MPK Customer Experience Analyst

27/03/2017

A claim of Discrimination

To protect the identity of the company they will be referred to as XYZ Pty Ltd
In August 2015, the FWO alleges that while the employee was on parental leave, XYZ Pty Ltd rejected her request to return to work with flexible working arrangements and advised her in writing that she could return to full-time duties in April 2016.
In March 2016, the employee fell pregnant for a second time and advised XYZ Pty Ltd that even though her status had changed, it was still her intention to return to work in April.
But the company told her it was extending her unpaid leave until after the birth of her second child, even though it is alleged that the employee told XYZ Pty Ltd she had not requested an extension of unpaid leave. Subsequently, she informed the company that, on advice she had received, she was within her rights to return to work in April 2016, as originally agreed.
Mr Joe Bloggs and XYZ Pty Ltd allegedly denied the existence of any agreement and instead raised allegations of performance issues. They then asked her to obtain a medical certificate as to her fitness to return to work.
It is alleged that after the employee provided a medical certificate in July 2016, she was asked to attend a meeting by XYZ Pty Ltd where she was presented with a resignation letter that XYZ Pty Ltd management had pre-prepared. She was asked to sign it.
It is alleged the Letter of Resignation, which the employee signed, amounted to a constructive dismissal of the employee.
The FWO says the conduct of Mr Joe Bloggs and XYZ Pty Ltd in denying the employee’s lawful right to return to work and constructively dismissing her contravened the National Employment Standards (NES) and the pregnancy discrimination and workplace rights provisions of the Fair Work Act.
Watchdog pursues company
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the agency initiated proceedings as the allegations were particularly serious.
“Under the Fair Work Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against employees on the grounds of pregnancy, race, colour, s*x, s*xual preference, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family or carer responsibilities, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.
Under the Fair Work Act employees have a lawful right to return to work following a period of parental leave.
Discriminatory behaviour can include dismissing an employee, threatening to dismiss an employee, reducing an employee's hours, denying training and promotion opportunities or refusing to employ, promote or train an employee.
Penalties sought
The Fair Work Ombudsman is seeking penalties against XYZ Pty Ltd and Mr Rao for alleged contraventions of workplace laws, as well as a Court Order requiring them to pay compensation to the employee for economic and non-economic loss.
Mr Joe Bloggs faces penalties of up to $10,800 per contravention and the company faces penalties of up to $54,000 per contravention.
The FWO has secured penalties against a number of employers for contravening the pregnancy discrimination provisions of the Fair Work Act, including one payment of more than $50,000 against operators of a chain of Victorian discount retail stores.
Are you fully versed in your legal obligations to pregnant employees? The Employment Law Practical Handbook has a whole chapter dedicated to this subject, to ensure you don’t make a potentially costly mistake around this often misunderstood topic.
For instance, when an employee is pregnant, check that you:
• inform the employee of her rights;
• consult the employee about changes to her employment;
• manage the health and safety risks to the employee and the unborn child;
• enable the employee to transfer to a safe job or to take no safe job leave, if necessary;
• allow the employee to take leave for pregnancy-related illness; and
• ensure the employee is free from discrimination.
Any questions call Mina 0466246955

27/03/2017

Mina also consults on HR matters and can assist with the entire Recruitment Selection and Induction process. Call Mina to find out more. Mina charges a flat rate stop paying exorbitant fees.

03/07/2014

Customer Satisfaction - Important points to remember

Anyone managing a contact centre needs to understand the importance of Customer Satisfaction.

Anyone managing a contact centre would agree that it's not all about call centre metrics that make a contact centre function.

Contact Centres of yester years were designed to be transactional and only designed to handle call after call. Service Level was the only real target to measuring efficiency and satisfaction.

Now a days Contact Centres are more advanced. There are more targets coupled with the variety of tools and systems at our disposal. This makes contact centres of today somewhat of a challenge.

One important target which is at the forefront is the voice of the customer, better known as customer satisfaction.

The question I ask every organisation whom I have assisted is why wait every 6 months to 12months to find out what your customers think of your experience with your business? If you really CARE about the customers experience then you should start to track the satisfaction more regularly.

There are many tools designed to measure satisfaction. Some are expensive whilst others are inexpensive. Some companies opt for manual reporting whilst others go straight for the kill and implement high tech satisfaction gauges with you beaut reporting capability. It doesn't matter what you have its important to make sure you begin the journey of measuring your customers satisfaction.

A simple solution that I have implemented for many organisations is the use of a closing IVR recording. The way it works is simple. A question is played to the customer and in return the customer rates their experience as satisfied or dissatisfied. From here I can then begin to build a really good picture on the satisfaction level of each customer.

With this system we have also integrated an analytics tool which is designed to drill down to the core detail of the call. Its brilliant as it really puts you in the realm of the customer and you get to experience first hand what they did, thus enabling you to work on key strategies to shift those dissatisfied customers to satisfied.

An analogy I commonly refer to is, do you only check your engine dipstick every second year? Offcourse you don't. If you did then you will definitely blow something up. Then why wait till it's too late? The same thing applies with the customer. You need to know what the experience is and what their journey was like.

These days the social media and an unhappy customer experience can lead to disgruntled customers broadcasting their dissatisfaction with your brand to an audience of thousands within a few hours. This makes it vital to give customers a forum to talk to you directly. Then take a look and apply a change that will make a world of difference.

The customer satisfaction should not matter if you hold your contact centre inhouse or offshore using a call centre outsourcing environment. Its our customers and they are our largest asset and we must retain.

I take great pride in delivering exceptional customer service and have written many articles to share my knowledge that I have gained with others on the importance of aligning and improving the customer touch points with key emphasis on offshore contact centre environments and Australian based contact centres.

I hope you enjoy reading.

Author Mina Karpouzas.

0466 246 955

Writes and publishes regularly articles to assist professionals

in the contact centre environment offering contact centre solutions.

http://www.call-centre-outsourcing.com

03/07/2014

Customer Satisfaction- 7 Key secrets to improve your business

Customer Satisfaction starts with our front line staff. It is one of the key touch points of the company. Like it or not, its a touch point that we must all continuously advocate for improvement. Embracing some very basic principles is certainly a start.

Customer Satisfaction starts with our front-line staff. In fact it's more than just answering a call these days and how pleasant we sound. These days its about delivering a consistent message and following through to the promise we made. If we don't then we have a secondary matter that we will be dealing and in most cases, this will include the manager. So why do we want this to be escalated? Why don't we have a front line of staff that can better deal with situations?

Almost anyone who's been in a customer service position has had the opportunity of running into either an irate call or person...or a situation that, shall we say, is not pleasant. And even though it may not even be our fault, we still need to know how to recover the situation. Here are good examples on how to handle certain situations:

It IS your responsibility. If you have answered the phone on behalf of the company, you have indeed accepted 100% responsibility. At least that's what the caller/customer believes. So get off the "it's not my fault" syndrome. And get on with the "what can I do for you?" position.

"I'm sorry" DOES work. Every once in a while, I hear from a CSR that tells me they don't feel they should say "I'm sorry" when it wasn't their fault. Well, as stated above, in the customer's mind, it is your fault. Saying you're sorry won't fix the problem, but it definitely does help to defuse it immediately. Try it. You'll see.

Empathize immediately. When someone is angry or frustrated with your company, the one thing they need is someone to agree with them, or at least feel they're being understood. Be careful, though: "I know how you feel" is NOT a good thing to say unless you have been through exactly what they have experienced. Try – "That's got to be so frustrating" or "What an unfortunate situation."

IMMEDIATE action is necessary to make a service recovery. Don't make a customer wait for good service. Get whatever it is they need to them immediately. Overnight service if it's necessary. That's recovery. REMEMBER: Telephone Doctor's motto: IT SHOULD NEVER TAKE 2 PEOPLE TO GIVE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Ask what would make them happy. In a few rare cases, the customer can be a most difficult one. If you have tried what you considered "everything," simply ask the customer: "What can I do to make you happy, Mr. Jones?" In most cases, it may be something you're able to do. You just may not have thought of it. So go ahead and ask them.

Understand the true meaning of your Service Recovery. Service Recovery is not just fixing the problem. It's making sure it won't happen again. It's listening to the customer. It's going above and beyond.

FOLLOW UP. After you feel the problem has been fixed, follow up. After you've made the customer happy, make an extra phone call a day or so later. Be sure to ask them: "Have we fixed everything for you?" "What else can we do for you?" Be sure they're satisfied. When you hear: "Thanks, you've done a great job. I appreciate it." It makes everything you done very satisfying.

It's these very basic customer service principles that need constant attention and re-iteration. As the champion you are in customer service, you are the "leader" that must make it happen.

Author By Mina Karpouzas - 0466 246 955

Call Centre Solutions are more than just listening to the customer its providing a service that in every step of the customer experience, lives and breaths the customer.

http://www.call-centre-outsourcing.com

03/07/2014

Customer Service Average Handling Time (AHT) - An important call centre metric

Average Handling Time in Call Centres and customer service centres is one of they key measures that all managers need to understand allot better. Its not just about how long the call takes. There are other considerations that need to be better understood.

There is no magical KPI formula for a call centre or customer service centre. Don't be fooled by people who tell you it must be this xx or it has to be this ###. Yes Call Centres abide by call centre metrics but most have set their own standards and targets these days away from the industry average as they believe finding the right fit for their industry is better.

Call Centre KPI's should really embed your vision and be part of the goal settings which will assist in meeting your call centre objectives.

Some of the call centre KPI's start from Service Levels, queue time, talk time to abandon rates. The one that I will review with you today is AHT which stands for Average Handling Time. This is one KPI that is critical to every customer service centre.

Let us examine this in more detail.

AHT – Average Handling Time:

In call centre terms, AHT is the time it took for the agent to handle the call.

I have seen a common obstacle not only with the largest of contact centres, but the smallest of ones too.

I often here calls must not take longer than 4.5minutes or longer than 2.5minutes. Okay then and how do you know this. Can you show to me what analysis you have done? There isn't any. Everyone is running blind and no one knows nothing.

AHT – Average Handling Time must have a time in motion study conducted.

Different call types will have a different AHT therefore its important to understand each one before you build a target threshold.

AHT – Average Handling Time should also be different for new starters, therefore a different time in motion study should have been done with the AHT with someone in their first week, second week and so on an so forth. Can you all see where I am going with this?.

This in turn will assist you to understand where your staff should be in the learning cycle. It will also be a good gauge and review discussion with staff.

To conclude the basic understanding of AHT – Average Handling Time, it is important to understand and map out the call types with a time in motion study against each. Once this is done then you can begin to drill down further and aid improvements on each as too often there are some better ways of doing things. Remember it's not a gauge on how satisfied your customers are as there are other metrics for this.

This very basic rule, should apply to an outsourced call centre as well.

Author is Mina Karpouzas. Call 0466 246 955 Learn more about customer care and what you can apply in your contact centre as better call centre solutions

http://www.call-centre-outsourcing.com

03/07/2014

Customer Service Culture - How To Create Change in your Business

Customer service culture change is certainly not for the faint hearted. It requires commitment, devotion and allot of durability and strength to make it SUCCEED.

The push back and negativity you will get through people should be enough to keep you going as this will be your biggest obstacle you are confronted with. Excuses and more excuses on why things just don't work and shouldn't work will also be another barrier.

Creating a customer service culture is not easy. Trying to have everyone's DNA programmed to excel and delight customers throughout the business is a BIG DEAL and so its should. Remember customers are everyones livelihood they expect service and to keep ahead of competition we should forever review the customer service charter.

The below is merely a sample on how to get started driving a service culture:

Form a Steering Committee with all internal stakeholders. In this meeting you will need to highlight the following: -

How current standards are holding you back.

Customer feedback with a look on the regular issues customers are highlighting.

If you have surveyed your customers what they expect from you.

Discuss shortfalls that you have observed and audited

Whilst the overall company has a mission/ vision statement equally each department should carry their own mission statement. A departmental mission statement brings to life a new founded adventure. Managers of the department must refer to the mission statement in almost everything they do.

Job descriptions, KPI's new targets need to be established and set to achieve both immediate and long term goals.

Staff trained, coached and more importantly regular feedback to them is critical.

Incentive program to encourage fun and competition amongst staff.

Constant review on processes

Meetings with everyone to review targets, issues and more importantly an action plan on will change that will make a difference.

The above is a sample only and whilst there are a number of other considerations that need to be made and factored into the overall customer care strategy. It's important to remember that we must all "listen" to the customer and make sure that we embed and foster the correct methodologies required, hence the customer service culture is critical in order to succeed.

Customers expect a service. What they don't expect is poor service. We are here because of our customers, therefore, treat each customer like your entire business depended on them.

I absolutely LOVE it when I hear how well things are going after companies have implemented change.

Good Luck and happy to hear from you too.

Author : Mina Karpouzas

0466 246 955

If your like me and you are passionate about improving the customer care platform then you need some guidance.

http://www.call-centre-outsourcing.com

03/07/2014

Customer Service Excellence 5 Key Points You Must Know Today


Customer Service Excellence Strategies should be build around our customers. But what about our angry and irate customers. Angry and irate customers are no joke! They are angry and irate for a reason!

How many times a day do your agents take a telephone call only to find an upset, angry or frustrated individual on the other end? Something your company did or did not do has irritated that customer to the point of emotional distress.

The action and statements your agent makes in the first 10 to 20 seconds of that call can make the difference between losing or keeping a customer. The ones you keep, the loyal ones, will continue to do business with you. Those who leave obviously take their future business with them, but even more potentially damaging is the fallout from an unresolved conflict. This is where effective customer service excellence is crucial

How many people does one dissatisfied customer tell about their "poor experience" and what does that equate to in terms of a financial loss? What's the cost of employee turnover because agents can no longer stand the conflict and leave? The training you provide your agents on how to handle conflict resolution and irate customers is crucial to retaining your loyal customers and improving your bottom line.

So when in conflict with a company, what is it that most customers want? Is it always to "get their way"? Or is it more about feeling like the company actually listened to their concern, empathized with their position and tried to find a solution?

As humans, we have two natural instincts when confronted - fight or flight. At the most basic level, our natural tendency is to either "duke it out" or run away. How we choose to act upon our natural tendencies can vary greatly. Some choose to take the literal description while others choose some polished form of that. And your agents get to deal with all of them! We must all do our best to not personalize customers' emotional outbursts.

Are you aware of the "HEARD" technique? This is a very simple technique to help those who deal with customer conflict.

H - Hear what your customer has to say. Let them describe the problem or reason for their emotional distress. Do not interrupt or attempt to cut them off - that, in and of itself, is rude. Give them the opportunity to express their feelings about the situation.

E - Empathize with their situation. It's very calming to someone who is upset to hear the words "I appreciate" or "I respect." By the same token, it's very irritating to hear "I understand." How can one really understand if they are not in the situation?

Train your employees to stay away from using trigger phrases such as "company policy" or "it's a computer problem" or "we can't do that." Customers don't want excuses - they want a solution to their problem! Train your agents to use appropriate phrases that help diffuse the emotion rather than escalate it.

A - Ask questions to determine what can be done to create a solution. The number one question your agents should ask is "What can we do to make this right for you?" It's one of the simplest things you can do to understand the customer.

Most management is afraid to empower their staff with that question for fear the answer will be something ridiculous or costly. Research has proven that in most situations the customer's suggestion for resolving the conflict is less costly than what the company would have offered as the final solution.

R - Respond with a solution to the problem. Creating a solution with the customer on their first telephone call is absolutely vital to customer retention. Research has shown that 90 percent of customers with a problem will continue to do business with the company if they feel the person handling their complaint is genuinely concerned with resolving the situation.

But in order for that to happen, you must first identify the conflicts your agents are most likely to encounter and then train them so they have all the possible solutions. Knowledge is power! But this knowledge will be useless unless you empower your agents to take the corrective actions. They must know what the possible solutions are as well as their level of authority to institute those solutions.

D - Deliver on the promise made to the customer. Make sure there's a clear understanding with the customer as to what will happen and when it will happen. Restate these two items in very simple terms.

If you want to truly set yourself apart from your competition, go the extra mile and call the customer after the problem has been corrected. Ask if they are happy with the solution. Ask if there is anything else you can do for them right now. Let your customer know that you care!

Customer are just people with needs. Needs that we need to understand.Have you trained your agents on how to understand your customers and apply customer care solutions that will make the difference? Do your agents understand that your customers are not all the same - and neither are their needs? Do your agents understand the bottom-line value of a satisfied customer?

Make sure your customers are being "HEARD" because if they aren't being heard by you, they may just go find someone who will then listen!

Learn more about how to improve the customer experience and how quality by visiting our site and benefit your organisation starting today. http://www.call-centre-outsourcing.com

Article written by Mina Karpouzas

Customer experience analysts and Call centre consultants Sydney,who specialise in customer journey mapping,Surveys,Audits,Call Centre Outsourcing,Customer Service Excellence.Contact Centre consultant with 20 plus years experience in call centre consultancy