In 20 years of consulting and hundreds of projects, I have seen some typical scenarios play out in client environments, often based on the communication and collaboration – or lack thereof – between IT and the contact center. Stalemates ripe with finger pointing are common situations. IT stands in one corner declaring “tell me what… Read More »
Contact centers can’t function without technology. They rely on a sophisticated collection of tools to enable the operational strategy that achieves business goals and meets customer needs. And given the wide spectrum of tools and sourcing options, it’s no surprise that lots of folks write about it. There’s a lot to say! But there’s a… Read More »
In the age of service frustration and cynicism, it is still possible to “wow” customers. Proactive outbound contact enables companies to connect with customers, anticipate their needs, reach out with useful and timely communications, and trigger execution of the right transactions and outcomes at the right time. I love that my air carriers offer me… Read More »
Knowledge is power. For contact center representatives, it’s the power to access the right information, the right resources, and/or the right processes to serve customer needs. For customers, it’s the power to get consistent information no matter which channels they use to retrieve it. There are many different forms of knowledge and job aids across… Read More »
Today’s market respects small and medium contact centers (SMCCs) by offering them affordable contact center functionality without an undue burden on their IT and support staff. There are plenty of alternatives to consider: Hosted solution vendors enable companies to rent technology that vendors provision in the cloud. These solutions resonate for those trying to go… Read More »
CRM comes in many forms – home-grown, premise-based, and more recently, hosted or Software as a Service. Although “CRM nirvana” is an enterprise-wide tool, the challenge of getting all of the data, processes, and organizational elements aligned to leverage the technology can be overwhelming. So the starting point for a useful solution is figuring out… Read More »
My friends and family love to tell me their latest miserable customer interaction experiences, and I bet yours do too. I’d also bet that new acquaintances offer an animated account of a recent IVR horror story when they find out what you do. Of course the good news is you can readily share your favorite… Read More »
If you’re a contact center manager, you live between a rock and a hard place. Your leadership wants you to deliver great service while augmenting revenue and lowering costs. Your customers expect a personalized, effective interaction regardless of media. Amidst the usual fare of operational challenges, you try to squeeze in some time to review… Read More »
Try this analogy: Compare quality monitoring in your center to differing approaches to health management. One model awaits the presence of symptoms before bringing specialists into action to treat the disease. The other promotes health proactively for the whole body as a means to ward off problems. I’m all for the latter when it comes… Read More »
When I scout for the potential to hit a technology optimization home run, Workforce Management (WFM) comes to mind immediately. Its capacity to forecast, schedule, and track the overwhelmingly largest line item cost in your center (your staff!) certainly warrants a place in the starting line-up. Perhaps it hasn’t had the best batting average over… Read More »