The challenge

A full-service benefits administrator struggled to reign in average wait times as its customer base grew quickly and open enrolment season approached.

Customer wait times exceeded 60 minutes, which resulted in high abandonment rates. Email response times and claims processing also took too long, resulting in poor customer experiences.

The client didn’t have enough associates to meet demand but had never considered outsourcing customer service support. The company didn’t know where to turn; it needed a quick, small-scale deployment of associates and worried that a large outsourcing partner would lack the nuanced expertise – and take too long – to meet their unique needs.

Our solution

TTEC was well-positioned to help the client because, while we are a large company, we specialise in delivering boutique-like strategic partnerships for clients of all sizes.

We are a centre of excellence for shared services and we’re committed to providing a superior level of experience, resources, and concierge service to all our clients, regardless of size and volume. We excel in rapid, small-scale deployments and work with each individual partner to meet their needs through customised solutions.

We first analysed call volume and determined the client’s immediate staffing needs. With that information, we recruited and trained 13 work-from-home TTEC associates within three weeks who provided inbound contact centre support to the client’s existing team through TTEC’s @Home solution, which provided lower-cost labour options.

We also partnered with the client’s IT department to make sure the client’s technology applications were accessible to TTEC associates, ensuring a smooth collaboration and consistent customer experience. This made it easier for associates to find information they needed quickly and helped ensure the partnership was seamless and successful.

The results

Within a month, the client quickly realised several positive performance-related results. Not only did additional associates provided by TTEC help, but our partnership also brought reliable and easy-to-use technology to the client that made it easier for all associates to perform their job well. TTEC helped the client scale contact centre operations quickly and brought the expertise needed to forecast call volumes and staffing needs.

Average wait time plummeted 97%, from more than an hour to less than 2 minutes. Also, average handle time dropped 60%, from just under 15 minutes to slightly more than 6 minutes; and the number of inbound calls handled by TTEC associates more than doubled, from 207 to 434, over the first month.

In addition, the number of calls handled per hour per associate nearly tripled, from 3.5 to almost 9.5. And the queue abandoned rate fell about 13 points, from 16% percent to 3%.

“This is the first night we’ve closed the queue without any callers waiting,” said the client’s director of service delivery. “That’s a great feeling.”

The client’s CEO added: “No one is waiting. Wow! This is amazing. Thank you TTEC.”

These improvements resulted in better experiences for associates, who were able to do their jobs more efficiently, and customers, whose issues were resolved more quickly. This successful partnership continues to expand, as the client also works with TTEC on more complex call volume support.