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Company: Kohl's Department Stores - Credit Division, Menomonee Falls, WI
Company Description: If you've ever shopped one of our clean, bright department stores, you've already experienced our commitment to family, value and national brands. Our stores are stocked with everything you need for women, children and men, plus home products like small electrics, bedding, luggage and more. We offer the best merchandise, the best prices, and we're always working to make your shopping enjoyable.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Contact Center of the Year (Over 100 Seats) - All Other Industries

Nomination Title: The Kohl’s Charge Contact Center

Tell the story about what this nominated contact center achieved since the beginning of July 2012 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

The Kohl’s Charge Contact Center, a 900+ seat environment with four locations, provides Retail & Customer Service and Operational Support to 25+ million Kohl’s Charge Card customers and 1,158 retail store locations. 3 balanced elements define the Kohl’s unique Contact Center Strategy …
The C/3 Brand … “Taking Care of People,” one call at-a-time.

2013 Outcomes

• Convenient (Efficient) access - 88% of calls answered in 20 seconds (12 second ASA)
• Courteous (Consistent) service - Voice of Customer response … Associate Courtesy rated … 97.12%
• Correct (Accurate) answers/solutions Voice of Customer response … 1st Call Resolution rated … 95.21%

"Strawman" & "Scarecrow" Production Modeling … Standard daily templates (i.e. Strawman) establish production, coaching, training, meetings, etc. times for Managers and their Associates (i.e. “the gift of time”). Scarecrow reporting measures the outcome of these activities. As a result, productive phone time has increased over 400 basis points, and schedule adherence remains above 90%.

Unique IVR strategy … The Kohl’s Contact Center improved its IVR on 2 occasions, enhancing caller access to an Agent at the “front end” of their call, reducing time to reach an agent, and increasing Voice of Customer IVR survey scores over 1,000 basis points. Recently the Kohl’s Customer Service IVR was recognized by SQM (i.e. Survey Quality Measurement) for “Highest IVR Customer Satisfaction” in Navigation.

C/3 Performance “Scorecarding” … The daily scorecard is a measure of each Associate’s C/3 performance (including specific customer survey results) that rollup into Supervisor, Management and site level outcomes.

Unique Pay-for Performance programs … The C/3 Brand model and performance Scorecarding have been designed to identify and reward Associates on three separate performance tiers. Since this innovative program was implemented, Associate performance has improved over 13%. Again in 2013, consistent 4% production increase has more than offset the program’s cost.

Voice of Associate Survey … 2013 Associate survey results, completed by Kenexa, show continued growth.

Kohl’s vs Industry
Engagement … 83% favorable vs 71%
Performance Excellence … 82% favorable vs 73%

Customer Satisfaction Indexing … Benchmarking … The Kohl’s Contact Center evaluates its ongoing performance in 3 primary ways.

1. Internal Measurement … of standard results, emphasizing year-over-year improvements; 2013 examples are as follows:

a. Tripling “e-statement” penetration since 2008 at a combined savings of $38.8 million in expenses
b. Monthly VOC results (post call customer surveys) reflecting a 94.62% rating for “Overall Service” in 2013
c. “Margin 300” … Performance between sites varied less than 300 basis point, resulting in consistent customer experiences
d. Maintaining Service Levels of 80% of calls answered under 20 seconds, 57 out of the past 60 months.

2. Industry Metrics … Recent McKinsey & Company analyses of Kohl’s Call Center, when compared with their CCE Database showed, “the call center’s overall position exceeds best practice,” with “extremely high cost performance,“ and a “CSAT (customer satisfaction) that outperforms best in practice.”

3. Involvement with state and national quality programs provides insight into industry peers and their perspectives. (i.e. - Wisconsin Forward - Mastery Level past 3 years, American Business Awards - 6 Gold “Stevies” since 2008, and SQM - “World Class Status” - Customer Service) Independent feedback continues to improve the Customer Service .

Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated contact center:

Jim Nagle’s current responsibilities include the overall direction of the Kohl’s Charge (i.e. Card) Call Center, providing Customer Service and Operational Support to Kohl’s Charge customers across the nation. Prior to Kohl’s, Jim spent 20+ years in the Financial Industry holding leadership positions in Retail Banking, Mortgage Servicing, Call Center Sales and Servicing, Technical & Merchant Help Desk Support as well as Debit & Credit Card Operations. In addition, Jim has been a frequent presenter on the local and national levels touching on topics ranging from Leadership to Call Center design. Jim’s background in Call Center work has also focused heavily on a variety of quality principles impacting strategic design and management that have led his teams and Call Center operations to various service awards.