Table 4.1 below describes the four elements of the Optimization Toolkit: what each contains, how it can be tailored for the utility, how it should be used, and the resulting outcome.
Table 4.1
Optimization Toolkit Guide
Toolkit Component
What It Contains How the Utility Can Tailor This Toolkit
Toolkit Uses and Outcomes
Self-Assessment Tool
Goals and strategies for managing and operating the utility’s customer contact center
Determine importance of goals and strategies for the utility.
Estimate the extent to which the utility has implemented tools and practices
Compare how well the utility has aligned tools and practices with the importance of their strategies.
This tool compares the utility’s performance to benchmark values.
What the contact center of the future will look like resource guide
Determine which trends will affect the utility
Develop an improvement plan for the water utility
Resource Guide Detailed discussion of goal-strategy-tool approach with metrics and references to best practice lists and case studies in the Report
What It Contains How the Utility Can Tailor This Toolkit
Toolkit Uses and Outcomes
Self-Assessment Tool
Goals and strategies for managing and operating the utility’s customer contact center
Determine importance of goals and strategies for the utility.
Estimate the extent to which the utility has implemented tools and practices
Compare how well the utility has aligned tools and practices with the importance of their strategies.
This tool compares the utility’s performance to benchmark values.
What the contact center of the future will look like resource guide
Determine which trends will affect the utility
Develop an improvement plan for the water utility
Resource Guide Detailed discussion of goal-strategy-tool approach with metrics and references to best practice lists and case studies in the Report
Ideally, the use of the toolkit would begin with a review of the resource guide which provides details on the underlying toolkit approach and much more information than exists in the three individual tools – the Self-Assessment Tool, the Benchmarking Tool and the Improvement Plan Tool. We found in our pilot tests that most people started right with the tools, referring to the resource guide when they needed more details. Since most of the people working with the toolkit were experienced customer service and/or call center managers they were high enough on the learning curve to do so, although not all readers may be as experienced. Following a review of the resource guide, the suggested sequence of use is outlined below.
1. Minimum System Requirement and Installation Guide. This will provide an overview of the technical aspects of the CD-ROM. It also contains contacts for technical assistance.
2. Self-Assessment tool. This will identify mismatches between strategic importance of the various goals and the practices employed by the utility. Suggestions for each strategy are presented on a size differentiated basis, as appropriate. Each utility should determine where they are on the size scale. Our pilot utilities had no problem with this. This tool will result in an assessment plan.
3. Benchmarking tool. This tool allows the utility to benchmark itself. This tool includes a glossary to help the utility calculate their benchmarks using the correct definition, benchmarking resources and a selection of Best Practices. The benchmarks incorporated are the average values for the utilities with which the research team conducted structured interviews. A larger set of benchmarks includes a consensus of the research team values based on the team members’ professional experience and various benchmarks provided by the various benchmarking resource providers (as presented on their web site or in documents they provided). We urge utilities to develop their own resources for these values. In addition, the toolkit provides guidance on how to improve a utility’s benchmark scores and includes a set of Best Practices that can also help improve benchmark scores.
4. Improvement Plan Tool. This tool enables a water utility to tie everything together. It begins with a look at future trends and how they might affect the customer contact center and the improvement plan being developed. To add to that view of the future this tool also includes summaries of the “futures” interviews with utility managers.
To round it out we present the attributes of the optimized customer contact center of the future. An FAQ (frequently asked questions) section is included as is a list of resources. A worksheet is provided for the utility to develop their unique improvement plan.
Experience with the Pilot Utilities
As noted earlier, the pilot utilities working with a single (pre-beta version) spreadsheet preferred to proceed directly into the spreadsheet and use the resource guide as a reference document. It should be noted that the pilot utilities were working with beta versions with significantly less content and functionality than the one presented here. The beta version did not include the improvement plan tool. What was most interesting were the different ways in which the pilot utilities used the toolkit after performing the self assessment and benchmarking.
• One used it as a tool to help in the development of their customer service strategic plan;
• One used it as a training tool for their customer service department;
• One used it as a training tool for Field Department personnel;
• A few used it to demonstrate to their management what their goals were and how they benchmarked;
• One used it to refine their utility’s strategic plan (the customer satisfaction component); and
• One utility is considering using as part of a 311 evaluation.
We anticipate that, as the research report is disseminated by the Foundation, utilities will find more creative uses for this tool and add to its content.
52 | Optimizing the Water Utility Customer Contact Center