What Are Best-in-Class Call Centers Doing Differently?

BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 13, 2007 -- Findings from a new report by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), answer the challenging questions call centers around the world want to know: "Is your contact center improving customer satisfaction?" "What can you do to improve your revenue per agent in the call center?" "What improvements have companies that have implemented a multi-channel call center strategy seen?"

Aberdeen Group recently conducted a survey to answer these questions, and the results were very surprising. Over 59 percent of best-in-class companies have seen an improvement in first call closure rate, a key metric tracked by most call centers, after implementing a multi-channel call center agent strategy.

The benchmark report "The Multi-Channel Call Center Agent: Myth or Reality" provides a deep dive into what best-in-class companies are doing differently that allows them to get better results than other companies in implementing a multi-channel agent strategy. The research also shows that revenue-per-agent metrics for best-in-class companies are nearly twice that of average and laggard companies. In addition, 37 percent of best-in-class companies have seen a greater than 25 percent improvement in customer satisfaction after implementing a multi-channel agent strategy.

"A multi-channel call center provides new opportunities for firms not only to enhance the customer experience but also to improve their bottom line. Increasing customer satisfaction opens up the interaction for more revenue-generating opportunities," says Alan Hubbard, Senior Vice President of the Sales and Marketing practice at Aberdeen. "Ninety-four percent of the best-in class companies increased their customer satisfaction indices compared to 76 percent of the average companies and 24 percent of the laggards. The best-in-class companies were able to maintain and improve their customer satisfaction indices while moving to a new business process."

The research, underwritten by Aspect Software, Astute Solutions and Syntellect, shows readers those factors, which contribute to the success of multi-channel call center agents. It also provides the results that companies have seen across key metrics, after implementing a multi-channel call center agent strategy, and compares these companies against those who have not persued a similar strategy.

To download a complimentary copy of the report for a limited time, please visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3864

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information -- Opportunity -- Insight -- Engagement -- Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Alan Hubbard Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5301 Alan.hubbard@aberdeen.com