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Case Study
A Contact Center Success Story
Improving customer service levels and productivity in the contact center for a successful regional health plan.
Background and Objectives
A respected regional health plan was experiencing a growth in its individual line of business. Enrollment rose by 40 percent and call volumes increased proportionately.The company extended the contact center phone hours and introduced flex-scheduling, but they still struggled to maintain service levels. In addition, work inventory increased, overtime was constant, and employee turnover was more than 30 percent.The health plan engaged the Robert E. Nolan Company to conduct an operations assessment. The client’s expectation was to obtain an objective evaluation. Nolan delivered the evaluation, and took it a step further to implement immediate improvements.
Contact Center Environment
In addition to handling incoming calls, the contact center staff was responsible for various non-phone transactions. Most employees were cross-trained to handle calls as well as perform other processing.
As the individual line of business grew, the contact center staff spent an ever-increasing amount of time handling calls. They were spending about 70 percent of their time on the phones and were attempting to squeeze in non-phone transactions between calls or after regular working hours.
Rapid Diagnosis and Implementation
Nolan realized that due to increased call volumes, phone time began to subordinate all other job duties. During the timeframes when call volumes were low, employees had opportunities to schedule time for other tasks, but there were no tools in place to help manage this. In fact, managers were actually using the low-volume call periods to lower the overall average speed of answer (ASA).The first implemented change was to allow a small number of people to work on non-phone items that were creating additional calls. New, more aggressive timeliness metrics were created to ensure that inventories were maintained at appropriately low levels.Next, Nolan and the contact center manager worked together to develop a staff skills matrix and to assess the employees’ phone and non-phone workloads. This exercise revealed several imbalances, and training plans were then developed to balance the workloads and employee skill sets.The final step was to develop a daily call forecast, design a staff-scheduling tool, and change the basic approach to contact center management.Nolan installed its proprietary forecasting and scheduling tool, Nolan Navigator, to interface with the client’s call management system. Nolan trained the managers in basic call forecasting and staff scheduling, actively helped them learn to use the new system, and taught the skills necessary to maintain excellence.
Results
The client began to achieve measurable results within a few days. By day
three, the center was handling more calls with fewer phone staff, and time was available for more non-phone work. Specific results included:
 | A 26-percent increase in overall productivity |
| An 18-percent reduction in call-handle time |
| A 70-percent inventory reduction within three weeks, and
critical transaction inventory near zero in five weeks |
| A 50-percent reduction in overtime |
| A better-prepared management team with a deeper understanding of
contact center operations |
| Increased staff flexibility |
| Improved morale leading to less turnover |
| A savings of $625,000, or 18 FTEs, out of a 70-FTE call center |
This respected health plan is now positioned to deliver excellent customer service through its contact center, and to handle growth without compromising service. Nolan provided the process design, management practices, and tools to effectively integrate the people, processes, and technology within the contact center.
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