If there were a Contact Center Santa I would ask for seven Customer Experience “essentials” based on my work experience and my very active role as a consumer! 1. Dear Contact Center Santa,Please teach your staff to stop being defensive when resolving customer issues. Defensive responses ignite customer frustration; that is tough to overcome, particularly when the defender cannot “see” …

Contact Centers around the world are tackling the ever-changing landscape of customer expectations. So every little bit helps to keep current on how that landscape is shifting. Deloitte recently published its 2017 Global Contact Center Survey. This is the kind of stuff I love! It is so interesting to learn what global Contact Center leaders/executives see as trending and whether …

Have you ever read First, Break All the Rules[1] by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of the Gallup Corporation? If not, you may want to consider it. The overwhelming message of the book is how to be a more effective leader by taking a new and fresh look at what you are trying to accomplish and how you are doing …

Sammy Kershaw released a recording in 1994 called “Third Rate Romance, Low Rent Rendezvous,” a cross-over country hit at the time. The song tells the sordid story of a couple sneaking off to the “Family Inn” for a tryst of sorts. At first glance this has little to do with Contact Centers, right? Wrong! I am hijacking this song title …

Eye witnesses, investigators, teachers, cult members, parents, managers, executives, and all of us at one time or another have something in common – the belief and power of certainty. This ranges from eye witnesses of a crime to swearing that “my keys were right there – who took them?” to telling a friend that they are making a terrible mistake …

AHHH … Summer. It brings back memories of lazy days, no school, taking it easy, and playing with friends. I guess you can see that I am longing for those carefree days! Although we have all grown up, summer remains the classic time of year for vacations, family time, and perhaps a bit of a slowdown in day-to-day business activities …

I recently came across an article by Matt Rees entitled “Lazy Does It” in the Wall Street Journal[1] and was immediately interested. “Lazy Does It” says it all when it comes to certain behaviors we all observe from time to time. Let’s say you ask your ten year old son to clean his room. My sons at that age were …

A funny thing happened to me the other day that inspired this month’s Rant. I was trolling around the web hoping to find information on how Contact Center agents feel about their jobs. I hit the jackpot with Glassdoor.com and Indeed.com where companies register for a multitude of services. One of these allows employees to post pros and cons of …

The world of Customer Care continues to evolve. Automation has greatly reduced costs and many simple tasks have transitioned to online or other “non-human assist” tools. This has greatly reduced the cost of specific transactions in the Contact Center. But when the customer requires a higher level of assistance, the Contact Center is on the hook to provide it and …

The parties are over and the holiday decorations all packed away. It is January, named for Janus, the Roman god of gates and doorways and depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. January is the door to a new year. January is a great time to challenge everything, to set the stage for the year, and to allow a …