Participate in Ground-Breaking Research – 4 Different Research Initiatives.

August 28, 2013 – 9:54am

BenchmarkPortal has a long tradition of original research focused on the contact center sector. Twenty-six books, hundreds of white papers, case studies and articles are testimony to our research contribution to the customer contact sector.

We are inviting members of our community to raise their hands to participate in ground-breaking research for 2013-2014, including an innovative Harvard Business School-led project. This year’s research concentrates on two areas:

Contact Center Agents
Financial Returns from Contact Center Improvements

Please Participate! If you would be interested in discussing your participation in some or all of these initiatives, please contact Bruce Belfiore, Senior Research Executive and CEO, BenchmarkPortal – BruceBelfiore@BenchmarkPortal.com

The Projects Under Consideration Are As Follows:

Harvard Business School Research on “Idle Time” During Work. This study will explore how down time is perceived by employees, and how it contributes to rejuvenation – – or stress. The output of the study may have important implications for managing contact center agents better, and determining how you acculturate and train your agents regarding idle time.The ideal candidates for this research are companies with one or more contact center operations, with 240 (or more) agents in total. The centers can be in separate locations, or located on the same campus. Participants can choose whether to be cited by name or to participate anonymously. You will receive complimentary copies of the report and will be offered a consulting session on how the results can be leveraged to improve your operations and performance. An experienced team of HBS researchers will minimize the use of your time, while affording you the benefit of their research insights. Bruce Belfiore, BenchmarkPortal’s Senior Research Executive, knows the HBS project leader and is assisting in the recruitment of companies.Participating companies will receive a complimentary copy of BenchmarkPortal’s latest research paper, entitled Agent Voices: Contact Center Agent Satisfaction Research Report 2013, which is a $1,500 value.
Inner Work Life Research Study: Contact Center Agents. “If you want to know what your agents are thinking, ask them!” This has been one of our “messages to management” over the years. However, the research that has been done to date on the motivations, aspirations and satisfaction of agents leaves room for a lot of additional exploration. This research will utilize the employee diary methodology made famous by Prof. Teresa Amabile (of HBS) and Steven Kramer in their acclaimed book The Progress Principle (2011). Agents will be given the opportunity to volunteer to complete short, online diary questions at least three times per week. BenchmarkPortal intends to use advanced analytics technology to mine these diaries for insights on a broader scale and a deeper level than has ever been done in our industry. The time span of the research will be approxim ately 90 days. Agents will be offered nominal incentives to complete the diaries on their own time.Participating companies will receive a complimentary research report, along with an analysis of the results for their individual center, plus best practices recommendations from BenchmarkPortal experts.
Does Contact Resolution Lead To Sales? On the consumer level, what really happens to decisions after the contact. This study will be directed by Prof. Richard Feinberg of Purdue University. The ideal candidates for this study are inbound sales centers / catalogue centers that have customers who buy products or services from them periodically (i.e. not just a one-time purchase, such as health insurance or mortgages). The study methodology will be tailored to the situation.Participants companies will receive a complimentary copy of the report and a complimentary session with the research team to help management see how they can leverage the research to improve their results.
Customer Contact and Shareholder Value: Case Studies On Contact Center ROI. Have you instituted a new technology or process in the last year or two? Are your performance metrics available for “before and after” comparisons? If so, we would like to talk with you. Research may be included in Bruce Belfiore’s forthcoming book, Customer Contact and Shareholder Value, which explores the connection between contact center improvements and financial results. We will do all of the calculating! We just need your data and your story.

Note: Work on these research items may be a good way to utilize interns you have at your company.

As always, BenchmarkPortal wants its research to provide practical, actionable knowledge for contact center managers. We look forward to providing you with great insights you can use!