Home Agents: 5 Good Reasons
October 30, 2009Featured Commentator: Andrea Ayers, President, Customer Management
What do events as diverse as the dawn of the Internet and social media share in common with Hurricane Katrina and the 911 tragedy? In his popular book, Fooled by Randomness, New York Times best-selling author Nassim Taleb draws a surprising conclusion: Good or bad, the events that transform our lives and livelihoods can be totally unpredictable – and random.
Every enterprise must make ready for the unknowable event – be it a blizzard or brown-out – while managing the day-to-day task of balancing superior customer care with cost efficiency. One solution is to use home agents. For companies and customers alike, the result is smart business.
Experienced and mature, home agents are available when you need them: Shifting workforce demographics, economic fluctuations and new lifestyles have fueled the ranks of those who want a home-based career.
Here are five key reasons why home agents are right for any business, any time:
1. Home Agents Reduce Business Risk
Where will next major event, good or bad, strike? The lessons learned from power outages, winter storms, hurricanes and pandemics have added to our knowledge about the value of preparedness. In any business, there is always risk. Home agents give businesses the flexibility to mitigate their risk exposure.
When a major winter storm crippled its regional headquarter operations a year ago, one insurance company was ready. They simply shifted work to a robust force of home agents. Result: Customers were not left out in the cold. Home agents easily handled hundreds of calls and the insurer experienced zero business disruption.
2. Lower Costs, Higher Workforce Flexibility
Home agent programs can help companies reduce their need for brick and mortar sites and save on associated overhead and real estate expenses. As for flexibility, because home agents don’t waste time commuting, they’re far more open to requests for split shifts. Need to sync staff needs to call patterns? Home agents provide that flexibility, in a heartbeat.
3. Just as Secure, Smart and Proficient
High-speed Internet links, remote management tools, VoIP for voice, and secure technology platforms make home agents every bit as state-of-the-art, productive and connected as the agent sitting next to his or her manager in a contact center environment.
Real-time coaching and interactive training via e-training and virtual classrooms ensure a solid “knowledge feedback loop” with supervisors, keeping home agents up-to-speed and in the fast lane on productivity levels that drive customer satisfaction, loyalty and profitability.
4. “This is Jane Smith, M.A., PhD, retired – How May I Help You?”
No, they don’t really answer the phone that way, but the fact is, between 70-80% of home agents have college degrees, and some 10% have post-graduate education. Many have specialized skills or knowledge that can be matched to company niches.
5. Easy to Hire, Even Easier to Retain
Home agents are intensely loyal precisely because the flexibility of the job suits their own needs and lifestyles. Who they are: retirees, the physically challenged, stay-at-home parents, mid-lifers caring for their elders, and Millennials who want a job that allows a life, too.
The varying life requirements of home agents reinforce their willingness to serve a company’s needs, whatever and whenever. With home agents, it isn’t all about the money – it’s about life needs, too.
Managing Risk in a “Random” World
No business is immune to the risk of random events. That’s all the more reason to safeguard your company’s most mission-critical responsibility: always-up, always-reliable customer care. By decentralizing a crucial part of the work force, home agent programs help you minimize risk in a “random” world.
For more information on home agent solutions click here.
Be sure to check out our upcoming Webinar about home agents on November 5. Click here to register.
Barbara Schumacher
06. Nov, 2009
I read with great interest these 5 reasons for hiring home agents. They all make sense, and they all make me wonder: why don’t more companies allow more of their employees to telecommute? Many workers besides customer service agents can get their work done using a PC, the Internet, and a phone. As this blog points out, the benefits to the company include lower costs, higher workforce flexibility, and higher retention rates. When will more companies realize that using this business model for a large portion of their employee base makes sense?
Lorraine Jacksonj
17. Nov, 2009
Allowing the use of home agents and telecommunication makes perfect sense all the way around. Not only will this keep low overhead in the company it can also be a safeguard pertaining to the health of all employees who work in offices. Especially the recent outbreak of the H1N1 and the concern there could be a shortage of the needed injection. That should be more than enough reason for other companies get on the same wavelength as this one. I suggest they read the 5 reasons blog and give serious thought to not only the present, but the ” Future” of their companies if they are not on the right track with their
employees.