The Power Of Flexibility: Strategies To Reduce Abandoned Calls

By Bob Webb, VP Sales, Pipkins, Inc.

Have you ever called customer service for a utility company or tried to place an order with a retailer only to suffer through their incredible wait times? How long are your customers willing to be placed on hold before abandoning the call? Abandoned calls are a universal problem for call centers that can significantly impact a company's bottom line. Companies that do not have a powerful scheduling tool that can accommodate creative scheduling are at risk for higher numbers of abandoned calls.

One solution to help reduce abandoned calls is the use of flexible start times. Custom tools called directives are available that allow you to simulate flexibility without changing all staff rules without the ability to roll back. Agents are allowed to enter preferences or schedule bids through an online tool that eliminates the need for administrative data entry. The result is variable start and end times, variable breaks and lunches, and a variable number of attendances week-to-week that are based on PTO requests, etc.

Inflexible scheduling can result in:

• Customers being inconvenienced
• Agents being stressed
• Extravagant operating costs to the organization