Lands’ End’s Strategic Advantage

Call Center Facts

Number of Call Center Reps: 1,500, with hundreds more hired during the holiday season
Average Queue Time: 89 percent of calls are answered in 20 seconds or less
Average Call Length: 4.5 minutes
Number of Annual Calls: Almost 17 million in fiscal year 2002
To Try:
Action Tips from Lands’ End
- Superior service begins with superior merchandise. Products must meet the company’s tough quality and measurement standards.
- To help improve fit, the company enlists professional fit models who travel to the company’s headquarters to try on all apparel.
- Applicants for call center rep positions are first interviewed on the phone so recruiters can hear how they speak, their tone and other crucial skills.
- Newly hired call center reps complete a two-week, 70-hour training session, during which they learn about the Lands’ End culture, customers and ordering system.
- Land’s End offers a $50 bonus to both the referring employee and the new recruit if they stay on board through the following holiday season.
- Employees are rewarded—sometimes right on the spot—for offering exceptional service.
- Reps are given the autonomy to take care of customers as they see fit. Calls are neither scripted nor timed.