An in-house call center is a key factor when clients are considering which third-party administrator (TPA) or recordkeeper to use for outsourcing. Call centers play a vital role in participant satisfaction. A subpar call center experience can quickly overshadow the benefits of a top-tier administration platform. Call center operations must evolve to meet the ever-growing needs of clients. By leveraging technology and adopting participant-focused best practices, call centers can enhance client and participant satisfaction, improve efficiency, and help participants feel assured during their retirement journey.

How can you ensure that you are fulfilling your duty as a fiduciary by choosing the right call center to optimize your participants’ experience? In this article we will explore five key areas of importance: technology, resources, information, workforce management, and coaching of participants.

Ensuring the use of enhanced technology

Online chat: Not everyone has the time or interest to make a phone call but they can still crave instant results. Email is great and a necessary service to provide, but a chat feature has become imperative. Talking directly to a representative instead of a robot response allows participants to have simple and effective communication to meet their needs.

Mobile Experience: People use their phones over desktop computers more every day, so a mobile experience and/or app is increasingly necessary to satisfy participants. Consider if there is any functionality that is not available through a mobile experience and ask if there are plans to build out new technology.

Interactive voice response (IVR): IVR is an automated phone system technology that allows incoming callers to access information and self-service without speaking with a representative. An IVR system designed to meet your needs can improve a participant’s satisfaction. During times of high call volume an IVR system can provide prerecorded messages, menu options via touch-tone keypad selection, and speech recognition, which allows your participants to provide the information to ultimately connect with the correct representative for assistance.

Automated outbound calls: As a plan sponsor, there are times when you need to reach a large number of participants quickly. An outbound call system provides the efficiency and simplicity needed for these situations. You provide the participant information and the message you want to be broadcast while the rest is taken care of for you.

Ensuring representatives have proper resources

Client profiles: Creating comprehensive profiles for each client is an excellent starting point to enhance the call center experience. Detailed plan information is crucial to achieving the overall goal of one-call resolution. Client profiles should contain key plan provisions such as benefit formulas, optional forms of payment, trustee information, and contact information for any service vendors providing plan benefits. These profiles should be subject to a standard review process and updated at least annually. In addition, a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section is a great way to host a set of client-specific questions and answers as a ready reference for the call center representatives. This enables representatives to provide tailored assistance in addressing participant concerns accurately and efficiently.

Real-time data access: Access to real-time data is truly a game-changer for call center representatives. In order to provide the most meaningful assistance, call center representatives should have access to up-to-date participant information. Having access to the same data used in benefit calculations will ensure that accurate, timely information is passed along to the participant. Real-time data access not only improves efficiency but instills confidence that the information the participant is receiving is accurate and reliable.

Ability to mimic a participant’s online experience: To enhance the call center experience, it is crucial to empower participants to find answers on their own; however, implementing self-service tools can only go so far. Call center representatives should not only be equipped with the same tools as participants, but they should also be able to mimic the exact experience the participants view online. This enables them to seamlessly assist the participant with navigating and learning how to use the tools at their disposal.

Ensuring you have all the facts

Ongoing training: A well-run call center knows that ongoing training is necessary for success, for both new and tenured representatives. Ask the following questions: What training schedule do you follow? How do you include plan specifics within the training? What is the process for escalating issues to management or leadership? Look for signs of a client-led culture; the focus and purpose should be serving clients with the highest standards and continuously striving to improve the experience.

Statistics and reporting: Setting expectations about how the call center will function is the first step, ensuring it is delivering and meeting its service level standards (SLS) is the second step, and holding the call center accountable to meet those SLS is the third step. Understand what benchmark statistics are tracked. They should include time to answer, average hold time, average talk time, first-call resolution and abandonment rates. Define what happens when the standards are not met, which may mean a financial penalty for the call center.

Logistics and languages: Consider where the call center headquarters and their representatives are located. What time zone(s) are they located in and what are the hours of operation? The best call center can be most effective for your participants if the hours are compatible with their time zone. Additionally, participants may need language services. Determining what languages are supported with representatives as well as automated messaging will ensure your participants can effectively communicate and benefit from their call center experience.

Ensuring proper workforce management

Effective forecasting: Does the call center have the data, tools, and fundamentals in place to accurately forecast its volume, staffing, and telephone response times? Without effective advanced planning, call centers run the risk of being short-staffed, which can have a significant impact on the quality of service and wait times for participants.

Staffing and scheduling: Ensure processes are in place to manage the call center staff schedules to effectively meet the day-to-day and interval volume fluctuations. Discuss what actions the management team is taking to increase and decrease staffing according to shifting needs.

Real-time management: Daily management of call center representatives creates a productive and efficient workforce. What tools, resources, and processes does management have to monitor, manage, and maximize their front-line representative’s day-to-day performance? These tools are especially important in a virtual work environment.

Service standards: Determine what opportunities your participants will have to provide feedback on their call experience. Does the call center offer a survey or option to rate their satisfaction at the end of the call? Know how they use this information to improve, such as reinforce additional training opportunities for representatives or work with you to improve the client profile.

Ensuring participants are set up for success

As a plan sponsor, you can select a call center that fits all your needs and checks all your boxes, but communication is key for participants to experience service satisfaction. Setting and communicating clear expectations will help mitigate frustration. When expectations align with reality, both customers and representatives are set up for more positive and productive interactions.

What you need when you call: Oftentimes call centers require participants to provide certain information to validate their identity. Make sure your participants know the data points required in advance, so they can fully utilize the call center’s capabilities during their first call.

Who can representatives talk to: Privacy and data security are integral parts of a successful call center. This expands to who representatives can speak to about certain sensitive information. Knowing these limitations ahead of time will help calls run smoothly.

When is it appropriate to contact the call center: As much as we would like it to be, a call center is not always a one-stop shop for all participant needs. Providing communications that outline what types of assistance are available may reduce confusion and lead to a more positive perception of the call center’s service quality.

When participants have a clear understanding of what can be accomplished by contacting the call center, they are more likely to come prepared with the necessary information up-front. This ultimately increases the chance of meeting the overall goal of seamlessly aiding participants through their retirement journeys.