Home Contact Centre Agent Workforce Set to Soar As Positive Economic Conditions Take Off
Announcement posted by Contact People 04 Nov 2009
Sydney, 4 November 2009 - Contact People, a specialist contact centre consultancy in recruitment and home agent managed services, is encouraging organisations to plan now for a home agent workforce. With the predicted recruitment boom next year, contact centres are going to experience increasing difficulties to recruit quality agents which could ultimately effect customer service levels and higher customer churn.
The latest research from callcentres.net reports that Australian contact centres are now spending 69 per cent of their available budgets on human resources, including salary, benefits, recruitment and training costs. In addition, another four per cent of the precious budget is spent on rent. At the same time, callcentres.net reports that flexible work arrangements are the most effective strategy currently used to retain employees in a contact centre.
“The benefits of home agents are undeniable,” says Paul Smith, Managing Director, Contact People. “Contact centres can access a far greater pool of quality agents that offer the flexibility and scalability to ramp up or down based on demand.”
Smith cites GraysOnline, the Australian leading online retail and auction company, which this time last year conducted a proof of concept to partner with a Contact People home based team to provide customer support for its year end peak season demand. The company had previously hired onsite temporary staff for the summer months but found that the investment in time to train the temporary workforce was eliminated once the busy sales period concluded and the temporary staff departed.
GraysOnline sells in excess of 120,000 items each month to both consumers and businesseses across a wide range of products from IT and wine to automotive and mining equipment. On average every month its contact centre handles 12,000 voice calls and 6,000 emails.
Stella Lovell, Senior Business Manager, GraysOnline, says, “The home agents are professional, knowledgeable and work in partnership with our head office contact centre team throughout the year. The home based team is an integral partner to support GraysOnline’s business growth, handling 30 per cent plus of our call volume as well as resolving email cases.
“We have established a solid partnership with Contact People. Their home based team have being supporting our ever changing staffing needs with speed and flexibility. In addition to providing remote support for inbound calls, we have also received support onsite when we have various staff members on annual or sick leave and require extra support. The home agent talent have also provided support when we stage specific outbound campaigns during the year.”
Smith adds, “The home agent workforce is an ideal solution to address the need for a flexible workforce which often begins with the onset of the holiday season and the need to staff up. However, home agents also offer ongoing advantages such as reduced attrition rates, a geographically unlimited pool of agents to recruit from and lower operational costs. Having a well-trained, home agent workforce is one solution for driving home a positive customer experience while reducing costs.”
About Contact People
Contact People specialise in providing onsite contact centre recruitment services and home agent managed solutions. Contact People is the first of a new generation of contact centre solutions companies that solve clients business challenges by creatively providing innovative staffing solutions and sourcing inspirational talent.
For further information please call 02 9238 8146 or visit: http://www.contactpeople.com.au/
* Callcentres.net2009 Australian Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report
The latest research from callcentres.net reports that Australian contact centres are now spending 69 per cent of their available budgets on human resources, including salary, benefits, recruitment and training costs. In addition, another four per cent of the precious budget is spent on rent. At the same time, callcentres.net reports that flexible work arrangements are the most effective strategy currently used to retain employees in a contact centre.
“The benefits of home agents are undeniable,” says Paul Smith, Managing Director, Contact People. “Contact centres can access a far greater pool of quality agents that offer the flexibility and scalability to ramp up or down based on demand.”
Smith cites GraysOnline, the Australian leading online retail and auction company, which this time last year conducted a proof of concept to partner with a Contact People home based team to provide customer support for its year end peak season demand. The company had previously hired onsite temporary staff for the summer months but found that the investment in time to train the temporary workforce was eliminated once the busy sales period concluded and the temporary staff departed.
GraysOnline sells in excess of 120,000 items each month to both consumers and businesseses across a wide range of products from IT and wine to automotive and mining equipment. On average every month its contact centre handles 12,000 voice calls and 6,000 emails.
Stella Lovell, Senior Business Manager, GraysOnline, says, “The home agents are professional, knowledgeable and work in partnership with our head office contact centre team throughout the year. The home based team is an integral partner to support GraysOnline’s business growth, handling 30 per cent plus of our call volume as well as resolving email cases.
“We have established a solid partnership with Contact People. Their home based team have being supporting our ever changing staffing needs with speed and flexibility. In addition to providing remote support for inbound calls, we have also received support onsite when we have various staff members on annual or sick leave and require extra support. The home agent talent have also provided support when we stage specific outbound campaigns during the year.”
Smith adds, “The home agent workforce is an ideal solution to address the need for a flexible workforce which often begins with the onset of the holiday season and the need to staff up. However, home agents also offer ongoing advantages such as reduced attrition rates, a geographically unlimited pool of agents to recruit from and lower operational costs. Having a well-trained, home agent workforce is one solution for driving home a positive customer experience while reducing costs.”
About Contact People
Contact People specialise in providing onsite contact centre recruitment services and home agent managed solutions. Contact People is the first of a new generation of contact centre solutions companies that solve clients business challenges by creatively providing innovative staffing solutions and sourcing inspirational talent.
For further information please call 02 9238 8146 or visit: http://www.contactpeople.com.au/
* Callcentres.net2009 Australian Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report