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Maintaining critical operations, especially during peak times, is challenging yet crucial for businesses. The ability to resource rapidly while maintaining high quality is a significant benefit that can set successful companies apart.
However, your firm, its purpose, its vision, its values and its culture are not built around being a resourcer – your focus is the products and services you deliver which improve consumer’s lives. This is why the right strategic partnerships can be key to getting the support you need at times of increased volume. Especially if that partner recognises and utilises the deep knowledge you have of your sector and truly assimilates into your business, while bringing the specialised capabilities you need to on and offboard resource rapidly.
Here, we look at this issue in more detail – what are the key benefits of rapid resourcing, and what should you be looking for in a partner to solve your surge and flex issues?
The features of a trusted partner
Quick Adaptation: Rapid resourcing allows businesses to quickly scale their operations up or down based on demand. An outsourcing partner that truly understands this model will, even during the most unexpected surges, underwrite successful outcomes whilst assuring they are delivered safely to exceptional customer service levels.
Reduced Training Time & Skilled Workforce: With the right partner, pre-trained, multi-channel, experienced employees are available quickly, with the ability to handle various customer service scenarios from day one and quickly adopt your ways of working. Reducing the time required to onboard new Agents (including route to competency) versus your BAU should be the aim. An agile partner will take this further and will offer ongoing training programs to keep Agents updated on the latest practices and technologies. The perfect partner will bring the idea of continuous learning into Agents’ day-to-day lives with automation – for example, knowledge management tools which suggest next best actions, call wrap automations and more.
Quality Leadership Team: A strong leadership team to support and guide you from the outset is crucial in managing the complexities of rapid resourcing and maintaining quality during surges. You’ll need an insight-led, confident team right from the C-suite to Agents themselves, who are prepared to fully understand your business in order to put in place a robust, sustainable solution which dovetails with your business and caters to the nuances of your operating model and risk tolerance.
They should provide proportionate challenge and take a real-world view on how their service must integrate into your business. One-size-fits-all solutions are the enemy of success in this area, and you’ll quickly know in dealings with a supplier if that is what you’re getting.
Data-Driven Decisions: Gleaning actionable insight to understand the drivers of increased volumes and the correct response to surge events is paramount.
Intuitive recommendations arising from data insights are a clear advantage in mitigating the impacts of surge events. Do the suppliers you’re considering perform route cause analysis at every stage of the customer journey, maintaining an ‘RCA engine’ which feeds insights back into the operation, both up and downstream of the contact centre? For example, could what you assume to be an issue in the contact centre actually be a product issue which is easily rectified? Do you have mechanisms for making these distinctions?
Quality Assurance Programs: Quality should not suffer as a result of surge. Appropriate frameworks and feedback systems must be in place to ensure that any deviations in service quality are quickly identified and addressed. QA makes a considerable contribution to the data outputs which help you make the aforementioned operational decisions. Ensure your supplier recognises this.
Customer-Centric Policies: A quality supplier can provide a view on whether your policies, procedures and controls are delivering intended outcomes or are causing challenges within your business. A truly exceptional partner will help you identify and execute on anything limiting advocacy and retention, both in terms of BAU and during times of increased demand.
Clear Communication Channels: The way partners conduct engagement governance greatly affects the success of your partnership. The right relationships and communication channels must be established and fostered to remove friction and increase timeliness around actions and decisions. This includes any alternative forums or heightened communications required before, during and after a high-demand event.
Continuous Improvement: Together with your partner, you should enable a culture of continuous improvement, to encourage innovation and the adoption of best practices to enhance service delivery. Again, this maximises the potential to build brand advocacy and retention through well-handled interactions during a time of increased pressure and market awareness. It can also lower the costs associated with both BAU and times of surge.
The ability to resource rapidly without compromising quality is a crucial advantage for businesses facing fluctuating customer service demands, especially in an era of heightened customer expectations. Choosing an experienced provider who go beyond the transactional will help you deliver sustainable solutions which ensure agility, cost-effectiveness and customer focus without compromising on quality and brand identity.
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