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Anin-depthlookatthechallengesfacingseniormanagersPublishedbyTheMcKinseyQuarterlyMay2006McKinseyonBankingUsingcallcenterstoboostrevenueManycompaniescanturntheirinboundcallcentersintopowerfulenginesforgrowth.ChrisCorrArticleataglanceForsometelecomandcreditcardcompanies,callcentersaccountformorethanhalfofallnewrevenues.Butafearofputtingservicecustomersoffwithsalespitchesandanignoranceofhowmuchvalueisatstakehavemademanyretailbanksslowtoimplementaservice-to-salesprogram.Weestimatethatsuccessfuleffortstocross-sellduringinboundservicecallscouldboostaretailbank’ssalesofnewproductsby10percent,basedonastudyofNorthAmericanbanks.Torealizethisgoal,companiesmustfirstprovideconsistent,high-qualitycustomerservice.Thenexecutivesmustensurethatallemployeeshavethepropermind-set,motivation,andskills.2UsingcallcenterstoboostrevenueAndyEichfeld,TimothyD.Morse,andKatherineW.ScottAdecadeago,mostcompanieshadn’tevenconsideredtherevenuepotentialofinboundcustomerservicecallcenters.Buttoday,callcentersgenerateupto25percentoftotalnewrevenuesforsomecreditcardcompaniesandupto60percentforsometelecos.Thetoppriorityofagentsinthesecallcentersisresolvingserviceissues.Buttheyarealsoencouragedtoinitiateconversationstouncovertheneedsofcustomers,andthiscomponentofthejobcanleadtosalesofnewproductsorupgradesofcurrentones.Partlyforfearthatasalespitchwillputoffcustomersseekingservice,othersectors,suchasretailbanking,havebeenslowtoturnservicecallsintosalescalls.Yetourresearchindicatesthatwhenagentsmeettheserviceneedsofcustomersandthenaskthemabouttheirbroadneedsinasincereway,customersarereceptivetobuyingnewproducts.Wealsofindthatcompanieshavefailedtotapthefullrevenuepotentialoftheircallcentersbecausetheyjustdon’tunderstandtheextentoftheopportunity.Inretailbanking,forexample,weestimatethateveryfiveinboundserviceagentscouldgenerateasmuchnewretailbusinessasonematurebranch.Sincecallcentershandlemorethan30percentofallcustomerinteractionsfortopbanksinNorthAmerica,effortstocross-sellduringinboundservicecallscouldincreaseannualsalesofnewproductsbyanamountequivalentto10percentoftheretailsalesgeneratedbyabank’sentirebranchnetwork.Totransformcallcenters,banks—andothercompaniesintheearlystagesofeffortstoturnservicecallsintosales—mustfirstprovideconsistent,high-qualitycustomerservice.Thenexecutivesmustensurethatallemployees,fromthetopleadershiptofrontlineagents,havethepropermind-set,motivation,andskills.UntappedcallcenterpotentialforbanksBankshavebeenslowtoembraceaservice-to-salesprogram,mostlybecausetheirproducts(suchashomeequityloans)areinherentlymorecomplicatedthan,say,telecommunicationsproducts(call-waiting,forexample).Duringthefirsthalfof2005,westudiedtheservice-to-salesperformanceofsixlargeretailbanksinNorthAmerica—amongotherthings,bymonitoring250bankcallcenteragentsandevaluatingmorethan600servicecalls.Wefoundalargegapbetweenthesecompaniesandthoseinmorematureservice-to-salesindustriesinthemotivationofagentsandtheirskillsforcross-selling.Intelecommunications,forinstance,agentstrytoexploretheneedsofcustomersinhalfofallservicecalls.Theserviceagentsofmanybanksdosolessfrequently(Exhibit1).Onaverage,bankagentscross-selllessthanonecoreproductforevery100inboundcallstheyhandle.Buteachcallcenterwestudiedhadagroupoftop-performingagentswhosoldmorethanthreecoreproductsforevery100calls,aswellasalargenumberofagentswithnosalesatall.Ourfindingssuggestthatbankshavearealopportunitytoimprovetheaverageperformanceoftheiragents.Indeed,weknowoftwoNorthAmericanbanks(notcoveredinourstudy)thathaveturnedtheirinboundcustomerservicecallcentersintopowerfulenginesforgrowth.Typically,thesebanksselluptofourcoreproducts1forevery100callstheirserviceagentshandleandasmanyasfiveadditionalrelationship-buildingproducts(forexample,directdepositandonlinebankingandbill-paymentservices).Atthisrate,weestimate,everyfiveinboundserviceagentscangeneratenew-productsalesequivalenttothesalesofonematurebankbranch(Exhibit2).Makingsalesthroughcallcenteragentsdoesconsiderablybumpupthedemandsonday-to-daymanagementandoperationsprocesses.Nevertheless,launchingacomprehensiveservice-to-salesprogramtypicallyrequireslowerup-front1Coreproductsincludedepositproducts(suchascheckingandsavingsaccounts,debitcards,certificatesofdeposit,andmoneymarketdepositaccounts)andcreditproducts(suchascreditcards,mortgageloans,homeequityloansandlinesofcredit,andoverdraftprotection)aswellasotherinvestments.3Usingcallcenterstoboostrevenueinvestmentsandexpensesthanopeningahandfulofnewbranches.Inanycase,theextracostsincurredthroughhigheraveragecallhandletimes,additionaltrainingandcoachingforagents,andlowersupervisor-to-agentratiosadduptolessthan10percentofthenewsales’value.Wefoundthatitisnotsomuchalackofinvestmentthatslowstheprogressofmostbanks—andothercompanies—tryingtoturncallcentersintoprofitcentersbutratherdeeplyrootedmind-setsthatpreventagentsfromachievingtheirsalespotential.Argumentsoverwhogetsthecreditfornewsales,managersandagentswhothinkthatcross-sellingwillannoyservicecustomers,andtheperceivedstigmaoftelephonesalescombinetocreateaformidab