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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
It’s said a picture paints a thousand words. We help clients craft “elevator stories” about their contact centers (with associated visual images) so company leaders fully understand the centers’ value and needs. We also help them prioritize projects and investment opportunities into clear calls for action focused on a few recommendations with the greatest returns…. Read More »
The other day, I was on my bank’s mobile app to view my recent credit card activity when I noticed an icon at the bottom of the screen that I hadn’t seen before. It was a microphone with “Voice” below it. When I hit the button, a “Siri-like” voice asked me to speak or type… Read More »