Our client is without peer when it comes to showmanship. Having revolutionized the traditional circus experience by focusing exclusively on human artistry (not animal tricks), this renowned Canadian entertainment company blends human acrobatics, music, and theatrical storytelling to make each performance a one-of-a-kind experience.

Cirque du Soleil also transformed the traditional contact center operating model when it shifted from brick-and-mortar to work-at-home as fast as a clown shot from a cannon. The engagement started five years ago, yet new feats of performance by contact center associates continue to earn standing ovations for superior CX.

“What you have done is you have protected our brand. You have protected our fans,” Cirque du Soleil President and CEO Daniel Lamarre told TTEC. “This is so important to us.”

Challenge

Flashback to the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Live performances of every sort were shut down with little or no notice. Uncertainty about how the global health crisis would play out meant production companies and venues had no easy answers when ticketholders wanted to know the “rain date” for a canceled show.

Double whammy: The contact center was flooded with inquiries from frustrated (and fearful) customers while new social distancing requirements meant the tight-knit support team could no longer share the same physical office space.

Tickets to a Cirque du Soleil performance are more than a just day’s entertainment. Shows often celebrate personal milestones for fans: A big birthday, wedding anniversary, new job, or cancer success story. Cirque du Soleil needed to do everything possible to avoid disappointing fans located across the globe and speaking multiple languages including English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and German. 

Our solution

Speed was vital. TTEC devised a strategic plan to transition associates from on-site to a work-at-home operating model in Canada. We built job aids, which are supporting materials that guide associates through various steps of a given task, such as dismantling, securely packing, transporting, and setting up their computer workstations inside their own homes, in designated spaces that ensure the same great CX the team delivered when everyone worked together under one roof.

Working remote suddenly without a chance to adjust could have led to disconnection among associates, loss of morale, and performance erosion. We got ahead of that and developed a series of engagement activities and protocols to ensure associates didn’t feel isolated. We developed gamification exercises, trivia competitions, role playing, and contests so team members remained connected with fun, team-building activities that also helped sharpen skills.

To keep that connection rock-solid, TTEC conducted group video calls with all associates each month — cameras on — giving 65 FTEs an opportunity to raise work concerns, questions, or just vent about anything on their mind. This candid exchange nurtured camaraderie and generated valuable feedback from the frontline team. Suggestions were heard, considered, and in some instances, implemented, such as creation of multi-tier job levels and compensatory wages and rewards.

These pieces were the underlying foundation of a new community that emerged, where new connections grew stronger between associates working independently in remote locations.

The Cirque du Soleil-TTEC engagement, which saw immediate success in the early days of the COVID pandemic, turned into a new business model that continues to thrive. Contact center associates embrace the work-at-home culture and especially appreciate the flexibility it offers.

Results

TTEC associates overdelivered on Cirque du Soleil’s 85% quality target by achieving 90%+ quality scores for more than 12 consecutive months. At times, quality scores reached as high as 95%.

“I was totally flabbergasted when I heard that you had to respond to over 400,000 requests of all sorts from our customers,” Lamarre told TTEC. “This is amazing that doing that, you have achieved a level of 95% of satisfaction.”

The employee experience improved dramatically, with a 42-point increase in employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS). Associates were convinced their input was valued: On a monthly group call, one employee pointed out that everyone was paid equally and yet some team members were doing more work than others. As a result, TTEC devised three tiers of job roles, and compensated more generously for those roles that involved more complex tasks. Associates felt heard and respected.

Retention soared. While annual employee turnover across all types of contact centers ranges from 35% to 40%, the entertainment sector and Canada geo in particular, experience higher rates than average, 59% and 56% respectively. Attrition among TTEC’s Canadian team was unusually low, below the 30% average for all contact centers. Absenteeism dropped considerably after the move to work at home, currently at just 2.5%.

Speed: We transitioned 65 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) from on-site to work-at-home in one week’s time. Because associates continued to use the same computer equipment, there was no adjustment to new hardware or software.

While our client’s No. 1 priority was quality, metrics proved calls were handled proficiently, with exceptional knowledge, empathy, and soft skills. Efficiency gains were made, too: Average handle time (AHT), a secondary priority, improved by 5%. Associates were happy in their work and inspired by their colleagues, creating a culture of excellence that enabled superior CX.

“This is fundamental in continuing to build and to grow our brand worldwide,” Lamarre said.