Change management and first call resolution

Change management and first call resolution

I am in the process of implementing first call resolution in our benefit center. Do you have any ideas on how to get the customer service representatives to respond to the change?
I have some advice that I am going to pass along, such as:
  • Take ownership of the call
  • Use resources to answer questions
  • Don't "shoot from the hip"
  • Ask questions to clarify the issue
  • Summarize the question
  • Summarize the solution
  • Ask for additional assistance
If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

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It sounds like you've got some good “helpful hints” for the process of handling a call. Sometimes when CSRs have a new metric, their difficulty "responding to the change" is more about understanding why the metric is put in place and what it means for them than how to execute it. I would focus some time on making sure they understand why it is a new metric, why it's important to your operation, and why meeting it will help the center contribute to the overall goals of the center and the corporation (and if you can't answer any of those questions, you need to take a step back). And of course, you need to answer the "What's in it for me?" question. Perhaps having a team of respected CSRs that helps to make the adjustment and "coach" their colleagues would be good. For a change to succeed, people need to have Awareness of why they need to change, Desire to do it, Knowledge of how to do it, Ability to do it, and Reinforcement in doing it. This model of change is called "ADKAR" (trademark, Prosci) and is very helpful for people making changes. You can learn more about it at Prosci's change management learning center. You may want to take advantage of some of the tools there to help your team adjust. Regardless, to succeed, I think you need to make sure the team understands why the metric is important and give them an incentive to help meet the goal.

 

This was first published in May 2004