At the start of this year, FMI launched their full service call centre. we chatted to Majella Flynn, Operational Manager who has been given the task to run the call centre. She reflects on the first quarter and talks optimistically about the future and the role of the Call Centre as part FMI’s service offering.  

What prompted FMI into setting up the call centre

One of our clients Electric Ireland, the leading energy service provider in Ireland, had the need for a customer call centre. Although this was not part of our service offering at the time, we felt that it was both a natural extension of our service and complimentary offering to our existing services. Setting up the call centre is very reflective of the always can-do attitude at FMI.

What makes the FMI Call Centre different?

It’s difficult to say what makes one call centre better or different to another. In general, all call centres will have similar KPI’s and offer same type services. Our differentiator lies in the fact that we are at our very core, FMI is a customer centric organisation and we provide training to ensure the staff are equipped to deliver the results expected of them. Everything we do and have done in the past is based on providing customers with the best customer service experience and helping our clients with the tools and expertise to deliver outstanding interactions with their customer base.

With technology, how relevant are call centres?

Call centres are constantly evolving, and even with advances in technology the 2018 customer experience Index conducted by the SITEL Group showed the human-to-human connection is key to a great customer experience.

• A whopping 70% of customers still prefer to talk to a human customer service agent via phone instead of trying their luck with an automated chatbot, with nearly half (48%) saying they aren’t confident that automated digital “representatives” can understand and properly handle their request. 

• And Interestingly, Millennials (51%) are much more willing than Baby Boomers (36%) to pay more for a better customer experience. In another survey carried out on the habits of two market segments – millennials and those in the 65+ age bracket both showed a preference for human contact (49% and 69% of those surveyed).

How do you use technology to make the Customer Call centre more effective?

The technology we utilise means that we are in a position to offer more insight into the reasons customers call in to a call centre. We work with our clients to gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ requirements and can suggest product /service improvements based on what we’re hearing on the phone. This is particularly interesting when a client is engaged in an inbound/outbound sales campaign. For example, we can drill down to street level and tell them what’s happening with competitors, why their product may or not be selling in a particular area, if the sales approach being utilised is delivering the best bang for buck.

How do you report on your campaigns?

Data utilisation has become more and more prevalent and understanding how to use it effectively is a skill set that often gets overlooked. At FMI we believe in transparency on reporting, this inevitable means making the data available in real time. While this hugely beneficial for our clients, it is also advantageous for us, as we are uniquely positioned to offer real time insights and make amends if required to enhance performance. Our reports are available online and can be accessed anytime from anywhere in the world. 

What keeps staff engaged?

Call centres are notoriously difficult to work in, but because FMI has a variety of different services, the staff get to interact with people from across the business. It’s not a call centre in isolation, which I think makes a massive difference. FMI do it differently, they offer free exercise classes 4 days a week, senior management operate an open-door policy and everyone’s opinion counts.  And as I mentioned the high levels of collaboration and continuous training opportunities are without a doubt crucial factors to retention.