The escalation
What do you do when things get out of hand? When your staff are bombarded with queries that they can’t handle?
There are two lines of thought…
Management Model 1:
First split your staff into two pools, the experienced people who know what they are doing and the less so (who presumably don’t)
Put your less experienced staff (the B team) at the front line where they can deal with — nearly all — customer issues.
If they find an issue that they can’t deal with get them to escalate it to the more capable “A team”.
This model is good because…
- There is a clear escalation path
- You can pay people for their experience. A rate versus B rate
- You don’t have to train everybody to do everything, so saving money
- You can seat your “A team” in a back office so they don’t get distracted by customers
- You can outsource the “B team” to somewhere cheap
Management Model 2:
Mix your highest performing most knowledgable people up with your less capable ones. Put them all at the front line so they all deal with all the customer issues.
This model is good because…
- When an new staff member has a problem they don’t know how to deal with, one of their more experienced colleagues can help out and they will learn how to solve it next time
- Customers get their problems resolved and one call doesn’t become two (or 3)
- If you have more difficult queries than you can deal with it forces managers to get rid of the really nasty problems at source rather than hiding them in an escalation team
Which would you rather have?
Everybody in the A team — expensive but knowledgable — or a huge (but cheap) B team that is neither?
If you think eduction is expensive try ignorance ~ Derek Bok
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Read another opinion
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James,
I vote for option C… hire the right people and train them all to help customers, regardless of the need. Yes, there will be escalations for those extreme scenarios, but…
Annette :-)
James,
Does your choice not depend on how you perceive customer support and how much you value your customer service reps?
Adrian
Hi James,
In my experience, customers like to have their issues resolved in as few contact points possible, making option B the better choice. However, even with the best training possible, you will have issues that need a higher level of experience to resolve them. This can be done be a Teamleader/Supervisor or a specialist team.
More important (i.m.o.) than WHO does it, is WHAT they do with the case after it is resolved … Organizations that utilize the information they receive in this escalation point for continuously improving training, direct coaching to first line agents, process optimization etc. will generally benefit much more than companies that just resolve the issue and then simply keep repeating the root cause for the complaint.
A mix of A and B would therefor be my solution of choice.
Niek :-)
Thanks for your comment Niek, you are of course right, I just think that the minute you settle for second best that is precisely what you will get, hence the need to strive for option B
Hello James,
Not being an operationally minded person I’d step back and figure out what was causing the demand. Who is calling in? What (e.g. product) are the calling in about? Why (reason/problem) are the calling in about? Then I’d get busy working on the matters that were causing problems for customers and driving unnecessary work for customers and then those who service these customers.
Yes, I know this is far too sensible an approach for those neck deep in waters infested with alligators. Which is why this kind of thinking is often ‘outsourced’ to the likes of me.
All the best
maz