Liz Kislik Associates LLC

Edited by Donna Loyle Two industry veterans share their insights on how to best leverage operational benchmarks and best practices. A catalog executive suffers from no shortage of metrics to watch for: from average order value to e-mail inquiry turnaround times to indirect labor costs to number of calls answered in 20 seconds or less. The real questions, though, are how to use the numbers, and if the metrics even are appropriate to track for your operations. Comparing operations solely on numbers can be misleading. Is it better to establish a set of best practices and then hold your staff accountable to them?

As any contact center manager will attest, not all employees lick their chops at a chance to boost their salaries. Once they’re paid a living wage, many workers cite other contributors to job satisfaction. “Studies of employee motivation reveal that some workers would rather have more autonomy in their jobs, while others just want to be able to trust their immediate supervisors,” says Liz Kislik, president of Liz Kislik Associates, a management consultancy based in Rockville Centre, N.Y. “Others want to deal better with their bosses, while still others are motivated by having a friend at work.” That’s why instituting only monetary rewards programs may not

Are you thinking about changing your contact center employees’ compensation program? No doubt, you’re finding it difficult to change plans already in place. “You can’t very well start taking money away from people,” says Liz Kislik, president of Liz Kislik Associates, a management consultancy based in Rockville Centre, N.Y. “So if you’re working with an older compensation plan, you’ll need to rationalize that to make it fair across the board.” She offers tactics to try: * Pilot, test and run scenarios.”Determine exactly how the program will affect people’s paychecks. If the new plan will pay certain people less, figure out if it’s a flaw in the plan

As the economy improves, labor markets no doubt will begin to open up in some regions, and turnover may become an issue in some catalogers’ contact centers. “Many customer service reps feel they’re undercompensated for the value of the job they do, that is, in relation to the energy they exert on the job and the stress they encounter in dealing with customers all day,” recounts Liz Kislik, president of Liz Kislik Associates, a management consultancy based in Rockville Centre, N.Y. “If they think they can get slightly higher compensation elsewhere, and they have a family to support, they’re almost obligated to leave.”

Only a few years ago, catalog companies were “offering the moon” to attract the best and brightest management-level talent. But this year, it’s more of an employer’s market, and catalogers can afford to be more demanding when it comes to selecting the right people. Moreover, a lot of very qualified candidates may be open to making a move now or in the near future — or they may already be searching for a position. As an employer, you can open wide this window of opportunity and hire the talented management team you need to move your company forward before the economy turns

Your merchandisers have found the most appropriate products. Your creative team designed an eye-popping book, and your warehouse is prepped for the onslaught of orders. You’ve done everything you can to ensure the success of your next catalog drop. But if your call center doesn’t pick up customers’ calls efficiently enough, all of your work may be for naught. Abandoned calls occur when customers, for whatever reason, hang up the phone before they reach a call center agent. One operations consultant who surveys roughly 30 call centers annually says abandonment rates for catalogers can range from less than 1 percent to 40 percent of

You don’t have to resort to enforced compliance among your customer service reps to make an upsell program successful for your catalog. In fact, you’ll probably sell a lot more incremental product if you invest the time and effort to ensure that your reps understand and support the validity of the process. Following are six important keys to an incremental sales program that your reps will accept and follow. Stress offers, not selling. Most reps in catalog operations are more comfortable with the idea of helping customers to buy than they are with selling. So soft-pedal your sales talk, and make it

By Liz Kislik Having telephone reps answer e-mails when call volume is down has been catching on as e-mail volume increases. This and other forms of so-called "multitasking" have been touted as the next big thing in call center management—a way to manage work loads, leverage the skills of experienced employees and make rep jobs more interesting. But be warned: although multitasking is great for computers, humans don't switch gears as easily. Even with training the results are often mixed. Need proof? Pat your head. Now rub your tummy in a circle. In general, trying to accomplish two different things in the same period

Figuring out How To use Outbound Telemarketing to Get and Keep Customers can be a Costly Trial, Often Ending in Error By Melissa Sepos Outbound telemarketing sales representatives often face more obstacles in their jobs than inbound TSRs. Following these five suggestions can make outbound calling yield higher customer satisfaction, increase sales and keep your employees happy. TSR Training Andrew Wetzler, catalog consultant with Andrew Wetzler and Associates in Boca Raton, FL, says training TSRs is often where companies lose ground. "For the most part, inside sales [departments] and telemarketing companies do a horrendous job of training their team," says

The underlying philosophy of Omaha Steaks’ successsful telemarketing operation is: “I don’t have the right to determine when you’re done buying.” And that’s a good way to look at upselling on the phone. Instead of thinking of it as pushing extra product at your customers, present it as a customer service, suggests Ron Bruggeman, director of sales at Omaha Steaks International, a cataloger and direct marketer that operates its own call center. For inbound telemarketing operations, Bruggeman says that means almost every caller is a prospect. He explains, “It makes sense: You have a captive audience of people who