Recycling bins are a nice effort to be green, but they won’t save your company money like these quick steps.

Now that more and more contact centers want to run greener, many have found ways to be leaner, too, an eGain study found.

Here are four proven ways your contact center can get green and cut costs – and what CFO wouldn’t agree to that?

1. Nix as much postal mail as possible. Banks and credit card companies created secure e-mail portals for customers to handle their accounts. Key: The more customers know about what they can do online and paperless, the more likely they’ll adopt it. So mention it every time you have contact with them.
2. Cut tech visits. A home appliance manufacturer saved $50 million by training customer service reps to troubleshoot more issues over the phone. Key: Phone reps with more hands-on training can fix issues better than those who just have database knowledge.
3. Reduce returns. Service reps at a wireless handset company stopped immediately giving customers replacements when they complained about malfunctions. Instead, they spent more time telling customers how to use the devices. That cut returns 38%. Key: Reps need to be empowered to help and fix, not just replace.
4. Cut the commute. Contact centers across the country are increasing the number of at-home agents. It reduces fuel consumption and emissions. Many outsource onshore and offshore. But even small centers do it by equipping established reps with things as simple as cell phones and laptops to use at home. Key: Offer at-home work to proven, reliable agents as a pilot program.

Tags: contact center green, eGain, reduce returns, secure email portals