The 1950 movie “All About Eve” starring Bette Davis is a “backstage” story revolving around an aspiring stage actress named Eve Harrington. Tattered and forlorn, Eve shows up in the dressing room of Broadway mega-star Margo Channing and tells a melancholy life story to Margo and her friends. Margo takes Eve “under her wing,” but it turns out that Eve …
Dear Santa … from the Contact Center
Dear Santa, I have been a very good Contact Center this year, so I am writing to let you know what I want for Christmas. I bet that many other good Contact Centers want the same! First of all, could you bring some nice new chairs for my agents? The frontline folks sit in their chairs throughout their shifts day …
Get the Show on the Road
According to a Forrester study, 92% of companies view Customer Experience as one of their top priorities. Delivering on the Customer Experience promise requires understanding that process is the underpinning of excellence. Nearly all obstacles to a stellar experience reside with one process or another. When it comes to Customer Service what supports and what hinders getting your Customer Experience …
Backstage at the Patient Experience: Centralized Appointment Scheduling
Hospitals are merging and acquiring at a rapid pace. As these systems take shape, the Patient Experience takes “center stage” while massive organizational and operational changes occur “backstage.” Learn how to deliver on the behind-the-scenes elements to choreograph a show-stopping Patient Experience performance.
The Journey Is Underway … Step It Up!
Welcome to the next big word in Contact Centers … the “journey.” If you haven’t heard it yet, you will – the customer journey, the technology journey, the change journey. Just fill in whatever business issue you are facing and add the word “journey.” You get the idea. I have no problem with the word “journey.” It is a visually …
Don’t Worry Be Happy
Instead of worry, encourage learning, questions, and discussions to cultivate happiness. Those engaged in genuine learning will question, search, and learn. This fuels happiness and not worry. The Contact Center industry offers lots of material to learn from. What are you making available to your frontline agents?
Game of Phones…Who Wins?
HBO’s popular Sci-Fi hit “Game of Thrones” is the inspiration behind this edition. Game of Thrones pits several “lands” against one another in an attempt to take over the Iron Throne and rule the country (a very simplistic explanation of a terribly complex plot!). It is this tug between complexity and simplicity that inspires this piece about “phones.” Many would …
What, Me Sell the Add-on Sales Program?
“Hey, get with it! Take it to the limit! Fire up! Feel the heat! Clap your hands to the beat!” These are the types of “cheers” we hear when attending certain sporting events. Remember your high school “pep rallies?” Now let’s consider how the notion of “cheers” and “pep rallies” can factor into the ever-popular “add-on” sales programs found in …
Your Contact Center … The Heart of the Enterprise
February is National Heart Month and February 14th honors St. Valentine and loving hearts everywhere. I would like to expand on the meaning and value of “heart” to include the Contact Center. When properly positioned and provisioned, the well-run Contact Center becomes the very “heart” of the enterprise. Let’s take a quick look at how I have arrived at this …
Make a Long Story Short
The Contact Center is, for all intents and purposes, an “information portal.” It utilizes multiple channels within an environment where efficient and effective communication skills pay off big time. To achieve customer satisfaction in the Call Center, improve your communication efficiency at all levels: in call handling, during coaching, and in management reports. What are you doing to create a …