[Case Study] Evolution of the Hub

We were in the middle of planning discussions in the fall 2001 when our Marketing Director James Spring suggested that we consider a central call center — a hub — similar to FedEx’s hub-and-spoke business model. On the board James drew six circles with the hub, or call center, in the middle with spokes leading out to each of our five branch offices. He proposed that all phone calls would be answered in the hub and all necessary information would be sent to the branches.

Our branch managers and my father didn’t like it. My father said, "Why would you want to do something like that?" Others asked why we would want to change something that wasn’t "broken"? Our branch mangers feared a loss of control. Regardless, we knew that our customer service quality varied from branch to branch. And we knew that whenever Betty Sue called out sick in June in the San Marcos branch, our on-hold times would skyrocket. We knew that these problems were holding us back. Over the next several months we discussed the details of how we could make a call center would work for us.

CHALLENGES & SUCCESSES. In March of 2002, we opened our call center with much trepidation. James and I had read up on how to start a call center, and had attended a call center industry conference in Las Vegas. We knew just enough to be dangerous. Things started out alright, but it was March and as everyone knows in the pest control business, March is nothing like the peak of the summer.

The peak of the summer brought on new challenges. We found ourselves upside down. Though we had done our best to estimate call volume in previous years, we found that we weren’t even close. On our busiest days, we all answered phones to help survive the summer. We learned a lot that first year, and the dedication of many fine people allowed us to survive our own self-induced trial by fire.

In March of this year, we will celebrate the sixth anniversary of the opening of the hub. In my dad’s own words: "This was a good move." Since we opened the hub, we have captured call volume data and we now are able to manage our customer service representatives in ways we never imagined before. The call data allows us to hire part-time people to staff for our peak call times and we have almost no trouble hiring qualified CSRs. If we place one ad on Craig’s List we have more than enough candidates for the season.

Through the hub we deliver a higher quality phone conversation than we ever thought possible under the old format. This is made possible by improved training, call monitoring, call scripts (or "guidelines") and a work environment that is second to none.

FUN IN THE HUB. When James (our marketing director) created the hub, he wanted to create a fun work environment that helped ensure that the people on the phones had smiles on their faces — smiles that our customers could "hear." The hub was a fun place to be — with beanbag chairs, weekly potlucks, and even a karaoke machine. The person with the best monitored call for the week was allowed to choose someone who had to sing karaoke in the office at the end of the day on Friday! I even sang once. Strangely, they never asked me to sing again.

After three years of having the hub isolated at its own site, we decided that we should collocate the hub and corporate office. In January of 2005, our headquarters and call center moved into our current location, and the result is a perfect blend of fun and professionalism. Our corporate office also serves as our location for the majority of our classroom training. The goal was to further improve the quality of service and to create a professional and fun work environment. I am a strong believer in having fun at work. I believe we all spend way too much time at work to not enjoy what we are doing.

Our corporate call center has a "bad bugs" theme to it. We have created a "bug prison," and James even cast me as the "warden." Upon entering our office, you will see cartoon bugs talking on prison phones, and we have a "booking area" as well. Every door has a cartoon bug depicted in his "cell" behind bars.

ADDED BONUSES. We believe we have successfully moved our customer service to an entirely new level. We are able to manage staffing more easily, and there is a consistent message. Just as importantly, the call center format, joined as it is now with our corporate office, allows us to hear the word on the street — and fast. If a branch schedule is booked for a week, we know. If there are issues with a technician, or damage to property, we get the info here first. Everybody in the branches realizes this. Nobody wants a call from headquarters to discuss a customer complaint. As a result, those complaints rarely occur. We hadn’t anticipated the "internal affairs" aspect of the call center during its creation, but as an ancillary bonus, the benefit is huge.

I enjoy being able to walk through our "hub" and hear what we are saying to our customers, and hear what they are saying to us. It has made us more responsive to our customers and, as a result, we provide much better service.

The author is president/CEO of Lloyd Pest Control, San Diego, Calif. He can be reached at jogle@giemedia.com.