Why call centres need to be knowledge driven

Sudipta Dev / Mumbai

If you think that the call centre industry is only about being accessible round-the-clock and answering customer queries, think twice. In the era of perfecting customer service, this is just the basic criterion; what differentiates the best from the rest is the value of the service provided. A very powerful and potent tool in determining this is knowledge management (KM). Though KM in the contact centre industry is still at a nascent stage in India, it is already playing a very significant role in delivering quality and efficient services at many large international call centres here. As the quantum and complexity of work increases, the trend will continue, and those caught napping are predicted to be big-time losers.

A contact centre is not only a source for capturing customer-related information, but is also the via media where the customer service executive uses this information to help the customer. With improving technology and associated systems, the global BPO and call centre industry is increasingly relying on KM tools to improve service quality. “With ever-improving technology and faster and more efficient applications and systems, call centres that rely on these tools would be able to bring about significant improvements in service and quality levels for their clients in the future. Earlier, a customer service associate had to manually go through client material and/or product/process notes; however now everything is moving to online systems and applications. This is enabling call centres to quickly query and search the available knowledge base and retrieve information that is relevant and appropriate for satisfactorily resolving specific client queries,” says Zia Shiekh, chief executive officer of Infowavz International. Apart from ensuring huge productivity gains for the organisation, customers are also a happier lot as their questions are answered promptly and at first call. For example, with an FAQ (frequently asked questions) database and knowledgebase, which often have self-learning components (i.e. the quality of the knowledgebase improves over time, based on the learning from customer interactions); are today all critical tools that enable agents to provide consistently high levels of service quickly.

Furthermore, KM tool-enabled Web self-service makes it possible for customers and end-users to find answers to many of their questions. This allows customer service agents to devote more time and resources to handling complex issues. The advantages of deploying a KM system are many: “Effective KM enhances products, speeds deployment, increases sales, improves profits and creates customer satisfaction. KM solutions also make it possible to deliver expert knowledge to all departments and geographic locations within an organisation,” adds Monica Doshi, vice president of Karrox IT Enabled Services. For this, all data collected through various sources need to be structured, organised and analysed before it can actually be made available as knowledge.

The Indian scenario

In India, knowledge management in the contact centre industry is still at its infancy, though most large international call centres have KM tools. Mohit Jain, chief knowledge officer of 24/7Customer says, “There are few companies that really have a well-thought-out strategy and scalable implementation plan. Several companies are still struggling in their attempts to harmonise quality, information systems and KM—not knowing where the boundaries are for each such initiative and what boundaries need to be urgently dissolved.” Zia Shiekh adds that because of the lack of understanding regarding the use of KM systems, very few companies have made the effort or the investment to develop such capabilities. “But one fact is obvious—people who have strong KM systems and practices are well-positioned to overwhelm companies that don’t have this approach,” he asserts.

KM tools

KM tools required in the contact centre industry vary from generic solutions to specialised ones for specific customer queries. Prakash Gurbaxani, chief executive officer of Transworks, informs, “KM tools range from custom designed applications to company intranets to eCRM tools such as eGain and Kana with inbuilt KM tools, to pure KM solutions by the likes of Primus and Native Minds.”

According to Jain, most call centres use standard databases that house com-mon contact history across multiple interaction channels, document management systems, collaboration tools like discussion forums, chat, instant messaging and feedback tools. Companies that are implementing KM usually have an established data centre, reminds Monica Doshi. Consequently, they are not only building a knowledge base, but also integrate it with into their existing environment—for instance, the call tracking system, IVR system, e-mail and other e-support systems. Without management support, proper training and a committed approach to make knowledge explicit, KM technology will be ineffective. “These pitfalls can be avoided by choosing the right people, processes, technology and knowledge to implement a KM solution. A successful implementation depends on the selection of a KM provider who offers the right mix of methodologies and tools to address KM needs,” adds Doshi.

Infowavz’s internally developed Infowavz Knowledge Management System, involves and integrates the entire organisation, including human resources, operations, migration, quality, training, facilities and account management. This system forms the foundation on which the company’s information system team develops industry-specific knowledge query, search and retrieval capabilities to meet the specific needs of clients. “Since every client is different and has specific needs, a generic system might not be the best solution. At Infowavz we believe in creating knowledge systems specifically tailored for our client’s businesses. This leads to long-term relationships that are mutually beneficial,” says Shiekh. Resultingly, the clients end up with some pretty sophisticated systems supporting them, which also enables them to capture vital information on their customer behaviour, purchasing patterns, etc.

KM training

While KM is a part of Karrox’s course for Managers from AT&T College of Call Centre Excellence, negligible KM training is offered by ITES training providers in the country. The companies which have effective KM systems however have in-house programmes to train their staff. At Transworks designated team members are trained on how to collect, troubleshoot and author new information to the knowledge bases. “More than certification, at Transworks we focus more on the ability of knowledge managers/content developers to develop and maintain knowledge bases are up to date and accurate,” states Gurbaxani.

Conceeding that as the industry is in its infancy stage, and so are the training providers, Shiekh adds, “I am not aware of any good knowledge management training institute in the country. The best practices are core part of key companies that have adopted KM as a strategic weapon to gain competitive edge. And these companies, including Infowavz, are not prepared to share much of such proprietary information with the outside world. At least, not yet.”

The agent: A knowledge worker?

A customer service executive has never been considered as a typical knowledge worker. The reasons are obvious: The agents are process driven instead of driving the process; and skill levels and job functions limit the degree of research they can perform. Most industry experts however seek to defer. Shiekh reminds that in the technologically advanced call centres in India, customer service associates have access to a wide range of KM tools that are enabling them to deliver better quality services, regardless of the geographical distance from the customer. Jain says emphatically, “KM is an enterprise-wide initiative, successful when it is bottoms-up rather than top-down. The customer interaction executive who is the closest to the customer really knows what works and what does not—this is where tacit knowledge is created before it can be spread out as explicit procedures and policies.”

Gurbaxani believes that the term “customer interaction executive” is too generic a term to classify it as being knowledge worker or not. The job profiles could range from performing the most elementary of tasks to detailed and involved services like technical support, customer care, etc. “Whether or not a customer interaction executive can be called a knowledge worker is depended on the nature and complexity of the task at hand. For instance, sending out welcome messages to new customers may not require the executive to be a knowledge worker, but helping people configure their new printer is definitely very knowledge intensive,” he insists.

Doshi however feels that a customer service representative can be termed a knowledge worker only when he /she captures customer details and information, puts in in a format that makes it available to the radial organisation for the purpose of decision-making and also when he/she can use such information to handle a customer complaint/query. “Today a customer service executive does not handle all of the above. Their role is limited,” affirms Doshi.

The debate whether a customer interaction executive can be considered a knowledge worker however pales before the real issue—that KM will probably create the only sustainable differentiator for market leaders in the contact centre industry.

Feedback may be sent to sudipta@expresscomputeronline.com