ISO 18295-1 Operational processes

ISO 18295-1 Clause 7 Operational processes

ISO 18295-1 Clause 7.1 General

The CCC shall put in place operational and support processes to enable it to deliver the desired customer experience and the requirements of the client.

ISO 18295-1 Clause 7.2 Customer-related processes

The CCC shall, in agreement with the client, define the processes required to handle customer interactions and deliver the desired customer experience. It shall design, document and implement the following processes:

• Customer interaction handling;
• Escalation;
• Complaints handling;
• Service recovery;
• Customer data and information handling.

The agent should have a clear structure for the call that is designed to draw the customer into a dialogue quickly. Once a customer is talking they become ‘involved’ in the call and the call becomes less likely to abort. The structure of the call should aim to establish the objective of the call early as far as that particular customer is involved. A good call structure will usually resemble the following blueprint:

1. Introduction
2. Question
3. Identifying the purpose or establishing a ‘need’ or ‘desire’ in case of promotional calls
4. Explaining in greater depth regarding the subject
5. Dealing with any questions or resistance without pushing or embellishment
6. Discussing any additional requirements or opportunities
7. Closing the call with the suitable conclusion – Summary

It’s key to that the call must be concluded professionally and politely. This part of the call structure is vital to ensure that the customer is clear about the outcome of the call and to ensure there has been no misunderstanding about what happens next. The summary is a quick paraphrase of what the call has achieved. It should include the following things

1. A quick recap of what has been agreed during the call and a summary of the next steps
2. Explain that the information will be passed to whom and by whom
3. Thank them sincerely for their time and end the call

It is imperative that any commitments / promises made during the call are completed in the timescale agreed within the call. Promises should always be met. It is therefore essential that agents are well briefed and do not promise things that cannot be delivered upon. Key principles to be taken care of in customer related process are:

• Place the customer at the heart of the calling process respecting their rights and wants, particularly their right to say NO.
• Clear, honest and open, two-way communication should be central to all practice and process.
• Information should be shared and made available in support of communication excellence across the board.
• All communication – spoken, written and electronic – should be consistent, clear, easily understood, timely and up-to-date.
• Timeframes set for outbound calling should be carefully considered. The systematic targeting of talk-times may well be counter-productive; on the other side customers should not be given cause to feel ‘hostage’ on the phone either. Hence a careful balance is required regarding talk times, with some element of flexibility built into to efficiency targets.
• There should be a written policy regarding appropriateness of behaviour if a customer complains or becomes aggressive. This should perhaps be extended to cover discrimination (sexist / religious remarks etc) so that all agents understand clearly what is and what not acceptable behaviour is by the customer with a coherent, common policy on handling of such circumstances.
• Deliver what is promised.

ISO 18295-1 Clause 7.3 Workforce planning

The CCC shall have a forecast and scheduling process in order to deal with customer demands in a timely manner. The process shall be agreed with the client. The CCC shall base its staffing requirements on the forecasted capacity planning and required competencies so it can deliver the requirements agreed with the client. The CCC shall have plans in place to deal with unexpected peaks of workload or lower than forecast agent availability.

ISO 18295-1 Clause 7.4 Quality assurance related to customer interactions

The CCC shall establish a quality assurance process to control and improve customer interactions. It shall take client requirements into account when designing this process. The process shall include measuring, monitoring, evaluating and action-planning. The CCC shall measure and monitor customer interactions for all channels and service types. This shall include:

1. Adherence to customer-related processes;
2. Accuracy of data capture;
3. Ability to resolve customer interactions effectively and efficiently;
4. Agent competencies as defined in 6.3.

The CCC shall ensure consistent assessment of service quality. It shall evaluate the results and take appropriate action to improve customer experience and ensure it delivers the client’s requirements.