GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS
Telesolutions for Government: Customer Care
Creating Successful Customer Care for Government Agencies
Many citizens are frustrated today with the responsiveness, accuracy and
overall ‘customer care experience’ they receive from government
hotlines. “Why do I have to go through so many steps to reach a live
agent?” “I entered my account number at the beginning of the call, so
why is the agent asking me for it again?”“ Why was I on hold for so
long?”
For over 50 years, working across dozens of sectors, DialAmerica has
relentlessly honed the efficiency of call center operations. We’ve
learned how to maximize service levels, while maintaining operational
efficiency. You might say we’ve ‘cracked the code’ on creating a
successful customer care experience, in which the citizen is completely
satisfied with the service level. DialAmerica focuses on ten efficiency
principles when working on customer care programs for government
agencies:
Spread the workload
Our agents are spread across several accounts, allowing for individual
variability in handling time. This approach ensures the workload is
smoothed out over an entire team, resulting in a higher overall
efficiency level.
Reduce idle time
The ebb and flow of inbound calls inherently results in some degree of
agent idle time. At DialAmerica our agents productively utilize these
minutes, for example, with clerical duties to minimize downtime.
Set benchmarks
Post-call work (e.g. inputting information after a call is resolved) can
be time-consuming. Our teams establish reasonable benchmarks for these
tasks and then monitor performance to ensure that time is not wasted.
Integrate systems
Our agents are fully-supported with seamlessly integrated systems. We
make it easy for them to access all necessary data and avoid
time-consuming delays that result from toggling between multiple
programs or screens.
Increase the ease of use of self-service capabilities
Using interactive voice response (IVR) technologies, we ask citizens to
input identifying information before they reach a live person.
Develop detailed FAQs
We provide all of our agents with the specific knowledge they need to
help citizens. Our supervisors create a superior agent-FAQ interface
with clearly categorized and easily understood answers so that virtually
any question can be quickly addressed.
Recruit smartly
At DialAmerica, we recognize that working in a call center is not for
everyone. Over the years we have learned that turnover is highest in the
first few weeks as recruits realize what the job really entails. We
reduce high levels of early turnover by recruiting from the same sectors
the government call centers require (e.g. healthcare, financial
services, pharmaceuticals).
Closely supervise
Our comprehensive training program begins by placing new recruits in an
‘incubation group’ with a 1:6 supervisor to agent ratio. As they gain
experience, we move them into larger teams with amaximum1:12 supervisor
to agent ratio.
Continuously train
Our development department offers agents ongoing programs to strengthen
people skills, effectively utilize new technologies and address specific
marketplace conditions. For example, in dealing with older customers, we
train all of our agents in senior sensitivity – how to be more patient,
courteous and respectful of the life circumstances of this generation.
Get everyone on the same page
Our management team often convenes conferences with all campaign
stakeholders – agents, supervisors, account managers, etc. We
continuously improve the campaign by getting everyone’s perspective on
what’s working and what’s not.
