is a market leading organization that recognizes the strategic value of its contact center and the important correlation between high-caliber human capital and business success. CIAC PaceSetter organizations demonstrate an unparalleled commitment to quality, service excellence, and high ethical standards in every aspect of their business operations.

CIAC recognizes PaceSetter partners as best of class and through promotion on its web site, in ads and marketing materials distinguishes them as a role model for high performance customer care and support centers. To learn how your organization can become a CIAC PaceSetter, email info@ciac-cert.org or call 615-373-2376.

CIAC is pleased to announce Hudson Bay as the newest CIAC PaceSetter joining an elite group of outstanding organizations.