Zuora Global Support Portal helps company streamline customer support, boosting response rate and delivering better visibility into customer issues

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and SAN FRANCISCO — Zuora, the subscription billing and commerce leader, and Zendesk, the proven cloud-based help desk software provider, today announced the launch of the Zuora Global Support Portal. The web-based support ticket application and self-service customer support platform, powered by Zendesk, is located at support.zuora.com.

"Zendesk has helped us increase our response rate, decrease our response times, and deliver new visibility into customer issues," said Marlene Summers, Senior Manager, Zuora Global Support. "Best yet, Zendesk makes our support agents excited about working on their tickets."

Through the portal, Zuora’s customers can stay up-to-date with announcements from the Zuora Global Support Team, get answers from the community, and share feature suggestions. In addition, the support system fully supports customer inquiries from the @ZuoraSupport Twitter handle through Zendesk’s innovative Twicket™ service.

"It is great to see Zuora take advantage of multiple channels such as the web, email and social media to deliver superior customer support," said Kate Hobbie, Zendesk’s Director of Customer Support. "Having more than 10,000 customers ourselves, our own support team understands the importance of delivering outstanding customer support through whatever means our customers choose to communicate with us."

Summers added, "There are so many things to love about Zendesk. With its GoodData integration, we inherit a robust set of reporting and analytics with literally one click. To integrate into our Engineering and Operations teams, we easily created custom widgets to serve as a communication vehicle. And, although Zendesk is very easy to set-up and use, it is sophisticated enough to handle our billing support needs."

About Zuora, Inc.

Zuora’s subscription billing and commerce platform changes the way subscription businesses manage and sell to customers, allowing them to bring new products to market in less time, with more flexibility and less hassle. Zuora customers are up and running within 90 days and often recognize 200% ROI within weeks. Zuora is built from the ground up by SaaS industry visionaries and veterans from salesforce.com, WebEx, Accenture, Google, eBay, Oracle and Vitria. Zuora customers include Reed Business Information, InsideView, Marketo, Ricoh, Box.net, Ning, Ustream, Informatica, Barrett Xplore and Open Range. To learn more about Zuora, please visit www.zuora.com.

About Zendesk

Zendesk is the leading provider of proven, cloud-based help desk software. For growing organizations, Zendesk is the fastest way to enable great customer service. More than 10,000 Zendesk customers, including Adobe, MSNBC, Sony, OpenTable and Groupon, trust Zendesk with their most valuable assets: their customers, partners, and employees. Founded in 2007, Zendesk is funded by Charles River Ventures, Benchmark Capital and Matrix Partners. Learn more at www.zendesk.com.

Evaluation Based on Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute;

Vertical Solutions Also Listed in “Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers”

Cincinnati, OH — Vertical Solutions, Inc. (VSI) ( http://www.vertsol.com ), a developer of CRM and service management solutions, announces it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Niche Players quadrant of the 2011 “Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management.” In addition, the company was listed in the “Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers”. The Magic Quadrant research reports depict Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against a defined set of criteria for that marketplace.
The report outlines the strategic importance of field service in today’s environment: “Field service is increasingly viewed as an integral part of a unified customer strategy that’s improved over time as part of a careful project… It is as integral as sales, marketing and customer support to product-centric businesses.”

Further, the report calls out a number of strategic points to consider when selecting a software solution, including, “The addition of CRM functionality (sales, marketing and customer service) to field service solutions will be used as a way to enable field service technicians to capture sales leads, configure orders and market while on-site. The ability to deliver these capabilities through mobile devices is critical.”

“We are pleased to be included in this year’s Magic Quadrant for Field Service, and believe that VServiceManagement offers a robust solution to ensure that field service is part of a company’s unified customer service strategy,” says Ron Wegmann Sr., CEO of VSI. “VServiceManagement incorporates CRM functionality that enables field technicians to capture sales leads and grow their company’s bottom line while increasing efficiency and effectiveness required in today’s ‘lean’ environment.”

Vertical Solutions, Inc. has recently launched a new generation of products, VContactCenter™ and VServiceManagement™. Both application systems are built on a cloud-based technology platform, the Vertical Services Platform – VSP™, which is SOA-compliant, SaaS-based via a multi-tenant platform, and delivered as a service or on-premise in a private or public cloud environment. Innate to both of these solutions is a business process management (BPM) design tool as a layer within the architecture.

The full Gartner Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management report is available to Gartner clients at www.gartner.com.

About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2011 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Vertical Solutions, Inc. (VSI)

Vertical Solutions, Inc. develops, implements, and supports best-in-class CRM Contact Center and Service Management solutions, including PowerHelp® and its new generation technology solutions, VContactCenter™, for internal, external, and hybrid contact centers, and VServiceManagement™, for customer support, field service, and mobile environments. It also develops, implements, and supports patient services technology solution VHealthTrackerTM. These application systems are built on a SOA-compliant, cloud-based technology platform and are delivered as a service or on-premise in a private or public cloud environment. VSI’s applications are flexible, integrate easily with legacy systems, and offer rapid deployment times, driving down TCO and delivering high ROI. VSI is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, with offices and partners worldwide. For more information, visit www.VertSol.com or call 1.800.466.0238.

In the last Dreamforce 2011 conference, a lot of emphasis was placed on the social profile within their Service cloud.  That is, having that user’s relevant Facebook and Twitter stream on the agent’s window.  Along with Data.com and Dun and Bradstreet, you can have accurate data from that user.

As well, Salesforce also recommends the monitoring of social media analytics with Radian6. 

But I feel we’re missing some key components in the call center.

I’ve been an advocate of a unified messaging system as I know a lot of calls or personal emails never make it to the CRM.

Let’s face it, customers will communicate with you when they want and how they want.  That may be by phone, fax, email, or text chat.    Some customers will vent out their frustrations indirectly via Twitter or Facebook.  (You better pray if that user doesn’t have over 1 million followers, because you don’t want bad press coming from person with influence.  Conversely, you’ll accept any kind of good press from this user!)

When choosing a CRM and Service Desk application, make sure you look at your organization and see what media outlet you use to connect with your customers, whether it’s built in or an add-on application.  And choose wisely.

Every media outlet has its time and place, and you have to staff your customer service agents accordingly.

In the video below, Lauren Carlson from Software Advice speaks with Sword Ciboodle’s VP of Marketing, Mitch Liberman and CEO of the Americas, Richard De Francisco, about the future of the call center.  It’s a great interview and overview of what I have been preaching, but you’ll have to ignore the background noise.  The video was shot from the CRM Evolution 2011 conference last August.  As you can hear, it was quite busy!

Here is the interview on YouTube:

I am starting to see a trend for companies using Radian6 and other social enterprise monitoring products.

Companies are responding to people’s complaints or queries directly through social media. Wake up everyone, it’s not the just the 1-800 Call Center anymore.

With social enterprise monitoring products, companies look for keywords such as their own company, other band names (i.e. competition), and mis-spelled names. By scraping the web, they find as many social media sites as possible to find negative and positive feedback.

The monitoring software allows them to drill down and find out exactly what people are saying or thinking about the company, good or bad.

By responding in real time, this helps improves the public perception of the company.

Success is making customers happy, one customer at a time. Hopefully, that customer will share their experience via Facebook and Twitter.  And that’s the power of spreading the message, virally.

The Facebook Fan Page

Another trend emerging with companies using social media monitoring tools are treating their Facebook Fan Page as serious as their own corporate web site.

Social media *is* an integrated marketing plan for any business.

By having a contest and engaging Facebook readers to “post on your wall” whether it’s a testimonial or uploading a video, that’s the community companies want to see.  And with 700 million users on Facebook, that’s a large sample pool to choose from.

But it doesn’t end there.  Eventually you’ll want to draw your readers to your web site and make those conversions.  Loyal  and repeat customers are the best customers.  I think everyone knows that.

Again, it doesn’t end there.  By using Heroku for Facebook, you can build real anything as a Facebook app, including a storefront from your goods, without even leaving the Facebook page.  Now you have two store fronts, one web and one Facebook.

What used to be a brick and mortar industry with real storefronts, sales clerks and cashiers changed with web ecommerce over a decade ago.  Now that revolution is changing.

However, will customer service agents and help desk call centers be a thing of the past?

LANDesk research reveals increased pressure on service desk managers to handle mobile devices

London — In an increasingly tech-savvy society, it is no surprise that users are becoming heavily reliant on mobile devices as business tools. New research* by LANDesk reveals 96 per cent of users view laptops, smartphones and tablets as not only beneficial but vital to productivity.

However, the role of the service desk in maintaining this influx of technology is overlooked, and consequently they are overloaded with calls to support mobile devices and under-equipped to deal with them. The survey found that a massive 76 per cent of service desks claim that the extra support required has had a negative impact. This is due to the fact that the uptake of new devices has necessitated a rapid accumulation of knowledge and expertise to support them.

The survey also revealed that even though 86 per cent of service desks have seen an increase in the number of mobile devices they are being asked to support, the majority of respondents were asked to support them before the service desk was ready, and only 57 per cent were consulted before the company procured mobile devices, causing a negative impact on the running of the service desk as a whole.

‘‘The inundation of service desks with these devices has resulted in undue strain. There is a belief that it is the duty of service desks to support mobile devices – yet they have little involvement in decisions that directly affect the service they can provide,’’ said Ian Aitchison, Director of Product Management, LANDesk. Moreover, the risks of data leaving the network as well as viruses and malware entering the network are also borne by the service desk, resulting in a dramatically increased workload.’’

The report indicates that the main issue is the lack of training provided to service desks, as mobile devices are difficult to support, mainly due to the sheer volume of different devices users are introducing, along with the growing trend of working remotely. 

‘‘The majority of service desks view mobile device usage as an inevitable and beneficial development within businesses– however it is clear that more support and consideration is due to service desks and their limitations,’’ Aitchison advises. ‘‘There must be specific policies, integrated solutions and training systems in place to keep up with the wealth of new technology in order for these devices to provide the greatest benefit to their users and the company.’’

About LANDesk Software

LANDesk Software is a leading provider of systems lifecycle management, endpoint security, and IT service management solutions for desktops, servers and mobile devices across the enterprise. LANDesk enables IT to deliver business value by gaining control of end-user computing with a single console, light infrastructure, and ITIL solutions that deliver significant ROI for thousands of customers worldwide. LANDesk is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices located in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, and can be found at www.landesk.com.

*The survey was conducted amongst service desk managers and incorporates findings from research LANDesk carried out with the SDI (Service Desk Institute). Click here for a full copy of the report.

I cannot stress the importance of a proper Helpdesk or Service desk implementation, preferable with ITIL.

There are way too many incidents that do not get logged properly in the system.  We call them “drive-by’s” (though this isn’t funny in some major US cities).  All incidents should be logged via an online web form, email, or telephone.

That being said, I can break down the top 7 issues that Helpdesk centers get on a regular basis, with the top 2 reason accounting for over 80% of ALL tickets.

1. forgotten passwords (especially with 2 factor authentication)
2. can’t access email, email not working (especially for those with mobile devices like Blackberry)
3. problems with connectivity to VPN
4. Hardware failure
5. Application problems
6. Slow PC, slow network, slow everything…
7. Printer not working

As you can see from the above list, you have a combination of incidents and problems.  And let’s not forget about the IT Cowboys who do changes on the server which can result in these incidents and problems in the first place!

That is why you need ITIL ready functionalities: Incident management, Problem management, Change management and Configuration management database.

But it’s not as simple as that, either.

Why?

Here is my take on the top 3 issues for helpdesk departments:

1. Having no or poor knowledge of customers
2. Managing the complexity of change
3. The pressure to handle increased call volumes, faster, across multiple departments in different time zones.

The 3rd item is the important one, and a proper helpdesk software can be the key to the success of your department and overall respect and reputation for the IT department.

It’s also an item that you have full control over, and making the right choice in software is important, whether you choose an on premise solution or a cloud based solution.

To be continued…

Five9 recognized for CRM Excellence by the premier CRM, contact center and teleservices publication

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Five9, the leading provider of cloud-based call center software, announced today that TMC has named the company a recipient of a Customer Interaction Solutions^® magazine 2011 CRM Excellence Award for the Five9 Virtual Call Center. Customer Interaction Solutions has been the premier publication in the CRM, contact center and teleservices industries since 1982.

Ken Osborn, Vice President of Marketing for Five9, said, “We are proud of our cloud-based call center software, designed to deliver a better customer experience, a critical requirement for all call centers today. Our laser focus on this technology, and agent productivity, creates the operational and financial flexibility that call centers demand. The industry recognition from TMC, and our customer success that facilitated this recognition, are highly appreciated and motivating.”

“The Twelfth Annual CRM Excellence Awards has recognized Five9 for being a true CRM partner to its customers and clients,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO of TMC. “Five9 has demonstrated to the editors of Customer Interaction Solutions that the Five9 Virtual Call Center has improved the processes of their clients’ businesses by streamlining and facilitating the flow of information.”

The CRM Excellence Awards rely on facts and numbers demonstrating the improvements that the winner’s product has made in a client’s business. Winners were chosen on the basis of their product or service’s ability to help extend and expand the customer relationship to become all encompassing, covering the entire enterprise and the entire lifetime of the customer.

The 2011 CRM Excellence Award winners can be found in the May and June 2011 issues of Customer Interaction Solutions magazine.

About Five9

Five9 is the leading global provider of cloud-based call center software for Sales, Marketing and Support. The award-winning Five9 Virtual Call Center and Predictive Dialer serve customers of all sizes on five continents. Customers profit from Five9’s reliable, robust functionality that provides the best technology, improves agent productivity, and delivers business flexibility. For more information, visit www.Five9.com. Like Five9? Tell your friends: www.Facebook.com/CallCenterSoftware

About Customer Interaction Solutions

Since 1982, Customer Interaction Solutions (CIS) magazine has been the voice of the call/contact center, CRM and teleservices industries. CIS magazine has helped the industry germinate, grow, mature and prosper, and has served as the leading publication in helping these industries that have had such a positive impact on the world economy to continue to thrive. Through a combination of outstanding and cutting-edge original editorial, industry voices, in-depth lab reviews and the recognition of the innovative leaders in management and technology through our highly valued awards, Customer Interaction Solutions strives to continue to be the publication that holds the quality bar high for the industry. Please visit www.cismag.com.

The SuperBowl XLV is approaching.

Yes, THE 2011 SuperBowl, but why they still use roman numerals is beyond me.

How much does it costs for a 30 second ad?

$3 Million for a single 30 seconds commercial.

What is the potential reach?

106 Million viewers in 2010 and 98.7 Million in 2009.

When you think about media, how many years did it take to reach 10 million eyeballs?  or 100 million viewers?

I am talking about traditional media, such as newspaper, radio and TV, including Superbowl TV ads.

I think a lot of companies are not aware of the impact of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

100 million targeted viewers may be a lot of money for 3 million dollars, but go ask entertainer Justin Bieber who has over 430 million views for a single video!  I doubt he spent 3 million dollars on that video.

It took TV and radio decades to reach 50 million viewers, but only months for Facebook to reach those same numbers.

In my opinion, traditional B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing efforts are becoming less and less effective.

By definition, P2P may mean peer-to-peer (i.e. Napster, Limewire, Torrents, etc.) but it also means people-to-people.

Branding is a personal issue, from the smartphone you choose to the sports drinks and running shoes you buy.

Recent Facebook stats show a dramatic increase in younger (18-24) and older generation (over 55+).  Yes, you can argue the grandparents signing up to see their grandchildren on the major cause of this increase.  Facebook’s greatest asset is photo, video and URL sharing. 

The world has changed the way business and consumers make purchasing decisions.  Why?  Because marketing is about building trust, relevancy, and most importantly, influence.  Ask yourself why you bought that iPhone or iPad in the first place?   Was it an ad on TV or a website, or did someone show you how cool and sexy it was?

Now, the Hard Part

The biggest task for any organization is determining the impact of any campaign.  There is no Nielson ratings for what the customers are saying, or the potential influence one has.

It’s easy to track the effectiveness of an Google AdWords campaign, with keywords, clicks and conversions, but social media is a different beast.

Years ago, I recall a story when  ex-Beatle Paul McCartney was in Montreal and denied entrance to a restaurant because he didn’t have a suit or dinner jacket!  Can you imagine if this happened today, and that famous person (or person with major influence) picked up their smartphone and Twittered this embarrassing moment?

The three most important concepts for social media implementation is monitoring, measuring and most importantly, engagement.

At the last Dreamforce 2010 User conference (part of Salesforce.com), I spent a lot of time in the Expo Cloud analyzing this trend, and the only company that was clearly the winner in this category was Radian6.

The 2 biggest reasons to use an enterprise software (preferable a cloud based one) is tracking the customer service complaints and the following the competition.

Everyone knows the Twitter and Comcast story (and their #comcastcares hash tag) on how Comcast actively went to the user to solve a complaint, before the user had a chance to complain directly to the Comcast service desk.  Customers don’t complain to the vendor, they complain to their friends and peers first.  And that’s why you should care about people-to-people or P2P Marketing.

Radian6 was the only vendor on the floor that was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of influence based on monitoring and measuring the social media activity.  It’s up to you to engage the customer and help rebrand the user experience.

RemedyForce, a new strategic cloud offering from both companies combines the strengths of two market leaders

RemedyForce gives customers access to a simple, fast IT service management solution to streamline IT support processes and reduce costs – delivered completely in the cloud

Companies expand strategic alliance to develop, market, and sell RemedyForce offering

SAN FRANCISCO — Dreamforce 2010 — Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the enterprise cloud computing company, and BMC Software, (Nasdaq: BMC) the leader in IT management, today announced RemedyForce, a new cloud offering built on Force.com, salesforce.com’s enterprise cloud computing platform. RemedyForce is a new strategic cloud offering from both companies that combines the strengths of two market leaders. The RemedyForce solutions will provide businesses a simple and fast path to transform how they think about IT service management and provide tangible results such as streamlined IT support processes and reduced costs.

RemedyForce is the next phase of a strategic alliance between the two companies to develop, market, and sell cloud-based IT management. The announcement will be introduced  by Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com and Bob Beauchamp, chairman and CEO of BMC Software, as part of a keynote presentation at Dreamforce 2010, the industry cloud computing event.

"IT service management customers now have a cloud to address their needs," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "As the next major Salesforce cloud offering, we expect RemedyForce will drive cloud computing success throughout the IT departments at businesses of all sizes."

"RemedyForce provides an impressive new group of companies the opportunity to access the power of BMC’s IT Service Management solutions as well as strengthens the core offering available to our own customers. The result provides businesses new ways to get more out of their IT investment," said Bob Beauchamp, chairman and CEO, BMC Software. "This is the best of both worlds – cutting edge delivery of proven solutions – that will accelerate customer success and the evolution of both the cloud computing and IT management markets."

Based on the proven, successful partnership between salesforce.com and BMC Software, RemedyForce adds a new offering to salesforce.com’s current cloud services which includes the Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, the Salesforce Chatter Collaboration Cloud, the Jigsaw Data Cloud, the Force.com Platform Cloud and Database.com. Similarly, RemedyForce joins the BMC family of leading IT service management products including BMC Remedy IT Service Management Suite and BMC Remedy OnDemand. With this move the two companies add significant value to customers through unsurpassed IT management capabilities.

BMC’s market leading IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions, along with other elements of the BMC portfolio provide the core functionality for RemedyForce. At the heart of Remedy Force is IT service desk, formerly Service Desk on Force.com, that brings together a broad set of IT service management capabilities with the proven Force.com enterprise cloud platform. The resulting solution is an easy-to-use IT service management suite with optimized performance capabilities for cloud-customers providing consolidated service desk capabilities. 

Key features include:

• An easy-to-use IT service management suite optimized for salesforce.com and BMC customers that integrates core service desk capabilities with change management, knowledge management, and problem management applications;
• True service management, including a configuration management database to provide the required "single source of truth";  
• Streamlined implementation on the Force.com platform and salesforce.com’s trusted global service delivery infrastructure;
• Real-time collaboration using Salesforce Chatter;
• Mobile access, reporting, and analytics. 

By building BMC solutions on Force.com’s robust multi-tenant cloud development and delivery platform, customers now have a comprehensive and integrated approach to service management, that is optimized for the Force.com platform and ecosystem. Customers using BMC’s ITSM solutions report:

• A 40 percent decrease in support costs;
• Resolution of 75 percent of issues on the first call;
• Tens of millions of dollars in ongoing operational savings. 

With RemedyForce, customers can take advantage of over 20 years of service management leadership and a proven, trusted cloud delivery infrastructure, and the simplicity of a standardized cloud application. BMC and salesforce.com will support RemedyForce with joint sales, marketing, product certification, and implementation programs. RemedyForce will be sold by both companies’ sales teams and partners, unlocking new business opportunities as they sell to customers looking for a proven solution with best of breed capabilities delivered by established industry leaders.

"Safe harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements about the expected release of the RemedyForce Cloud and the expected expansion of the two companies’ strategic alliance to market and sell the RemedyForce Cloud applications.  The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties.  If such assumptions prove incorrect or such risks or uncertainty materializes, the results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements made above.  Further information on these and other factors that could affect the companies’ results is included in the reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and in other filings they make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. These documents are available on the SEC website and the investor information areas of the companies’ websites.  Salesforce.com and BMC Software assume no obligation and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Business runs on IT.  IT runs on BMC Software.

Business thrives when IT runs smarter, faster and stronger. That’s why the most demanding IT organizations in the world rely on BMC Software across distributed, mainframe, virtual and cloud environments. Recognized as the leader in Business Service Management, BMC offers a comprehensive approach and unified platform that helps IT organizations cut cost, reduce risk and drive business profit. For the four fiscal quarters ended September 30, 2010, BMC revenue was approximately $1.96 billion. Visit www.bmc.com for more information.

About salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is the trusted enterprise cloud computing company. Based on salesforce.com’s real-time, multitenant architecture, the company’s Force.com platform and apps (http://www.salesforce.com/crm) have revolutionized the way companies collaborate and communicate. Salesforce.com’s cloud offerings include:

• The Sales Cloud, for sales force automation and contact management
• The Service Cloud, for customer service and support
• The Jigsaw Data Cloud, for ensuring data integrity and quality
• Salesforce Chatter, for social collaboration
• The Force.com platform, for custom application development
• Database.com, the world’s first enterprise cloud database
• The AppExchange, the world’s leading marketplace for enterprise cloud computing apps

Salesforce.com offers the fastest path to customer success with cloud computing. As of October 31, 2010, salesforce.com manages customer information for approximately 87,200 customers including Allianz Commercial, Dell, Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE, and SunTrust Banks.

Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements may not be currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase salesforce.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

Consider these two headlines:

UK Call Centers A More Attractive Place To Work, But Keeping Talent Will Be Critical

56% of Gen Y’s will leave their current job within a year

A study by Hays Contact Centres and 50 Top Contact Centres for Customer Service revealed interest in working in call centers is high, but concerns over keeping the best talent will increase as the economy improves and it is already driving an emphasis on flexible working and training.

They found:

• 55% of call centre managers say speculative job applications have increased since 2009
• 58% of agents want to develop a long-term career in the call centre industry
• 35% of workers are educated to degree level, up 10% from 2009
• 54% of call centre workers feel there is a clear career path in a call centre

The good news is one-third of agents in the UK are college educated.  (You may not think so when calling in a support ticket!)  Most of these new workers appear to be flocking to the contact center hoping they will be guaranteed a promotion at some point.

But from the Sodexo Motivation Solutions report with Generation Y, they found a negative perception of call centers in particular with only 5% of this generation regarding working for a call centre as exciting, while 55% consider it in a negative light. Moreover, 1 in 3 of those surveyed who are currently seeking work would rather claim unemployment benefits than work in a call centre.

Generation Y is defined as people aged 16 to 28.

In light of the recession, we still have some challenges ahead of us.

Below are the two press releases in full.

UK call centers are experiencing an increase in job applications and interest from graduates in 2010, reveals new research by the recruiting expert Hays Contact Centres, in conjunction with the Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service. The survey reveals that 55% of call centre managers received more speculative job applications in 2010 compared to 2009, and 72% have seen an increase in applications for advertised jobs.

The study, which questioned 286 call centre managers and agents, reveals an increasing interest from graduates. As many as 43% of call centre managers say they have seen more applications from graduates, adding to an already qualified workforce, where over a third (35%) are educated to degree level.

“Call centres are becoming more demanding of their staff so it isn’t surprising that the profession is attracting more people with degrees, particularly when we are still faced with a challenging economy and high unemployment levels,” commented Geoff Sims, Managing Director of Hays Contact Centers. “A clear career path is always a strong draw for graduates and it is increasingly being recognised that call centers offer excellent opportunities for progression,” he continued.

The survey suggests call centre staff have a positive attitude towards building a career in the industry. Over half (54%) of agents agreed that call centers offer a clear opportunity to progress, compared to just 40% in 2009, and 58% stated they would like to develop a long-term career in the call centre industry.

However, call centre managers highlighted concerns around keeping talented employees, with 67% saying they believe it will be more difficult to retain their best staff as the economy improves. When asked about the factors that could improve staff retention, offering career progression opportunities topped the list, followed by providing better training and flexible working. Encouragingly, 41% of call centre managers say they are already focusing on staff retention measures, such as flexible working.

Simon Thorpe, Programme Director at Top 50 Call Centers for Customer Service commented, “Through our work with call centers across the UK, we know many are working to improve their performance and ensure best practice in both customer service and employee engagement. While it is encouraging to see that the industry is attracting an increasing number of job seekers, the clear focus needs to be on retaining the best talent to ensure high standards across the industry are maintained.”

The research was carried out by Hays Contact Centres, in conjunction with the Top 50 Call Centers for Customer Service, a benchmarking initiative created to improve the performance of call centers and instill best practice across the industry.

And this report:

Sodexo Motivation Solutions, one of the world’s largest motivation solutions providers, today releases the results of its new survey highlighting Generation Y’s (employees aged 16 to 28) perceptions of working. The survey finds that more than half of Generation Y employees are looking to leave their jobs within a year.

The survey represents the views of Generation Y on a range of work-related topics and uses a sample group of 401 respondents drawn at random from an online panel of individuals.

The findings identify a negative perception of call centers in particular with only 5% of this generation regarding working for a call centre as exciting, whilst 55% consider it in a negative light. Moreover, 1 in 3 of those surveyed who are currently seeking work would rather claim unemployment benefits than work in a call centre.

In more positive news, of those polled, 25% identified flexible benefits as a key reason for considering a career in call centers with 43% naming flexible working as the single most attractive benefit. However, over 46% of the respondents identified the fact that they were not offered any benefits aside from their salary by their current employer.

Iain McMath, managing director of Sodexo Motivation Solutions said:

“Clearly many employees view flexible benefits as central to the attractiveness of their jobs and it is a shame that a larger percentage of employers don’t offer these. Flexible benefits, be it childcare or retail vouchers, gym memberships and cycling to work schemes are both tax-efficient and provide a very personal style of reward. Strategies are easy to implement and should notably decrease the turnover rates in call centers. What this survey shows is that much more needs to be done to engage these Generation Y employees.”

“Although Generation Y presents its own set of challenges and has different priorities in the workplace than older generations, it is undeniable that these employees are vital to the call centre industry. They are quick to adapt, hard working, creative and not afraid of a challenge. They will require careful management and motivation in order to get the best out of them and retain them for any length of time. Managers therefore need to make it clear that the call centre industry can offer a career path in which additional responsibilities can be earned, and where hard work is both acknowledged and rewarded in a way that meets the specific needs of Generation Y.”