Call Centers Are Missing Opportunities to Attain Company Goals by Overlooking the Importance of Coaching; Knowlagent Study Finds Parallel Between State of Today's Call Center Coaching and Early Days of Customer Relationship Management

Business Wire, Nov 10, 2005

ATLANTA -- Coaching in the call center is one of the highest impact - as well as one of the most often underutilized - means to achieve company goals, concludes a new research study announced today by Knowlagent. Knowlagent's white paper, "Why Aren't They Coaching in the Call Center?" summarizes the results of the study and explores the primary inhibitors to successful call center coaching, recommended best practices, and the Value-Driven Coaching Model(TM) that can be used to implement them.

"What we found through our research is that although many leading centers recognize the value coaching brings, and while some are attempting to develop initiatives and tools to drive coaching, they are still struggling first and foremost with how to actually deliver coaching, and second, making that coaching more effective," said Debbie Qaqish, vice president of marketing for Knowlagent and leader of Knowlagent's coaching study.

The primary factor prohibiting effective coaching is that companies tend to address this complex, multi-dimensional issue with a simple, one-dimensional solution, similar to the experiences of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in its beginning. Knowlagent found several other recurring themes reminiscent of what successful adopters of CRM encountered that became the basis for the report's 18 key findings.

Knowlagent, the only software provider with a performance management solution that drives value at the front line of business, conducted a series of focus groups with 53 supervisor and management level participants in seven large call centers with agent populations ranging from 450 to 12,000. Based on the similarities between CRM and the current state of coaching, the study catalogued the findings and recommendations in each of four areas: Time, Information, Process and People.

A telling finding from the study is that while many call centers talk about the value of coaching, the study did not observe any metrics around coaching. In an industry driven by metrics, this may explain, in part, why coaching is often at the bottom of the "to do" list for supervisors.

This and other findings, as well as recommendations, can be found in the "Why Aren't They Coaching?" white paper, that can be downloaded at www.knowlagent.com.

The bottom line is that Knowlagent suggests that success can be reached if multiple dimensions are addressed, aligned, and carefully monitored to create and sustain a comprehensive, value-driven coaching dimension in the call center.

Knowlagent created the Value-Driven Coaching Model, which is further explained in the white paper, to provide the structure for addressing the inhibitors to coaching. The model recognizes and enables the value coaching can bring.

At the heart of Knowlagent's success in driving value in the call center is its award-winning, patented call center performance solution: Knowlagent r8. A unique blend of software, methodology and integrations, it enables companies to effectively align the call center towards delivering higher value through the attainment of revenue goals and customer loyalty results.

Knowlagent was recently recognized by the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 ranking, the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program in Georgia, and by Software Magazine's annual "Software 500" ranking, for the fifth consecutive year. The company's patented solution has received numerous "Product of the Year" designations from Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine and Call Center Magazine, while both the company's Chief Executive Officer Rusty Gordon and Co-founder Matt McConnell have been included in Catalyst magazine's "Top 50 Entrepreneurs in Atlanta" list.

About Knowlagent:

Founded in 1995, Knowlagent is a privately held company headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga. It is the only software provider that addresses the call center's strategic challenges of building a value-based business from a volume-driven environment. Because Knowlagent r8 was built exclusively for the call center, it integrates seamlessly with the existing technology and specialized work environment to drive the whole business toward extraordinary value. Knowlagent is the foundation of sales and service excellence every day for Fortune 500 companies in the financial services, retail, telecommunications and healthcare industries. For more information, call 888-566-9457 or visit www.knowlagent.com.