At Cygnific – the contact center that serves Air France KLM customers and does much more – real-time information provision is part of the transition to a Lean Six Sigma organization. Cygnific not only looks at information about the customer, but also information about the process. Wall displays are not for managers, but for employees.

KLM operates in a complex setting. In order to achieve a flawless customer journey, thousands of processes must be properly aligned. Usually this goes well, sometimes it goes wrong. On the day we speak with Ramón Delima (ceo) and Han Thomassen (IT project manager), the queue at contact center Cygnific is in the red. The day before there were major problems with the supply of kerosene to the Schiphol platform. Incoming flights had to divert, departing flights were cancelled.

Lean six sigma helps with empowerment

Cygnific is a well-kept secret in customer contact, Delima acknowledges. “Even KLM staff do not always know that we exist and that we have contact with passengers, travel agents, corporate customers and frequent flyers of Air France KLM. We also work for Delta Airlines, for Air France KLM Cargo and for brands such as Adidas and Hudson's Bay. In the short term, we will also be collaborating with Rituals.”

This expansion with new customers – and the joining of AIS, another KLM subsidiary focused on customer service – shows that Cygnific is gradually changing from a 'captive' to a facility contact center. It's not the only change Cygnific has gone through, explains Delima.

“Seven years ago, the transformation of this organization into a Lean Six Sigma organization started. The starting point is complete trust in and empowerment of the contact center agents to do the best for the customer. Part of Lean Six Sigma is continuous improvement. We are of course not the only company that applies Lean principles, but Lean is now extremely deeply embedded in Cygnific's DNA. If I a Gemba walk do – watch with employees on the work floor – then I see genuine interest in the person on the other side of the line.”

“We train well, don't work with scripts, no approval or escalation levels. The person you speak to as a customer has the task of solving your problem. Seven years ago, we said 'no' to customers very often and very kindly. If employees now find it necessary to make an exception to one of the rules, they can do so. During an evaluation later, you may discuss whether it was the best solution. The introduction of Lean Six Sigma has helped enormously to implement the empowerment. We do not make fewer mistakes than in the past, but we are much more customer-oriented. That contributes to the high customer appreciation.”

From cost savings to a larger share of wallet

Although the pursuit of permanent improvement fits in well with the Perform 2020 program of client KLM (which stands for the ambition to become the most customer-oriented, innovative and efficient European airline), Cygnific does not benefit from this. Delima: “The Lean Six Sigma program really comes from within our organization. We were a classic cost-driven contact center. For our client, offshore outsourcing and management based on call duration would be the cheapest solution, but in our view that is a race to the bottom. The price per call has not gone down. But if you look at the cost of doing business, then the profit for our clients lies in the realization of savings. For example, by reducing call volume and increasing customer satisfaction.”

“We do expect our clients to implement our suggestions, otherwise we will become frustrated and the satisfaction of our employees will decline,” says Delima. “Think of advice for improving the information provision on the website: can you or can't you take a surfboard on a domestic Delta flight? In addition, we contribute to the top line – Cygnific also does sales – and to increasing customer satisfaction. Cygnific is a profit center with its own P&L; the profit goes to KLM.”

“Realized cost savings are converted into time for making processes better and more efficient,” summarizes Thomassen. “We also have many different types of clients within KLM and we fully participate in their customer journeys. If our suggestions lead to less customer contact and therefore to a loss of turnover, our share of wallet will increase in another area.”

Wallboards for employees

Back to the workplace. You can only give people responsibilities and authorizations if they also have the correct, up-to-date and reliable management information. That kind of information shows what is expected and what the results are.

Delima: “In many contact centers you see wall displays or wallboards hanging on the work floor that are actually intended for the manager. Cygnific has deliberately opted for screens that show employees where the team stands.”

Thomassen: “The idea from Lean is that employees are in contact with what they do and its quality in the primary process. They must not only be able to provide feedback on those processes, but also be able to work on improvements themselves. Besides the screens, those provide real-time information about relevant processes, there are also 'improvement boards' in every department. There are employees Kaizen sessions held, sometimes together with representatives of the client, which lead to short-cycle improvement actions. In other words, it's not just about screens, just as empowerment isn't just about assigning rights in systems.”

Delima adds: “Everyone receives an introduction to the Lean Six Sigma method upon arrival. From day one, employees are asked to be critical and come up with ideas, in short, to participate in the process. This approach is successful and is now in the DNA of the employees. If visitors want to know what the screens are for, I give the floor to one of the employees – after all, they themselves have come up with the information they want to work with.”

Decide for yourself based on real-time information

Thomassen says that during the implementation of the wallboards, it turned out that employees especially need an overview. “They want to be able to see what is going on effortlessly and at a glance. This can be a combination of information from BI systems combined with real-time status updates. Depending on the department, you will see information about sales or quality of service. It often concerns basic information: how many customers are on hold, how many agents are available. Each team decides for itself which information is relevant to them. It is important that the employee can make his own decisions based on the information provided. For example, whether it is possible to tackle another task such as an improvement process. Or, like yesterday, to 'empty' the queue. Or to make a conversation last longer and give the customer a few extra tips that fit well with a destination and where the agent draws on his own travel and life experience.”

None of the departments has AHT on the performance board, explains Thomassen. “If you manage a contact center on AHT, every employee will scratch their heads three times to add something extra to a conversation. After all, the manager then mainly looks at the outliers. Employees do want to see an indication of the occupancy rate; this gives them the opportunity to indicate to the trafficer at the last minute that they want to take the afternoon off.”

What information do you use?

Attention has been paid to ergonomics the amount of content per screen. Thomassen: “In any case, the information provided should not be distracting. For example, a ticker tape is running in one of the departments that regularly displays up-to-date information, for example about visitors. In webcare, in consultation with KLM Digital, a benchmark of several locations is also shown. The wallboards are not used as a message board for birthdays, other channels are already being used for that. In addition, the information on the wallboards is not static. With some regularity, we check with the teams whether the composition of the information provision still meets the needs. What do you do with the information? What do you use and what not? What would you rather see? That goes into the improvement machine.”

Gradient of 20-25% works well

Delima: “My predecessor Ton Ridder was quite clear: it is pointless to change a large contact center if you are not prepared to look at everything. That is why the provision of information on the work floor is one been an integral part of the Lean Six Sigma project. The whole has led to more customers, higher satisfaction of customers and employees.”

Yet Cygnific is by no means done with the change process. On the contrary, Delima explains. “With us, the employee is able to make decisions that have a major impact on the customer. But if that same employee has a question or request for the internal organization, then we turn out to be a very classic organization. An increasing turnover made it clear that the internal customer focus needs to be much improved. There are contact centers that have no problem with a turnover rate of 35 percent or even consider it low, but we think that's a problem. Cygnific really wants to keep its people on board for a few years, which is also necessary given the nature of our activities. However, a turnover rate of 20 to 25 percent works well for us. All support departments are now going through a program: the same revolution that my predecessor made in the front office will now take place in the internal organization.”

 

Cygnific – founded in 1998 and based in Amsterdam and Enschede in the Netherlands – employs more than 1.000 employees. In total, customers are spoken to in 18 languages, including Air France KLM and Delta Airlines. The company is operational 24x7x365 and has been working with Lean Six Sigma for several years. The company also has offices in Wembley, Tirana, Delhi and Manila employing a further 500 people. Cygnific recently acquired AIS, a service provider in the maritime and offshore sector, with 400 employees. Cygnific's webcare has been updated several times awarded; dialogues are regular viral.

Ramón Delima also speaks on it PlanMen WFM Congress 2019

 

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