Case Studies

I have been very fortunate to find myself in a position to make a positive impact on the companies I have worked for. In some cases, I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. In other cases, I simply did my best and was recognized for the effort. Either way, success is success, and I’m pleased to present some of my most recent accomplishments here.

Business Development, Sales Support, RFP Response, Presentations

THE CHALLENGE:

A call center outsourcer’s clients were engaged only by short-term contracts, or no contracts at all, which created risk in recruiting and paying staff without contractual guarantees and undefined payment terms that put a strain on cash flow. The outsourcer was in need of clients willing to sign multi-year contracts that represented a reliable revenue stream from which to establish stability in funding day-to-day call center operations.

THE SOLUTION:

I helped win a major account with one of the country’s largest debt cancellation services company by providing leadership in coordinating internal responses, delivering sales presentations, and authoring the award-winning business proposal. The new business resulted in a $3 million, 3 year customer service contract. This win was significant as it was the outsourcer’s first multi-year contract and helped the company ease its cash flow strain.

RFP Response Management

THE CHALLENGE:

Most companies that procure call center services submit RFIs and RFPs to potential call center providers. Although there are many similarities in their response requirements, each prospective customer always has unique needs that disallow a cookie-cutter approach. The most important of these requirements is timely submission. The challenge of the outsourcer was to respond to numerous, multiple RFP opportunities on-time and with quality with limited, multi-tasked resources.

THE SOLUTION:

I solved problems related to RFP quality and response times by converting previously inefficient, manual processes into well-defined, partially automated procedures for identifying and responding to new business opportunities. Using a combination of proprietary software and CRM tools, I created an RFP database and a templatized approach for RFPs, RFQs and RFIs. Because of my efforts I helped the outsourcer increase RFP quality and reduce turnaround time to one week or less.

Brand Management, Marketing Strategy, Integrated Marketing Campaigns, Trade Shows

THE CHALLENGE:

A minority-owned call center outsourcer wanted to increase its annual revenues and grow its customer portfolio. The challenge the company faced was that it was a new player in the market with no brand awareness and questionable credibility based on its limited customer portfolio. An additional, unique challenge was that the company’s leadership believed the minority business designation would cause potential customers to express pre-conceived notions of low expectations.

THE SOLUTION:

I oversaw the creation of professional and attractive sales and marketing materials including a new web site, brochure, case studies and an introductory video. These components were married into a marketing kit that were sent to targeted business contacts.

In developing the marketing plan, I identified the minority business designation as a significant strength that would help the company successfully position itself for new business opportunities with businesses that supported supplier diversity initiatives. Because the outsourcer was certified by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), I was able to represent the company at an NMSDC business exhibition where numerous corporate members, including primarily Fortune 500 companies, would co-mingle. Using contact information provided to me by the NMSDC, I developed a marketing database with contacts from companies who would potentially procure call center services and were required to allocate at least some amount of their annual spend on diverse suppliers.

I launched a direct mail campaign to these contacts informing them of our attendance at the event. Once at the exhibition, our sales team of three, including the CEO, met with these contacts and made new business relationships.

Furthermore, I facilitated press coverage in major publications including the New York Times and wrote and broadcasted press releases that helped improve the company’s brand awareness within the marketplace and particularly with supplier diversity targets. Ultimately I helped generate press coverage in Black Enterprise, AJC Jobs Celebrating Diversity Magazine,

In my first year with the company, I helped identify new markets and developed a unique selling proposition that contributed to an increase of 43% in annual revenues. In my three years with the company I contributed to a boost in annual sales from $2 million to over $10 million in three years.

CRM, SFA, SEO, Web Site Development

THE CHALLENGE:

A call center outsourcer wanted an improved web presence that could attract relevant traffic and captured qualified data that could be integrated into a centralized customer and prospect database. The outsourcer also wanted the ability to automatically respond to the web submissions and quickly and accurately route the new lead to the appropriate internal department for action.

THE SOLUTION:

After an intense education in search engine optimization, I overhauled the corporate web site by rewriting the copy to optimize findability in search engines. I also restructured the information architecture and re-developed the site to be more usable and compliant with web standards.

I also implemented salesforce.com as the company’s CRM and SFA tool, and was able to implement the Web to Lead function which automatically captured form submission data from leads directly into the CRM database. By configuring business rules within salesforce.com, I was able to route leads based on a variety of criteria such as location, interest and response time to the appropriate internal sales representative for immediate response.

To drive more traffic to the site, I activated Google AdWords and Overture accounts and created critical keywords to drive relevant traffic to the site. We also monitored site traffic and usage by implementing WebSideStory’s HitBox code to accurately assess web activity.

With a shoestring budget and a team of three I established an online sales channel that represented 60% of the company’s new business opportunities. Our response to inbound web leads was achieved with 24 hours or less in 100% of the opportunities received. Our SEO campaigns and keyword optimization strategy resulted in a doubling of web traffic after the system was implemented. Our centralized database of prospects and customer information enabled further efficiencies in future marketing and corporate communications which resulted in cost savings and improved customer satisfaction.

Promotions, Work Force Improvement

THE CHALLENGE:

In 2004, a call center outsourcer wanted to improve employee attendance and work performance related to data verification production and telesales. The challenge was to create a promotion that generated excitement on a daily basis, inspired increased attendance, improved production and higher sales for inbound and outbound call campaigns. An even larger challenge was to create a scoring system that measured different types of work that were monitored in different ways using a combination of technology and manual processes.

THE SOLUTION:

I engaged myself heavily in the day-to-day aspects of call center operations in every category: training, quality monitoring, supervising, call handling, application usage, call scripts, etc. Further, I had to become fully aware of the methodologies of each type of call campaign – each presenting their own procedures, goals, and scoring system.

After working closely with the operations team, we developed a scoring system that would, on a daily basis, create a ranked list of performers based on criteria such as attendance, production or sales, time on the phone, and other relevant metrics.

The ranked list would be posted the following day so participants could see their performance and compare it with others.

The top 5 performers would each receive cash prizes and other rewards, depending on their placement. The awards and cash values were announced at the beginning of each week and were prominently displayed throughout the call center. For the weekly prize ceremony, the entire call center staff “huddled” and the winners were awarded.

An employee satisfaction survey yielded positive results for the incentive program. The data gleaned from the performance reports helped management make actionable decisions such as promotions and terminations. The data also gave senior management insight into the striations of performance of overall staff using a grading mechanism of A, B and C level performers.

The result of the incentive program was increased employee satisfaction, improved attendance (100% attendance was required for eligibility in receiving rewards), and improved performance in data verification production and outbound telesales.