Ever have a nagging feeling that your center is more vulnerable than you’d like to admit? Odds are, creating or updating that dreaded Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) plan has been on your to do list for some time. Good news: Cloud services, server virtualization, mobile computing, and social networks provide some new options to address… Read More »
3 Questions Narrow Technology Sourcing Decisions
The contact center technology market has become increasingly diverse and complex. With many sourcing options (premise, hosted, cloud, managed services), a growing number of vendors, and the dances those vendors do with their partners, it’s a wonder anyone can make a good decision, much less a timely one, when pursuing new solutions. Pricing comparisons alone… Read More »
Get Set for Success on Technology Implementation
Momentum and excitement builds around new contact center technology as you make a vendor and product selection and set forth on your journey with exciting possibilities ahead. Unfortunately, a variety of implementation challenges can arise that knock the wind out of your sails. To optimize results, invest the time up front to plan and prepare…. Read More »
Your People Are Talking… Technology Helps
Contact centers are a team sport. No one has all of the answers all of the time. Agents work with peers, team leads, escalation resources, corporate subject matter experts (SMEs), and others to resolve customer issues. They can also receive or share information, files, or updates to ensure they stay current. Supervisors/Team Leads support the… Read More »
PCI and Other Requirements Demand Contact Center Attention
While contact centers and their IT departments have plenty of demands on their all too limited time, consumer information protection, and data security needs to get on the radar. The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS) provides a set of technical and operational requirements that applies to anyone who “stores, processes, and/or transmits”… Read More »
Optimize Routing and Reporting to ID Why Customers Call
Every contact center wants details on why customers call, both to route them in real-time and to report on call types. Many centers structure prompts to enable reporting on call reasons. Customers assume their selections lead to targeted service experiences. Yet quite often, they’re all routed to the same group regardless of menu choice! Prompt-driven… Read More »
Are Your Contact Center KPIs Up to Snuff?
Even though the contact center industry has been around for decades, it’s still hard to define, manage, and meet Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Beyond the fundamentals – e.g., total contacts, service levels, abandons, handle times, et al – management is concerned about: First Contact Resolution Business Outcomes (sales, saves, conversions, etc.) Cost per X (contact,… Read More »
10 Questions to Ask About Your Performance Management Tool
How would your contact center rate its Performance Management? Have you brought the right combination of people, processes, and technology together to identify and capitalize on opportunities for continuous improvement? A recent SHRM (Society for Human Resources Management) Foundation paper reports that less than 30% of those surveyed have an effective Performance Management system that… Read More »
Data Doesn’t Mean Much Without Analysis
As a contact center consultant, I visit lots of centers and examine mountains of reports. What repeatedly amazes me is all the effort put into getting data and preparing reports with little energy expended on root cause analysis to drive prioritization of continuous improvement activities. Instead, they’ll charge ahead with new initiatives which increase contact… Read More »
Why our Team Took an Improv Class – and You Should Too!
I instilled fear in my team when I scheduled an “Improv” session at our recent annual meeting. I’m sure they had visions of being “onstage” and having to come up with something incredibly clever and funny. In reality, everyone left feeling like it was one of the best “team-building” exercises they’d ever experienced. Let me… Read More »