GoResponse
Background
A two-second slip of concentration can prove expensive. In the case of telephone answering service and outsourced call centre provider GoResponse, it can take 45 minutes to fix the mistake if a telephone operator writes a phone number down incorrectly. GoResponse would have to find out who took the call, replay the recording, record the right number and deliver the right number to the client. On top of that, there would be time spent making sure the mistake doesn't happen again and reassuring the client.
“We realised that our reputation is based on what our clients receive,” says GoResponse Managing Director Mark Kirby. “If the messages we forward are inaccurate or not of a good standard, it reflects on the whole service we provide.”
GoResponse prides itself on the quality and loyalty of its staff and does not employ school leavers or job hoppers. “We are constantly recruiting, more because of growth in the business than to replenish existing staff,” says Kirby. “At the same time, we do tend to see higher turnover in non-convenient shifts such as evenings and weekends. It’s a lifestyle business, so we would expect a certain amount of turnover. But we must be able to deliver consistent service whether calls come in at nine in the morning, or nine at night.”
The Challenge
When recruiting, GoResponse’s challenge was to identify those candidates who could meet the company’s high standards in the call centre. “In interviews you can see if someone has the right aptitude and personal skills, but you can’t judge their skills in terms of accuracy, spelling and grammar,” says Kirby.
The Solution
On the recommendation of one of its recruitment agencies, GoResponse introduced Skillsarena’s call centre package for assessing candidates. “Call centre candidates listen to the voices of people with different accents and requirements and take notes of the call,” says Kirby. “We can then see how accurate the details they record are. It’s a good real world test of interpreting information on the telephone and converting it into a written format. It’s as close as possible to the experience they would have in the call centre.”
He adds: “What appealed to us about Skillsarena is that it’s web-based. It means we have the opportunity to give candidates the test remotely as well as in-house if necessary. If we insist that one of our agencies puts its candidates through the test, it can be done at the agency’s office using our system. Secondly, we liked the fact that it had modules clearly dedicated to the needs of call centres. The exercises are realistic and do not allow anyone to cheat.”
The Benefits
By introducing the Skillsarena tests, GoResponse has been able to increase the quality of the service it offers its customers. “We have decreased the number of customer service issues and maintained our reputation with our clients,” says Kirby. “We are definitely hiring more of the right kind of people so we’re incurring less costs associated with addressing problems or replacing operators after they’ve joined us. The extra time we spend running the tests is worth it to ensure we have better-rounded recruits.”
Now GoResponse has recommended Skillsarena to one of the agencies it works with. “We try to insist that agencies follow the same recruitment system we use internally so that they put comparative candidates forward,” says Kirby. “Skillsarena is a responsible investment for them to make so that we can standardise on the information we use when considering recruits.”
Kirby’s advice to other companies thinking of working with Skillsarena: “If the quality of the communication that your company provides is important to you, then it is essential to have such a tool that enables you to assess an employee’s communication capabilities as well as their personal capabilities which you can isolate at interview.”
