Commbuys Bidder Questions and Answers v2.xlsx

Sheet1

The current vendor chose to terminate the contract with MBTA due to matters unrelated to Contact Center operations.

Satisfaction with current vendor is satisfactory.

The Average call length is 3 minutes.

In order to connect to HEAT the outside company would require a dedicated circuit to support and secure conncection to the MBTA network and to allow for enough bandwidth. Once that is in place, the other steps we take will be able to happen.

HEAT is web based but is not in the cloud. It is on primus amd runs on a browser.

The email web form responses are primarily scripted responses.

If it it is outside the Call Center's hours of operation it should be tasked or responded to on the next business day.

Between calls/emails/chat the Quality Review vendor is to review 10 accessibility and/or civil rights complaints per month.

Customer Service Center

Evaluation Guidelines for the Quality Monitoring Program

December, 2017

Version 1

PROFESSIONAL GREETING

Professional Greeting and Closing – possible addition to Service orientation

Scale: + Exceeds expectations

Meets expectations

— Needs development

N/A Not applicable

1. Opening

Stated, “Thank you for calling the MBTA”

— Failed to state, “Thank you for calling the MBTA”

Opening must always be rated

2. Used Name

Stated their first name

— Failed to state their first name

Used Name must always be rated

SERVICE ORIENTATION

1. Polite and Pleasant (possible 3 point scale)

Pleasant and respectful

Used information provided by the customer to personalize the call

Responded appropriately to customer’s attempt at small talk

Responded appropriately to customer’s humor/comments

— Interacted in a cold/mechanical manner

— Curt, condescending, argumentative or rude (e.g., “I’m not here to argue with you”)

— Expressed irritation (e.g., sighed) with customer’s request

— Used profanity or made a racial or gender-related remark

— Did not respond to customer's attempt at small talk

— Overly chatty (e.g., spoke excessively/at length about topic unrelated to customer’s issue/business)

— Did not respond to customer's humor/comments

— Used humor or laughter inappropriately

— Expressed opinion about religion, lifestyle, politics, or other personal practices

— Did not excuse self when coughing or sneezing

Polite and Pleasant must always be rated

2. Expressed Calm Demeanor

Remained calm while assisting customer and did not raise voice

Did not express frustration during challenging portions of the call

— Expressed frustration with customer

— Raised voice to customer

— Expressed irritation (e.g., sighed) with customer’s request

N/A Not a challenging call

3. Used Confident/Positive Words (Under communication)

Used positive words (I can help you with that, great, perfect)

— Used negative words (I can’t help you with that, maybe, I’m not sure)

Used confident words must always be rated

4. Provided Common Courtesies (can be added to polite and pleasant)

Used “please” and “thank you” in the conversation as often as appropriate

— Failed to use “please” and “thank you” in the conversation as often as appropriate

Provided common courtesies must always be rated

5. Expressed Empathy

Showed a personal concern for and acknowledged customer’s feelings (anger, sadness, frustration, fear, worry, distress)

Example: “I completely understand your anger. That must be very upsetting."

Expressed concern for customer's situation.

Allowed customer to vent, expressed empathy, stated the issue, and then stated ability to address/resolve the concern

Briefly recognized customer’s feelings (anger, sadness, frustration, fear, worry, distress)

Examples: “I understand…" “I know you are in a hurry…"

“That can be very frustrating."

Briefly expressed regret for customer's situation

Examples: “I'm sorry to hear that."

“I’m sorry that you had that experience.”

Acknowledged customer’s difficulties in general

— Did not recognize customer's feelings

— Did not express any regret for customer's situation

— Failed to express empathy in a timely manner (e.g., waited until end of call to express empathy)

— Prevented customer from venting (e.g., “Are you finished?”)

— Apologized excessively or inappropriately

N/A Customer did not convey any feelings or concerns as described above

ISSUE IDENTIFICATION

1. Asked clarifying questions

Asked follow-up questions to probe for root causes or underlying issues

Asked enough questions to quickly identify issue

Asked open and closed questions to obtain pertinent information

Paraphrased customer’s concerns or problems

Example: “Mr. Smith I understand you are calling to update your Charlie Card and had a problem.”

Accurately identified the purpose of the call

Conducted thorough troubleshooting

— Did not ask relevant questions to obtain pertinent information

— Did not paraphrase customer’s concern or problem (When there are multiple concerns should include all issues)

— Inaccurately paraphrased the customer’s issue

— Asked one or more questions unrelated to customer's situation

— Inaccurately identified purpose of call/customer’s request

— Slow to understand customer’s concern’s/questions

Asked Clarifying questions must always be rated

3. Actively Listened

Provided frequent indications of active listening (e.g., “Yes,” “OK,” “I understand”)

Referred to specific details the customer provided earlier in the conversation in an effort to resolve the issue

Example: “Mr. Jones, you mentioned earlier that the bus did not stop close to the curb………”

Provided a few indications of active listening (e.g., “Yes,” “OK,” “I understand”)

Asked customer to repeat information previously provided, but only to ensure accuracy and understanding

Did not interrupt the customer during the interaction

— Gave infrequent or no indications of active listening (e.g., “Yes,” “OK,” “I understand”)

— Asked customer to repeat information unnecessarily

Example: “Can I have your account number please” after account number was stated

Example: Asked customer to repeat reason for calling a second time

— Inappropriately interrupted customer one or more times

— Sounded distracted

Actively listened must always be rated

4. If needed, did the associate ask and confirm the customer’s name and contact information? (COMPLAINT

ONLY)

Yes, the associate asked and confirmed the customer’s name and contact information

— No, the associate did not ask and confirm the customer’s name and contact information

ISSUE RESOLUTION

1. Took Responsibility

Assured customer that every possible action would be taken to fulfill his/her request or answer his/her questions. Examples: I will ensure that it gets into the right hands to be resolved." "I will have this resolved as soon as possible."

If customer’s request could not be fulfilled, first stated what could be done for customer, then stated that original request could not be fulfilled

Readily offered to research an unresolved problem

Avoided transferring the call by successfully addressing the customer's issue

Stated a sincere offer to help by, referencing the customer’s specific issue;

demonstrating a willing to assist tone and appropriate pacing.

Stated a general offer to help at least once during the call “I’ll be happy to assist you with that.” “I will be glad to assist you with that.”

Stated “They” instead of “I” or “MBTA” one or more times during the interaction

If customer’s request could not be fulfilled, first stated that request could not be fulfilled, then offered alternative

Escalated call after attempting unsuccessfully to resolve the customer's issue

— Did not state ability to help customer

— Repeatedly stated “They” instead of “I” or “MBTA”

— Directly said “no” to customer’s request, without offering an alternative

— Described only what cannot be done for customer

— Sounded insincere in offer to help customer

— Expressed disbelief/doubt regarding customer’s statement of the issue

— Blamed customer or another MBTA department/location for issue

— Unwilling to extend him/her-self for the customer

“I don’t make the rules. There is nothing else I can do to help you.”

— Agreed with customer's disparaging remarks about MBTA or other employees

— Made a disparaging remark about MBTA or other employees

Took Responsibility must always be rated

2. Provided Accurate and Complete Information

Provided additional detail beyond what was requested

Advised customer of availability of relevant self-help tools along with explaining the benefits and how to access the tools.

Educated the customer on how to avoid the problem in the future

Generated a creative solution to a difficult problem

Provided the basic information needed to resolve the inquiry or answer the customer's request

Explained basics of why customer's problem occurred

Mentioned the web-site as a self-help tool

Answered all questions/addressed all issues

— Did not provide complete or sufficient information to resolve the inquiry or answer the customer's request

— Missed opportunity to provide customer with web-site information to help them

— Customer needed to prompt for key information

— Provided laundry list of information

— Provided no information on why the customer's problem had occurred

— Failed to generate a solution

— Provided obviously incorrect information

— Provided inaccurate information to the next associate or misrepresented the customer’s issue

— Did not answer all the questions/did not address all issues

Provided accurate and complete information must always be rated

3. Offered appropriate solution

Offered appropriate solution to request/issue

— Did not provide an appropriate solution to the request/issue

4. Provided Next Steps

Offered one or more next steps

— Failed to offer next step(s)

N/A Information only – next steps not necessary

COMMUNICATION

1. Appropriate language

Spoke so that most words were understandable & minimal grammatical errors

Simplified explanations of complex issues

Explained procedures slowly when necessary in order to be followed.

Provided alternate explanations or analogies when customer did not understand the initial explanation

Spoke so that words were understandable (e.g., mispronounced or stumbled on words, however there was no impact to the customer)

Adjusted pace of speech to customer

Consistently used terms understandable to customer

— Consistently mispronounced or stumbled on words

— Mumbled to self or customer multiple times while looking up information

— Did not summarize or simplify explanations when necessary

— Spoke too slowly or quickly to be understood by customer

— Did not match customer's pace of speech

— Frequently used speech habits (um,” “uh,” “ya know,” “like” “yeah”) to the point of distraction

— Made several noticeable grammatical errors (e.g., wrong tense, double negatives)

— Repeated the same explanation several times during the conversation

Appropriate language must always be rated

2. Appropriate Tone

Tone of voice was consistently energetic

Used a positive tone throughout the conversation

Varied tone appropriately

Voice was pleasant

Appropriately matched customer's tone (e.g., if customer was irate, Associate was not overly bubbly)

— Flat or mechanical delivery; monotone; sounded tired or bored

— Harsh voice tone (e.g., too loud or too soft)

— Did not appropriately match the customer’s tone (bubbly when customer was irate)

Appropriate Tone must always be rated

3. Used internal jargon or slang

Did not use any internal jargon

— Used internal jargon

CALL MANAGEMENT

1. Controlled Call and Used Time Efficiently

Led the call throughout and in a logical order

Intermittently led the call

Tactfully interjected to bring customer back on track

Call generally followed a logical order

Provided information with minimal delay

Worked within customer's time constraints

— Allowed customer to control the call throughout

— Allowed call to move in an illogical order

— Permitted customer to ramble extensively

— Talked over customer; did not allow customer to speak

— Lost control of call

— Provided information with some delay

— Violated customer's time constraints

— Did not collect one or more relevant pieces of information before placing customer on hold (e.g., number of travelers, dates of travel)

— Worked too quickly, rushing customer

— Worked too slowly

Controlled Call must always be rated

2. Minimized “Dead Air”

No “dead air”

Filled potential dead air with productive conversation or small talk

No unexplained pauses of more than 10 seconds at any point in the call

Specifically set customer's expectations prior to pauses Examples: “It will take me about a minute to retrieve that information for you, Mr.

Jones.”

Explained to customer exactly what he/she is doing between pauses Example: “I’m waiting for the system to access your account; O.K., here it is, now let’s see…”

— Unexplained pauses exceeded 10 seconds; excessive "dead air"

— Did not set customer expectations prior to extended pauses

— Did not explain to customer what he/she is doing between pauses

— Customer asked, "Hello? Are you still there?” after extended period of "dead air"

— “Our systems are slow today”

— Excessive use of mute button

— Clipped words due to use of mute button

Minimized “Dead Air” must always be rated

3. Extended Hold Courtesies

Followed all elements of a hold procedure:

1. Asked customer to hold

2. Explained why hold was necessary

3. Waited for customer’s permission to be put on hold

4. Thanked/Apologized to customer for holding

5. For Extended Hold Only (more than 2 minutes) apologized for the delay, asked customer for more time and offered to call back, and waited for customer’s permission to continue to hold OR set expectations for long hold, “this will take about 5 minutes, is that ok?”

Followed all but one element of a hold procedure:

1. Asked customer to hold

2. Explained why hold was necessary

3. Waited for customer’s permission to be put on hold

4. Thanked customer for holding

5. For Extended Hold Only (more than 1 minute): apologized for the delay, asked customer for more time and offered to call back, and waited for customer’s permission to continue to hold OR set expectations for long hold, “this will take about 5 minutes, is that ok?”

— Failed to follow two or more elements of a hold procedure:

1. Ask customer to hold

2. Explain why hold is necessary

3. Wait for customer’s permission to be put on hold

4. Thank customer for holding

5. For Extended Hold Only (more than 1 minute): apologize for the delay, ask customer for more time and offer to call back, and wait for customer’s permission to continue to hold OR set expectations for long hold, “This will take about 5 minutes. Is that ok?”

— Clearly used mute button in place of hold button

— Put customer on hold to take another call

N/A Customer was not placed on hold

4. Transferred Call Appropriately

Followed all elements of a warm transfer:

1. Asked for customer’s permission to be transferred

2. Advised customer to which office he/she is being transferred to

3. Explained why a transfer is necessary

4. Waited for a response

5. Set expectations regarding the duration of the transfer Example: “The transfer may take several minutes”

6. Advised the next associate of customer's situation

7. Introduced customer to next Associate including customer’s name and issue

— Failed to follow one or more elements of a transfer:

1. Asked for customer's permission to be transferred

2. Advised customer to which office he/she is being transferred to

3. Explained why a transfer is necessary

4. Waited for a response

5. Set expectations regarding the duration of the transfer Example: “The transfer may take several minutes”

6. Advised the next associate of customer's situation

7. Introduced customer to next Associate including customer’s name and issue

— Transferred customer without notifying him or her

— Refused to transfer call

— Transferred customer while he/she was still speaking

— Made a negative remark about the customer during the transfer process

N/A Customer was not transferred

CALL ESCALATION

1. Acquired Information

Attempted to acquire information form the customer prior to escalating

— Did not acquire information form the customer prior to escalating

N/A Not an escalation call

2. Offered to Assist

Offered to assist when customer immediately asked to speak to a supervisor

— Did not offer to assist when customer immediately asked to speak to a supervisor

3. Escalate

Politely escalated to Team Leader when applicable

— Did not politely escalate to Team Leader when applicable

PROFESSIONAL CLOSING

1. Checked for customer understanding and satisfaction

Asked, “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

— Failed to state, “Is there anything else I can help you with?

N/A Customer was hung up on or transferred

2. Ended call properly

Stated, “Thank you for calling. “Have a great day”

— Failed to state, “Thank you for calling”. “Have a great day.”

N/A Customer was hung up on or transferred

HEAT ENTRY

Did the associate create a HEAT ticket for the call?

Did the associate put the correct times, dates and addresses in the HEAT system?

Did the associate enter data accurately using proper punctuation and spelling?

Does the HEAT ticket appear to be completed in full?

If applicable, is the HEAT ticket assigned to the correct department?

If applicable, are all the HEAT drop-down fields complete?

Did the associate repeat or confirm the information in the HEAT ticket?

If applicable, did the associate provide the incident number to the customer?

Does the information in the HEAT ticket match the information provided on the call?

BUSINESS PROCESS MEASURES

Is follow up with the associate or CSC Manager required?

Did the associate hang up on the customer? (Auto Fail)

Repeat call

Likely to call back o Why might the customer call back? (drop down menu)

Did the customer express dissatisfaction?

o Primary source of dissatisfaction (drop down menu) o Secondary source of dissatisfaction (drop down menu)

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