Call Center Benchmarking (Deciding If Good Is Enough)

Executives are beginning to recognize the potential of the call center as a significant revenue generator, perhaps one of the surest investments they can make in enhancing and creating customer value and bottom-line profits. Return on investments made in customer accessibility is seldom less than 100% in the first year, and frequently even more if customer lifetime value is included in the equation. Herein lies the challenge and the primary reason to benchmark your call center metrics against not only the best-in-the-world, but also your most direct competitors, i.e., best-in-class. This book describes in practical terms the "ins and outs" of benchmarking.

Reviews:

The review title says it all.....

Goog book, but you have treat it as the entry level for the subject of call center benchmarking. You will not find the detailed information but, as the trade off, it's presenting a comprehensive overview of the subject. So can be used as a guidline for your activities in this area.

If your criterion for a good book is the number of times you use it, then you are likely to consider this an exceptionally good book. I turned to it initially for perspective on call center benchmarking and found what I was looking for. In the process, I found a good deal more. For example: Benchmarking philosophy and rules. The path from benchmarking research to performance and outcome improvement sometimes gets murky. The authors identify ambushes and traps and give clear rules for avoiding them.  High yield call center operations. Nine areas of key call center operations along with measures are identified. These comprise the book's most valuable contribution. The nine areas provide benchmark points and measurement how-to's. They also offer a paradigm for taking inventory of your operation as well as assessing your performance in multiple areas.  Efficiency versus effectiveness. Call center efficiency is differentiated from effectiveness - an important distinction as call centers embrace goals of customer satisfaction and loyalty at the same time that they struggle with productivity and efficiency.  National benchmarking data. A wealth of benchmarking data already exists. The book tells you how and where to find it. This is a simple book. It is short, easy to read and credible. It's useful. It's good.