Gower Handbook of Call and Contact Centre Management

Call centres and contact centres form an important and rapidly growing part of today's business world. They present a range of management challenges, from strategic decisions about how to develop a customer strategy, business planning, through to detailed considerations of staffing levels and appropriate technology. This new handbook, the first of its kind, provides a unique insight giving expert opinions on how to get the most out of your contact centre operations. Natalie Calvert, a specialist in the field, has brought together a team of 35 experienced practitioners who provide invaluable knowledge, share their experiences and draw on real-life examples to suggest practical solutions on a wide range of topics. This handbook is an indispensible guide and reference for call and contact centre managers, HR specialists and senior executives responsible for marketing, sales or customer services. The handbook is divided into six parts: I The business plan II The people factor III Contact centre technology IV Standards, processes, and outsourcing V Building profitable customer relationships VI The future.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, List of Tables, Notes on Contributors, Foreword, Introduction, Acknowledgements, PART I: The Business Plan, 1 Vision and Strategy, 2. Putting the Customer at the Heart of your Contact Centre, 3. Financial Planning and Budgeting, 4. The Contact Centre Environment, 5. Case Study: Intelligent Finance, PART II: The People Factor, 6. The Contact Centre Manager, 7. The Role of the Team Leader, 8. Coaching, 9. Recruiting the Right Teams, 10. Building a Training and Development Strategy, 11. Performance Management, 12. Working Conditions, 13. Retaining Staff, PART III: Contact Centre Technology, 14. Contact Centre Technology in Context, 15. The History of Call Distribution, 16. Convergence of Voice and Data, 17. From Call to Contact Centre, 18. Predictive Dialling Summary, 19. Automated Call Handling, 20. Integrating Messaging into the Customer Contact Centre, 21. Customer Management in Practice, 22. Self-Service, 23. Quality Management: Technology Perspective, PART IV: Standards, Processes and Outsourcing, 24. The CCA Standard Framework, 25. Developing Customer-Centric Processes, 26. Workforce Management Process, 27. Resource Management, 28. Quality Monitoring and Service Improvement, 29. Outsourcing, PART V: Building Profitable Customer Relationships, 30. Creating Profitable Customer Interactions, 31. The Inside Sales-Force, 32. High-Impact Telemarketing, 33. Managing Campaigns, PART VI: The Future, 34. The Information Revolution, 35. Preparing for Tomorrow’s Customer, Glossary, Useful Addresses, Index