Keeping track of employees is not an easy task. Management often spends a lot of time focusing on what employees are doing, where the "wasted" time is spent, and how to do things faster - making their company lean, mean, and ready for action. No management team sets out to micromanage their employees, but rather to understand where time is spent in order to improve efficiency, productivity, and communication. Emerald has developed a number of processes that are designed to do just that. These three processes have had significant impacts on our organization.
Workforce Management
By gaining insight into how account reps spend their time, we can increase productivity. Workforce management can help us find exactly that information. At Emerald, we know when a rep is at their desk, when they are on break, and when they are away doing other office chores. The system can show us where reps struggle, and what types of work they spend the most time doing. For example, are the reps helping customers? Or are they bogged down with inefficient computer tasks?
When executives review the information provided by workforce management reports, they start to understand their company’s operations and customer service processes. They see trends among different reps and can focus on underlying issues. Solving these problems can not only increase productivity but also improve workplace morale.
Case Workflows
Implementing case workflows is another extremely effective way to boost productivity. Workflows are events triggered by information that your reps put into the system. The system then uses logic to figure out the next step in the process, and route the work to the appropriate team member. It can be seriously effective once the workflows are created and firing on all cylinders, but care must be taken to set them up correctly.
Emerald has noticed that the creation of case workflow has increased collaboration between our staff and clients, improving communication and getting rid of misunderstandings. The workflows have created real-time visibility, so we can let our customers know exactly what is happening each and every step of the way. Management can quickly see when something is awry, and take appropriate action without delay.
Improve Account Rep Communication
Every account rep has his or her own hidden talents. Some perform better when communicating with patients and some perform better under pressure. It's no surprise then, that you'll find one account rep excelling when another is failing. So how do you even this playing field?
The answer? Creating custom QA templates for your business. By creating these unique templates, you ensure everyone is following the same processes, asking the same questions, and sharing the same information. An example of this is attaching recorded calls to an account in the system. Then you can evaluate the account rep's communication with the client and expand on the template as needed.
When trying to optimize revenue cycles, there is no single right answer. It takes a combination of technology, strategy, and patience to find the solution for your company. By building out workflows and creating workforce management systems, you can help your company set new performance goals and improve employee morale at the same time.
