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Journal articles on the topic 'Customer service call centres'
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Oodith, Devina. "Enhanced Customer Interactions through Customer-Centric Technology within a Call Centre." Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies 11, no. 2(J) (2019): 79–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v11i2(j).2820.
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Customer call centres have become a critical form of service delivery for many organisations hence technological innovations serve as a critical point of contact between the organisation and its customers and can assist in raising the stakes in businesses in terms of customer service delivery (Burgess & Connell, 2004). According to the 2017 Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report technology has been the number one enabler to positively enhance customer service experience in the last 5 years (Business Tech, 2017). Customers have become so empowered that they expect to have flexibility to contact a business however they choose; either via a telephone, email or Facebook. The key to ensuring satisfaction though is system’s efficiency and ease of use. This study was undertaken in EThekwini (Durban), South Africa and was directed within a Public Sector service environment comprising of four major call centres employing a total of 240 call centre agents. Using simple random sampling, 220 customers were drawn from all consumers subscribing to e-billing in EThekwini (Durban). Data for the customer sample was collected using a precoded, self-developed questionnaire whose psychometric properties were statistically determined. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results specify that in terms of customers’ perceptions of the influence of technology, on call centre effectiveness the majority of the customers found it challenging to use the technology and to understand the self-help options that were provided to them by the call centre. There were problems encountered with logging in customer queries and complaints and most customers were dissatisfied with their overall customer experience. Based on the results of the study recommendations have been made to manage the interactions between the customers and call centre’s more proficiently and powerfully.
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Kasabov, Edward, and Anna C.C.C. da Cunha. "Re-conceptualising call-centres as sites of control: the insider perspective." European Journal of Marketing 48, no. 1/2 (2014): 25–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ejm-02-2012-0054.
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Purpose – The role of call-centres during service recovery has attracted much attention in research. However, marketers know less about controlling customers during recovery interactions and consequences of such control. In order to address this gap and empirically ascertain whether service interactions are marked by customer centricity or by employees exerting control over customers, the aim of the authors was to organise an empirical research in two Brazilian call-centres. Design/methodology/approach – The research consisted of direct, open observation and 33 semi-structured interviews with insiders (call-centre managers, supervisors and operatives). Findings – Four key findings emerged during interviews with insiders. First, control over customers may be more widely practiced than assumed in certain sections of marketing academe. Second, such control is viewed positively by call-centre insiders and is sanctioned by management. Third, control does not disempower and demoralise call-centre staff but protects operatives. Finally, control does not seem to unavoidably generate lasting customer dissatisfaction. These findings are incorporated in a framework of call-centre management which incorporates control through scripting. Research limitations/implications – The discussion calls for the revisit of certain marketing concepts and philosophies, including customer orientation, by demonstrating that control over customers is practised and should not be viewed negatively or avoided altogether in practice and as a topic of analysis. A re-conceptualisation of call-centres as sites of control over customers is proposed. Originality/value – Control and power are rarely analysed in services marketing. This is one of a few studies that makes sense of providers' (insiders') viewpoints and argues that control may play a constructive role and should be seen as a legitimate topic of services and call-centre analysis. As such it addresses a question of intellectual and practical importance which is rarely discussed and may be viewed as incongruous with an age when customers are assumed to have rights.
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Brown, Gavin, and Gillian Maxwell. "Customer Service in UK call centres:." Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 9, no. 6 (2002): 309–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0969-6989(01)00040-6.
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Chicu, Dorina, Mireia Valverde, Gerard Ryan, and Rosemary Batt. "The service-profit chain in call centre services." Journal of Service Theory and Practice 26, no. 5 (2016): 616–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jstp-10-2014-0243.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the explanatory power of the service-profit chain (SPC) model in a context that differs from its original conception. The authors do so by considering whether the main relationships it proposes apply in the context of call centre services, characterised by remote services and cost cutting business models. Design/methodology/approach The data were gathered from a survey of call centre management with a sample of 937 call centres from 14 countries. The analysis was carried out using structural equation modelling. Findings Findings reveal that the SPC model behaves somewhat differently in call centres. Although there is general support for most of the links in the model, the results indicate that customer satisfaction in the call centre industry is a separate outcome, rather than a precursor to company performance. Research limitations/implications As is common in most research of this type, the present study is based on cross-sectional data. Practical implications Managers would be well advised to keep in mind that even minimum investments in human capital can make a difference in customer satisfaction and company results. Originality/value This is the first study to examine the main links in the SPC in non-traditional, non-face-to-face services. It demonstrates that the basic logic of the model is upheld, thus providing evidence that the boundaries of the SPC model may be further pushed in line with the peculiarities of the evolving service economy. Also, the authors make a methodological contribution by proposing a series of organisational level proxies for measuring elements of the chain that are typically assessed using individual level data that is expensive to gather.
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Talley, C. Richard. "Customer-service call centers." American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy 53, no. 17 (1996): 2041. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajhp/53.17.2041.
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Dean, Alison M. "Service quality in call centres: implications for customer loyalty." Managing Service Quality: An International Journal 12, no. 6 (2002): 414–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09604520210451894.
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Ellway, Benjamin. "Design vs practice." International Journal of Operations & Production Management 36, no. 4 (2016): 408–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijopm-11-2013-0487.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how customer involvement in call routing affects the internal operations of the call centre service system by examining customer usability problems with the interactive voice response (IVR) system and the practices of agents used to redirect incorrectly routed calls. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case study combined direct observation of live calls through sit-bys with agents and semi-structured interviews conducted with coaches and managers within 13 separate teams across all four functional areas of a call centre operation. Findings – Customer use of the IVR system involved effort, capability, and arrival forms of customer-induced variability, which produced incorrect call inputs into the call centre. Shared norms and attitudes concerning knowledge, IT use, and responsibility for different call types within teams were associated with redirecting practices which lead to the problematic rerouting of calls. Problems with call routing and rerouting negatively affected operational efficiency and undermined customer satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – The paper is based upon a single case study so further research is required to examine how problems identified are manifest in call centre operations of different size and complexity. The qualitative approach develops rich insights but these findings would benefit from a quantitative focus in the future. Practical implications – The customer experience of IVR systems should be continually monitored to identify usability problems and ensure effective design, while call centre management should attempt to increase teams’ awareness of and ability to successfully redirect incorrectly routed calls. Originality/value – The paper conceptualises the mutual influence of macro-level service system design and the micro-level behaviour of customers and agents upon each other. In practice, formal design decisions such as input uncertainty, decoupling, and interdependence patterns are continually reproduced or modified. Shared attitudes and norms of teams and their behavioural influence upon agents’ call handling practices are identified as a cause of coordination problems in call centres service systems. Internal rerouting by agents is also identified as a crucial operational process and important area for future research.
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Crone, Gary, Lorraine Carey, and Peter Dowling. "Calling on Compensation in Australian Call Centres." Journal of Management & Organization 9, no. 3 (2003): 62–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1833367200004715.
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ABSTRACTWhile there is a growing body of research on telephone call centre management in the U.K. and the U.S.A., empirical studies in Australia are at an embryonic stage. To date, most of the studies have focussed on the management of employee performance. The principal aim of this study was to provide data on current compensation practices in Australian call centres and to determine the extent of their strategic and best-practice orientation. A second aim was to explore whether the strategic management of compensation can help to balance the tension between commitment to customer service and commitment to employee motivation.Using data collected through a mail questionnaire survey of telephone call centres operating in a range of industries in Australia, the paper explores the effect of compensation practices on employee performance, absenteeism and turnover. Following a review of the literature on call centre management and the literature on compensation strategies, the findings are presented. Key findings include: a) a significant negative correlation between annual salary and the number of calls handled by full-time customer service representatives (CSRs); b) a significant positive correlation between casual CSRs' pay rates and turnover; c) a significant negative correlation between full-time CSRs' pay and absenteeism; d) a highly significant difference between the compensation strategies currently practiced in Australian call centres and the strategies call centre managers think should be practiced and e) Australian call centre managers report their compensation strategies are not very effective in increasing performance or employee satisfaction.
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Crone, Gary, Lorraine Carey, and Peter Dowling. "Calling on Compensation in Australian Call Centres." Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 9, no. 3 (2003): 62–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.5172/jmo.2003.9.3.62.
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ABSTRACTWhile there is a growing body of research on telephone call centre management in the U.K. and the U.S.A., empirical studies in Australia are at an embryonic stage. To date, most of the studies have focussed on the management of employee performance. The principal aim of this study was to provide data on current compensation practices in Australian call centres and to determine the extent of their strategic and best-practice orientation. A second aim was to explore whether the strategic management of compensation can help to balance the tension between commitment to customer service and commitment to employee motivation.Using data collected through a mail questionnaire survey of telephone call centres operating in a range of industries in Australia, the paper explores the effect of compensation practices on employee performance, absenteeism and turnover. Following a review of the literature on call centre management and the literature on compensation strategies, the findings are presented. Key findings include: a) a significant negative correlation between annual salary and the number of calls handled by full-time customer service representatives (CSRs); b) a significant positive correlation between casual CSRs' pay rates and turnover; c) a significant negative correlation between full-time CSRs' pay and absenteeism; d) a highly significant difference between the compensation strategies currently practiced in Australian call centres and the strategies call centre managers think should be practiced and e) Australian call centre managers report their compensation strategies are not very effective in increasing performance or employee satisfaction.
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Piers William Ellway, Benjamin. "Is the quantity-quality trade-off in call centres a false dichotomy?" Managing Service Quality 24, no. 3 (2014): 230–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/msq-09-2013-0192.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the existing conceptualisation of quantity and quality in call centres as conflicting or contradictory, and through qualitative analysis, demonstrate that quantity and quality may not necessarily operate as a trade-off. Design/methodology/approach – Existing literature is reviewed to show how quantity-quality has been conceptualised to date, followed by an analysis of quantity-quality manifestations based upon an in-depth field study of work and service in a large and complex call centre operation. Advisors’ work practices were observed during their interactions with customers, which provided rich insights into the nature of live calls and service provision in 13 different teams, supplemented with informal semi-structured interviews with team managers, coaches, and centre managers. Findings – The paper demonstrates that quantity and quality operate as a trade-off when the unit of analysis is the individual advisor or individual call fragment. However, if the entire customer enquiry is examined, quantity and quality are manifest differently: emphasising quality may also simultaneously support efficiency; favouring quantity may not only undermine quality but also ultimately circumvent efficiency gains. Research limitations/implications – The paper is based upon a single case study so further research is required to investigate whether findings concerning quantity-quality are manifest in other call centres, particularly of differing size and complexity. Practical implications – Call centre management must recognise the negative consequences of focusing upon quantity, the potential benefits of instead emphasising quality, and also acknowledge the limitations of conventional quantitative and qualitative measures. Management should also consider attempting to foster and improve relations between teams and functions within call centres. Originality/value – The paper provides a qualitative study of quantity and quality in call centres. Quantity and quality are examined beyond the conventional unit of analysis of the individual advisor or call, to explicate interdependence between past, current, and future actions and events involved in customer enquiries. Thus, quantity and quality are analysed in terms of the immediate focus during call handling and the longer run consequences for the efficiency and effectiveness of service provided by the call centre operation.
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Jaiswal, Anand Kumar. "Customer satisfaction and service quality measurement in Indian call centres." Managing Service Quality: An International Journal 18, no. 4 (2008): 405–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09604520810885635.
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Annakis, John, Tony Lobo, and Soma Pillay. "Exploring predictors of job satisfaction in call centres – The case of Australia." Corporate Ownership and Control 8, no. 3 (2011): 376–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.22495/cocv8i3c3p3.
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In this paper we examine predictors of job satisfaction within the call centre industry. Using a qualitative methodology, we investigate the nature and extent of job satisfaction of customer service representatives in two large Australian call centres. The findings from the study confirm that monitoring, personal privacy and flexibility correlate to workers’ wellbeing and job satisfaction
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Miciak, Alan, and Mike Desmarais. "Benchmarking service quality performance at business‐to‐business and business‐to‐consumer call centers." Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing 16, no. 5 (2001): 340–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/08858620110400205.
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Service quality performance is benchmarked at business‐to‐business and business‐to‐consumer call centers. Differences between call center types are observed including characteristics of operation, customer ratings of service quality performance, and employee ratings of workplace issues. Business‐to‐business call centers are challenged by customers who have higher expectations for service performance and who are more critical evaluators of organizational service performance. Implications for customer and employee satisfaction and loyalty are discussed.
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Jagodziński, Piotr, and Dawn Archer. "Co-creating customer experience through call centre interaction: Interactional achievement and professional face." Journal of Politeness Research 14, no. 2 (2018): 257–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/pr-2018-0016.
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Abstract Many customer service institutions draw on the (argued over) notion of “customer experience”. Gentile et al. (2007) suggest that, at an optimum, the notion assumes a thinking and feeling customer who co-creates their customer experience together with the service providing institution. This co-creation is believed to comprise interactional involvement, personalization and the holistic treatment of the customer’s needs. Given the latter, we might expect service providers, such as call centres, to view language as a vital means of creating an experience with the customer. The extant linguistic call centre research, including our own, points to the fact that call centre institutions view language as fundamental to their functioning. However, heavy language regulation tends to be the most important - if not the only - means of achieving outstanding customer experience (Cameron 2000; Jagodziński 2013; Archer and Jagodziński 2015). There is a clear mismatch, then, between the tenets of customer experience and the way language is conceptualized, interactionally managed and regulated. Throughout this paper, we argue that the co-creation of customer experience must be accompanied by its linguistic co-construction, which can only be achieved by giving frontline employees more interactional freedom than they tend to have in practice.
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Nyberg, Daniel. "Computers, Customer Service Operatives and Cyborgs: Intra-actions in Call Centres." Organization Studies 30, no. 11 (2009): 1181–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840609337955.
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Žaptorius, Jonas. "The Expantion Model of Customer Service on Internet." International Journal of Emerging Research in Management and Technology 6, no. 10 (2017): 38. http://dx.doi.org/10.23956/ijermt.v6i10.65.
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The main idea of this article is devoted to the online customer service issues, to explore the quality of key factors and their impact on customer service quality. Several influence factors such as companies focus on customer service, creation of customer service standards, human resources, customer relationship management will be identified and analyzed. The efficient customers service online is determined by such factors as a speed of response to electronic requests, the qualification of personnel, used customer service tools, call centers, standards of customer service and recourses in compliance with the standards of the real situation.Analysis of e-business situation in Lithuania is reviewed. Reasons that oppose this type of commercial development were identified. A questionnaire filled by customers allows us to analyze the quality of online services. The key customer expectations and problems were identified. During the investigations of quality insurances project for improvement of proposals and communication was prepared. The model is applied to companies operating on the Internet. In order to successfully apply this model, organizations need to focus on customers, modern approach to customer services, and provision of support over Internet and usage of international technologies for service processing.
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P.W. Ellway, Benjamin. "The voice-to-technology (V2T) encounter and the call centre servicescape." Journal of Service Management 25, no. 3 (2014): 349–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/josm-01-2013-0022.
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Purpose – Because the voice-to-technology (V2T) encounter remains under-theorised, the purpose of this paper is to overcome this gap by investigating customers use of the interactive voice response (IVR) system and “the customer journey” through the call centre service system. Design/methodology/approach – From an interpretive study of a UK call centre, the metaphorical aspects of language used to represent the service process are analysed, accompanied by an examination of how the servicescape dimensions of spatial layout and signs are constituted in the call centre service process, and the resulting implications for virtual-aural navigation. Findings – Despite no physical movement, customers represent their experience of navigating “through” the service process in spatial terms. Therefore, understanding precisely how servicescape dimensions are reconfigured within the virtual-aural setting of the call centre is necessary to appreciate customer experience of V2T but also voice-to-voice (V2V) encounters. The call centre servicescape lacks a spatial representation of layout and signs that would conventionally support navigation and purposeful movement. Research limitations/implications – Despite observing live calls, direct interaction with customers was not possible. The paper was based upon a single case study, and the hermeneutic focus on understanding and meaning meant that the study did not emphasise the quantification of phenomenon. Therefore, further research on virtual navigation is required. Practical implications – Problematic V2T encounters compromise the quality and efficiency of service provision. A visual representation of the IVR system may possibly support V2T encounters, while encouraging customer service advisors to act as “guides” during V2V encounters may reduce problems emerging from V2T encounters. Originality/value – First, an original theorisation of the customer experience of the V2T encounter is provided through the theoretical notion of spatialisation metaphors. Second, a preliminary conceptualisation of the call centre servicescape is developed, which shows how spatial layout and signs are reconfigured and represented in this virtual-aural setting.
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Foulkes, Timothy. "Speech privacy in customer service call centers." Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 118, no. 3 (2005): 1855. http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4778784.
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Smith, William L. "Customer service call centers: managing rapid personnel changes." Human Systems Management 20, no. 2 (2001): 123–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/hsm-2001-20205.
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This paper examines academic and practitioner literature relative to service quality and the changing personnel requirements for customer service call centers (CSCC). From this review, propositions are developed which (1) may be useful to call center managers in meeting this critical need, and, (2) may be used to direct future academic research in this growth area. This review is organized around eight key human resource management practices consisting of: 1. Recruiting, 2. Selection, 3. Retention, 4. Teamwork, 5. Training and Development, 6. Appraisal, 7. Rewarding Quality, and 8. Employee Involvement. Propositions based on the literature review are developed for each key practice. Conclusions are drawn and implications for managerial and academic implications are discussed.
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Baronak, Ivan, Matej Hartmann, and Robert Polacek. "Properties of a modelled call centre." Journal of Electrical Engineering 71, no. 2 (2020): 96–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/jee-2020-0014.
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AbstractTo detect the number of agents needed to serve customers, it is necessary to consider the call centre as a mass service system. Then it is possible to asses the convenient number of agents according to the probability of the system receiving a request and the time in which the request is serviced by employing a Markov chain and the Erlang model. In an archetypal call centre, the incoming calls are added to a waiting queue and subsequently they are assisted by an agent. In case all agents are occupied, the customer has to wait in the queue until one of the agents becomes available. It is, therefore, important to compromise on the number of agents and the time the customers spend waiting in the queue. The result should be that there are enough agents in the call centre to serve the customers in the time required. This article focuses on solving this problem.
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Strehl, Benjamin. "Customer Integration in Innovation Processes via Operating Information Systems." International Journal of Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Technology 2, no. 4 (2011): 16–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijssmet.2011100103.
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The positive effects of customer integration in corporate innovation activities are undisputed. Further, several concepts for an improved cooperation with customers have already been developed and even implemented in many cases. Most of these methods target a special group of customers, the so-called lead-users. Besides being proven as beneficial, this selected integration neglects the majority of a company’s human client interactions which occur in the often centralized service centers, for example call centers. Many studies confirm the innovation potential of these existing, regular customer interactions. This paper presents detailed requirements as well as an overall solution system for the integration of these customer contacts via service centers. Therefore, existing research was combined with quality function deployment and service system modeling.
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Colin, Marco. "Call center service level: A customer experience model from benchmarking and multivariate analysis." ESIC MARKET Economic and Business Journal, Volume 51, Issue 3 (July 20, 2020): 467–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.7200/esicm.167.0513.1.
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Objective: This paper aims to study the experience of call center service customers the academic and corporate perspectives; it proposes a management model focused on looking after the customer’s experience during a phone interaction. Methodology: The methodology of this article adopts the internal Benchmarking process as a diagnostic tool and describes the user’s perceptive of internal corporate operations and key performance indicators established in a call center’s balanced scorecard. It uses an exploratory factor analysis to reduce dimensions and a confirmatory analysis to validate the statistical model proposed. Results: The results determine the existence of gaps between the key performance indicators implemented to assess the customer’s experience and satisfaction, they show organizational opportunities characterized for the necessity of transforming production methods into simple processes, aimed to give solutions to the customers within the timeframes specified in just one phone interaction. Limitations: The constructs used are limited by the instrument and metrics implemented by the company under study for evaluating the quality of customer interaction when a customer reaches a customer service’s call center. Practical implications: This study is useful in the marketing, marketing relationships, and customer service areas, since it allows the establishment of an inflection point that proposes an integrated balanced scorecard construction the customer’s experience analysis.
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Oodith, Devina. "Customer Perceptions of Skills of Agents in Effectively Managing Their Needs within a Call Center." Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies 9, no. 2(J) (2017): 58–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v9i2(j).1650.
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The world’s dynamics and demands of employment and production have evolved over the past decade. Human resources has today become the single largest unrestrained resource and many firms are striving to enhance competence and interaction between its customers and itself via the customer call center through enhanced skills, knowledge, ability and attitude by fostering better interpersonal skills and through the promotion of training and development of their call center agents. This study was undertaken in EThekwini (Durban), South Africa and was conducted within a Public Sector service environment comprising of four major call centers employing a total of 240 call center agents. Using simple random sampling, 220 customers were drawn from all consumers subscribing to e-billing in EThekwini (Durban). Data for the customer sample was collected using a precoded, self-developed questionnaire whose psychometric properties were statistically determined. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results specify that agents were unsuccessful in handling customers’ needs timeously and efficiently and that most customers felt burdened by being transferred to other agents due to the incompetence of original agents in handling their queries/complaints. Furthermore it was found that there was an overall lack of empathy from agents in following-up after a customer communication to ensure that the customer was satisfied with their experience within the call center. Based on the results of the study recommendations have been made to manage the interaction between the customers and call center agents more competently and efficiently.
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Johansson, Henrik, and Maria Björklund. "Urban consolidation centres: retail stores’ demands for UCC services." International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 47, no. 7 (2017): 646–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijpdlm-02-2017-0114.
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Purpose Urban consolidation centres (UCCs) are often conceived to improve services in retail stores and potentially reduce costs. However, few studies have examined how retail stores perceive the services a UCC could provide. The purpose of this paper is to explore retail stores’ potential demands for different services that a UCC could provide in order to foster the development and implementation of UCC solutions aimed towards more economically feasible business models. Design/methodology/approach Structured interviews were conducted with employees at 72 retail stores. Qualitative, as well as quantitative analyses, were conducted to identify the potential demands of the retail stores. Findings The authors have provided arguments why retail stores might be interested in UCC services, and thereby potentially pay for them. Improved customer service to stores’ customers might not be a valid argument. The authors point to the cost aspect: stores expend resources that a UCC could provide in a more cost-efficient manner. Research limitations/implications The findings contradict previous studies to some extent, as it indicates that a UCC may actually not enhance customer service in retail stores. Instead, the findings point to the importance of considering the potential advantages according to economies of scale that are facilitated by UCC services. Practical implications Taking the perspective of the stores is important in order to identify arguments for why they should pay for the services provided by a UCC. Social implications Financially viable UCC solutions are needed in order for the initiatives to be maintained and thereby provide a long-term decrease in the environmental and social footprints caused by urban freight. Originality/value This study answers the call for research addressing retailers’ perspective in urban logistics, as it takes a demand-driven perspective of the development of UCC services. Furthermore, by highlighting services requested by retail stores, it can guide the financing of UCC initiatives, an aspect that has been lacking.
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Lewis, Mark E. "Average optimal policies in a controlled queueing system with dual admission control." Journal of Applied Probability 38, no. 2 (2001): 369–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1239/jap/996986750.
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We consider a controlled M/M/1 queueing system where customers may be subject to two potential rejections. The first occurs upon arrival and is dependent on the number of customers in the queue and the service rate of the customer currently in service. The second, which may or may not occur, occurs immediately prior to the customer receiving service. That is, after each service completion the customer in the front of the queue is assessed and the service rate of that customer is revealed. If the second decision-maker recommends rejection, the customer is denied service with a fixed probability. We show the existence of long-run average optimal monotone switching-curve policies. Further, we show that the average reward is increasing in the probability that the second decision-maker's recommendation of rejection is honored. Applications include call centers with delayed classifications and manufacturing systems when the server is responsible for multiple tasks.
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Lewis, Mark E. "Average optimal policies in a controlled queueing system with dual admission control." Journal of Applied Probability 38, no. 02 (2001): 369–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021900200019914.
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We consider a controlled M/M/1 queueing system where customers may be subject to two potential rejections. The first occurs upon arrival and is dependent on the number of customers in the queue and the service rate of the customer currently in service. The second, which may or may not occur, occurs immediately prior to the customer receiving service. That is, after each service completion the customer in the front of the queue is assessed and the service rate of that customer is revealed. If the second decision-maker recommends rejection, the customer is denied service with a fixed probability. We show the existence of long-run average optimal monotone switching-curve policies. Further, we show that the average reward is increasing in the probability that the second decision-maker's recommendation of rejection is honored. Applications include call centers with delayed classifications and manufacturing systems when the server is responsible for multiple tasks.
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Hudson, Sarah, Helena V. González-Gómez, and Aude Rychalski. "Call centers: is there an upside to the dissatisfied customer experience?" Journal of Business Strategy 38, no. 1 (2017): 39–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jbs-01-2016-0008.
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Purpose This paper aims to present the triggers of negative customer emotions during a call center encounter and the impact of emotions on satisfaction and loyalty. It suggests ways of mitigating the negative effects of such emotions. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses exploratory research consisting of 33 focus groups with 121 narratives of a call center encounter. Findings Callers predominantly report frustration as the emotion arising from negative experiences in a call center encounter. Goal urgency, reduced customer control and uncertainty underlie this emotional experience. Triggers include assessments of “dehumanized”, “incompetent” or “hostile” call center employees as well as the more well-known multiple transfers and waiting time. Customer may remain loyal after a frustrating encounter if they believe that alternative services will be no better. Research limitations/implications Disembodied service encounters generate conditions of reduced control and certainty which foster negative emotions. The outcomes of negative emotions are not always negative if the call center context is managed appropriately. Focus groups took place in a European business school, so generalizability of the results to other regions may be limited. Practical implications Negative emotions can have a strong effect on loyalty, a key issue in service organizations. This paper provides insights into how to manage customer emotions effectively. Originality/value Customer satisfaction and loyalty in terms of emotions are generally overlooked in the call center industry because of the focus on performance metrics. This study shows that emotions must be taken into account to ensure customer retention and the competitive edge.
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Cowie, Claire, and Anna Pande. "Phonetic convergence towards American English by Indian agents in international service encounters." English World-Wide 38, no. 3 (2017): 244–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/eww.38.3.01cow.
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Abstract In outsourced voice-based services (call centres are a typical example), an agent providing a service is likely to accommodate their speech to that of the customer. In services outsourced to India, as in other postcolonial settings, the customer accent typically does not have a place in that agent’s repertoire. This presents an opportunity to test whether exposure to the customer accent through telephone work promotes phonetic convergence, and/or whether social factors are implicated in convergence. In this map task experiment, 16 IT workers from Pune (half of whom regularly spoke to American colleagues on the telephone) gave directions to American followers. There was evidence of imitation of the bath vowel with an American addressee. However, imitation did not depend on exposure alone. Attitudes to American English, social networks and individuals’ sense of themselves as performers affected their behaviour in the experiment.
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Agabu Phiri, Maxwell, and Sifiso Mkhize. "Employees’ Perceptions of Customer Service at Telephone Communications (Telkom) Call Centres in South Africa." Journal of Communication 8, no. 1 (2017): 1–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0976691x.2017.1305682.
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Axtell, Carolyn M., Sharon K. Parker, David Holman, and Peter Totterdell. "Enhancing customer service: Perspective taking in a call centre." European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 16, no. 2 (2007): 141–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13594320600989583.
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Khan*, Mr T. H. Feiroz, Shrushti Mhaske, Sonal Yeshwantrao, and Ayush Kumar. "Retention Rate of Customers in Banks using Neural Networks." International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology 9, no. 1 (2019): 4883–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.35940/ijeat.a1932.109119.
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Customer retention is the process of retaining the customers after a particular period of time. Profitability of a product depends upon the retention of the customer. In the earlier systems a lot of money, time and resources were spent on advertising by banks. Banks approached call centres to try convince the customers in buying new policies. This didn’t really work since most of it was directed towards untargeted customers. This same problem of customer retention is studied and a competent solution is found. This system consists of analysed data of a number of customers in numerous fields and checks the retaining rate of every customer. Use of a neural network is advocated to check past conditions of services provided to a customer by the banks and a common retainability index is produced which predicts the retention rate of the new customers.
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Brezavšček, Alenka, and Alenka Baggia. "Optimization of a Call Centre Performance Using the Stochastic Queueing Models." Business Systems Research Journal 5, no. 3 (2014): 6–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bsrj-2014-0016.
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Abstract Background A call centre usually represents the first contact of a customer with a given company. Therefore, the quality of its service is of key importance. An essential factor of the call centre optimization is the determination of the proper number of operators considering the selected performance measure. Results of previous research show that this can be done using the queueing theory approach. Objectives: The paper presents the practical application of the stochastic queueing models aimed at optimizing a Slovenian telecommunication provider’s call centre. Methods/Approach: The arrival and the service patterns were analysed, and it was concluded that the call centre under consideration can be described using the M/M/r {infinity/infinity/FIFO} queueing model. Results: An appropriate number of operators were determined for different peak periods of the working day, taking into consideration the following four performance measures: the expected waiting time, the expected number of waiting customers, the probability that a calling customer will have to wait, and the call centre service level. Conclusions: The obtained results prove the usefulness and applicability of the queueing models as a tool for a call centre performance optimization. In practice, all the data needed for such a mathematical analysis are usually provided. This paper is aimed at illustrating how such data can be efficiently exploited.
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Mukherjee, Tuheena, and Kanika T. Bhal. "Do They Always Have Wounded Selves: Moderating Impact of Job-worth on Burnout and Self-worth of Indian Call Centre Employees." South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 4, no. 1 (2017): 1–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2322093717705484.
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Numerous researches in call centres indicate the negative psychological impact in the form of burnout experiences of the customer service representatives. The present study argues that burnout experiences do not always have a negative impact on the employee’s self-worth. The relationship is, instead, moderated by the impact of job-worth, which acts as a potential individual resource. The results of the present study conducted on 312 call centre representatives partially confirm our hypotheses. Results indicate that representatives who have high job-worth maintain their self-worth, even when emotionally exhausted. The results also show that employees possessing high job-worth, even with low personal accomplishments on their jobs, maintain their self-worth. We discuss the findings in the Indian call centre context from the perspective of self and identity literature and provide broader implications for practice and research.
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Kasabov, Edward. "Theorising practices to deliberately or accidentally control customers." European Journal of Marketing 50, no. 7/8 (2016): 1493–520. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ejm-10-2014-0618.
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Purpose This paper aims to empirically explore and theorise the application of technology control over customers during call-centre interactions. The author seeks to ascertain distinct types of technology-mediated control, with potentially distinct ingredients and consequences for repatronage and service relations. Design/methodology/approach During three stages of empirical research across Western and non-Western, developed and developing country settings and across call-centre types, customers who have experienced control during call-centre exchanges, as well as providers (operatives, supervisors and managers) are interviewed as part of ethnographic research also reliant upon observation and company documentation. Findings Findings suggest that, first, the rapid adoption of technology has facilitated the application of control during provider-customer interactions, second, such control may be more widespread than suggested in the literature and, third, there are various types, processes and ingredients of technology-mediated control. The discussion contrasts deliberate from accidental control. Research limitations/implications Studies on call-centre interactions often assume that relationships between providers and customers follow customer-centric expectations in service marketing theory. Only a minority of theorists in service marketing contest these assumptions, arguing instead that service providers may be using techniques to control customers by dominating and regulating processes and outcomes of interactions with customers. This study advances extant literature by theorising control types, their ingredients and impact on service provision. Practical implications Businesses may benefit from knowing when, how and how much customers are willing to revoke control. Customers are shown to accept being controlled, with customers’ tolerance for control being larger than anticipated. Originality/value This is a rare attempt to analyse control over customers seen through the eyes of providers across levels of decision-making within organisational hierarchies. Whereas research tends to study control in generic terms, the author demonstrates the multifarious and complex nature of control. The author challenges conventional thinking in the discipline by providing empirical evidence of, and theorising, how and why customers permit themselves to be controlled in service relations.
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Proenca, Teresa, and Helena Rodrigues. "Empowerment in call centers and customer satisfaction." Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management 19, no. 2 (2021): 143–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/mrjiam-01-2021-1129.
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Purpose Call center is a large and growing sector worldwide and is facing important human resource management (HRM) and service challenges. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of structural empowerment (SE) and psychological empowerment (PE) on customer satisfaction (CS) through employee job satisfaction (JS) at a call center in Portugal. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected by means of a survey handed over personally to 267 employees at the call center of a telecommunication company. This was then linked to their respective net promoter score (CS) provided by the call center. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used as analytical tools. Findings SE affects PE, and both have a positive impact on JS. Empowerment impacts CS: SE positively affects CS mediated by PE; and PE affects CS mediated by JS. Practical implications This study emphasizes the importance of the use of organizational practices of SE in call centers to achieve two important organizational outcomes: employee JS and CS. Originality/value This study tests a process model involving two domains, HRM (employee side) and service delivery (customer side), which are traditionally dealt with separately in the context of call centers. This helps to understand how HRM polices are connected to CS. Although some of these relationships have been studied separately in different contexts, the research offers a strong methodological design by linking employee perceptions of empowerment with data provided by the firm on CS.
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Hitka, M., G. Pajtinkova-Bartakova, S. Lorincova, et al. "Sustainability in Marketing through Customer Relationship Management in a Telecommunication Company." Marketing and Management of Innovations, no. 4 (2019): 194–215. http://dx.doi.org/10.21272/mmi.2019.4-16.
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The idea of sustainable development links business, environmental and social objectives into one integrated effort aiming to meet a common goal. Due to the influence of current developments in customer behaviour companies revise their business strategies towards more sustainably oriented ways of production, business practices, resource efficiency, waste disposal, building partnerships, communication effectiveness etc. Market with telecommunication services is affected by technology development. Growing demands of customers result in re-evaluation of marketing routine. The main purpose of the research is to identify the change in customers’ approaches and satisfaction with offered products, enterprise processes, and business strategy as a result of implementing Customer Relationship Management in 2014 and subsequently in 2018 with the dependence on socio-demographic characteristics. Customers’ opinions were investigated using a questionnaire. Respondents were selected by direct sampling with contingent valuation. Sample set consisted of 3,282 respondents. Following the results, the fact that there are changes in approaches of customers in investigated areas in terms of gender and age as a result of implementing the Customer Relationship Management can be stated. The customers’ satisfaction with provided services improved. In order to serve the new and constantly evolving needs of the growing number of customers who care about social and environmental issues, the companies are required to permanently monitor their performance on the market and incorporate customer feedback as in input for evaluation of their internal processes. In terms of marketing, positive changes in approach, satisfaction with the quality of provided services and reduced service time were observed. In terms of business strategy, the changes in connection strategy, the effect of customer-driven strategy and services provided by call centres abroad are perceived in positive way. Keywords: sustainability, economical sustainability, marketing, Customer Relationship Management, telecommunication company.
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Oodith, Devina. "Customer Perceptions of Skills of Agents in Effectively Managing Their Needs within a Call Center." Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies 9, no. 2 (2017): 58. http://dx.doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v9i2.1650.
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The world’s dynamics and demands of employment and production have evolved over the past decade. Human resources has today become the single largest unrestrained resource and many firms are striving to enhance competence and interaction between its customers and itself via the customer call center through enhanced skills, knowledge, ability and attitude by fostering better interpersonal skills and through the promotion of training and development of their call center agents. This study was undertaken in EThekwini (Durban), South Africa and was conducted within a Public Sector service environment comprising of four major call centers employing a total of 240 call center agents. Using simple random sampling, 220 customers were drawn from all consumers subscribing to e-billing in EThekwini (Durban). Data for the customer sample was collected using a precoded, self-developed questionnaire whose psychometric properties were statistically determined. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results specify that agents were unsuccessful in handling customers’ needs timeously and efficiently and that most customers felt burdened by being transferred to other agents due to the incompetence of original agents in handling their queries/complaints. Furthermore it was found that there was an overall lack of empathy from agents in following-up after a customer communication to ensure that the customer was satisfied with their experience within the call center. Based on the results of the study recommendations have been made to manage the interaction between the customers and call center agents more competently and efficiently.
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Broek, Diane van den. "Recruitment Strategies and Union Exclusion in Two Australian Call Centres." Articles 58, no. 3 (2004): 515–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/007497ar.
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SummaryRecruitment processes are seen as critical to the success of contemporary organizations and integral to human resource practices, particularly in those firms setting up greenfield operations or undertaking organizational change programs. This article analyses the recruitment methods used in several large call centres in the Australian telecommunications industry. It particularly focuses on the issue of how recruitment was explicitly or implicitly designed to recruit customer service representatives who might be antithetic to workplace trade unionism. Three processes are identified. These include the use of sophisticated recruitment processes which identify those with unitarist tendencies, identifying and excluding, or blacklisting, those with union backgrounds or those who previously worked in highly unionized firms and lastly applying pressure on recruits to sign individual non-union contracts at the appointment or promotion stage.
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Terim, Asli, Sumeyye Nur Çağlayan, Aytaç Kıvılcım, and Mehmet Aktaş. "Business Process Architecture for Sentiment Analysis on Speech Data." Orclever Proceedings of Research and Development 1, no. 1 (2022): 307–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.56038/oprd.v1i1.211.
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Call Centers are the principal point of product and service providers, where they influence the customers. The fluctuations in the emotional states of the call center personnel directly affect the customers. These fluctuations may cause positive/negative results for the company in places where customer interaction is intense. Today, the supervision and evaluation of the activities of the agent, who is in contact with the customers, is essential in measuring and increasing the quality of the service.The system of rewarded bonuses is a way to encourage the employee. However, in the last decades, we have also observed that the emotional state´s effects are essential in the employee's performance. At present, analyzing, determining, and understanding agents' emotional states and work performance is highly necessary. This project has been started to measure the customer representatives´ emotional state and activities. This project addresses the need to evaluate customer representatives that work at Call Centers. Within the context of this research, we predict the emotional state of the customer representative while dialing in with the customer. According to the prototype software of the proposed methodology, customer representatives´ emotional situations on the dials are convenient to transfer as data to the Performance Evaluating Systems. With this project, it will be possible to score customer representatives according to their emotional states in the calls evaluated in quality evaluation and performance measurements, as well as personal support inferences for the personnel.
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Dean, Alison M. "Rethinking customer expectations of service quality: are call centers different?" Journal of Services Marketing 18, no. 1 (2004): 60–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/08876040410520717.
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Chen, Irene. "Investigating the Role of Service Encounter in Enhancing Customer Satisfaction." International Journal of Systems and Service-Oriented Engineering 1, no. 4 (2010): 19–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/jssoe.2010100102.
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Recently, it is found that several pure e-tailers set up a customer service center where on-line shoppers can access a real person over the phone to answer their questions. However, there has been little systematic research examining how service encounter help to enhance customer satisfaction when a pure e-retail company set up a call center to provide additional services. This study conducted a questionnaire survey and collected data from persons who shopped on-line and had experiences in requesting help from customer service centers. 116 responses were collected and the data were then analyzed to examine the four relationships posited in the research model. The proposed research model suggests that service encounter significantly influences service quality and information quality, which can jointly predict customer satisfaction. Findings of this study help to advance the understanding of the role that service encounters play in enhancing customer satisfaction.
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Mohamed Yunus, Noor Azlina, Narazatul Akmal Mohamed Yunus, and Marhani Mohamed Anuar. "Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment Among Customer Service Representatives at Call Centre Industry in Malaysia." ADVANCES IN BUSINESS RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL 6, no. 2 (2020): 154. http://dx.doi.org/10.24191/abrij.v6i2.10767.
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The call centre is a service-intensive organization with a significant proportion of its employees working in direct contact with its customers. Given the nature of front line employees, job satisfaction is a serious issue in call centre as well as the service industry. The front line employees, like any other service sector employees, need to develop and maintain a strong relationship with its human resources for effective performance in assisting customers’ problems and inquiries. Therefore, this paper formulates a framework postulating job satisfaction as an antecedent of organizational commitment in call centre industry. The finding of this study should enrich the existing theories by providing additional evidence on the relationship between employees’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment especially for call centre industry. Eventually, the findings provide empirical support to the concepts and theories that are currently discussed in the employees’ job satisfaction literature to be applied especially in the context of call centre perspective.
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Yau-ni Wan, Jenny. "Construing negotiation." Language and Dialogue 7, no. 2 (2017): 137–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ld.7.2.01yau.
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Abstract The call centre conversation is a telephonic exchange of voices between the customer and the customer service representative (CSR). Both lexicogrammatical and prosodic features are used to construe emotional and attitudinal recognition. Studying these features can investigate how the call centre discourse is construed, and how the interpersonal meaning takes shape through the text. The spoken data are constructed by Filipino CSRs and American English-speaking customers. The findings show that participants tend to make specific paralinguistic voice quality choices to express their emotions in dialogue. This article first discusses the voice quality framework for its semiotic features in relation to interpersonal meaning, reviews previous voice quality studies and later delineates how voice quality relates to interpersonal meaning in the calls.
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Rose, Ed, and Gillian Wright. "Satisfaction and dimensions of control among call centre customer service representatives." International Journal of Human Resource Management 16, no. 1 (2005): 136–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0958519042000295000.
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Oodith, Devina, and Sanjana Brijball Parumasur. "Critical ingredients for call centre agents’ effectiveness." Corporate Ownership and Control 10, no. 4 (2013): 479–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.22495/cocv10i4c5art5.
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This study assessed the critical ingredients for call centre agents’ effectiveness (skills/knowledge/ability/attitude, interpersonal skills, training and development, remuneration/motivation, teamwork) in managing customers and their needs. The study was undertaken in Durban, South Africa, and was conducted within a Public Sector service environment which comprised of four major call centres employing a total of 239 call centre agents. A sample of 151 call centre agents was drawn using the cluster sampling technique and a 63% response rate was achieved. These call centre agents were responsible for inbound calls only. Data was collected using a self developed, precoded questionnaire whose validity and reliability were statistically determined using Factor Analysis and Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha respectively. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicate that remuneration/motivation, followed by teamwork, negligibly followed by training and development, interpersonal and other skills/knowledge/ability/attitudes are crucial ingredients for effectively managing customers and their needs. Based on the results of the study a model is designed and presents recommendations that, when implemented in call centre environments, have the potential to enhance agents’ effectiveness in managing customers and their needs.
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Rendón, Claudio Marco Cartagena, Andrés Vásquez, Martha Benjumea-Arias, and Alejandro Valencia-Arias. "Proposed Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction with Telecommunications Services." Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 8, no. 2 (2017): 15–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2017.v8n2p15.
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AbstractThe aim of this article is to propose a model for measuring customer satisfaction in users of telecommunications services. The methodological design is quantitative descriptive and explanatory type, using a survey as data collection tool, with a sample of 415 users of telecommunications services (landline telephone, television and Internet services) in the city of Medellin. Among the results, it is found that the service in the Call Centers and timely response to requests, inquiries, or complaints, and an effective service are among the factors that have the most influence in the satisfaction of users of telecommunications services. In addition, it is noted that the perception of a favorable cost-benefit services is influenced by the offered plans and promotions, and the proper settlement of claims and applications in their companies, showing that these are issues that need to be strengthened in telecommunication services companies.
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Robinson, George, and Clive Morley. "Customer Service Versus Performance Metrics in an Electronic Sweatshop?: Managers' Perspectives on Issues in Running Call Centres." International Journal of Knowledge, Culture, and Change Management: Annual Review 6, no. 2 (2006): 63–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.18848/1447-9524/cgp/v06i02/49240.
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Dwi Lestari, Elissa, and Miranti Kusuma Yuwono. "The Effect of Family–Work and Work–Family Conflict on Call Center Workers’ Emotional Exhaustion With Person–Job Fit as Antecedent." Revista CEA 6, no. 12 (2020): 69–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.22430/24223182.1616.
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In accordance with the government’s regulations in Indonesia, all financial services institutions are obliged to implement a customer complaint handling mechanism, which has contributed to the rapid growth of the call center industry. As a benchmark for managing service quality, call center workers are required to always keep their emotions stable despite the continuous pressures and unpleasant responses from customers. For this reason, working at call centers is now considered a job with a high emotional burden. Few studies have specifically examined the level of emotional exhaustion among call center workers in Indonesia. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the effect of family–work and work–family conflict on such workers’ emotional exhaustion, with person–job fit as antecedent. For this purpose, we collected data from 154 questionnaires completed by call center workers at financial services institutions in Indonesia. We analyze the relationship among the variables under study using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that the level of compatibility between employees’ and their job reduces both family–work and work–family conflict. In terms of work–family conflict, call center workers will feel emotionally exhausted only when faced with a dilemma between work and family responsibilities. The call centers’ management should thus create a family-friendly work environment to ensure excellent care for employees.
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Bharadwaj, Neeraj, and Anne L. Roggeveen. "The impact of offshored and outsourced call service centers on customer appraisals." Marketing Letters 19, no. 1 (2007): 13–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11002-007-9025-y.
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Richardson, Paul, and Peter Weill. "Telstra's National Telemarketing Centre." Journal of Information Technology 14, no. 3 (1999): 217–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/026839629901400302.
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Telstra – until recently Australia's only telecommunications carrier – is internationally recognized within the industry for providing a world-class telecommunications service to a highly dispersed and isolated population under challenging environmental conditions. In 1990, the Australian Government announced that it would end Telstra's monopoly and move towards a deregulated telecommunications industry. The first step was a competitive duopoly and, in 1991–1992, a private carrier – Optus Communications – became Telstra's first competitor in the Australian market-place. On 1 July 1997 the industry was fully deregulated. Over this period, Telstra has undergone enormous changes – none of which is more dramatic than the shift from an engineering-driven organization, to one with a marketing focus. The shift in emphasis from engineering to marketing is clearly reflected by the establishment of Telstra's National Telemarketing Centre (NTC). Though originally created in response to deregulation and the threat of its first competitor, the NTC has grown to become a major national marketing channel for Telstra, as well as providing national customer and product support services. This case examines the function of the NTC within Telstra, the role of technology at the NTC and the way call centres affect organizational flexibility and change the relationship between Telstra and its customers.