CSAA Steers Its Performance Management

At the California State Automobile Association (CSAA), monitoring agent performance is vital. The AAA member organization has six call centers across four states with about 1,400 agents and services about 4.2 million members in Northern California, Nevada, and Utah. Supervisors and agents are required to have monthly one-to-one performance meetings, but to compile performance statistics supervisors had to cull from different data sources. To alleviate the supervisors' time-intensive data-collection method, the organization created an in-house tool it calls MaRS. It connected to the club's Aspect Communications ACD system, NICE Systems quality recording system, IEX workforce management software, and sales systems. MaRS saved supervisors about four hours per month and allowed them to focus on their coaching and development responsibilities without a Web interface. "We weren't able to deploy [information] to the agent in time," says Shane Butler, operations manager of performance analytics, reporting, and workforce planning. CSAA evaluated several systems, but not through a formal RFP. Instead it conducted an internal cost-benefit analysis and talked with companies using vendors' offerings before purchasing AIM Technology's AIMCall application in 2003. The application integrates data from multiple sources, provides analysis of KPIs, and outfits agents with their performance information. The biggest benefit of having the AIMCall application, Butler says, is the ability to make immediate decisions. "Our management team is able to quickly identify a trend [and] identify business units, teams, or employees that need focused attention or different coaching." CSAA is saving about $100,000--$150,000 a year and is deploying the application outside its centers into its district offices for its insurance sales staff. "People really want to do their best," Butler says, "and to do that people need to know where they're at and what they're being held accountable for."