Softline Pastel contact centre leader finalist, international awards

Tanya Miranda, director of Softline Pastel's 123-agent support contact centre, which handles more than 50 000 calls a month, has been nominated as Best Contact Centre Leader for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) by ContactCentre World.com - the global conference, research and online magazine provider for the contact centre industry.

Pastel business development director, Lara Nahon, says the nomination is especially gratifying "because not only is Tanya's leadership style exceptional, in that she works with each agent individually on an ongoing basis, but also our call centre runs on a different approach from most others.

"It is deliberately structured to be one of our main communication channels with customers, so we can keep them up to date on the ongoing regulatory changes to accounting methodologies, as well as any upgrades to our software.

"It therefore enables us to keep our communication with customers tightly targeted and relevant - and go beyond accounting to partnering our customers in running their businesses.

"Tanya's nomination recognises that once a call centre meets all the basic criteria for successful responsiveness to customers, there's always that little bit more you can do to enhance customer service.

"It also recognises that your call centre leader is an integral part of your executive team, because she has to execute your customer relationship strategy in more ways than simply managing the way agents manage your customers. She has to ensure that your call centre personifies your corporate image."

In the nine years that Miranda has been running the Pastel call centre, it has tripled in size. Two years ago, she doubled the number of agents to ensure the correct ratio of agents to customers - and optimise agent initiative.

"I'm adamant about empowering agents to solve problems themselves without having to refer to me or any of the team leaders - although I'm also adamant that all of us are always available to our agents.

"Solving customer problems in the most efficient and effective way can include an agent going to the customer's premises. It doesn't happen a lot, but it gives them a sense of urgency when they go back to the phones, because they've seen just how much pressure customers feel when, for instance, there's a hold up at the point of sale or debtors can't be invoiced.

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"That's the greatest challenge when teaching agents - the sense of urgency on behalf of the customer. And that's why we sit with every agent, coaching them through calls. We allow them to make the decisions and then we analyse the decisions afterwards to see what could have been done better."

Nine years in a call centre is a long time. Does Miranda ever tire of it?

"I absolutely love what I do. For me it's all about helping people grow. For instance, many of our agents come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and arrive here either fresh from a tertiary qualification or another call centre where they've not been encouraged to think for themselves, and within two or three years with us they're team leader material."

Doesn't that make agents difficult to retain?

"Our average retention rate is 22 months, versus the industry average of 18 months. And most of the agents that leave the call centre go to other jobs within Pastel. So the company as a whole retains the talent and skills that we nurture in the call centre."

Should Miranda win the EMEA award in London in July, she will be eligible for the Contact Centre World Award finals to be held in Las Vegas in the United States in November 2007.

Other finalists include contact centre leaders from international companies such as FedEx and DHL. Absa is the only other South African organisation to have been nominated in this category.