CRM Lessons and the Case for Simplicity
Jan 25th, 2010 by David Svet
Have you ever been so delighted with something that you called the provider’s call center to tell them? Yeah, I haven’t either. Have you ever called for help because you’re having a problem? I think we all have and it usually isn’t pretty. Working in a call center is a tough job. Lots of companies invest massive amounts of money trying to make it better. But, sometimes bigger isn’t better.
We helped a large, west coast bank improve the use of their CRM system in their call center. No matter how much they trained their staff, their response rates remained the same. You can imagine the scene — angry bank customers in your ear while you try to dig through the CRM system to find their account, solve their problem, and document the event — a very high-pressure situation with equally high turnover. It was a big problem and they wanted it fixed.
After watching the process we realized that the process never got any faster because the call center personnel never had a clear view of the overall system. They were navigating screen to screen as if they were running through a building room to room trying to find a something without having a floor plan to guide them. The search function worked fine. The user interface was fine. What was missing was a big picture view of how the system was structured. So, we made one — a simple map in the form of a decision tree that a person could use to quickly understand where they were in the system depending on the situation they were facing. It was a poster — inexpensive, easy to update, easy to distribute, easy to understand. We put one up at everyone’s workstation and their response rates improved dramatically. The pressure lowered. Turnover dropped.
Whoever first said that a picture is worth a thousand words was right. In this case we didn’t spend a fortune on programming and development of a new system or an overlay or add-on. We made a picture. Sometimes there’s a lot to be said for simplicity.
Dave:
I’m becoming a bigger and bigger fan of the Back of the Napkin approach. Will be working today, as a matter of fact, on how to draw concepts for a proposal - to show rather than tell. Thanks for this very simple yet very powerful reminder.
Hildy
Thanks Hildy! Yes, simpler is better. Sometimes it’s just too easy to get caught up in the technology to see that the simplest solution actually needs very little effort.
Ahh, relief! Just this morning I’m caught up in making a process — one of my own, that just involves me! — far too complex. I’m going to grab some crayons and draw a picture. Thanks!
Pam, that’s awesome! I wish everyone still drew. We all did when we were kids. It’s a great way to express your self and organize thoughts. For some reason it isn’t emphasized or rewarded at school or in the home and most kids stop. Hope you have fun with your crayons!