Results from a survey from over 100 managers of International Contact Centers

1. Managing Global Contact Centers
Information Derived from a Survey of over 100 Contact
Center Managers with International Responsibility

2. 2
 Managers of Contact Centers in North America who
also managed international Contact Centers
– Q. Are you responsible, directly or indirectly for customer service or customer
care operations in one or more countries outside of the USA?
Who We Asked
 Web-based Survey
 Token incentive provided for completion
 116 Respondents (Not all respondents
answered every question)
 Survey Conducted by VoltDelta
(4Q 2011)

3. 3
Survey Goals
 Understand the technology and business requirements
needed to be successful at competing on a global scale
from a Contact Center perspective.
 Identify best practices for servicing international
customers
 Evaluate if particular characteristics such as global
span, presence in a particular country (s), cultural
differences or other factors impact how an organization
with a global Contact Center footprint applied customer
care.

4. 4
Survey Results
North American Contact Center Managers with International
Responsibilities

5. 5
How many countries does your organization
provide customer service to?
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
2-5 Countries
6-10 Countries
11-15 Countries
16-30 Countries
31+ Countries
# of Responses

6. 6
How many call or contact centers do you have
in the US and overseas combined?
# of Responses
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
1-2 Contact Centers
3-5 Contact Centers
6-10 Contact Centers
11+ Contact Centers

7. 7
How do you currently service overseas
customers?
More than one selection possible
0 10 20 30 40 50
From Regions with local language Support
Backhaul all calls to the U.S.
Backhaul only English speaking calls to the U.S.
International Hubs
Other
# of Responses

8. 8
Is there a preferred channel in certain
markets?#ofResponses
54 Respondents
More than one selection possible

9. 9
What key measures do you use in managing
your call centers?
#ofResponses
More than one selection possible 58 Respondents
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
North
America
Central
Europe
Eastern
Europe
Middle
East
Africa Central
America
South
America
Asia Australasia
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Effort
Net Promotor Score
Time to Answer
Average Handle Time
Sales-based Results
Other
Total Respondents

10. 10
Key Measures by Regions and Number of
Contact Centers (1)
#ofResponses
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Eastern Europe Responses by Number of
Contact Centers
North America Responses by Number of
Contact Centers
Central Europe Responses by Number of
Contact Centers
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Middle East Responses by Number of Contact
Centers
#ofResponses
#ofResponses
#ofResponses

11. 11
Key Measures by Regions and Number of
Contact Centers (2)
#ofResponses
South America Responses by Number of
Contact Centers
Africa Responses by Number of Contact
Centers
Central America Responses by Number of
Contact Centers
Middle East Responses by Number of Contact
Centers
#ofResponses
#ofResponses
#ofResponses
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0
2
4
6
8
10

12. 12
Biggest business challenges that you face?
# of Responses
0 5 10 15 20 25
Growth in Traffic
Growth in Avoidable Contact
Need to grow Customer Sat. and/or Net Promotor Score to
Match U.S. Levels
Adapting to Differing Service or Business Models
Inability to Roll Out Speech-based Self Service due to
Langauge Support
Data Security
CapEx Investment Planning for the Future
Other

13. 13
Biggest staff challenges that you face associated
with the international aspects?
More than one selection possible
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Recruiting Qualified Staff
Finding Staff with Multiple Language Skills
Handling Staff Turnover
Dealing with Different Service Metrics Based on Cultural
Norms
Adapting to Local Employment Legislation
Training Effort
Cultural Issues
Other
# of Responses

14. 14
How high is annual staff turnover in your call
centers?
#ofResponses
59 Respondents

15. 15
Do you wish to harmonize cultural aspects or
celebrate the differences?
We harmonize the
customer experience
regardless of culture
We allow the
cultural aspects to
drive the customer
experience
We slightly vary
the customer
experience based
on culture
52 Respondents

16. 16
Are there efficiency differences between your
US and Internationally based call centers?
53 Respondents
51%
9%
21%
19%

17. 17
Rate how important each factor is when looking for a
solutions provider that includes both your US and
International businesses?
More than one selection possible
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Important
Neutral
Not Important
#ofResponses

18. 18
For your international business, what are the
key investments you will be planning?
68 Respondents
More than one selection possible

19. 19
Survey Results
North American Contact Center Managers with International
Responsibilities

20. 20
Key Findings (1 of 4)
 Strategic
– Most international Contact Centers are deployed within country and
with local language support.
– Adapting to differing business/service models and cultural issues for
staff within regions was frequently noted.
 Channels
– Voice (agent) is the dominant form of preferred contact across all
regions with email a distant 2nd in all regions
– Web chat is preferred more highly in North America than in other
regions. This scoring may be attributed to the higher usage and
prevalence of online stores and online self-service.
– Voice based self-service is also preferred more in North America than
elsewhere, likely due to the widespread use of DTMF based IVR
systems.

21. 21
Key Findings (2 of 4)
 Measures of Success
– CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) is the top metric to measure contact
center performance regardless of the location.
– However, Contact Centers with more locations tend to favor more
objective metrics such as Average Handle Time, Time To Answer and
Sales-based results.
 Cultural Impact on Success metrics
– Do International Contact Centers embrace cultural differences or hide
them? In some cases agents may be “renamed” to use Western
names and may be trained not to reveal their location.
– The survey was fairly evenly split between harmonizing to the region
serviced, slightly varying difference and embracing differences.
– Number of Contact Centers was not a factor.

22. 22
Key Findings (3 of 4)
 Business Challenges
– Retention, loyalty and general growth in traffic were at the top of the
list, but also tied for second was adapting to regional differences.
– However, Contact Centers with more locations tend to favor more
objective metrics such as Average Handle Time, Time To Answer and
Sales-based results.
 Staff Turnover
– Central America, South America and Australasia deviated from the
other regions with higher turnover (relative to response rates)
 United States vs. International Call Centers
– Managers clearly appear more satisfied with the efficiency of
their U.S. based centers

23. 23
Key Findings (4 of 4)
 Vendors Supporting U.S. & International
– General Contact Center competence clearly appeared to be the most
important factor when choosing a vendor for International support.
– Local support and the ability to tailor to each market were strongly
represented. This seems to be a match for the high representation of
adapting to differing business models in the Business Challenge
question, and cultural challenges noted in the Staffing question.
 Key Investment Plans
– Social Media is emphasized by response count.
– Self-service for Web and Voice (Speech) were also rated highly.

24. 24
About VoltDelta
 Virtual Contact Center & Voice Self-Service Solutions
 Data Centers and Customer Care applications within
and beyond North America
 More than 2 Billion calls/year at 99.99% reliability
 Multi-Channel solutions with CRM integration

25. 25
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 Click Here to Download

26. 26
Contact VoltDelta
 www.VoltDelta.com
 info@VoltDelta.com
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