Blog
Sep 04, 2010
2010 CCiNZ Conference Update – Exhibitors
The team at CCiNZ are excited about bringing to our members and the industry a fantastic line up of case studies and industry experts to share their ideas with us all. We have a full exhibitor’s hall with representation from a range of companies, ensuring that all who attend will be at the forefront of industry thinking, technology and ideas.
Along with our major sponsors we have additional exhibitors showcasing contact centre systems, technology advancements, training solutions, telephone handsets and headsets, workforce management optimisation, wellness strategies, recruitment methods and more. To find out more click here.
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2010 CCiNZ Conference
You've been saving the date, now it's time to register for our second annual CCiNZ Conference and Awards programme on Friday 24 September 2010. Be at the leading edge of Contact Centre thought leadership. Network with premium New Zealand Contact Centre industry employees. Spend a day engaging with your colleagues within one of the most diverse and interesting industries. They will educate and support your endeavours in managing a highly effective and efficient Contact Centre.
Open to all Contact Centre Professionals including Senior Leaders, Managers, Team Leaders, Workforce Managers and CSRs. Special member-only investment of $395+GST, non-members $595+GST. Online registrations are now open, click here for further details and to register now.
Congratulations to our 2010 Conference Ticket Winner
Thank you to all the contact centre professionals who entered the draw for a free ticket to the CCiNZ Conference to be held on Friday 24 September 2010. Congratulations to Lynn Green, Contact Centre Manager from Consumer who is our winner.2010 CCiNZ Contact Centre Awards Finalists to be Named
Entries for the inaugural 2010 CCiNZ Contact Centre Awards have now been considered and the Judges have selected the finalists. All entrants will be notified this week. The categories are:
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Over 50 Seats sponsored by Zintel Cogent
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Up to 50 Seats sponsored by Zintel Cogent
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year sponsored by NSC
Keep an eye out on our website next week to see the names of our inaugural finalists and who could go on to be this year's winners. Click here to purchase your tickets for the 2010 awards.
Avaya After 5 Social Media/Wine-tasting Events
Proudly sponsored by Avaya, CCiNZ members and guests joined in the fun at our After 5 events held recently in Auckland and Wellington. Avaya’s presentation on "Social Media as another channel into the Contact Centre" was followed by the wine-tasting. For those of you who missed this fantastic evening click here for the presentation and to download the New Zealand Avaya Contact Centre Consumer index.Licences for ‘Music on Hold’ in New Zealand
New Zealand Contact Centres playing ‘Music on Hold’ must have licences to play the music from both APRA and PPNZ. Most Contact Centre Managers are aware of the licensing requirements however at CCiNZ we have had a number of enquiries regarding this issue and where to direct Contact Centre Managers. Contact Centres are required to purchase the licences and renew them annually. Contact Centres pay the licenses based on the number of lines from the following two organisations - APRA who represents the music writer and PPNZ who represent the record company or performer. The two organisations are not related
APRA – Australasian Performing Right Association New Zealand Ltd
This licence covers the use of radio, tape, CD or pre-recorded messages and music via a telecommunication system to callers on hold. Annual fees vary according to the number of external telephone lines. Click here for information on the APRA Licence Application for Music on Hold.
PPNZ – Phonographic Performances New Zealand Ltd
PPNZ is responsible for licensing and collecting income from the broadcasting and public performance of sound and video recordings, and distributing this income back to the rights owners. PPNZ can grant licences to any individual organisation or business playing or using recorded music in the public arena, including playing recorded music or radio though your telephone on-hold system. Click here for information on the PPRA online licence application for Music on Hold.
CCiNZ Sponsorship News
The team at CCiNZ are pleased to announce Madison Recruitment as our first ever Recruitment Sponsors – you will find their logo and link on our situations vacant page. Madison is the largest New Zealand owned recruitment specialist for Contact Centre staff, providing quality staffing for numerous blue chip organisations. Madison Recruitment and CCiNZ are working together to bring you tips and tools to use in brushing up your own CV and preparing for interviews and on the latest ideas in the industry.
Contact Centre Recruitment is always a hot topic when you are talking to Contact Centre professionals and a recruitment partner can be a key to success. Justin Pipe, National Sales Director for The Madison Group (comprising Madison Recruitment, FORCE, Interim Taskforce and pursuIT), say they are very excited to be part of CCiNZ. “We see this as a real alignment between two organisations committed to Best Practice within Call Centre operations. As the market starts to inevitably swing back towards being candidate short again it is imperative to ensure candidate attraction and retention strategies are aligned to your brand and value proposition. Staff engagement levels will be absolutely critical to delivering on all required business outcomes, especially as call centres are increasingly being perceived as profit centres and not just as a shared service cost centre.”
One of our first activities together is to get your thoughts as an industry on the use of assessment centres (large groups of candidates being interviewed together). Please take a look at our new Poll on our home page and have your say!
NZ Contact Centres Taking the Lead
A recent article in the iStart Technology in Business magazine suggests New Zealand Contact Centres are finally being taken seriously for the efficient workflows and technology that can be rolled out to the wider organisation. Entitled ‘Wallflowers take to the dance floor’ the article cites several examples of leading edge contact centres in New Zealand for whom technology has become increasingly sophisticated and is moving out into the larger business. Click here
iStart provides case studies, buyers guides and thought leadership articles to help contact centre professionals select the best CRM and VoIP software for your contact centre, along with other ERP, BI and mobility solutions, for further information see http://www.istart.co.nz/.
CCiNZ Partners with Telecommunications Review
CCiNZ is pleased to announce Telecommunications Review as our Media Partner. There exists a strong synergy between CCiNZ - New Zealand’s only national body for contact centre professionals and Telecommunications Review – the only national publication covering the contact centre environment. To further develop this relationship, Telecommunications Review has agreed to become the CCiNZ principal Media Partner.ETITO Contact Centre Qualifications Review
ETITO received expressions of interest from contact centre professionals around New Zealand to form the consultation group, contributing their knowledge and expertise to help inform the shape and content of the qualifications. Participants are taking an active part in ensuring the continuing relevance of the training packages for our industry. As the national standards setting body for the contact centre industry, ETITO is required to review the existing qualifications and standards to ensure they remain current and/or fit for purpose. Working in partnership with industry to carry out such processes, ETITO are working through the process to review the National Certificate in Contact Centre Operations [Level 3], the National Diploma in Contact Centre Management [Level 5] and the associated unit standards that sit within these qualifications. As part of the review Unit Standards will be updated, removing what no longer makes sense, and creating or selecting new unit standards to include. If you have comments on the qualifications and / or associated unit standards for both Levels 3 and 5, please don’t hesitate to send them through to the ETITO Qualifications and Quality department via reviewcomments@etito.co.nz or visit www.etito.co.nz.2010 CCiNZ Contact Centre Awards Information
CCiNZ is pleased to announce the inaugural CCiNZ Contact Centre Awards in association with the 2010 CRM Contact Centre Awards. The prestigious CCiNZ awards will recognise outstanding achievement in New Zealand Contact Centres in three categories:
CCINZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Over 50 Seats
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Up to 50 Seats
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year
If you are a Contact Centre professional and you have done an outstanding job this year, we want to hear from you! Entries are open from Friday 16 July 2010 and close at 5 pm on Friday 20 August 2010. The winners of this year's three prestigious CCiNZ Contact Centre Awards will be announced at the 2010 CRM Contact Centre Awards ceremony held on Friday 24 September 2010 at the Auckland SKYCITY Convention Centre.
ENTRY FORMS
Click here to download the entry forms:
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Over 50 Seats
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Up to 50 Seats
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year 2010
Award Categories and Criteria
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Over 50 Seats
For the Contact Centre Manager, in a centre over 50 seats, who makes the most significant contribution to support, educate and engage their centre to meet or exceed key performance objectives and who continually strives to strengthen the Contact Centre's role and strategic value within their organisation and the wider industry.
The Contact Centre Manager of the year will demonstrate a strong grasp of the core and advanced principles of Contact Centre Management and Team Leadership.
Entries will be judged on the following:
- 25 points – Demonstrated thought leadership when supporting, educating and engaging their centre to meet or exceed key performance objectives
- 25 points – Degree to which you contribute, participate and engage key stakeholders within your centre, the wider organisation and industry as a whole
- 25 points – Demonstrated commitment to the customer
- 25 points – Proven grasp of the core and advanced principles of world class Contact Centre Management
Total 100 points
To enter the CCINZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Over 50 Seats, download the entry form, complete it and email it to awards@ccinz.org.nz.
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Up to 50 Seats
For the Contact Centre Manager, in a centre up to 50 seats, who makes the most significant contribution to support, educate and engage their Centre to meet or exceed key performance objectives and who continually strives to strengthen the Contact Centre's role and strategic value within their organisation and the wider industry.
The Contact Centre Manager of the year will demonstrate a strong grasp of the core and advanced principles of Contact Centre Management and Team Leadership.
Entries will be judged on the following:
- 25 points – Demonstrated thought leadership when supporting, educating and engaging their centre to meet or exceed key performance objectives
- 25 points – Degree to which you contribute, participate and engage key stakeholders within your centre, the wider organisation and industry as a whole
- 25 points – Demonstrated commitment to the customer
- 25 points – Proven grasp of the core and advanced principles of world class Contact Centre Management
Total 100 points
To enter the CCINZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - up to 50 Seats, download the entry form, complete it and email it to awards@ccinz.org.nz.
CCINZ 2010 Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year
For the Contact Centre Team Leader who makes the most significant contribution to support, educate and engage their team to meet or exceed key performance objectives and who continually strives to strengthen the Contact Centre's role and strategic value within their organisation and the wider industry.
The Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year will demonstrate a strong grasp of the core principles of Contact Centre Management and Team Leadership.
Entries will be judged on the following:
- 25 points – Demonstrated Leadership when supporting, educating and engaging your team to meet or exceed key performance objectives
- 25 points – Degree to which you contribute, participate and engage key stakeholders within your centre, the wider organisation and industry as a whole
- 25 points – Demonstrated commitment to the customer
- 25 points – Proven grasp of the core principles of world class Contact Centre Management
Total 100 points
To enter the CCINZ 2010 Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year, download the entry form, complete it and email it to awards@ccinz.org.nz.
IMPORTANT
Judges will identify a short list based on your online entry. Finalists will be contacted by Friday 3 September 2010 and must be available to present their entries, in person at their Contact Centre location, between Monday 6 September 2010 and Friday 10 September 2010. All finalists will be judged during this week.
Awards Entry Rules
Please ensure that you read and understand the Award Entry Rules
1. All entries must be submitted using the attached form, emailed to awards@ccinz.org.nz.
2. Entries must be received by 5 pm on Friday 20 August 2010 including all final documentation.
3. Finalists will be announced on the CCINZ website by Monday 6 September 2010.
4. Entries must be made by the named individuals, entering the award.
5. Entries should clearly illustrate how they meet the point scoring criteria and must allow for independent audit of the material submitted.
6. Additional information sent via email, post or attachments will only be considered if it has been requested via awards@ccinz.org.nz.
7. Finalists must be available to present their entries, in person at their Contact Centre location, between Monday 6 September 2010 and Friday 10 September 2010. All finalists will be judged during this week.
8. The awards are open to Contact Centre Managers and Team Leaders of Contact Centres operating in New Zealand.
9. Judges and members of the Judges Panel organisations are ineligible to enter.
10. CCINZ 2010 Committee Members and their line reports are ineligible to enter.
11. The judges' decision is final and judges will not respond to any requests for feedback
12. By entering the awards programme, entrants acknowledge that they may be required to be used in publicity without further consent or payment. Such publicity may include without limitation the entrant’s name and/or likeness, voice, photographs and/or video footage of the entrant, biographical information provided by the entrants/winners and/or any statement made by them concerning the awards programme. Entrants agree that any or all such elements may be used by CCiNZ and its sponsors in any and all media in perpetuity throughout the world in their sole discretion. CCiNZ and its sponsors shall have no obligation to include an entrant in any publicity whatsoever.
Inaugural CCiNZ Contact Centre Awards
CCiNZ is pleased to announce the inaugural CCiNZ Contact Centre Awards in association with the 2010 CRM Contact Centre Awards. The prestigious CCiNZ awards will recognise outstanding achievement in New Zealand Contact Centres in three categories:
CCINZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Over 50 Seats
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Manager of the Year - Up to 50 Seats
CCiNZ 2010 Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year.
If you are a Contact Centre professional and you have done an outstanding job this year, we want to hear from you! Entries are open from Friday 16th July 2010 and close 5pm, Friday 20 August 2010. The winners of this year's three prestigious CCiNZ Contact Centre Awards will be announced at the 2010 CRM Contact Centre Awards ceremony held on Friday 24 September 2010 at the Auckland SKYCITY Convention Centre. Click here for the 2010 awards categories, entry forms and criteria.
Next Generation Contact Centres
How is your Contact Centre Social Media strategy going? CCiNZ members who recently attended the NSC Next Generation Contact Centre seminars were presented with some thought provoking stats on New Zealand customers and the evolution of Social Media. According to the Avaya Customer Consumer Index research in 2009 by callcentres.net 68% of NZ customers prefer the phone channel compared with 79% three years ago. The decrease in the preference to be serviced by phone is nearly matched by the increase in preference to use email which was up from 14% in 2007 to 23% in 2009. The number one reason NZ customers move to another company is still poor customer service. Visiting social sites is now more popular than personal email and we're told that if Facebook was a country it would be third largest in the world behind China and India. With social media now a substantial part of our everyday life, Contact Centre terminology turns to the spiral viral and our social graph rankings with another layer of conversation.Winter Wellness in the Mercury Energy Contact Centre
In early 2010 Ruth Turnbull, Contact Centre Manager for Mercury Energy, led the CCiNZ Breakfast events in Auckland and Wellington with the topic for reducing winter absenteeism in her Contact Centre. Ruth’s wealth of contact centre experience and passion for the industry provided entertaining and thought provoking sessions. Click here to review the notes from Ruth's session.Call Quality And Customer Satisfaction - Are They Mutually Exclusive?
Ruth Turnbull, Contact Centre Manager, Mercury Energy - June 2010
Many of you will be aware that one of the main KPI’s for the Contact Centre is Call Quality. The KPI for my centre is 85%, a measure obtained by a very in depth analysis of 5 calls per month per CSR. Each assessment takes up to 20 minutes with factors such as using the customers name, friendliness, verifying the customer details, offering products and services and many others being measured. Two years ago our CSR’s struggled to offer products and services, and we were only averaging 75%. After a training programme called Power Hour, we have averaged 85% plus every month. Customer service is rarely an issue so if we were measuring customer service alone the KPI would always have been met.
There is a problem with measuring Call Quality in the way we do. In a book called “Customer Centricity through Workforce Optimization” Bill Durr makes a statement which clearly highlights this problem. He states “the company’s definition of a quality interaction may be very different from the customer’s view.” He also states “the internal quality measurement processes often measure the quality delivered by the business rather than the quality delivered by the CSR, adding that the “oddities” of company policy confuse, irritate and baffle customers". Now isn’t that true!!
Bill Durr cites the example of a customer dealing with a TV Cable company. They changed residence, in the same city, and automatically a new account number and billing date was generated…familiar so far? The customer found the new billing date to be inconvenient so called the Contact Centre and spoke to a very friendly and helpful CSR, who advised that ‘there was no way the billing date could be changed’. A Supervisor was asked to assist, who was also friendly and helpful, but confirmed the discussion with the CSR. Bottom line was that it didn’t matter who the customer spoke to there was no way anyone could help as it was the way the “system” worked and it couldn’t be changed.
The internal measurement of the quality of the call would have been very high but the customer was not satisfied. There will always be times we cannot deliver what the customer wants. However, in our drive for Customer Service Excellence we must look at ‘business rules’ that customers see as pedantic and that suit the business rather than making it easy for our customers. This is not always an easy fix as most businesses have legacy systems that take a lot of time and money to change. There are also many small irritations to the customer that don’t involve a change of system, merely a change of process. In our efforts to ensure customer details are correct is it useful to review all details every time a customer phones in, or can we be more sensible and assume that if the customer has called recently and their address hasn’t changed that the question may be “have any of your contact details changed?” Do any of you still ask for fax numbers? Certainly there are still businesses that use them but residences are more likely to have email.
Would a discussion with CSRs provide opportunities to not only streamline their call handling but make it easier for the customer by changing small things? Worth thinking about!
Book Review - NZ Employment Law Guide
The 2010 version of the book by Richard Rudman, New Zealand Employment Law Guide, published by CCH NZ., is recommended to all Contact Centre Managers, particularly those in smaller centres or companies without a Human Resouces department or an in-house solicitor. We have found it to be really useful, practical and clear. It covers many of the basic areas that a Contact Centre Manager will have questions about such as how to structure a part-time employment offer, sick leave entitlement, wages and pay calculation and even gives some limited information about Kiwisaver. This is written for NZ conditions and is well worth the price. It is available in your usual bookstores on Amazon, Whitcoulls and the like.