An Inside Look at our Call Center

Our growth story is peppered with challenges and triumphs, but there's a vital chapter often hidden in the background—the rise of our Call Center Team. Today, I want to provide you with an inside look at how our Call Center operates, the crucial roles within it, and how we measure success.

Seven years ago, as I took the reins of my business, we had only three technicians in the field, and their schedules were far from packed.

Marketing wasn't even on the horizon, and our phones remained ominously quiet. We first got on Service Titan back in 2017 so I did some scrounging and found this data:

Six years ago, we fielded a mere 272 phone calls per week. Fast forward to 2023, and we're talking about a staggering 2,873 phone calls. Yes, you read that right—Two Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy Three phone calls. And mind you, this number doesn't even include the hundreds of texts, emails, and Angi customer contacts we handle weekly.

Our Call Center juggles an astounding 4,000 contacts every week—a number that may seem outlandish, but it's the challenge that fuels our business.

In the field, our technicians each serve 15-25 customers weekly, often dealing with a handful of challenging cases. However, in the Call Center, our CSRs engage with hundreds of people weekly, each with varying levels of distress over their issues.

Scaling a Call Center to manage this volume has been a large task, where every detail suddenly becomes paramount—job types, wait times, question accuracy, and ensuring our Field Professionals are set up for success on every call.

The Three Key Roles in Our Call Center:

1. CSRs (Customer Service Representatives):
   
   These dedicated team members handle inbound calls and ensure they're efficiently booked. We aim to book 90% of all leads that come our way through CSRs. This is a monumental task as effective resource utilization is essential, especially considering the significant cost of marketing. CSRs play a pivotal role in collecting the right information, ensuring accurate job types, and asking the questions our Field Professionals need to know. They also actively engage in selling additional memberships and outbound calls for Healthy Home visits.
   
   

1. Dispatchers:
   
   Dispatchers are the linchpin between our Field Professionals and the CSR team. They manage the influx of calls and ensure they're routed appropriately.
   
   The success of Dispatchers is measured by their ability to book all High Priority jobs on the same day, meet our minimum call goals per technician, and come close to revenue or sales targets. The efficiency of Dispatchers can significantly impact daily revenue, with well-organized days potentially yielding up to 50% more revenue.
   
   
2. ISRs (Inside Sales Representatives):
   
   Our newest team members, ISRs focus solely on outbound calls. They reach out to existing customers daily, keeping them informed about promotions, business updates, and following up on unsold estimates. While the booking rate here may be relatively low, this team is a strategic investment in our marketing efforts.
   
   They help fill the board during mild weather and when customers aren't actively searching for our services. We anticipate that our ISR team will significantly boost available opportunities during our historic slow period between February and May.

That's a snapshot of our Call Center! These three core roles enable us to manage an astonishing 4,000 contacts each week, and we're committed to continuous improvement.

Our CSRs currently dedicating over an hour each day to training, ensuring we deliver outstanding customer experiences and provide precise information for our Dispatchers and Field Professionals. They're the beating heart of the operation, and they should be at your business as well.

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
https://www.wilsonplumbingandheating.com

The Owned and Operated newsletter and podcast by John Wilson brings the best HVAC, plumbing, and electrical growth podcast information to business owners looking to grow, scale, and win big. Visit us at www.ownedandoperated.com.