Automobile Protection Corporation (APCO) Drives Innovation and Process Improvements with Verint
Automobile Protection Corporation (APCO) is a leading marketer and administrator of extended vehicle service contracts, warranties, and other related products sold primarily by automobile dealers located throughout the United States
The results
Maintained consistent service levels
Improved speed-to answer times
Continual training and skills advancement
About APCO
Automobile Protection Corporation (APCO) is a leading marketer and administrator of extended vehicle service contracts, warranties, and other related products sold primarily by automobile dealers located throughout the United States. The company markets its products using its widely recognized EasyCare and GWC brands, as well as other private label automobile manufacturer brands. EasyCare and GWC Warranty are the only “MotorTrend Recommended Best Buy” brands in the automotive aftermarket.
As APCO has grown over the years, it has relied on Verint technology to help drive and maintain industry innovation and leadership by supporting claims and customer service excellence. Verint Workforce Engagement solutions are crucial to helping the company manage its spikes in call volume, which mirror the automotive purchase cycle that peaks in and around the summer holidays, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and right after the New Year. In addition, the company experiences call volume peaks on Mondays, with volume subsiding over the course of the week.
Ongoing process improvement and agent coaching
All calls handled by the company’s 270 agents are recorded using Verint Interaction Recording. Agent screens are also recorded using Verint Screen Capture, enabling supervisors and call center management to understand what agents are doing on their desktops during customer conversations. Approximately 20 percent of agent-customer phone interactions undergo call monitoring using Verint Quality Management. This supports ongoing process improvement and agent coaching.
Reporting is done on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to provide APCO executives with an overview of key contact center metrics, such as number of interactions handled, speed to answer, and call duration. Additionally, with the increased visibility into performance that the Verint software provides, management and staff can regularly measure performance against goals, as well as take corrective action as needed based on actionable insights.
Watch HereSolution: Workforce Management for staff planning, forecasting and scheduling
Prior to implementing Verint, APCO ran scheduling monthly. However, it recognized that changes were required to schedule its contact center staff more strategically to better align capacity and call volumes.
Leveraging Verint Enterprise Workforce Management for staff planning, forecasting, and scheduling, the company instituted a 10-hour a day, four-day a week schedule, including a one hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks per working day. Next, it started scheduling on the first day of the week versus the first day of the month. This provided a more balanced work schedule by ensuring agents were not stuck working until 8 p.m. one day and then starting work at 8 a.m. the next day.
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"Within one month of deploying the Verint software, we were able to even out our call volume and customer complaints related to speed-to-answer times completely stopped. We're now more efficient at managing our contact center, as opposed to micro-managing it."
Benefits: Improved scheduling and call coverage
When you are in the automotive aftermarket and auto warranty business, being responsive to customer needs is quintessential. Leveraging Verint’s software, APCO has continuously been able to effectively manage its growing workforce and call volume. This included a period of significant expansion, when the company went from one to three contact centers.
APCO deployed Verint Workforce Engagement solutions to support its goal of improving scheduling and call coverage to ensure 95 percent of calls are answered in 45 seconds. The company ultimately bested this goal – with 98 percent of all calls answered in 30 seconds or less.
“Within one month of deploying the Verint software, we were able to even out our call volume and customer complaints related to speed-to-answer times completely stopped,” says Mark Reilly, telecommunications at APCO. “We’re now more effective at managing our contact center, as opposed to micro-managing it.”
Furthermore, the technology has helped create a positive and empowering work environment for APCO’s agents, helping to heighten agent retention. In fact, half of the company’s customer service representatives have been with the company for ten years or longer.
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