by Richard Snow |
9/18/2008 | Article ID: QT08-23 | Article Type: QuickTake
Merced Systems is an established call center performance management vendor that through internal development had expanded its software into related areas to address sales and field service performance management. It recently has extended functional coverage to include the management of coaching of call center agents. Now the company, based in Redwood Shores, Calif., has taken a more substantial growth step by acquiring Practique, a U.K. company that specializes in employee incentive management.
Employee behavior often is driven by efforts to satisfy key performance indicators. In the contact center, agents have for example been known to drop calls before meeting the customer’s expectations in order to meet targets for average call length. And it is not unknown for salespeople to make inappropriate sales to hit their targets. These dynamics make the merger of contact center performance management, coaching and incentives management a powerful combination. In addition, the contact center and sales are converging as companies strive to get their agents to make more sales, which to be successful is likely to require companies to re-examine their agent rewards systems. The acquisition gives Merced a stronger financial platform to help expand its presence both in companies and internationally. After Practique’s U.K.-based team has received the necessary training, it will also increase Merced’s ability to provide locally based support to European customers. And with the acquisition Merced will become a stronger player in the U.S. and will begin to address the sales compensation and performance management market.
Related Research Notes:
Customer Performance Management Research Agenda for 2008
Customer Experience Management Can Refocus Contact Centers
Customer Experience Management Technology
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