Building a Business Case for Investing in Workforce Management Software

Written by KOVA Corp

 

We all have areas of our business we’d like to improve.

Maybe you want your first call resolution rates to go up, so you’re working on building a better knowledge management system for your agents. 

Maybe you want to help your agents improve the way they handle customers, so you’re investing time into one-on-one coaching sessions.

And maybe you want to reduce your costs and manage your scheduling better, so you want to invest in a workforce management system.

While organizing your knowledge better and taking the time for one-on-one coaching can be relatively inexpensive (at least in financial terms), implementing new software like a workforce management system presents a major investment. Because of that, you’ll have to build a strong business case for the purchase if you want your colleagues and superiors to get on board with it.

So how do you build that case? How do you convince your boss that workforce management is the right choice for your contact center?

Document the issues you’re currently having that a workforce management solution could solve.

When you start to build your case, the first thing you have to do is document the problems that are occurring that you want to address with a workforce management solution. Go through the  issues you deal with on a daily, monthly, or long-term basis and identify which ones this new solution could alleviate.

For example, are your scheduling forecasts frequently inaccurate? Does your call volume often outstrip the number of agents available to handle it? Do you often find yourself unsure of organizational needs at any given time? A workforce management system can help solve each of these problems.

Once you’ve got your list, you’re ready to move on to the next step.

Identify the benefits of a workforce management system for your contact center.

Workforce management has many benefits, but anyone can find a list and rattle it off. Instead of just relying on the generalized benefits to win over your boss, try to develop a list of benefits that pertain specifically to your organization.

For example, maybe your cross-selling numbers have been lower than you’d like. Using workforce management software, you can identify schedule the agents who’ve had the best cross-selling results at optimal times.

The more specific you can be, the better case you’ll build.

Estimate the costs of the investment.

Of course, any executive will want to know what the new software you’re pitching will cost the organization.

While you may be tempted to lowball the number, that’s rarely a good idea.  You may get sign-off initially, but If the project begins coming in over budget you’ll have an angry boss and harried work environment to deal with. At worst, the project may even be cut off before it’s complete.

Instead, put together a good estimate of how much the workforce management solution will cost. You’ll need to consider the cost of the actual software, plus any consultants who will be needed to set it up and test it. You’ll also need to estimate the costs of training, as well as factor in any time that will be lost during implementation.

If there are any realistic ways that you think your organization could reduce costs along the way, make a note of those as well.

Put it all together into one coherent plan.

Once you’ve gotten all this information together, it’s time to work it into a coherent presentation. You want to ensure that you present a well-conceived plan, so that it’s clear you’ve put time and thought into this.

Include categories like:

  • Short- and long-term goals
  • Project ROI
  • Timeline
  • Budget
  • Change management
  • Training

Depending on how formal your presentation needs to be, you may want to practice it a time or two with a colleague. Even if it’s going to be a casual meeting, run through your plan yourself enough so that you know your numbers and can answer general questions without digging through your notes.

If you can do all this, you will have built a strong business case for your workforce management software.

To learn more about how workforce management can help your company, read our posts A Fresh Look at Call Center Workforce Management Parts 1 and 2.

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