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Return On Investment(ROI) Justification: Spectrum Enterprise Solutions
- Staff reduction
- Call and email deflection and/or reduction
- Reduction in training/hiring costs
- Real estate expense savings
- Telecom expense reduction
- Savings in depreciation expense
- Reduction in system development, integration
and maintenance expenses - Increase in customer revenue
Each contact center is different from the next and for that reason your center may have slightly different metrics to define your contact centers success. Your agents may not be idle 25% of the day, or the square footage for each agent cubicle may be less than the national average. Possibly your cost per call or email may be higher than the average or real estate is more expensive in your downtown office. Regardless, using the formulas that we have provided and entering in your own numbers will show you the return on investment that can be gained by installing and utilizing Spectrum Enterprise Software and Display Devices.
To improve agent productivity corporate goals and mission statements must be broken down to the individual agent level and they must be specific to that agent. Too often corporate goals are not brought down to that level. If an agent is unaware or unsure of what the goals of the corporation are they cannot or will not believe that they are part of the organization. When agents get to feel this way they leave the job at the end of their shift not believing they are part of the solution. Eventually this negative belief grows until the agent decides it is time to leave the organization, leaving the company with another agent seat to fill. Adding a Spectrum display solution and Enterprise Software to the company is only part of the solution. Having regular meetings with the agents detailing what the goals of the contact center are is the other part of the solution. Then, when the agents see the statistics on the plasma screens or pops they will understand in their specific terms why it is important to answer the call.
Probably the most important statistic in the contact center is Oldest Call Waiting or Longest Wait Time. As this statistic gets worse (the average time a caller is waiting is increasing) the higher probability that other statistics will also degrade, including positive customer service. As the average wait time is increasing the number of calls going into queue will increase, the number of calls being abandoned will increase, and the service level (depending on how it is measured) will decrease. The goal of any contact center should be to reduce the longest wait time for any call. Using Spectrum displays and Enterprise software to display this vital statistic will assist the managers in reminding the agents of this very important statistic and will help reduce the longest wait time.
Staff Reduction
Reducing staff or re-allocation of staff resources whether in the Sales Contact Center or in the Service Contact Center is a cost savings to the organization. Spectrum’s Enterprise Software can aid a Manager of a Contact Center in determining staff levels by continually displaying contact center metrics on wallboards or plasma screens indicating, in real time, if the service levels and abandoned calls are at acceptable levels. Providing this information to Supervisor’s pagers, screen pops, or browser’s this critical staff information is given to the manager regardless of where they are located.
Contact Center agents may monitor themselves and can log in and out of groups based on call volume. As call volume increases (or decreases) an informed agent can be moved to another group or can even go home for the day. Spectrum’s wallboards, plasma screens and screen pops regularly show the call volume for any group and the agents can login or out depending on pre-established contact center metrics. Agents that are logged into a busy group are increasing the organizations revenue, agents that go home when the call volume has decreased below a pre-established level are saving the organization money.
If agents cannot be moved to another group or log out for the day the displays and software will notify agents when call volume is low enough for them to do on line training. The software will monitor call volume and will notify by messages on the board, plasma, screen pop or pager which group or agent may log out for training. Cost savings arise from not having to hire another agent to take on the call volume while another agent is in training.
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If a typical agent is idle or unproductive 25% of the time this costs the organization $5200.00 per year. ($10/ hour, 2080/ hours per year; 2080 x 25% = 520 hours x $10.00/hour = $5200/year) Utilizing Spectrum Enterprise Software and Display Solutions an idle agent can move to another group, log out for the day or involve themselves in required training.
Call and email deflection and/or reduction
The average cost of a call is $5.50 per call, an email costs $5.00 per email. When properly used Spectrum Enterprise Software and the Display Solutions will reduce the number of calls that are received by the service desk and the IT department.
The IT department gets calls from every department when the network goes down or the phones are out because they have not notified everyone they are aware of the problem. Utilizing the messaging power of Spectrum’s Software the IT department can notify everyone that the network is down (the wallboards can run on a separate cabling that allows this to happen even when the network is down) and they will have the network up within a certain time frame. When this message is sent out everyone is aware of the problem and will not bother the IT department with the same trouble ticket. Emails will not be sent when the phones are out for the same reason, IT is aware of the problem. In addition, when this happens agents can be notified to attend training or log out for the day further reducing costs in the organization.
Another very common problem is a leg of an IVR is down. When this occurs, calls to the Telecom manager can rapidly increase. While the manager is trying to fix the problem he is being contacted about the very problem he is trying to fix. Using Spectrum’s Software to create and send a message to the plasma screens notifying everyone that he is aware of the problem and is fixing it will reduce calls, and improve satisfaction from the agents, managers and customers.
When a new product is introduced calls can be expected to the help desk. The calls that come in will range anywhere from support to trouble tickets. If a particular product is not well documented the agents will need to spend additional time searching for information or deflecting the calls to a higher level of support. Managers will see the level of calls coming in for a particular product has increased past an acceptable level and they can notify product development or technical writing to improve documentation and get this information out to the website.
Help desks like to resolve all trouble tickets in a single call or email because it reduces cost. If agents can see statistics such as ASA, LW and CIQ they can decide immediately if they can go into more detail with the current call or email so they will not receive a call back on the same problem with this customer.
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Spectrum has seen a 20% reduction in call/email volume by utilizing real time messaging when a network or phone problem has occurred. A small contact center can realize a $10,000 per year savings by implementing a real time messaging solution.
Reduction in training/hiring costs
Before hiring and training new or existing agents there has to be a level of justification. Spectrum Software can display on wallboards, plasma’s and screen pops how many agents are on ACD Calls and how many are on non ACD Calls. If everyone is on ACD Calls and call volume is still high the justification to hire another agent is available. Conversely why hire new agents if the existing agents are not staying logged in? The wallboards and screen pops show this information to the managers who can then decide if additional help is required or more dedication to the phones is needed.
While the call volume is low agents can do on line training. Spectrum Data Pop can display a message to idle agents that they may do training while the call volume is low. A threshold is set so that when call volume decreases below a certain number, agents are notified to attend on line training. This message is sent to the wallboards and to the desk tops via a screen pop. When the call volume increases another message is sent out to the plasma screens and screen pops informing the agents to log back in the call volume has increased. Training costs are reduced by this interactive notification to the agents.
Real estate expense savings
By reducing staff additional real estate is not required. If at the end of a shift and the beginning of a new shift the call volume is low certain agents can leave early and other agents are not required to be in at the start of their shift. Reducing the number of phones, desks, and floor spaces greatly reduces the cost of the real estate required to run the call center. More desks and phones can be shared rather than having the extra desks and phones to accommodate only the cross over of the shifts.
Wall space in some contact centers is a premium. Every inch of space is taken up by desks, windows and critical product information. The only way to get a wallboard or plasma screens in the contact center is to expand the center. Or using Spectrum’s Data-Pop vital statistics are shown on the PC screen via a soft wallboard. The same critical statistics that show on the plasma screens will be displayed on the screen pops and when nothing is in threshold the screen pops are reduced down to the task bar saving the PC screen space for current call information.
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A typical contact center agent has 30 Square feet of “office” space. Using $50.00/ft the potential cost savings for the real estate is $1500.00 month.
Spectrum’s Browser Vu software will display real time statistics in an html format. This means anyone with a browser can view the statistics without having any proprietary software on their PC. An agent could work from home by logging into the network via a Virtual Private network (VPN) and still see the real time statistics. Having an agent work from home to meet the peak demands of the contact center will reduce real estate expenses of a single desk per agent. If a cubical is 6’ x 6’ or 36 sq ft and the cost per sq ft for office space is $50 per sq ft the cost per agent in real estate is $1800/month. Having one agent work from home to take over peak demands will pay for an Enterprise Solution in a little over one year.
Telecom expense reduction
Spectrum wallboards have a life expectancy of over 10 years. The wallboards can be re-used time and time again. Spectrum Wallboards are compatible with over 75 different ACD’s so regardless of which ACD the company may migrate to more than likely the Spectrum wallboards are going to be compatible. This compatibility makes the Spectrum wallboards an intelligent investment. Since the life of the wallboard is over ten years, regardless, which ACD the company may migrate to the wallboard may be able to be re-used.
Spectrum’s Data-Pop feature displays real time contact center statistics on the PC screen. The agent can select which virtual wallboard size they wish to see on the screen. A three line or four line “wallboard” can be selected to display the real time statistics. Regardless of the size “wallboard” selected the investment in the Data-Pop remains the same. Had the contact center needed to purchase actual wallboards or a plasma screen the cost of a three or four line wallboard varies greatly from a standard two line wallboard.
Contact centers are always looking for ways to reduce the “cost per contact”. This includes staffing levels and average talk time. The ability to make adjustments when they’ll have the most impact is crucial. Relying on day old reports won’t guarantee that the fluctuations in call volume wasn’t a one time occurrence. Seeing (or hearing with the audible threshold notification from the wallboards) the status of the contact center in real time gives the manager the power to make temporary changes in staffing rather than having to make permanent staffing changes.
Savings in depreciation expense
Spectrum wallboards are very durable and have a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of over 100,000 hours. This longevity allows the customer to depreciate the wallboards over 10 years rather than over 5 years. The Spectrum Wallboards are not affected by new technology either. As new Telecom systems are developed and installed the wallboards remain compatible with these new system versions. Spectrum has OEM relationships with over 75 different ACD systems and the wallboards can be “made compatible” with these different ACD’s with a simple field upgraded eprom change. The customer’s investment in wallboards is not lost when the new telecom system is installed.
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Spectrum Wallboards have an 11+ year life expectancy. The wallboards will outlast the phone system upgrades and even new platforms, thus allowing the customer to depreciate the wallboards over a 10 year period.
The Spectrum Enterprise Software also retains its value due to its compatibility with many ACD systems. If the customer upgrades to a newer version of ACD software, Spectrum’s Software is more than likely compatible. There is a tremendous savings in depreciation expenses by not having to replace the wallboards and software each and every time a new version, upgrade or even a new ACD is installed.
Reduction in system development, integration, and maintenance expenses
Spectrum IP Wallboards can be connected directly to existing house Ethernet cabling. New expensive serial cabling is not required to install Spectrum Wallboards. When a contact center is moved or rearranged the network cabling does not have to be moved or re-pulled because the wallboards connect directly to the Ethernet network. Separate serial cable can cost as much as $20/ft to pull and for a typical contact center it is not unusual to have a requirement for over 500 feet of cable.
Spectrum wallboards can be reused with other ACD systems and even different platforms. The integration of a new wallboard is not required because Spectrum wallboards are compatible with many systems. The new ACD or platform can be installed and the wallboards reconnected to the comport of the new ACD/platform. A typical wallboard takes 45 minutes per wallboard to install, Spectrum installation labor is $249/hour minimum one hour. In a typical contact center there are 4 wallboards, therefore a savings of $1000 can be realized when using Spectrum wallboards.
Increase in customer revenue
Revenue in contact centers will increase as customer calls are answered quickly. Financial organizations, catalog houses and reservation desks measure historical data in seconds and not minutes. The reason for this is the customer’s willingness to contact another company if the call is not taken within a few seconds. Agents can see the current longest call waiting on the wallboards and can get off an unproductive call quickly and answer the next call. Calls that are abandoned in a sales department are lost sales. (At Spectrum we talked about this when a pizza delivery company told us how important their wallboard was to them. They said “We know our customers are not that discerning when it comes to pizza. Our customers want someone to answer the phone quickly, take their order, and get the pizza to them as fast as possible. We can’t take the order or delivery the pizza if we don’t get the calls, that is why we rely so heavily on our wallboard”
Inbound sales organizations are able to keep agents answering the phones by giving them a motivational number regarding the sales calls. These companies know there average sales per call and when a call is holding they don’t show how many calls are holding they show how much money is waiting to be answered. Imagine a message that says we have $10,000 worth of calls waiting to be answered. The wallboards and Data-Pop generate a desire to answer the calls with this type of message.
For example, if a contact center has an average sale per call of $10.00 and this contact center has 5 abandoned calls (after 30 seconds or whatever the customers thresholds are) per day the lost revenue is $500.00 per day. Reducing abandoned calls by 10% by using a Spectrum Display Device will result in a $50.00 per day increase in sales revenue or a potential of $13,000.00 increase in revenue per year.
- Number of Abandoned Calls per day: ___________
- Average sales, in dollars, per call: ___________
- Cost of an Abandoned Call/Day: = A x B_____
- 10% reduction in abandoned calls using Spectrum Enterprise Software: ___________
- Savings per day using Spectrum Display Devices: =B x D_____
- Savings per year using Spectrum Enterprise Software and Display Devices: = E x 260
Spectrum Display Devices and Enterprise Software work together to help contact centers reduce costs, eliminate increases in operating costs, and provide revenue growth. The ROI justifications that have been mentioned are based upon current Spectrum customers, your specific savings and additional revenue may be greater than those experienced by others. There are other soft ROI justifications that are available to consider when making a purchasing decision. Briefly these additional ROI factors include an increase in customer satisfaction and loyalty, and a decrease in the number of customers that leave to the competition. These factors tend to be more subjective rather than objective.
Increase in customer satisfaction comes about when calls are answered faster, calls are answered by a correctly skilled agent, emails are responded to in a timely manner and information given to the customer is accurate. With these types of responses there is a definite increase in customer satisfaction, however, this is a difficult metric to measure and place a dollar figure on.
Customer loyalty will improve when customers are treated fairly, quickly and without having to make numerous attempts to contact a “live” agent. It has been said keeping an existing customer is 100 times easier than finding a new customer with the same revenue level and potential. Therefore, as we improve our customer satisfaction the customer’s loyalty to us will improve and should result in an increase in revenue.
As our customer loyalty increases there is less of a chance that our customers will leave for our competition. However, loyalty, just like satisfaction, is difficult to measure and therefore should not be considered when developing an ROI justification for Spectrum Enterprise Solutions.
Approval of Spectrum Display Devices and Enterprise Software should be based on hard ROI metrics such as the ones we have provided in this document. Your justification numbers may vary from ours however the general concept is solid. Avoid the pitfalls of using the soft ROI numbers to justify the solution. Although more difficult to put together the hard ROI numbers will stand a greater chance of getting the solution approved than the soft ROI numbers.
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