Astute Solutions Partners with BenchmarkPortal
Benchmarking and Certification Audits Provide Proven Path for Enhancing Contact Center Effectiveness and Efficiency
COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 2004--Astute Solutions(R), a leading provider of customer interaction solutions, announced today that it has partnered with BenchmarkPortal. The partnership enables Astute Solutions to offer call center benchmarking and to perform audits that lead to Call Center of Excellence certification, under a Center for Customer-Driven Quality program managed by BenchmarkPortal.
BenchmarkPortal, co-founded by Jon Anton, Ph.D., specializes in benchmarking, certification and satisfaction measurement for contact centers. It is affiliated with Purdue University's Center for Customer-Driven Quality.
"Benchmarking provides an objective measurement of performance that can identify areas for improvement and reduce barriers to change," said Joseph M. Sanda, president and chief executive officer of Astute Solutions. "The database developed by Purdue University's Center for Customer-Driven Quality and BenchmarkPortal is the most comprehensive anywhere. It is complemented by a thorough audit process designed to enable organizations to achieve Center of Excellence Certification."
The Center for Customer-Driven Quality at Purdue University has collected call center benchmark data since 1995 and has approximately 20,000 members in its Benchmarking Community. Based on provided metrics, BenchmarkPortal maps call centers into one of four quadrants based on efficiency (cost performance) and effectiveness (delivering quality to the customer). Organizations in the lower-left quadrant are inefficient and ineffective. The upper-right quadrant is reserved for organizations with both effective and efficient call centers.
The goal of the audit process is to define the improvements required to move a call center into the upper-right quadrant. Once this goal is achieved, the call center becomes eligible for Center of Excellence Certification.
"Our program is based on research that indicates the best call centers are also the least expensive to operate," said Dr. Jon Anton, director of benchmark research at the Purdue University Center for Customer-Driven Quality. "Astute Solutions is an ideal partner because they understand how process, people and technology play a critical role in enhancing call center operations."
"Astute's philosophy has always been that technology should support the process, not vice versa," said Geoffrey Bibo, vice president of business development for Astute Solutions. "This partnership with BenchmarkPortal allows us to extend our relationship with customers beyond that of a technology provider and become a partner with them in identifying and implementing changes that reduce costs and increase the effectiveness of their operations."
More details on the Astute Solutions and BenchmarkPortal partnership are provided at www.astutesolutions.com/benchmark.html.
About BenchmarkPortal
BenchmarkPortal, co-founded by Dr. Jon Anton, is the custodian of the Purdue University Center for Customer-Driven Quality database of contact center metrics, the largest in the world. It provides reports, products and services for contact centers in the areas of benchmarking, certification, customer satisfaction measurement and agent satisfaction measurement. Its client list includes many Fortune 500 companies in North America, as well as companies from around the globe.
BenchmarkPortal is headquartered in Santa Maria, CA, and may be reached at (805) 614-0123 or on the Web at www.BenchmarkPortal.com.
About Astute Solutions
Astute Solutions, a leading provider of customer interaction solutions, helps companies leverage Internet and telephony solutions for a completely integrated customer relationship and information management solution. Astute works with several major industries including retail, food, financial, automotive, transportation, medical, pharmaceutical, travel, and durable and non-durable goods manufacturers. Clients include Global 1000 companies such as McDonald's Corporation, Levi Strauss & Co., Georgia Pacific Corp., GlaxoSmithKline, Michelin, Clopay Corporation, The Toro Company, The Scotts Company, Porter-Cable Corporation, Nestle' USA, Kraft Foods, and L'Oreal USA Products, Inc. The company has been awarded the Customer Inter@ction Solutions Magazine's 2002 Product of the Year Award and has received the Real Market's Users Choice Award for three consecutive years beginning in 2001.
Astute Solutions is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and may be reached at 1-877-POWER50, sales@astutesolutions.com or on the Web at www.astutesolutions.com.
Contacts
Astute Solutions Contacts:
Fahlgren Mortine
Stacy Wood, 614-825-1806
stacy.wood@fahlgren.com
or
Astute Solutions Marketing
Deborah Graff, 614-508-6113
debgra@astutesolutions.com
or
BenchmarkPortal Contact:
Michael Feinberg, 805-331-6282
MichaelFeinberg@BenchmarkPortal.com
[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]
