First-Class Service at
30,000 Feet and Below
Case Study:
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES
Andre Harris
Director, Reservations Training and Quality
Assurance
Continental Airlines
aharris@coair.com
Continental Profile
THE GO FORWARD PLAN
Fly to Win
Fund
the Future
Make
Reliability
a Reality
Product
Revenue
“No Cash,
No Future”
Operations
Working
Together
People
Contact Centers
 Three Domestic and 18 Int’l Contact Centers
 2,500+ Agent Workstations
 4,600+ Reservations Agents
 60 Million+ calls annually, including airline
reservations, frequent flyer program and third
party customers
Call Volume
 Annual Call Volume:
 VRU / SRU:
 Average Handle Time:
55,000,000
7,000,000
280 Seconds
 Inbound Toll-Free Traffic:
95%
 Inbound Calls Handled by More
than One Center:
83%
Call Functions
 Domestic
 International
 Support
 Executive Desk
 OP Service Center
 Spanish
 Rates
 Elite
 Electronic Service
 Customer Care
 Rewards
 Partner
 Wholesale
 Foreign Language
 Prepaids
 Hearing-Impaired
 Grandeur
 Military
 Government
 Chairman’s Circle
 Oxygen
 FAA
 Groups
 MeetingWorks
Salt Lake City Reservations
 885 Employees (600 FTE’s)
 General Sales, International, OnePass Partners,
ePass & Support
 6AM – 12AM Local
Tampa Reservations
 1153 Employees (794.5 FTE’s)
 General Sales, International, Queues, Service
Recovery & Support
 24 Hours
North Houston Center
North Houston Center
 2,604 Employees (1,882 FTE’s)
 General Sales, International, Groups,
MeetingWorks,
 Support, Electronic Support Desk, Foreign
Language, etc.
 24 Hours
Technology Infrastructure - VOICE
Product
Provider
Areas of Installation
ACD
Rockwell
Spectrum
All Centers
PBX
Lucent G3
North Houston
Intelligent Call Router
Cisco
All Centers
Toll Free
Sprint, AT&T
All Centers
Voice/Speech Response
Units
Innervoice /
Nortel
Tampa/North Houston
E-mail Management
Firepond
Technology Infrastructure - DATA
Product
Provider
Areas of Installation
Workforce
Management
Aspect version 5.0
All Centers
CTI
Concerto
All Centers
(screen pop)
Predictive Dialer
Concerto
Tampa
EZR (GUI)
CO Technology
All Centers
Call Monitoring
Witness Systems
All Centers
eQuality Balance
Technology Infrastructure
DeskTops
Servers
WIN XP
WIN NT
WIN 2000
WIN NT
Routers / Switches
3Com / Cisco
Database Structure
SQL
Application Development
VB6
C++
.net
LAN / WAN
Access to Application
Terminal Server (in
development / testing)
Customer Service
Customer Service
Measure What’s Important to the Customer
Key Customer Drivers
Train, Reinforce and Expect Superior Customer
Service
Measure What’s Important to
Customers
 Newsflash: Customers don’t care if we say,
“Thanks for Calling Continental.”
So… we don’t measure it!
 No More “Absolutes.”
 Results-Oriented and Big Picture Strategies.
• Honor Individual Styles that Achieve Positive
Results.
 No Scripting.
• Promote Best Practices & Success Secrets
from Best Agents.
Ask Your Customers
 “What do customers value? We asked them!”
 Before we spent $ on our product or made
changes to our quality and training programs,
we asked our customers what they value…
 Customer Focus Groups & Interviews.
Our definition of FIRST CLASS SERVICE is
simple… it’s the Customer’s!
Key Customer Drivers
Customers want to speak with CSR’s that will:
1. Provide Accurate Information
2. Understand Needs
3. Answer Promptly
4. Provide Friendly and Courteous Service
5. Provide Assistance with Finding “The Best
Deals”
6. Provide Efficient Service
7. Be Responsive
Training @ Continental
 New-Hire Training Revamped to Include Key
Customer Drivers
 Created New Training Programs, “Sellebration”
and “Ex$ellence”
 Recurrent Training = 4 Hours per Agent, per
Month
Measuring the
Right Things
“What gets measured
and rewarded,
gets done.”
-Gordon Bethune
Continental Airlines Chairman & CEO
Key Result Areas
Customer Service
Quality Rating /
Customer Feedback
Sales
Bookings per Hour
eTicket %
Production
Calls per Hour
Agent Status & Quality Monitoring
Frequency
Above Target
Calls/month
1 Coaching Session X 3
On Target
Calls/month
1 Coaching Session X 5
Below Target
Calls/month
2 Coaching Sessions X 5
Probationary
Calls/month
2 Coaching Sessions X 5
The Evolution of Quality
Monitoring
 1990 = 65 Questions / Attributes
• A World of “Absolutes” & Micromanaging
 1995 = 34 Questions / Attributes
• Scripting, Robo-Res & Mixed Messages
 2000 - Present = 14 Attributes
• Balance Customer Service, Sales &
Production
• Big Picture / Results-Oriented
Customer Service Attributes
Provides and Documents Accurate Information
Provides Courteous Service
Provides Appropriate Options or Solutions
Uses Customer Care Guidelines to Resolve
Problems
Satisfies DOT & CustomerFirst Commitments
Customer Mishandling
Example: Accurate Information
It’s all or nothing; partial information or 99% of
the information is not good enough.
This “attribute” replaced 16 questions on a
previous call evaluation form.
1.
Quoted Minimum 2 Flight Schedules
9.
Recapped Itinerary
2.
Advised Complete Fare Rules
10. Assigned Seats
3.
Documented Fare Rules
11. Documented Special Service Requests
4.
Advised Correct Policies & Procedures
12. Booked / Rebooked Flights Correctly
5.
Documented Correct Ticket-Time-Limit
13. Advised Correct Travel Documents
6.
Documented Correct Credit Card #
14. Documented Travel Documents
7.
Documented Correct Billing Address
15. Documented Citizenship
8.
Documented Correct Phone Number
16. Documented Correct OnePass Number
Example: Accurate Information
It’s all or nothing; partial information or 99% of
the information is not good enough.
This “attribute” replaced 16 questions on a
previous call evaluation form.
1.
Quoted Minimum 2 Flight Schedules
9.
Recapped Itinerary
2.
Advised Complete Fare Rules
10. Assigned Seats
3.
Documented Fare Rules
11. Documented Special Service Requests
4.
Advised Correct Policies & Procedures
12. Booked / Rebooked Flights Correctly
5.
Documented Correct Ticket-Time-Limit
13. Advised Correct Travel Documents
6.
Documented Correct Credit Card #
14. Documented Travel Documents
7.
Documented Correct Billing Address
15. Documented Citizenship
8.
Documented Correct Phone Number
16. Documented Correct OnePass Number
Sales
 Asks for the Sale
 Offers eTicket
 Offers Alternatives to Overcome Objections
 Offers Special Promotions
Production
Remains Focused on the Business Purpose of
the Call
Research Using Available Tools and Resources
before contacting Customer Service Manager
Best Possible Navigation of Computer System
Identifies Customer Needs
Guides the Call in a Logical Manner
Results
Results & Rewards
Happy Employees = Happy Customers
Results & ROI
Quality As A Qualifier
Reward Excellent Customer Service
Happy Employees =
Happy Customers!
Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work for –
6 consecutive years!
Awarded Call Center of the Year 2003 by Call
Center Magazine!
Less than 5% Annual Turnover!
Results & ROI
1. Sales
• Reservations Revenue increased 17% vs.
15% YOY
• 24% increase YOY in “car transfers”
• Named Avis & Hertz Transfer Partner of Year
2002
2. Quality Assurance
• 10% jump in average Quality Scores YOY
• 50% increase YOY in calls evaluated
• 29% increase YOY in Coaching time
Results & ROI
3.
3. Productivity
• 1 to 32 Team Leader to Agent Ratio
4. Customer Service / Productivity
• Reduced Calls to Support Desk from 5.8% 4.8% YOY (2001 vs. 2002)
• Ended 2003 with 3.8%
• $0 in DOT/CustomerFirst Fines in 2001-2003
What is the number 1 Key
Driver from Our
Customers?
92%
1. Courteous Service
2. Efficient Service
3. Accurate Information
0%
1
8%
2
3
How many questions
are on the current call
monitoring form?
92%
1. 14
2. 18
3. 22
1
4%
4%
2
3
How many calls are
evaluated in a month for
a Below Target
employee?
63%
1. 35
25%
2. 10
13%
3. 15
1
2
3
How many years has
Continental been awarded
a “Best Company to Work
for?”
79%
1. 4
2. 5
11%
11%
1
2
3. 6
3
What quality monitoring
tool does Continental
use?
75%
1. Tape Recorders
2. Witness Systems
3. Nice
14%
11%
1
2
3
Questions?