Industry’s most advanced pre employment software takes guesswork out of
call center consultant hiring and development

Toronto, Canada – May 23, 2005 – Select International’s Contact Center Division, a global leader in employee assessment systems, today formally introduced its new Select Assessment for Customer Service & Sales (SACS), a product that is reshaping how companies recruit and retain call center consultants or agents.  By measuring 40% more employee competencies and attributes than other assessments, only SACS gives the necessary clarity to make informed decisions in building a more productive and stable organization.

Because labor is typically the greatest business expense, employee turnover is a persistent and expensive reality for any call center.  SACS makes a significant impact on the bottom line by minimizing costs related to call center consultant recruiting, training and turnover, which add up to significant sums every year.  Further, by identifying the right, motivated people for the job, organizations can also drive call center consultants’ morale, productivity and customer satisfaction.

“We are seeing more executives recognize the urgency of getting and keeping the right talent as a way to fortify their businesses,” stated Paul Stockford, chief analyst for Saddletree Research.  “With an advanced solution such as SACS, they can invest in their people – their greatest asset – to do much more.  An effective selection strategy also directly and positively impacts the issue of employee turnover and can radically improve contact center morale, efficiency and profitability.”

Peter Willson, president and chief operating officer of Willson International agreed, “With SACS, we are seeing a transformation in our workforce. Where we had a shifting collection of people – of which only some we could hope would develop into long-term and productive employees – we now have a more cohesive and predictable group of employees who can consistently deliver outstanding customer service. Without SACS, we would be going into the hiring process blind without a way to truly evaluate candidates or control costs.”  

As the most robust and effective pre employment software of its kind today, SACS employs a unique combination of tests that measures a person’s ability to work as a call center consultant – identifying candidates who are capable of, for example: working under the pressure of heavy call volumes, managing frustrated customers while multi-tasking, accurately and fully capturing data, and up-selling to help increase revenue.  

SACS’ unmatched accuracy and ease-of-use are guaranteed to deliver positive results in reducing employee turnover and absenteeism in the first three months of hire.  Customers will see improved training pass rates as well as increased productivity and efficiency beyond the initial training period.

“It’s ironic that people can spend a month researching which car to buy, but when it comes to hiring someone that costs at least that much every year, they take a résumé on faith, rely on single-stream personality tests and/or make a gut decision after just a quick interview,” stated Luke McNally, president of selectSACS, Select International’s Contact Center Division. “Intuition must be supported with real information, especially when the stakes are so high with call center consultants who represent your company and brand as well as pull in revenue. SACS gives the visibility companies need to identify the best talent and prevent bad apples from coming in to spoil the bunch.”

To extend its reputation for thinking differently, the company has also launched its new online customer center that accelerates how business is done.  More than product data, the customer center – located at www.selectSACS.com  – arms executives and managers with the information and analysis needed to properly evaluate their contact centers as well as to make a business case for action.  Through the site, customers also have a real-time pulse on their implementation and on-demand access to SACS and self-help tools.

“We want to shake up and reinvent the industry,” McNally added. “Even with all the technological advances, employee retention and productivity are still stubborn challenges for contact centers.  So to help win this fight, we are leading the way with a new, fresh approach – from how we interact with our customers to our focus on a single, easy and effective pre employment software solution, as opposed to a confusing suite of products.”

About Select International Inc.

Select International Inc.’s Contact Center Division helps companies to develop, select and retain a stronger workforce.  The Select Assessment for Customer Services & Sales (SACS) solution takes the guesswork out of selecting and developing great call center consultants who are motivated to succeed.  Parent company Select International Inc. is a thought-leader recognized for innovation in testing technology, with one of the most complete and well-researched libraries of testing content for all organizational levels.  For more information, please visit www.selectSACS.com

Builders, Cutters and Maintainers:

How Call Center Management Can Strike the Right Balance

By Luke McNally

President, Select International

Your customer relationships often hinge solely on the performance of your call center agents.  But who are these people on your front lines?  How can you be sure they’re handling your customers with proper care?   

In any call center environment, agents fall into three main categories:  builders, cutters and maintainers.  Identifying who’s who and striking the right balance can mean the difference between success and disaster. 

Behind the Categories

Builders are ambitious achievers who thrive on contributing.  They champion call center management decisions and encourage others to do well.  They’re enthusiastic about solving problems and making a difference.  They need challenging work, freedom to innovate and recognition for their accomplishments.  Builders expect to rise through the ranks.   

Cutters live at the other end of the spectrum. Pessimistic and cynical, they do just enough to get the job done.  They’re prone to water cooler gossip, rumor-mongering and criticizing management decisions.  They’re quick to blame others and rarely accept accountability for their own actions.  Essentially, they undermine the fabric of an organization and negatively affect productivity and morale. 

Maintainers are the constant.  They arrive and leave on time.  They do what’s required – no more, no less.  What they lack in ambition they make up for in reliable, consistent work.  However, they can be positively influenced by builder behavior – or negatively swayed by cutters. 

“Right” Versus “Best”

So it’s a no-brainer.  Just fill your center with builders and collect your profits, right?  Wrong. 

Even if you could hire only builders, you wouldn’t have enough time to keep them perpetually challenged.  Adding a few sales responsibilities wouldn’t do the trick.  And you couldn’t possibly nurture every single one for succession into call center management positions.   

In short order, a large proportion of your agents would become dissatisfied.  And dissatisfied builders either leave your company for a better job – adding to employee turnover woes – or worse, they become infectious cutters.    

Meanwhile, if you just hired maintainers, your bottom line would sorely miss the value that comes only from ambitious agents eager to show initiative, go the extra mile for customers and improve team performance.  Plus, you can’t underestimate the cost and time benefits of filling supervisory roles from within.  

One thing is certain:  There is never room for cutters.  But it’s unrealistic to think you can stay cutter-free.  Instead, you can strive to build a successful call center with the right mix of builders and maintainers, while keeping the number of cutters to a very manageable minimum.    

You Need to Know

Achieving harmonic agent balance begins and ends with knowledge.  First, you have to know your call center’s growth capacity.  When you determine how many supervisory positions you will have at any given point, you can calculate the number of builders you have room for. 

Second, you have to know who is who – how to tell builders and maintainers from cutters.  Nothing gives you this foresight like pre employment testing. 

With automated tools like SACS call center software, you can accurately predict how well people will perform in any given job in your environment, from inbound service to outbound sales to collections.  Your own holistic interviewing can then determine their willingness to do the job for you.  

You have too much riding on your call center to leave anything to chance – especially the people responsible for keeping your customers satisfied.  Sustaining the right mix of the right agents will produce the right results for your organization.     

Luke McNally is president of SelectSACS.com. Select’s SACS is the agent assessment software proven to help contact centers cut attrition and boost productivity.  Launched in October 2004, www.selectsacs.com  is dedicated to helping contact centers tackle attrition and other critical issues through accurate assessment.