Consulting Firm Enters Call Center, Customer
Care Markets to Help Improve Service Levels
Measure-X Identifies Areas for Improvement, Implements Programs

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2001

CONTACT: Tom Ellis
Ellis Communications, L.L.C.
Phone: (623) 780-4558
E-Mail: tom@elliscomm.com

PHOENIX, Ariz. - Measure-X, a Phoenix-based firm that specializes in helping companies improve their customer service, is rolling out its expertise to the burgeoning call center and customer care industries.

"Although technology and the Internet are redefining the call center and customer care markets, these industries will always be fundamentally driven by one underlying force, customer service," says David Saxby, president of Measure-X. "No matter how the customer interaction occurs - by phone, e-mail, fax or the Web - agents still must deliver the one thing that customers desire the most and that is quality service."

Measure-X helps improve customer service in four ways - initial measurement of service levels, employee training, employee recognition and ongoing measurement as a follow-up to determine if desired service levels are reached and maintained.

Measure-X gives its clients the ability to see their customer service through a customer's eyes. Through customer-service evaluations, or mystery shops, calls are placed to the call center to see how well a customer's needs are met. Measure-X also surveys existing customers to determine why they do or do not return to conduct more business. "We measure the customer's point of view, from their first impression down to the appreciation they receive," Saxby says.

The initial measurement phase identifies areas in need of improvement. Then Measure-X customizes a training program for agents to help them improve their performance. "These are hands-on workshops with a learning system designed for adults to increase their retention and immediately apply the processes and skills they are taught," Saxby says. "We can cover such areas as conflict resolution, understanding customer needs, how to make stronger first impressions and how to increase repeat sales."

Employee recognition programs reinforce improved performance and higher levels of service, Saxby says. "Call centers spend millions of dollars on technology to automate their systems and make them more effective," Saxby notes. "But what their staff wants is recognition for a job well done."

Measure-X employs such techniques as sending personalized letters home to the family or spouse to let them know what a great job the employee is doing, personalized certificates of achievement, public recognition through display of plaques and personal awards sent directly to the employee.

In the last phase, Measure-X conducts ongoing measurement of customer service levels to determine if its actions have had an impact.

"Statistics such as the number of calls and average length of a call should not be the only measurement of the success of a call center," Saxby says. "What about the human touch? What about customer experience? We measure the things that are most important, and our feedback helps managers focus on those areas most in need of improvement. With training and incentives in place to motivate agents to modify behavior patterns, customer retention will go up and so will sales."

Saxby has almost 20 years of business experience, first as president of The Saxby Group, a Phoenix consulting firm that specialized in customer service and sales, and then as president of Measure-X. Prior to forming The Saxby Group, Saxby was vice president of marketing and training for ServiceCheck, a national research company. He also has experience in the insurance, real estate and banking industries.

For more information on Measure-X, call 888-644-5499 or visit its Web site at www.measure-x.com.