Service Level Management
A Service Level is a standard against which the defined process or service that is provided by the outsourcer is measured. Defining a service level is important for three reasons:
- For the client - if you don’t measure what you are doing, how can you know how you are performing?
- For the supplier - if you don’t monitor what you are providing, how can you be sure it meets your customers’ needs?
- For both parties - how can you improve the outcome (in terms of quality and cost)?
What is Service Level Management?
Service Level Management in its simplest terms refers to the effective and efficient management of calls or contacts coming into or out of the centre, managed through the use of the centre resources (the Agents or technology), against the set targets. Those targets are based on appropriate performance measures - for efficiency this would typically include the number of calls received, abandonned and handled, the average speed of answer etc. Effectiveness measures would be related to the call outcome - in a sales environment this could be the conversion rate, whereas for a debt management process it could be promises to pay.
What is an effective Service Level Management process?
For Service Level Management to be effective, the measures used need to reflect the overall drivers of Performance Management for the operation. Each measure used will have a threshold that reflects the expected level of performance that the outsourcer is expected to achieve. It is vital that these targets are appropriate and realistic. For example, if a client demands a response Service Level of 90% of calls answered in 10 seconds, then the outsourcer will resource accordingly which will drive up the cost of providing the service. Reducing the Service Level to say 80% of calls answered in 30 seconds could help reduce the cost of provision significantly.
A good Service Level Management process also allows for a service credit process where the outsourcer can be compensated when the forecast call volumes are lower than the expected levels. This is another reason why the thresholds for service measures need to be realistic - so that the use of credit system can be minimised.
As a result, we see a number of common mistakes that organisations make with regards to Service Level Management:
- A failure by the client to understand the real value of the contact centre operation
- A tool for the client to "beat up" the outsourcer
- Too many measures to follow
- Level of target not right for the type of business
If you want to understand how to overcome these and many other issues, then RXP has a free Outsourcing White Paper that you can download from this site. This will help you better understand the challenges of service level management and how to implement an effective process to ensure your contact centre, whether in-house or outsourced, will deliver real business value.
If you want to discuss outsourcing your own operation and how RXP can help you then please Contact Us.
