Focused on the Relationship

Joined Orvis: 2001

Greatest initial challenge: Prioritizing. “There was so much opportunity in the contact center, it was tough to decide what to work on first.” She recalls that almost all call center functions back then were done manually, and she encountered some resistance to change.

Plan of action: So far Wolfe has improved:

* new agent recruitment and training.

* organizational aspects, such as combining the sales and customer service departments.

* the contact center’s technology tools. These in turn have helped enhance efficiency. “Several supervisors were not even PC-trained,” Wolfe recalls. She also co-developed and introduced a customized agent-tracking system. “Each agent gets a monthly report card that states what his or her performance was.” The system has helped make Orvis’ agent incentive program easier to track and manage. And, she notes, “it’s really helped us in keeping productivity levels up.”

Success tip: “It’s important to pace the changes and involve staff on the ‘why’ and ‘how,’” she says.

Current goals for Orvis’ contact center:

* Ongoing training for year-round agents. Orvis University, currently in development, will help create a career track within the contact center. Agents will be certified in various aspects of the center’s operations. For example, agents working on the company’s dog-products catalog will be trained as “dog experts.”

* Sharing customer feedback across the enterprise. “I’m creating an executive summary for our corporate office that will highlight and quantify customer feedback that isn’t necessarily seen in numbers. We want to pass on to managers what customers are telling us to help managers make decisions about our future.”

On starting a contact center share group: After attending a conference a few years ago, Wolfe realized she’d collected several business cards from other contact center managers. “It occurred to me how much we all had in common. I thought a monthly conference call with this group on important topics might be helpful to everyone.” Now in its second year, the share group has members from about 20 companies.

Key point to her success: “I combine technology with relationship building to create a team atmosphere.” For example, she and her team created an intranet to help agents with customer data, selling techniques and product knowledge.

What drives her: Before joining Orvis, Wolfe had a thought-provoking experience when placing a catalog order. “My kids were screaming in the background, and the agent offered to call me back in five minutes. I was skeptical. But sure enough, she did, and her rapport on the phone was brilliant. She ended up selling me another $100 worth of products. Now I’m constantly aware of the impact an agent can have. … Here at Orvis, that drives me: How to recreate that environment, how to train agents to support that environment so both the customer and the agent have a great shopping experience together.”

About Orvis

Catalog established: 1856

Headquarters: corporate offices in Manchester, Vt.; catalog operations in Roanoke, Va.

Primary merchandise: fly-fishing, apparel, gifts, home furnishings and dog products

# of SKUs: more than 10,000

# of contact center seats: 100