Business Challenge
Upstream Works, a Toronto-based maker of call center automation software, was facing an uphill climb. A strong market presence from major U.S. software companies, poor name recognition and a short window of opportunity would each need to be leapfrogged if Upstream Works was going to begin successfully competing for call center software licensing contracts.

What the nascent company did have was a compelling software solution to achieve more favorable "first call resolution" (FCR) rates for inbound call centers. This intimate, agent-and-caller software-based capability is highly desired, but has been an elusive goal of technologists supporting call centers around the globe. Upstream Works had the field-proven FCR technological solution. But it also realized it had weak name recognition and minimal prospect awareness, especially in the vast U.S. market. Faced with this challenge, it turned to Tech Image to bring Upstream Works -- and the facts behind its FCR solutions for call centers -- to life.

Background
First call resolution is a relatively new metric used by call center managers, but it is gaining popularity as the key metric for guiding operational changes. The seriousness of the issue is woven throughout results of recent customer satisfaction surveys, where those polled feel most inbound call centers regularly fail at resolving their issues upon the first call. Customers want “once and done” but haven’t been getting it. What has been needed is a cross-platform application to lessen the large number of inbound calls – up to 25 percent – that are repeat calls. Failing to improve FCR rates costs money and ties up higher level agents and supervisors, due to escalating repeat calls. Still, major software players weren’t directly addressing FCR issues head on with must-have software solutions. Upstream Works had the technological answer. The company has been addressing FCR challenges with a product suite ranging from data capture tools to post-call up-selling based on caller behaviors and past purchases.

Solution
Tech Image began to work with Upstream Works using intense message development sessions where spokespeople quickly honed their interview and story themes and focused on first call resolution as the "sales promise." Throughout these meetings, Tech Image counseled executives on using messaging containing successful experiences of the current customer base as springboards to deeper discussions with media writers. Upstream Works' affable CEO Rob McDougall was leveraged as the reigning - and only -- expert on FCR. The agency also examined available written content and revised materials to match varying needs of editors. The result was newsworthy content from the company more reflective of proper journalistic style.

Results
By positioning CEO Rob McDougall as the subject matter expert on first call resolution, Tech Image helped the media understand how Upstream Works' solutions could improve customer satisfaction ratings and save costs in call center environments. He became the focus of bylined articles that Tech Image pitched to media and submitted for publication. Aggressive article placement efforts were complemented by the scheduling of interviews, both live and over the telephone. Extensive experience with the call center press and subject know-how helped Tech Image quickly gain interest from trade media representatives in the overall FCR theme, and, tied closely to that, the unique capabilities of Upstream Works.

Upstream Works needed to have significant results quickly and got them. Tech Image achieved dozens of news release and article placements, among them three call center industry magazine cover stories over the span of just 60 days. In the U.S., thousands of call center software purchase decision makers subscribing to Contact Professional and Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazines read cover stories focused on Upstream Works’ expertise on FCR. In Canada, Contact Management magazine carried a similar article highlighted on the cover.

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"We knew we needed to penetrate the U.S. market, and Tech Image's U.S. location and knowledge of our space helped us quickly get our story to the media we needed to reach. We couldn't have accomplished this with a Toronto-based agency."

—Rob McDougall, President, Upstream Works