Business Decision Making Part 1

Business Decision Making Part 1

QNT/275

Business Decision Making Part 1

Today, I will be discussing a company that I know pretty well and describing a problem that they have that could be improved upon. I will explain the type of company and go into detail about the business problem that they have. I will also identify a research variable and the types of methods that would be useful in suitable for collecting data. I will also explain how this collected data would be considered reliable for evaluation.

The company that we will be looking at today is OneAZ Credit Union. This is a local Credit Union to Arizona that thrives on exceeding the needs of their members. This is a pretty large Credit Union, so we will be focusing on their call center for this analysis, as this is one area that could really use some work.

The problem that the call center has is that they are receiving significantly more calls than in years prior and the phone system that they are using is outdated compared to most companies nowadays. The phone system that is currently being used has only one queue for the members to call into without having any form of selections to reach certain people, depending on their needs. The reason that this is a problem is that it creates significantly longer wait times, as well as, hurts the call center representatives who are trying to help members with questions or things that they have not been fully trained to handle. This, in turn, is creating unsatisfied members as they are having to wait for extensive periods of time. There are even times when the same member has to call in a number of times to get a problem resolved because they are not reaching the correct area to assist with the problem. This has been an issue for some time now, but with the call volume continuing to increase, it has only gotten worse.

To create better customer satisfaction within the call center, the Credit Union could upgrade the phone system to one that is more advanced. Obtaining an advanced phone system would allow for the members to have a choice for the queue that they would need to select based on the reason for their call. This would allow the member to get to a representative quicker that would also be able to assist them with their questions or problems. Within this system, there would be options for the members to choose the reason for their call and the employees would be assigned to certain queues based on their training and level of experience. This would create lower wait times, which could lower the number of upset members, and it would also provide a more productive and enjoyable experience, as the employees they will be reaching based on their selection in the queue would be training and set up to help within that category.

The number of people that call in does vary from day to day, and even week to week, depending on what time of the month it is. It would be important to keep track of the number of calls coming in daily to better understand when calls are coming in daily and weekly. The type of data that would be collected for this is considered quantitative as it is data that can be measured numerically (Mann, 2016). The number of calls coming into the call center need to be observed and recorded in order for the higher ups to see just how many calls are coming in daily. From there, it would be important to keep track of the types of calls that are coming in to determine what types of queues should be set up within the new phone system. The best way to track this information, is by creating a tracking system on the computer that the staff must use for each call that is coming in. The purpose of this would be to of course keep track of the number of calls that each person is receiving, but there should also be a disposition on that where the employees are putting the reasoning for the call. This would allow the Credit Union to analyze the number of calls coming in, when they are coming in, and what types of calls are most frequently coming in. All of this information would be critical in determining the best way to establish the new phone system and the queues that would be most effective for the members.

Gathering this data would significantly help the call center when it comes to wait times and create more satisfied members. The information collected via this manner would be reliable in the sense that the system is tracking the number of calls coming in automatically. The aspect of this that could make this information unreliable would be if the call center representatives are not tracking the type of calls they are receiving, or if they do not track the calls appropriately. It would be important for the training staff to teach the call center representatives how to track the calls beforehand, including what type of dispositions should be used, as this would help to eliminate the human error aspect of this. It would also be important for this information to be gathered over a few months consecutively to ensure the most accurate data possible. With the data being collected continuously for a few months, it would allow for the most accurate data by showing the trends that take place throughout each week or months when it comes to the calls being received.

As you can see, the Credit Union has an issue within the call center that needs to be address to ensure that the members are satisfied and that the employees are able to assist the members fully. The call center needs to update their phone system, as it is outdated for the times today. By doing this, they would be able to assist the members better, thus creating a more productive work environment. The calls need to be tracked in order to determine the best options for this problem, and it is also important that the data is as accurate as possible.

REFERENCE:

Mann, P. S. (2016). Introductory Statistics (9th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.