Introducing new technology in CRM industries.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
ERP gets easier for SMB
Good news for the small medium business (SMB) for which you must be waiting from long time. Now the ERP gets easier for the SMB. A few years back the Enterprise resource planning (ERP) was a self-important expression with expensive software to match. ERP is helpful for the managers to do their responsibilities more efficiently, boost sales and reduce costs. ERP is business management system that gives a support to the mangers of the companies to command of data and workflows to get the clear report of each factors of the business.
The essential part of the business like planning, manufacturing, sales and marketing are also cover with ERP. It also covers activities like inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance and human resources. For example, ERP software can automatically indicate to the managers when it notices that stocks have gone down in a sales depot. Dealing with the suppliers is sometimes very difficult for the managers but with ERP it will be easier for a company manager to deal with suppliers.
ERP software is now available in much cheaper rate for small business also because now a day’s number of computer users is increasing day by day. A large group of people are using various kind of software to manage all the official details. ERP software, once a privilege for the global multinational, is available on much cheaper rates.
SaaS (Software as a Service) – It is refer to renting of software over the Internet, much like Web based e-mail. SaaS is also contributing to software becoming cheaper and easier to use. Industry officials say the emergence of SaaS and cheaper ERP software has dramatically lowered the barrier for users. Top ERP solution providers are now targeting just about every company, size no bar Consider the case of SAP, the global leader in ERP software, which once was associated largely with multinational giants.
On November 21, 2007 SAP India announced record-breaking quarterly growth for the third quarter of 2007 with the addition of more than 714 new customers till September 2007, translating to more than two new customers per work day in 2007. "A growing SMB (small and medium business) market, opportunistic investors, and middleware technologies converge to make the SMB market for ERP applications one of the most competitive environments for market growth and product innovation within enterprise applications," ---- Says Gopakumar Sivanandan of SAP India.
A spokeswoman for rival Oracle India spokesperson agrees. "Mid-sized companies are driving India's GDP growth today," she says. Microsoft recently launched Microsoft Dynamics NAV designed specifically for medium sized companies.
“Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to support solutions for financial management, supply chain management, CRM and E-Business." According to Sushant Dwivedy from Microsoft India,
For small and medium enterprises sometimes it was very hard to pay the cost at one time.
Earlier it was required Rs 10 to 15 lakhs can be done at a fraction of the price for ERP software. Though it must be that renting out software involves a recurring cost every month. The onetime cost of an ERP package needs returning costs in training and support and to that extent, renting the ERP software over the Web could be a lot better Consider.
The cost of the ERP for SMB is available for three users at Rs 25,000 a month, for five users at Rs 35,000 a month and 10 users at Rs 60,000 a month. No hardware, no personnel, no software cost is required in addition to this. Oracle and SAP have attractive pricing that make affordability a huge attraction. Oracle starts at as low as Rs 2,800 per user license, though it calls for implementation and support cost Much cheaper versions are also available from the Open Source movement, which uses operating systems based on free, modifiable platforms like Linux. Source – HT Times
According to market researcher Gartner, revenues from business platforms in India grow from $12.1 million in 2005 to $16.4 million in 2006, with all leading vendors posting double-digit growth. The Indian ERP market is expected to see a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 25.2 per cent over the next five years. The market was $83 million in 2004, and is projected to be over $250 million in 2009.
About Call Centers India
Call Centers India is known as CCI and has set up good building relationship in BPO industry and helping others to growth in industry, Call Centers India in consultancy since 5 years and in 2005 launched own delivery center by name of Vcare Call Center India (P) Ltd. and delivering many offshore projects successfully.
About Vcare Call Center India
Vcare Call Center India is a CISCO powered company, Its management team has over 20 years of combined call center experience. The company employs more than 250 people and is growing more than 15% quarter per quarter. The center is a 100% IP based network and uses CISCO technology platform. Electrical power and Internet connectivity are redundant.
The essential part of the business like planning, manufacturing, sales and marketing are also cover with ERP. It also covers activities like inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance and human resources. For example, ERP software can automatically indicate to the managers when it notices that stocks have gone down in a sales depot. Dealing with the suppliers is sometimes very difficult for the managers but with ERP it will be easier for a company manager to deal with suppliers.
ERP software is now available in much cheaper rate for small business also because now a day’s number of computer users is increasing day by day. A large group of people are using various kind of software to manage all the official details. ERP software, once a privilege for the global multinational, is available on much cheaper rates.
SaaS (Software as a Service) – It is refer to renting of software over the Internet, much like Web based e-mail. SaaS is also contributing to software becoming cheaper and easier to use. Industry officials say the emergence of SaaS and cheaper ERP software has dramatically lowered the barrier for users. Top ERP solution providers are now targeting just about every company, size no bar Consider the case of SAP, the global leader in ERP software, which once was associated largely with multinational giants.
On November 21, 2007 SAP India announced record-breaking quarterly growth for the third quarter of 2007 with the addition of more than 714 new customers till September 2007, translating to more than two new customers per work day in 2007. "A growing SMB (small and medium business) market, opportunistic investors, and middleware technologies converge to make the SMB market for ERP applications one of the most competitive environments for market growth and product innovation within enterprise applications," ---- Says Gopakumar Sivanandan of SAP India.
A spokeswoman for rival Oracle India spokesperson agrees. "Mid-sized companies are driving India's GDP growth today," she says. Microsoft recently launched Microsoft Dynamics NAV designed specifically for medium sized companies.
“Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to support solutions for financial management, supply chain management, CRM and E-Business." According to Sushant Dwivedy from Microsoft India,
For small and medium enterprises sometimes it was very hard to pay the cost at one time.
Earlier it was required Rs 10 to 15 lakhs can be done at a fraction of the price for ERP software. Though it must be that renting out software involves a recurring cost every month. The onetime cost of an ERP package needs returning costs in training and support and to that extent, renting the ERP software over the Web could be a lot better Consider.
The cost of the ERP for SMB is available for three users at Rs 25,000 a month, for five users at Rs 35,000 a month and 10 users at Rs 60,000 a month. No hardware, no personnel, no software cost is required in addition to this. Oracle and SAP have attractive pricing that make affordability a huge attraction. Oracle starts at as low as Rs 2,800 per user license, though it calls for implementation and support cost Much cheaper versions are also available from the Open Source movement, which uses operating systems based on free, modifiable platforms like Linux. Source – HT Times
According to market researcher Gartner, revenues from business platforms in India grow from $12.1 million in 2005 to $16.4 million in 2006, with all leading vendors posting double-digit growth. The Indian ERP market is expected to see a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 25.2 per cent over the next five years. The market was $83 million in 2004, and is projected to be over $250 million in 2009.
About Call Centers India
Call Centers India is known as CCI and has set up good building relationship in BPO industry and helping others to growth in industry, Call Centers India in consultancy since 5 years and in 2005 launched own delivery center by name of Vcare Call Center India (P) Ltd. and delivering many offshore projects successfully.
About Vcare Call Center India
Vcare Call Center India is a CISCO powered company, Its management team has over 20 years of combined call center experience. The company employs more than 250 people and is growing more than 15% quarter per quarter. The center is a 100% IP based network and uses CISCO technology platform. Electrical power and Internet connectivity are redundant.
Labels: call center, call centers
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
The Challenge of Ongoing Agent Training in a Multi-Media Contact Center
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” -Aristotle
Customers today demand excellence. Excellence demands a strategy of continuous learning. A continuous learning strategy requires stalwart diligence and flexibility to meet the varied needs of contact center employees.
Here is a snapshot of opposing forces to ongoing agent training in a multi-media contact center, and suggestions for how to overcome or creatively work around them in order to use training as a conduit toward performance success.
Opposing Force: Measurable Outcomes and Follow Up
Successful learning includes both a process and an outcome, both of which are measurable and observable. The training process itself is not simply the instructional time, but also includes follow-up practice and feedback components. Many organizations confuse “information to know for overall context” with true training which includes performance behaviors that are assessable and visible. This confusion muddies how to deliver the message, and behaviors on which to focus. In addition, most organizations think of training as “dip and dunk” in a presentation or program, and then expect change to occur, rather than an ongoing process.
Getting clear first about what the agent needs to do or say differently as a result of training is one way to avoid this confusion. For example, customer satisfaction data is an important piece of contextual information that can be shared on e-mail, or on a wall chart, in the contact center. However, if the numbers indicate a low score, for example, in customer confidence, the focus for training becomes the measurable, observable behaviors that build confidence. It is the specific “how and what” that needs to happen to change the outcome to a positive result.
Following this approach, the behaviors that contribute to “customer confidence” include taking ownership of callers’ issues, communicating accurate information, doing what you say and saying what you’ll do. Each of these can be seen or heard, and thus, can be objectively measured.
There is a common saying attributed to Confucius:
What I hear I forget.
What I see, I remember.
What I do, I understand.
Organizations that understand individuals have different learning styles include in their training programs opportunities for listening, writing, modeling behavior, and practicing feedback, which all play into the different ways we learn. Add to that a consistent coaching and check-in process for questions, clarifying lessons learned, and opportunity for the learner to receive affirmation that they have understood and demonstrated the expected behavior and you’ll have a winning formula.
Opposing Force: Time to Train
There are multiple shifts, service levels for e-mail and phone queues, meetings, follow-up research, call backs, vacations, breaks, lunch, not to mention unscheduled issues that arise. How do we carve out one, two, three or more hours for training and still meet all these mandates?
Of utmost importance is to have agreement with management that training must be a non-negotiable part of scheduling. Dr. Peter Honey, most well known for his learning style theory, says, “Learning has a beginning, middle and no end.” Thus, just as we plan for the ebb and flow of customer contacts, we also need to understand that learning requires these three “C’s”: continuity, consistency and clear outcomes. This does not mean, however, that the cost becomes insurmountable, nor does the organization need to necessarily add to head count.
Most individuals have a maximum absorption level, so breaking training down into shorter and more frequent learning components accommodates shift and service level requirements. Asking individuals to adopt or change one behavior at a time is more likely to impact retention and application, than identifying 20 behaviors to change by tomorrow. Careful strategy, planning and trend analysis are required to be ahead of the curve of what is needed.
Opposing Force: Delivery Method and Resources
There are four basic delivery options for training: group instructor led, self-paced e-learning, learning lab practice, and one-on-one learning. Of course, there is always the option of “on-the-job” learning, often used by call centers with challenging schedules or resources. Each approach has pros and cons. When used interchangeably to compliment needs, there is a chance for each to offer a winning solution.
Another constant challenge is to have competent and knowledgeable resources who are training experts without breaking the budget. Most organizations use a combination of internal and external resources to meet their needs.
One way to offer cost effective training is to have a multi-faceted delivery approach. One client site addressed the “not enough time” issue by creating a “lead trainer” option, designating and scheduling one person per pod as the “team trainer.” Each lesson created by the training and performance team used a common, documented delivery format. Materials were ready to include in packets and delivered to each of the training leaders. They, in turn, had scheduled time in the next 24 hours to deliver the learning to their team or pod mates. In this way, a center of 250 employees was all “trained” in the new behavior within one day.
Another option is to use self study, or e-learning, to practice the new behavior. Suppose agents need to learn how to maneuver new screens in a system and identify where to enter information in a new place. By creating a self study or on-line version of the process, and then offering a quiz to test performance knowledge along with coaches to follow up as needed, agents can quickly understand, practice and implement expected use of new screens and data entry.
People seldom improve very much when they have only their own knowledge and patterns to follow. Individuals become what they learn, so it’s imperative that contact center organizations rise to the challenge of becoming a continuous learning organization, and provide conditions where people learn.
Customers today demand excellence. Excellence demands a strategy of continuous learning. A continuous learning strategy requires stalwart diligence and flexibility to meet the varied needs of contact center employees.
Here is a snapshot of opposing forces to ongoing agent training in a multi-media contact center, and suggestions for how to overcome or creatively work around them in order to use training as a conduit toward performance success.
Opposing Force: Measurable Outcomes and Follow Up
Successful learning includes both a process and an outcome, both of which are measurable and observable. The training process itself is not simply the instructional time, but also includes follow-up practice and feedback components. Many organizations confuse “information to know for overall context” with true training which includes performance behaviors that are assessable and visible. This confusion muddies how to deliver the message, and behaviors on which to focus. In addition, most organizations think of training as “dip and dunk” in a presentation or program, and then expect change to occur, rather than an ongoing process.
Getting clear first about what the agent needs to do or say differently as a result of training is one way to avoid this confusion. For example, customer satisfaction data is an important piece of contextual information that can be shared on e-mail, or on a wall chart, in the contact center. However, if the numbers indicate a low score, for example, in customer confidence, the focus for training becomes the measurable, observable behaviors that build confidence. It is the specific “how and what” that needs to happen to change the outcome to a positive result.
Following this approach, the behaviors that contribute to “customer confidence” include taking ownership of callers’ issues, communicating accurate information, doing what you say and saying what you’ll do. Each of these can be seen or heard, and thus, can be objectively measured.
There is a common saying attributed to Confucius:
What I hear I forget.
What I see, I remember.
What I do, I understand.
Organizations that understand individuals have different learning styles include in their training programs opportunities for listening, writing, modeling behavior, and practicing feedback, which all play into the different ways we learn. Add to that a consistent coaching and check-in process for questions, clarifying lessons learned, and opportunity for the learner to receive affirmation that they have understood and demonstrated the expected behavior and you’ll have a winning formula.
Opposing Force: Time to Train
There are multiple shifts, service levels for e-mail and phone queues, meetings, follow-up research, call backs, vacations, breaks, lunch, not to mention unscheduled issues that arise. How do we carve out one, two, three or more hours for training and still meet all these mandates?
Of utmost importance is to have agreement with management that training must be a non-negotiable part of scheduling. Dr. Peter Honey, most well known for his learning style theory, says, “Learning has a beginning, middle and no end.” Thus, just as we plan for the ebb and flow of customer contacts, we also need to understand that learning requires these three “C’s”: continuity, consistency and clear outcomes. This does not mean, however, that the cost becomes insurmountable, nor does the organization need to necessarily add to head count.
Most individuals have a maximum absorption level, so breaking training down into shorter and more frequent learning components accommodates shift and service level requirements. Asking individuals to adopt or change one behavior at a time is more likely to impact retention and application, than identifying 20 behaviors to change by tomorrow. Careful strategy, planning and trend analysis are required to be ahead of the curve of what is needed.
Opposing Force: Delivery Method and Resources
There are four basic delivery options for training: group instructor led, self-paced e-learning, learning lab practice, and one-on-one learning. Of course, there is always the option of “on-the-job” learning, often used by call centers with challenging schedules or resources. Each approach has pros and cons. When used interchangeably to compliment needs, there is a chance for each to offer a winning solution.
Another constant challenge is to have competent and knowledgeable resources who are training experts without breaking the budget. Most organizations use a combination of internal and external resources to meet their needs.
One way to offer cost effective training is to have a multi-faceted delivery approach. One client site addressed the “not enough time” issue by creating a “lead trainer” option, designating and scheduling one person per pod as the “team trainer.” Each lesson created by the training and performance team used a common, documented delivery format. Materials were ready to include in packets and delivered to each of the training leaders. They, in turn, had scheduled time in the next 24 hours to deliver the learning to their team or pod mates. In this way, a center of 250 employees was all “trained” in the new behavior within one day.
Another option is to use self study, or e-learning, to practice the new behavior. Suppose agents need to learn how to maneuver new screens in a system and identify where to enter information in a new place. By creating a self study or on-line version of the process, and then offering a quiz to test performance knowledge along with coaches to follow up as needed, agents can quickly understand, practice and implement expected use of new screens and data entry.
People seldom improve very much when they have only their own knowledge and patterns to follow. Individuals become what they learn, so it’s imperative that contact center organizations rise to the challenge of becoming a continuous learning organization, and provide conditions where people learn.
Monday, November 24, 2003
HyperQuality company provides quality monitoring services to customer care centers.
HyperQuality provides the data and tools required to greatly improve agent level quality and customer satisfaction. By implementing best practice quality processes and using monitoring with high-frequency as a driver, our services are able to:
>> Empower team leads and supervisors to develop and improve their team members with reporting and analysis completed for them.
>> Quickly close the learning curve and efficiency gap of seasonal employees.
>> Calibrate to management’s standard across multiple centers for an accurate and consistent snapshot of performance.
>> Provide ongoing EvenBetter tips to every individual team member and track their improvement progress.
>> Identify process improvement opportunities with supportive data and a pool of industry examples of how to implement a change.
The result? Customer and internal employee satisfaction is increased and revenues and profits improve.
Understanding Customer Satisfaction by Agent is Powerful. It begins with an EvenBetterSM attitude that every person,
HyperQuality Services
HyperMonitoring - Voice
We listen to and evaluate your recorded calls and provide immediate feedback to each call center agent via our web based tool.
* One monitored call for each agent every 8 hours.
* Daily feedback and ranking for every agent, team lead and managers.
* Trend lines for additional training to be EvenBetterSM.
* Data and analysis for team leads and managers.
* Profile ranking of your agents.
* Individual Agent Scorecard.
* Storage of voice recordings and historical quality results.
* Defined parameters that evaluate applicable skills: Core, Soft, Selling, Technical, Cultural, etc.
* Transaction based independent feedback.
HyperMonitoring - Email
We read and evaluate your emails and provide immediate feedback to each call center agent via our web based tool.
* One monitored email for each agent every 8 hours.
* Daily feedback and ranking for every agent, team lead and managers.
* Trend lines for additional training to be EvenBetterSM.
* Data and analysis for team leads and managers.
* Profile ranking of your agents.
* Individual Agent Scorecard.
* Defined parameters that evaluate applicable skills: Core, Soft, Selling, Technical, Cultural, etc.
* Transaction based independent feedback.
Contact us:- HyperQuality LLC. 119 1st Avenue South, Suite 110 Seattle, WA 98104.
Tel - (206) 283 - 7119 / Sales@HyperQuality.com, Clients@HyperQuality.com
