Call Center Weekly

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

By Erica Mancuso Treating others as you would want to be treated is a practice of empathy. The golden rule is such a simple, timeless principle, and yet I’m constantly amazed at how little it’s practiced any more. On my recent family vacation, I encountered two situations where simply putting this into practice would have resulted in entirely different outcomes. First, my family’s luggage didn’t make the connecting flight. No big deal, I understand this happens.

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Call Center Customer Service Airlines Morale 327

Call Center Weekly

MAY 1, 2019

By: Andrew Gilliam Imagine what the world will be like after you've checked off every box on your customer experience to-do list. Pre-purchase anxiety no longer exists, thanks to careful messaging and word of mouth. Product issues are eliminated at their root-cause, before goods leave the factory. Service failures are anticipated, and recovery is automatic. Customer journeys are frictionless and fault-tolerant, because they were meticulously studied, optimized, and fortified.

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Contact Center Technical Support Engineering Feedback 256

Call Center Weekly

FEBRUARY 5, 2018

By Mitch Mitchell Depending what you consider as a good leader, you'll either believe there are lots of good leaders or very few good leaders. As someone who's been ensconced in leadership for a long time I can honestly say that there's a true dearth of effective leaders in the world. There are leaders who've been lucky to make a lot of money, but it says more about their business acumen than their leadership capabilities.

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Call Center Finance Consulting Consulting 288

Call Center Weekly

MAY 2, 2019

By Kathryn Frankson Ok, ok so we still need leadership. But, as someone who just wrapped an Experienced Manager training I'm now convinced that we actually need more management. Even typing that feels a bit underwhelming because management conjures up thoughts of scheduling, status reports and approving PTO; however, when done right management is truly the catalyst for achieving business outcomes.

Call Center 227

Call Center B2B Marketing Sales 227

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Call Center Weekly

DECEMBER 14, 2017

By Rinku Basu Over the past few years, customer services have been taken to astonishingly new heights. Meeting expectation’ is no good anymore, surpassing expectation is the only modus operandi for existence. To our advantage, with the advent of digital technologies and social media, reaching out to the consumer market and creating a positive brand experience has become less strenuous. Gone are the days when customer service was about greetings and saying nice words. It is a passé and redundant.

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Call Center Technology Customer Service Advertising 273

Call Center Weekly

OCTOBER 18, 2018

Long lumped in with Customer Service, the entire Customer Experience concept is finally being acknowledged as a weighty differential in the quest to build customer loyalty and increase sales. Business Leaders everywhere must first understand there is likely a huge gap between the Customer Experience they believe their company delivers and the perception of that same experience their customers have as they work with them.

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Call Center Customer Experience B2B Customer Service 239

Call Center Weekly

OCTOBER 9, 2017

By Sean Hawkins Organizations that understand the true value of professional development, culture, innovation, and creativity, also recognize the value of continuously educating their employee base. These organizations are the ones that will be better positioned to adapt to the rapidly changing demands of today’s work environment. Incorporating professional development within the overall corporate strategy, with so many competing interests and tight budgets, is a challenge. But it should be done!

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Contact Center Morale Government Education 273

Call Center Weekly

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018

The time for annual Customer Service Week is rapidly approaching! Are you ready? This celebration, which takes place the first week of October each year, is a week of fun, games and food – lots of food.

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Call Center Customer Service Engineering Surveys 237

Call Center Weekly

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Consumers have the power, everyone is an influencer and consistently delivering exceptional customer experience is critical to event success. And as the B2B vs B2C playing field has leveled, buyers expect consumer centric experiences across the board. I've certainly had some great interactions from brands that are clearly customer obsessed.

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B2B Call Center Customer Experience B2C 235

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Call Center Weekly

JULY 24, 2017

By Celia Thomas To aid and ensure contact center agents are successful, leadership must support and values them. One key area in this development, is trust. There is an excellent quote by Steven Covey that speaks to the important of trust in leaders. Without trust we don’t truly collaborate; we merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team.” Trust will not only help create a team, it will help create exceptional individuals.

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Contact Center Call Center Morale B2C 273

Call Center Weekly

NOVEMBER 19, 2018

By Sean Hawkins Providing excellent service to customers is not as hard as we make it seem. However, it takes commitment, diligence and lots of effort to do it well. In simplest form, excellent service is the result of treating customers with courtesy and respect. Treat them like people first, with an empathetic and sympathetic approach, and you are on the path towards success. Unfortunately, in the business world, we may lose sight of that.

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Call Center Government Feedback Contact Center 222

Call Center Weekly

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

By Darcy Bevelacqua Customer Experience is Everywhere From marketing to customer service to the boardroom, it’s recognized that personalized, efficient and engaging customer experience drives customer acquisition, brand loyalty and customer lifetime value (LTV). The focus has shifted from knowing how the customer interacts with your brand to understanding the why behind their behavior so you can personalize their experience across channels, locations and time.

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Journey mapping Customer Experience Gamification Metrics 245

Call Center Weekly

APRIL 19, 2018

By Maurice Helm I understand from experience the life of a call center representative. Prior to moving into leadership, I started on the phones and as rewarding as that can be, there on the front-line taking ownership of issues and concerns and bringing resolution to them, without a doubt it is also a tough job.

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Employee engagement Call Center B2C B2B 227

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Management

Call Center Weekly

OCTOBER 30, 2017

By Sean Hawkins Two of the common reasons I hear regarding a lack of agent training, are no money and no time. This answer is unacceptable simply because there are many alternative methods of training and development available. As I work in a small sized contact center, I am dealing with a smaller budget and fewer resources. As a result, creativity is my best friends. These approaches offer an exciting option for your staff.

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Call Center Government Contact Center Employee engagement 240

Call Center Weekly

JULY 6, 2018

In today’s business world, the desire to reach more consumers is a top priority. With global online purchasing easier to accommodate, and businesses expanding into new geographies, one can naturally expect a surge in non-English speaking customers. This is certainly having an impact on contact center strategies as we must determine how to provide support to these new clients. For enterprise level organizations with a global presence, the infrastructure may already be in place to address this.

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Call Center Contact Center Government Technical Support 212

Call Center Weekly

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Workforce Management drives CX A biker friend of mine recommended a book to me called “Freedom” written by Sonny Barger – yes “that” Sonny Barger – a founding member and former Oakland Chapter President of the Hell’s Angels. It took me about six miles, in one session, on the treadmill to read the book filled with Sonny’s rules for life. Some of the bits resonated with me – others did not.

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Call Center Management Customer Service Finance 206

Call Center Weekly

NOVEMBER 29, 2018

The importance of getting access management right cannot be overstated. You need to make sure that anybody accessing your systems – and the data within - is exactly who they say they are. This is especially important when dealing with agents and customer service representatives who have access to vast amounts of sensitive data.

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Call Center Education Management Surveys 198

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Customer Experience

Call Center Weekly

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

I was recently at a business conference at a highly regarded venue. The presenter was wonderful and provided lots of strategies, techniques, and solutions for those in attendance. Participants walked away with a wealth of knowledge and takeaways ready to implement in their companies. The food was great. The venue provided a light breakfast, delicious lunches, snacks, and a wide variety of sodas and water. One thing that was a surprise to everyone was the renovation taking place on a grand scale.

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Call Center B2B Accountability Personalization 201

Call Center Weekly

DECEMBER 27, 2017

You have made it. 2017 is coming to an end. You have survived all the highs and lows. It was another eventful year for the recruitment sphere. Recaps and reviews must have been filling your feed and mailbox. We won’t bother you with another one. Instead, we’re going to give you a head start for 2018. Hint: It’s not another prediction of recruitment trends in 2018. Trends come and go. What remains are trial and error and lessons learned.

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Call Center 218

Call Center Weekly

FEBRUARY 22, 2018

By Sean Hawkins I recently spoke with an agent for my insurance company, in the hopes of clearing up a misunderstanding concerning my policies. Well, things didn't go as easily as expected. For starters, I called the wrong the number. It seems the contact number on my statement was not the correct for me to call. Mind you, it was correct, but having two policies in two different states seems to cause some internal confusion on their part. I'm used to this though.

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Call Center Customer Service Government Metrics 212

Call Center Weekly

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

Ron Rhodes Without a doubt, my most perplexing and profound observation from years of leading large organizations is a behavioral complex I refer to as the psychology of disengagement. In the back office BPO and contact center business, competition for labor is heavy and aggressive. The work can be repetitive, mundane, offering considerable risk to workforce stability.

Call Center 185

Call Center Finance Advertising Management 185

Advertiser: ZoomInfo

ABM gets better with age — but unfortunately, marketers don't have the luxury of pouring it into an oak barrel for a couple decades to let it mature. It’s clear there’s a maturity gap in ABM strategies, so how can marketers start closing it?

Benchmark

Call Center Weekly

APRIL 24, 2019

By Diana Aviles I’ve chatted with speech analysts from all walks of life. They speak many languages and are versed in different speech analytics solutions. Despite the fact there are some differences in approaches, we can all agree on the one thing, we consistently struggle to get our organizations to understand: you still need to listen to the calls.

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Call Center First call resolution Education Analytics 175

Call Center Weekly

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

Once upon a time, (isn’t that how they always start), a young woman took a leap, and accepted a position in a customer service role. This is a new adventure, how exciting!! The young woman had no experience in customer service, but was up for the challenge. She thought should could figure it out. She could talk to anyone; how hard could this be? I mean, they are just people, right?

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Call Center Customer Service Customer Experience 190

Call Center Weekly

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

If leadership is wondering if employee engagement is good and necessary for their teams, I would have to emphatically say, "yes, it is!" I have worked in the contact center environment for many years. I have had the opportunity to work for companies both large and small. I have noticed that at the smaller companies, the employees were happier and more engaged in the work environment, than some of the larger call centers.

Employee engagement 189

Employee engagement Call Center Personalization Management 189

Call Center Weekly

NOVEMBER 1, 2018

I'm reading First, Break All The Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently , by Don Clifton. It's so, so good! There are some really crucial lessons but the one that is on my mind the most right now is - great managers do NOT follow the golden rule. Because strong personal relationships are crucial for success, that typically means treating others as we want to be treated. But acting as if all employees have the same approach isn't realistic.

Call Center 185

Call Center B2B Coaching Employee engagement 185

Advertiser: ZoomInfo

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Call Center Weekly

MAY 2, 2018

What factors should an organization take into consideration, when choosing a business partner? Companies have a wide range of criteria to consider when tasked with the difficult objective of choosing a business partner (provider). Here are some of the top things to keep in mind when evaluating a potential new relationship: Experience: How much experience does the partner have in the specific task? Is the task the partner’s core business or a new initiative?

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Call Center outsourcing Customer Care Service level 198

Call Center Weekly

MAY 14, 2018

By Anonymous Log into your programs, put your headset on and turn on your phone. That first call of the day means so little to you because you take hundreds of calls a week that are exactly like the one you are about to take. The work environment of a call center rep can make this moment worthless or worthwhile and can dictate your overall career with that company. I work in a fairly large call center that has poor morale and very abysmal culture.

Call Center 189

Call Center Morale Employee engagement Surveys 189

Call Center Weekly

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Your former Recruiting team just took you through a PowerPoint presentation in which they proudly announced that Recruiting should hence forth be referred to as “Talent Acquisition.” Great! But renaming the Recruiting team, Talent Acquisition, is part evolution, part trend and part semantics as I observe, yet this is far from unusual.

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Call Center Contact Center Transportation Coaching 169

Call Center Weekly

DECEMBER 14, 2018

As we enter the Christmas season, our awareness and desire to help others increases. That can be helping those in need, donating our time and/or money, or being a little more kind to others. When we are help one another, not only does it make us feel good, it is encouragement for the recipient. For customer service professionals, helping others, is what we do throughout the year. The challenge is to do so in ways that transcend the profession of customer service. Customers are people.

Call Center 167

Call Center Government Consulting Consulting 167

Advertiser: ZoomInfo

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Personalization

Call Center Weekly

OCTOBER 25, 2017

What are your thoughts on customer experience at the executive level? Today, the customer journey is more intricate than ever, moving across multiple devices and platforms as products are researched, compared, price matched, and purchased. With every step, customer expectations are seamless, and if a brand can’t deliver, customers go elsewhere. C-Suite executives must ‘Mind the Gap’ between shifting customer expectations and leadership roles. Closing the gap starts with a unified c-suite.

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Call Center Morale Consulting Consulting 192

Call Center Weekly

DECEMBER 5, 2017

By Anna Sabryan We in customer service know how important our role is. Many companies compete to have the best service, and periodically innovate to catch up with ongoing changes. Customer service, at times, changes at a rapid pace. Customer service via social media used to be a very important part of online activities. However today, many intelligent assistants, or bots, can deliver many services.

Call Center 189

Call Center Customer Service Marketing Sales 189

Call Center Weekly

SEPTEMBER 18, 2017

By Ana Simões I left the contact center in April of this year to embrace a new role at a start-up company as an IT Recruiter. Please note, my prior experience in the contact center is a reality for many in my region of Portugal. In my experience, the agents were usually treated as numbers, and were made to feel as if they are expendable. When you leave, you will quickly be replaced. Unfortunately, these positions in the contact center are often seen as dead-end jobs.

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Customer Service Consulting Consulting Metrics 192

Call Center Weekly

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

What are some gamification best practices you recommend, to ensure success? Although the term “gamification” is relatively new the practices is as old as contact centers themselves. Prior to having software solve all our needs we used to “gamify” the workplace through peer or team competition. Often with some sort of corkboard display to track and monitor the completion and performance. I’ve managed and created large thermometer team games, car races, horse races, etc.

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Call Center Gamification Best practices Metrics 180

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