Every small center aspires to deliver good (or great!) service to customers and offer a good (or great!) place for employees to work. The realities of small centers and big technology can make these rather simple goals feel rather daunting. Although sophisticated contact center technology has been available a long time, robust solutions at an… Read More »
The entry point to the contact center – identification and verification (aka authentication), along with routing – is a make or break moment for the customer experience. All too often it is unpleasant at best, and downright irritating at worst. Prompts are arguably the most hated and frustrating part of any contact, with routing to… Read More »
I wrote a blog on Net Promoter Score (NPS) last year and continue to get into discussions about it with clients and colleagues. Martha Brooke of Interaction Metrics is a great dialog partner as she’s an expert on customer surveys and actionable customer feedback. She also shares my passion for this topic. So we put our… Read More »
As I reflect on the hundreds of contact centers that I’ve served across 28 years in this industry, one thing stands out: Most contact center leaders aspire to be “best in class” (or “world class”). Beyond the obvious bragging rights, they have a sense that excellence produces superior customer (and agent) experiences and delivers tangible… Read More »
For most contact center leaders, time is not on their side. The rate of change combined with unrelenting competitive pressure forces decision making at light speed. Deadlines loom before they’ve had time to consider and evaluate alternatives. Moreover, the breadth of their operational responsibilities and daily dose of fire-fighting often rob them of precious time… Read More »
Mainstream technologies get a lot of press. As the backbone of contact center operations, they’re on everyone’s radar and they need to function at peak efficiency. But I’d like to put a spotlight on a few niche technologies and tell you why I find them intriguing Desktop and process analytics (DPA) captures and analyzes all… Read More »
When President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law, the healthcare industry was given the mandate to expand public and private insurance coverage while reducing costs and improving outcomes. As the legislation took effect, insurance companies and healthcare providers needed to support a more diverse patient population. Given the… Read More »
We are frequently approached by contact center or IT leaders who want outside help with a project but first need to convince the “powers that be” to consider using a consultant. Some of the reasons they seek us out: Lack in-house expertise for the task at hand, often seeking some “best practices” insights or help… Read More »
Contact centers in public utilities face increasing pressure to trim costs and find creative ways to respond. At the same time, customers have elevated service expectations based on their experience with other centers. It’s a real Catch-22. We have worked with many utilities to help them make effective use of technology as a means of… Read More »
Credit unions today face growing competition and heightened member expectations for an exceptional interaction experience. As a result, their contact centers have to find ways to raise their standards of service, and many engage contact center consultants for expertise and best practices insights. Historically, many credit union contact centers have had a difficult time garnering… Read More »