The best part of any conference is hearing how technology is actually being utilized by end users. Genesys Xperience 2023 provided many opportunities to hear customer stories, both formally and informally, and some of the key takeaways from many sessions and interactions, included:
- Moving to the cloud took a lot less time than expected
- Provided benefits quickly (ROI in 9 months on average, after go-live)
- Provided costs savings (around 30% total cost savings when moving from legacy on-premises platforms)
There was also strong data communicated about the impact of Genesys’ Workforce Engagement Management, with a 30% increase in agent productivity and a 2% rise in CSAT score noted. More than 80% of Genesys Cloud CX customers deploy the Genesys Workforce Engagement Management solution, with 64% of customers using three or more capabilities, including gamification, workforce scheduling and optimization, and quality assurance (as of the end of January 31, 2023, compared to January 31, 2022).
While at the conference, I spoke to GSG, a full-service wholesale distributor to the apparel, decorating, digital print, electrical sign, and commercial markets, to get beyond the stats and learn more about how Genesys technologies were used to support employee engagement and productivity. GSG has 10 branches and about 60 agents working on inside sales and customer service. Some agents are in the office, some are remote, and some work a hybrid schedule.
Supply Chain Issues Cause Frustration – On Both Sides of the Interaction
GSG had been growing due to acquisition and organic growth when the pandemic hit. They had already been working with Genesys and the move to remote went smoothly. The company is fortunate in that it did not really struggle with agent turnover and attrition like so many other companies, but supply chain problems resulted in an increased volume of calls coming in and increased levels of frustration for agents. This issue, combined with the company’s growth, was putting strain on agents.
Lauren Forte, Director of Inside Sales, GSG, says, “Our average wait times were through the roof. Agents were disheartened that they were not able to help people more quickly, which was leading to a lot of frustration. We were experiencing 10-minute hold times, which we had never seen anything like before. Our customers weren’t used to it and our agents went from feeling productive and helpful to feeling stressed that they weren’t able to take care of customers quickly. We really wanted to support our agents and head off any potential feelings of burnout. We had already been partnering with Genesys and figured we would need to make an investment in a workforce management solution. Genesys suggested we move to the Genesys Cloud CX 3 bundle, which had the workforce management features we were looking for, particularly scheduling.”
Scheduling, Gamification and Career Planning
At first, GSG wanted to initially focus on scheduling, but a demo of the gamification feature led Forte to realize that it would be a great way to reward top performers and wanted to use it right away. “We actually used gamification to introduce the Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) solution product to our teams. Our employees adopted it quickly, liking the friendly competition and the rewards that came along with it.” Forte partnered with marketing to come up with ways to keep recognition and rewards fresh and fun with gift cards and apparel being favorites.
While gamification was embraced by the employees, internal operations benefited from more robust and automated scheduling. Scheduling had been a difficult task with agents spread across the country and before using Genesys WEM, the company had been using email and spreadsheets. In addition to managing call volumes and potential overwork, scheduling was also used to better carve out time for coaching and development. The corporate culture at GSG strongly supports career progression. Forte said that the company did not really have a Great Resignation but did have a Great Department Switch. Many employees start with inside sales and then move to outside sales or to being a service technician. According to George Temple, Director of CX at GSG (and who has been with the company 18 years), “Roughly 80% of our employees have moved into their positions from being agents doing inside sales. Wherever you start at the company, whether it be as a purchasing agent, sales, or a technician, we want people to find a department that makes them happy. We don’t cringe at internal turnover, we embrace it.”
The improved scheduling allowed for increased time to look at exception reports, which in turn, trickled down to better customer experience. “When we started using the scheduling functionality, we were able to make sure there was time for agents to focus on what we call the perfect order – on time, accurate, and complete. People are now able to have about 30 minutes a day just to look at exception reports and operational activities to make sure we are meeting customer expectations,” says Temple.
Additionally, after implementing Genesys WEM to address staffing issues, GSG was able to more efficiently staff its contact center during busier times. This saved them $250,000/year in new hire costs.
Since the company started using WEM on the Genesys Cloud CX platform, GSG has seen:
- 63% increase in service levels
- 74% decrease in caller wait times
- 62% decrease in call abandonment rate
These results are impressive, and the company is looking to leverage AI more in the future as well. GSG has already been using AI for forecasting and is exploring the increased use of chatbots. Time to resolution is a key metric and making sure the customer gets connected to the right agent for quick resolution, so the company is treading carefully on the bot front to make sure it is the right channel for both its agents and its customers.
Author Information
As a detail-oriented researcher, Sherril is expert at discovering, gathering and compiling industry and market data to create clear, actionable market and competitive intelligence. With deep experience in market analysis and segmentation she is a consummate collaborator with strong communication skills adept at supporting and forming relationships with cross-functional teams in all levels of organizations.
She brings more than 20 years of experience in technology research and marketing; prior to her current role, she was a Research Analyst at Omdia, authoring market and ecosystem reports on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and User Interface technologies. Sherril was previously Manager of Market Research at Intrado Life and Safety, providing competitive analysis and intelligence, business development support, and analyst relations.
Sherril holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from University of Colorado, Boulder and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers University.
