Critical customer data and actionable feedback are pure gold to an organization, and GE Capital Solutions Customer Support Center is one company that's not afraid to dig.
With a dedicated Reporting and Analytics team focused on data mining and trend-spotting, and a third-party survey specialist focused on capturing the Voice of the Customer, GE Capital Solutions continually uncovers well more than its share of precious metal.
Of course, priceless customer data and feedback aren't the only things the call center covets; it recognizes that fully engaged and inspired agents are worth more than their weight in gold -- as evidenced by the center's unparalleled emphasis on progressive and effective hiring, training and retention practices.
Coveting Customer Data and Feedback
The call center's Reporting and Analytics team -- once a mere reactive entity serving purely a reporting function -- today is a powerfully dynamic group dedicated to mining critical contact information and using it to drive improvements to existing processes, procedures and programs, as well as to successfully launch new ones.
"We have close to one million inbound customer contacts each year, plus another one million offline transactions," explains Ed Faulstick, general manager of the GE Capital Solutions Customer Support Center, located in Cedar Rapids, IA. "We are able to capture the details on each transaction and tie it to the respective customer, sales program and asset type. Using this data, we know who is calling and why. We know which programs perform better, and which ones require less customer contact."
Faulstick adds that having such rich data at their fingertips has enabled the center to develop a "robust activity-based costing model that enables us to show true cost detail at the customer, program and asset level."
Even more direct and actionable data comes straight from customers' mouths -- and the call center has the perfect process in place to capture and act on such valuable information. Each night, the center sends a file of the day's contacts to an outside survey firm that then conducts a random-sample phone survey to gauge customers' satisfaction levels and to gather key customer insights and preferences.
The survey is comprised of agent-related questions (e.g., courtesy, knowledge), service-related questions (e.g., wait time, first-call/timely resolution, IVR effectiveness), and process-related questions (e.g., reason for the call). Occasionally, the center also drops in ad hoc questions to "get the customer pulse on a particular subject," explains Faulstick. "[For example,] prior to introducing our Web solution, we asked customers about their propensity to use the Web for customer service contacts." While most of the survey questions involve a rating scale, some are more open-ended, with the survey company reporting verbatim responses to such questions back to the call center.
Faulstick's crew at GE Capital Solutions uses the survey data in several ways:
- To provide agent-level feedback on specific contacts, and as part of agents' overall performance review.
- To identify process improvement opportunities. "For example," Faulstick explains, "if we find customer satisfaction is lower than expectations on a particular call type, we will review the process around that call type to see what needs to be done to improve customer satisfaction."
- As a powerful tool when working with GE Capital Solutions' vendors and dealers -- allowing the center to share what customers are saying about its service on a broad basis, as opposed to mere anecdotal information.
Faulstick adds that the center recently leveraged its customer survey process to help gauge its "Net Promoter Score" (NPS). "NPS is a systematic way to look at customer loyalty and [customers'] propensity to recommend your business to their peers and colleagues. NPS is a powerful metric and tool that we are using to ensure we are doing the right things to continue to grow our business."
And whenever the survey reveals that the center did not do the right things with a particular customer, a proactive Service Excellence team is there to save the day. Members of this effective team follow up with any and all customers who indicated via the survey that they were less than satisfied with their recent interactions. "We have a 'red alert' process with our third-party survey provider," says Faulstick, "and when they find a customer who is not satisfied, we immediately contact him or her to assure the issue has been resolved."
Ensuring Agents Got Skillz
It's no surprise that, with such focused, customer-centric teams and strategic processes in place, GE Capital Solutions' customer satisfaction ratings are through the roof, as is its first-contact resolution rate. But it's really the center's strong focus on the people handling the customer contacts that enables the center to achieve and maintain such enviable loyalty and performance.
It all starts with attracting and acquiring the right agent prospects. The center's recruiting tactics are nothing if not eclectic, with qualified candidates being tapped at regional colleges and universities and via career Web sites, local career fairs, newspaper ads and a successful employee-referral program.
Of course, capturing interest is just part of the hiring process; strategic applicant screenings and assessments ensure that each agent hired represents an optimum fit for the center. "We have a robust screening process that involves phone screens and panel interviews that include behavioral-based questions," Faulstick explains. "We focus hard on the 'people' skills. I have found that we can teach most of the process portion of the job, but we can't really teach people how to work with people. If you don't [already] have the people piece, you probably are not going to be successful in our organization."
Once hired, agents complete an orientation program followed by two weeks of vigorous training that features a healthy mix of both didactic and tactical training. To help foster a sense of comfort and camaraderie early on, each trainee is assigned a "buddy" who is responsible for showing the new hires around, addressing their questions and concerns and, in general, getting them acclimated to the dynamic, fast-paced call center environment.
Ongoing agent training and development is highly valued at GE Capital Solutions, as well. Every agent works closely with his or her supervisor to create an annual development plan that identifies what training programs (either online or classroom-based) the agent should complete that year.
Ambitious agents can participate in the center's Associate Development Program (ADP), which features six months of mentor-led training and activities focused on building leadership skills and developing participants into successful team leaders. To qualify for ADP, agents must have an "Exceptional" performance rating and low absenteeism -- and must have identified a leadership career path with their manager.
"The program gives both the business and the employee an opportunity to 'try before they buy,'" says Faulstick. "Participants are able to get a true taste of what a team leader position will entail without fully committing to the career path. We consider a tour in ADP to be successful even if an employee decides that a team leadership position is not for them."
Engaging Staff Every Day
Rounding out the call center's agent-centric culture is a heavy emphasis on keeping staff engaged and energized. The center offers a variety of incentives that not only elicit and sustain agent enthusiasm, but that also focus on the specific customer-facing metrics that drive desired performance results. In addition to a monthly or quarterly incentive that enables agents to add income to their base salaries, the center sponsors a formal peer-to-peer recognition program called STAR (Special Thanks and Recognition). Via STAR, agents recognize their team members for going above and beyond the call of duty, with rewards for such recognition ranging from simple gift certificates to significant cash awards.
The center's concerted effort to inspire and please its people has certainly paid off. External agent attrition has remained around 12 percent (well below the industry average) over the past several years.
Even more impressive is that the results of an annual employee satisfaction survey consistently place agents in the 98th and 99th percentile of all of GE. "That's something we are very proud of," says Faulstick. "But it's not something you can focus on only once a year. It's an everyday thing. We don't wait for the annual survey. We look at trends, we listen to what our employees say. It does make a difference."
GE Capital Solutions At A Glance
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
Hours of Operation: Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.-7 p.m. (CT), with interactive self-service Web site available
24 x 7.
Full-time Equivalents: 65 agents handling inbound contacts; another 385 in offline and staff functions.
Services Provided: Customer support on GE Capital's leasing and loan products.
Channels Handled: Phone, IVR, email, Web and fax.
Notable Uses a comprehensive caller survey process to foster and maintain stellar customer satisfaction and first-contact resolution rates. Relies on a dedicated Reporting and Analytics team to capture and evaluate key contact trends that help to continually drive process improvements. Ensures lasting agent engagement through strong recruiting and hiring, training and development, and incentive programs.
