Contact Center Pipeline Magazine: Inside Our March 2020 Issue

FROM THE MARCH 2020 ISSUE

Welcome to the March 2020 issue of Contact Center Pipeline magazine!

It is gratitude month for me at Contact Center Pipeline! Our first issue was published in March 2009. And as they say, the rest is history. Reflecting back to our humble beginnings, I am grateful for our core team—Steve, Susan, Frank and Mark—for all their hard work in getting this ship afloat! These days, we’ve grown, but I’m still grateful for each and every member of the team here at Pipeline and our community of contact center professionals. It’s the day-to-day dedication of everyone that has kept us going these past 11 years. We could not have made it this far without such a devoted team and for this, I am sincerely grateful to you all.

We’ve had contributors and sponsors that have been with us since Day 1. Staying the course for 11 years is impressive, and to show my appreciation, we’ve launched our “Wall of Fame” series to recognize these authors and sponsors. Each month, we will recognize an important part of the Pipeline community.

As with all of us, I reflect back over these ELEVEN years (what, 11 years?) and see lots of change. In March 2009, we were writing articles about driving performance in a weak economy, not letting budget cuts damage the customer experience and first-CALL resolution. Fast forward 11 years and we are talking about the cloud, automation, social media, AI and the digital world. We continue to see mergers and acquisitions change the industry map.

The digital age has caused an incredible shift that is forcing organizations to rethink their customer relationships. The contact center has acquired much of this responsibility and become recognized as an integral part of the organization like never before. Customer service is more important now than ever. And excellence in customer service will allow organizations to connect on an entirely new level.

This is an exciting time for the contact center industry, and for Pipeline. I’m driven by the possibilities. Look out for exciting new things planned for 2020!

To our team, our writers, our readers, our sponsors… to the contact center industry, thank you for making Contact Center Pipeline possible. Let’s make the next 11 years even better!

Here is what you’ll find in our March 2020 issue:


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Contact Center Pipeline March 2020

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FEATURE
The Emotion Connection
By Susan Hash
Tapping into the science of human emotion to deliver more valuable experiences.

TECH LINE
Change Management May Be the Most Important Part of Your Next Project
By Lori Bocklund
A discussion of change management concepts with Prosci’s Tim Creasey.

IDIOM INSIGHTS
Strategic Communication: Techniques of Best-in-Class Voice Interactions
By Kathleen M. Peterson
A phone skills refresher to help your agents control the call and manage stress.

THE VIEW FROM THE SADDLE
The Roarin’ Twenties Redux
By Paul Stockford
Contact centers are looking for a technology refresh and analytics is topping the list.

LEADING THOUGHTS
Women in Leadership: How to Succeed—and Lead—in the Contact Center Industry
By Mike Aoki
In honor of International Women’s Day, Mike Aoki interviews 5 industry executives who share their early leadership challenges, achievements and advice.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Results-Focused Leadership—the Catalyst for CX Transformation
By Janet LeBlanc
It is not enough to make a change and move on to the next area of opportunity. A well-designed and structured performance management system is needed that is aligned with the overall organizational strategy.

ECONOMICS VS HUMANITY
Giving Tenure Vs. Merit Increases Erodes Productivity in Your Agents
By Mike Dershowitz
Loyalty is great, but performance is better. Tenure increases send the wrong message to agents about what matters.

SOCIAL CUSTOMER CARE
5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Be Scared to Write to Customers in Social Media
By Leslie O’Flahavan
Don’t miss out on the extraordinary rewards when you do social right.

RECRUITING & HIRING
Tips for Attracting More (and Better!) Agents in a High-Employment Economy
By David Patchen
How to increase your talent pool while gaining valuable insights about applicants’ behavioral characteristics.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Transform Your CX from Good to Great by Treating Your Agents Right
By Chris Bauserman
Supporting agents with the right tools improves the employee experience and turns them into brand ambassadors.


Please note: Contact Center Pipeline is a subscription magazine. To view all articles, please consider a subscription.


PIPELINE WALL OF FAME | WFMSG
Celebrating Our VIP Sponsors
In recognition and appreciation to WFMSG, our March 2020 Wall of Fame Sponsor.

SPONSOR Q&A | LogMeIn
Executive Interview with LogMeIn’s Ryan Lester
By Linda Harden
A discussion of LogMeIn’s industry leading solutions, its leadership’s top priorities and the value it delivers to its customers.

Thank you to our March sponsors: Calabrio, CrmXchange, Customer Contact Strategies, Human Numbers, LogMeIn, NECCF, NICE inContact, Panviva, PowerHouse Consulting, Service Agility, Strategic Contact, Stream Realty, TASKE Technology, Verint, and WFMSG.

They help make Contact Center Pipeline possible!! Please visit all our sponsors in our Pipeline Directory!