tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67385146017208805222024-03-21T08:17:48.559-05:00CallCenter WeeklyInnovators providing their spin on customer service, customer experience and the contact center.CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.comBlogger725125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-54827692958744860802019-05-28T09:58:00.001-05:002019-05-28T09:58:16.300-05:00Charity Makes Organizations Great - Pay it Forward<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Ron Rhodes</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus far my articles have almost exclusively been dedicated to themes to service my colleagues in the fields of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Contact Center management. This writing is not an exception. BPO is a people-intensive industry in which organizations are defined by their ability to attract and retain talented personnel. What kind of company do you want to work for? <br /><br />People, especially the expanding millennial workforce, respond favorably to organizations with a well-communicated sense of purpose and are led by leaders with progressive insight, vision, and compassion. The importance of charitable activities through which companies and their employees can solve individual problems and have broader community engagement cannot be overstated. Charitable programs add credibility to brand, equal to or beyond that of earnings and dividends. More significantly, they provide unforgettable moments and paint the time people spend with companies as positive experiences with lasting illumination.<br /><br />Charity is “the voluntary giving of help.” One of the seven virtues, the word charity is often used interchangeably with love. I know this, but I’m not sure where I learned it.<br /><br />Apartment 3J, 180 Troy Avenue, Albany Projects, Brooklyn, New York. Sometime in the early 1960s, a small boy interrupted his mother to ask if he could stay up a little later and watch The Millionaire, his favorite TV show. Though he couldn’t yet form the words, he found the show’s premise, hopeful and inspiring. His mom said yes and that night for sure there would be no monsters in his closet. <br /><br />The Millionaire was all about a wealthy philanthropist who, through his agent, a poised, dignified gentleman named, Michael Anthony, would present unsuspecting recipients with “a cashier’s check for one million dollars.” Each unique episode told the story of how this unanticipated charity would help them face mounting challenges in their lives. Somehow their benefactor knew and the doorbell rang just in time. “I’m Michael Anthony…” the visitor always began. He presented the gift and he never left without the subtle suggestion that in time they should “pay it forward.” <br /><br />Although Robert Fredrick Smith was born in Denver - a long way from Brooklyn - in December of 1962, just a tad late for the show’s original run, I enjoy the speculation that he caught a few of the 206 episodes of The Millionaire as they re-ran on CBS. Whoever knows what experiences give birth to an idea? If not this or not solely this, I am positive of the influence of his Ph.D. parents, both educators, or the fact that his mother carried him in her arms during the 1963 March on Washington. He was not quite 9-months old, but who’s to say that as Dr. Martin Luther King eloquently offered the words, “I have a dream,” young Robert’s soul was not subliminally and permanently touched? If not one of these or any of these then surely the words a young carpenter once spoke in Galilee, “…for this is why I have come.” Mark 1:38.<br /><br />Whatever his inspiration, on Sunday, May 19th, 2019, investor Robert F. Smith, CEO of Vista Equity Partners, stood in front of the 400-student graduating class of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and announced that his family was making a grant to pay 100% of their student loans. This is clearly an initiative to help them begin their adult and professional lives without the burden of the department that they were certain to have been pursued by for many years to come. Mr. Smith, of all people, understood the business equation, expedite positive cash flow. The personal equation is even more substantial, however, invest in the asset of infinite possibility, reinforce it with a sense of charity, legacy, and pride. Take this gift, make the most of it and then pay it forward. The world will be a little better for it.<br /><br />I watched Mr. Smith’s speech on CNN from the Philippines and I was awestruck by the gesture. Between stories of war, starvation and political unrest, between meteorological catastrophes and toxic, immature tweets, a single man made an unselfish investment in the future of people he didn’t even know. Candidly, I have never wished for or am sure I would ever want 4 billion dollars net worth. To prove this, I have exhibited the poorest personal investment and savings habits as the years have gone by. But I do wish and will strive to be as unselfish as I can be on, at least, a relative basis. My life has been a continual trail of blessings and perhaps underserved opportunities so when the man said, “pay it forward,” I applauded. (I also liked the movie.)<br /><br />So, what now? I’m the General Manager of a small BPO that supplies accounting, healthcare, real estate, technical support, and graphic design services to US companies. Our president and I have been preparing to launch a charitable grant program for our employees to help them with their personal challenges. This can be anything from unanticipated medical expenses to the restoration of property loss and personal debt. I had the honor of helping to launch and administrate a similar program in another company and I know, first hand, the rewards of being on the giving end of Robert F. Smith moments, though a little smaller in stature.<br /><br />Charity makes organizations great. While mob mentality and bad intentions can be contagious. The effects are usually short term and often a cause for deep regret in later life. Human kindness and generosity, however, are compelling and irreversible life-long influences. As leaders in our industry, regardless of your role, you can have a profound impact on the character of your organization and the advancement of mankind, one person at a time. Remember, you yourself are the recipient of the hopes, prayers and good intentions of so many others. Pay is forward.</span> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkTBzfFWCYO1XXIAbfChFSA1APlrI56UTKCqsOM7iwteHBAggXbJgkjJ5YmAq3X921-_bjyzOio4CM0wqfYRImJsHpS_HNryHMS38iJrA9ujiCCn9TCPDO2QGbolUZ59qpvH0cMO4v2c/s1600/RR.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="409" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkTBzfFWCYO1XXIAbfChFSA1APlrI56UTKCqsOM7iwteHBAggXbJgkjJ5YmAq3X921-_bjyzOio4CM0wqfYRImJsHpS_HNryHMS38iJrA9ujiCCn9TCPDO2QGbolUZ59qpvH0cMO4v2c/s200/RR.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Passionate about mentoring and developing the industry’s future leaders, in 2000, Ron authored <i>Fundamentals of Call Center Management</i>, a guide intended to help entry level managers, as they begin to master their craft. Having spent 20 years with category leaders, American Express, Nestle, Moore Business Forms (now RR Donnelly) and Comcast, Ron's background includes an additional 10 years of key global BPO assignments with TeleTech, Convergys, Stream, STARTEK and now Connext. Ron's international experience includes stints in Jamaica, Canada and currently the Philippines. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connect: </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-rhodes-5499446/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc6411; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LinkedIn</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-12691345779382453712019-05-06T11:41:00.002-05:002019-05-06T11:41:32.471-05:00The Magic of Trust<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Gail Meintjies</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can’t stand being micro-managed. It drives me mad. I can’t stand doing things without knowing why they must be done. Just going through the motions because that’s what the job entails doesn't work for me. I work extremely well under pressure. If there’s a short deadline or an overwhelming challenge, that’s when I perform at my peak.<br /><br />That’s me; I know my strengths and I know what makes me tick.<br /><br />I’ve been part of many teams, and I’ve led a good number of teams over the years, and this is what I’ve learned – one size does not fit all.<br /><br />We don’t all enjoy autonomy or work well under pressure. Some people prefer to do what they are asked without challenging the routine.<br /><br />And that’s okay.<br /><br />When I’ve gone into a new team, started my own team, or taken over a team, I have one rule that I go by.<br /><br />I don’t want to hear the gossip, or the technology glitches, or even the issues the team had with their previous leader.<br /><br />When I meet a new team member, the first thing I want to know is who they are. What their goals are, what pushes them over the edge, what inspires them, how they function.<br /><br /><strong>Building trust</strong><br /><br />According to Forbes</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, problems that most teams experience are as a result of a lack of trust. This includes poor performance, a lack of commitment and tension.<br /><br />The common definition of trust is having a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone.<br /><br />If you do not take the time to get to know your team members, personally, there is no way to understand their reliability, their truth, or their ability.<br /><br />Here are some tips from Forbes on how best to get to know your team members: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Listen:</strong> Ask questions in personal meetings, as well as in a broader forum. Listen without judgement, listen to learn and understand. Take notes, either mentally or after your meeting, because in this way you remember more. When next you’re meeting with that person, connect with something you’ve learned about them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Be Brave:</strong> The best way to learn about what inspires and motivates people, is to share your own story and experiences, and share your interests, fears and goals. When team members see that you are genuine, they will be willing to trust you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Work with the Team:</strong> Whether you’re a leader or a team member, one of the best ways to show individuals that you’re truly interested in them, is to spend time in their space, with their permission. People generally enjoy sharing what they are doing and showing others what they know. It will boost their morale and again show them that you’re really interested in who they are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Recognition:</strong> Appreciation is a fundamental human need – not only does it show team members that the work they are doing is appreciated, it shows them that they are valued.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guidelines for building trust and connecting are always helpful, but there’s one thing that I believe must be present, and that’s being genuine. These actions need to be done with genuine intent, genuine willingness to learn and understand, genuine want to connect with people.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When you truly understand your team members, you can appreciate their actions and reactions in the situations they face, and you will be equipped to journey with them through the trials and tribulations, in a way that is meaningful to them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a work environment I believe that it takes perseverance and hard work to create a trusting environment, and that the work begins with me.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhTsN7H-rm2ANCMHCVHMIYHCw1ODJxyZOKLgDS2vvIobTbWCcGGIKX4xwF9JqvGoiNP-ZrRuvn6ad5jwhjn3H68iLDauSQN1ajCdxW9htv1o-A02KkdZ_PpkcoL5YrW4aHCSyvYZKL2g/s1600/Gail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="560" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhTsN7H-rm2ANCMHCVHMIYHCw1ODJxyZOKLgDS2vvIobTbWCcGGIKX4xwF9JqvGoiNP-ZrRuvn6ad5jwhjn3H68iLDauSQN1ajCdxW9htv1o-A02KkdZ_PpkcoL5YrW4aHCSyvYZKL2g/s200/Gail.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gail Meintjies is a skilled Customer Service professional, offering 12 years’ dedicated experience in the banking industry and 4 years’ earlier experience in journalism. Her background is rich in mentorship, coaching and training, and the consistent delivery of exceptional customer service.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Committed to process improvement, and possessing excellent problem solving skills, Gail has the inherent ability to identify situational needs and provide rational and intelligent solutions. Her exceptional organisational skills, attention to detail, and self-motivation, enable Gail to manage multi-levelled workloads with diligence and focused precision. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connect: </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-meintjies/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc6411;">LinkedIn</span></span></a><br />
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CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-48778336071848445832019-05-02T10:38:00.000-05:002019-05-02T10:38:46.197-05:00Why We Need Less Leadership <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Kathryn Frankson</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ok, ok so we still need leadership. But, as someone who just wrapped an Experienced Manager training I'm now convinced that we actually need more management. Even typing that feels a bit underwhelming because management conjures up thoughts of scheduling, status reports and approving PTO; however, when done right management is truly the catalyst for achieving business outcomes. Why? Because management is exactly 3 things: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">People are fundamentally motivated by understanding what they need to do every day and having the resources and trust to do so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And as someone who recently shifted into a new role with a new team and new projects, this was a timely reminder. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's easy to get swept up and anchored in the positives of leadership, because there are many. Leaders influence culture, leaders drive change, leaders have vision and clarity which motivates others to follow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But to execute strategy and unite teams, especially as we all take on more, faster, in an ever-changing market, the need for banding collaborators together with clarity around objectives and a road map to get there...is more important than ever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Kathryn Frankson</span></span> is a B2B event sales and marketing professional at UBM. A believer that 2019 communication means knowing how to get the markets attention through thumb stopping content, audience development and storytelling, she executes sales and marketing strategies in the catering, food service and special event space. <br /><br /> Connect: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynfrankson/"><span style="color: #cc6411;">LinkedIn</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> </span><br />
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CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-48675727118477561802019-05-01T12:46:00.000-05:002019-05-01T12:46:47.714-05:005 Ways Tomorrow's Contact Center Will Deliver Value<span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By: Andrew Gilliam</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Imagine what the world will be like after you've checked off every box on your customer experience to-do list. Pre-purchase anxiety no longer exists, thanks to careful messaging and word of mouth. Product issues are eliminated at their root-cause, before goods leave the factory. Service failures are anticipated, and recovery is automatic. Customer journeys are frictionless and fault-tolerant, because they were meticulously studied, optimized, and fortified. Contact centers played a vital role in bringing your organization to this paradise, but will they still relevant? Yes, more than ever!<br /><br /> This article explores the contribution of contact centers towards the end of an organization's customer experience journey. Their mission, methods, and role within a company will change dramatically, but important work will continue to happen in the contact center. These fives ways are just the beginning of how tomorrow's contact centers will continue to drive value.<br /><br /><strong>Proactive Engagement</strong> <br />Today's contact center mission is painfully reactive. Customers experience a problem, and they call. Customers have a question, and they chat. Customers are overwhelmed, and they tweet at us. With so many customers to help, it's hard to imagine making more work for ourselves. In the future, that's exactly what we'll do. As companies perfect the customer journey, the problems, questions, and uncertainty that contact centers mitigate will disappear. Instead, they'll focus on a more noble purpose: engagement. Contact centers will be freed up for post-purchase check-ins and follow-ups that nurture relationships instead of repairing broken ones. Contact centers will always be the face of the organization they serve, but tomorrow's contact centers will be friends instead of repairmen.<br /><br /><strong>Community Building</strong> <br />Online support communities are nothing new; they originally promised to reduce support costs by relying on customers to help each-other. Many companies have online forums, but most have become ghost-towns where pleas for help go to die. <a href="https://community.ubnt.com/" target="_blank">Ubiquiti Networks'</a> community-driven success demonstrates the full potential of customer communities. They don't provide traditional phone or chat support for most of their enterprise networking products, which helps them to offer disruptively low prices. Instead, customers go to the online support forum for help, where they interact with other customers and senior Ubiquiti engineers (who actually built the products in question). Ubiquiti representatives also have a strong presence in third-party communities and on social media. They're not there to sell, Ubiquiti's existing customers take care of that.<br /><br />As customer journeys are refined, root-causes are solved, and automation steps in, the mission of tomorrow's contact center will shift away from near-term resolutions to long-term relationship building. With their day job out of the way, contact center professionals will refocus their creativity and skills towards building strong customer communities.<br /><br /><strong>Harnessing Unstructured Feedback</strong> <br />Through engagement and community building activities, there's no doubt that tomorrow's contact center professionals will be exposed to an abundance of feedback. The unstructured feedback gathered from these activities will prove to be some of the organization's most valuable knowledge, provided it's leveraged effectively. Capturing, structuring, and applying these lessons learned will largely fall on contact center leaders close to the front-line. Unlike traditional market research, companies will gain insight into how products actually perform in wild, uncontrolled environments.<br /><br /><strong>Product Development</strong> <br />Contact center professionals have always had to be experts in the products, services, and markets they support. In the future, smart organizations will use the in-house expertise from their contact center to design, refine, and promote their products. Not only will the contact center be an invaluable test bed, but they'll be the inspiration for future product and service offerings. Front-line contact center employees are closest to market demand, they interact with it daily. Solutions generated in the contact center will be at the forefront of the product lineup.<br /><br /><strong>Content Marketing</strong> <br />Content generation is currently relegated to a few artsy interns in the marketing department. It can be an effective way to share a message and build a reputation, but it's time consuming and won't always hit the mark with customers. Worse, it can come across as being too "on-message" or lacking in personality. As demand for content increases, tomorrow's contact centers will step up to the challenge with renewed passion. Contact center professionals often have untapped talents and creativity. Paired with their deep knowledge about customer needs and challenges, they'll create content faster and more effectively while making sure customers have a laugh along the way.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Andrew Gilliam is a passionate customer experience innovator and change agent. He’s developed new employee portals, created effective surveys, and built silo-busting escalation systems. Andrew’s background in Information Technology put him on the front-lines of customer service as an IT Support Center Analyst. His vision: deliver Amazing Customer Service and Technical Support™. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Learn more at </span><a href="http://andytg.com/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">andytg.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, follow </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ndytg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">@ndytg</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> on Twitter, and connect on </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andytg/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LinkedIn</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-60101297935576536102019-04-24T10:45:00.004-05:002019-04-24T10:45:43.653-05:00Listen to Your Heart (or your calls)<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Diana Aviles</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ve chatted with speech analysts from all walks of life. They speak many languages and are versed in different speech analytics solutions. Despite the fact there are some differences in approaches, we can all agree on the one thing, we consistently struggle to get our organizations to understand: you still need to listen to the calls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can bucket, categorize and query the life breath out of everything you need, but at the end of the day it does not absolve you from some type of manual listening. I am notorious for saying that our goal in speech analytics is to help make insights easier to obtain- not outright replace human listening.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What good is a category or query to an organization, if you have no context outside of those key terms and phrases it was programmed with? How do you know if a process is successful, or if it is failing, if you aren’t engaged with the actual agent and customer interaction? What actionable intelligence are you getting from static data? Very little to none. But, you can change that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Speech Analytics (SA) is an extremely interactive process. It is very exciting to get your hands dirty and discover all sorts of wild stuff you never would’ve found without SA. Sometimes it may feel like it takes forever, but simply adjusting your perspective to see it as being for the greater good of your organization will brighten your outlook and reveal vast benefits. Listening to 100-200 calls certainly will not injure you. There are different strategies on how to create listening studies that are effective and efficient at any size.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The aspect of SA that makes us awesome, is that we can pull insights from data and have the flexibility to further think outside the box, while exploring those insights on a deeper level than our more structured data contemporaries. Speech Analytics is about tying together trends to tell a story, that can help an organization make business decisions. You are doing yourself a big disservice, if you are just sitting around building out queries, and running reports without trying to take a peek at the bigger picture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So please, do yourself a favor and listen to your calls. I promise you it's worth every second of time you invest in it.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEL47HPS17Pd7n_tjrN6E0Lspy0Gs-tUAG2cDPbj_OIEDm66-RpRpXr02KEgA3EKENohPZTjntRdp7NQm0qIgpeERtB1zrZNZcsPAne6Av5JPyVpJ2v6LVRTQ0qLrLi6g8mwRv-aeEdRM/s1600/DA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="233" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEL47HPS17Pd7n_tjrN6E0Lspy0Gs-tUAG2cDPbj_OIEDm66-RpRpXr02KEgA3EKENohPZTjntRdp7NQm0qIgpeERtB1zrZNZcsPAne6Av5JPyVpJ2v6LVRTQ0qLrLi6g8mwRv-aeEdRM/s200/DA.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Diana Aviles</strong></span> is a long time speech analytics fan with a specialty in Nexidia Interaction Analytics. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She is a vocal speech analytics advocate with the primary objective to simultaneously promote and educate the world of Speech Analytics with a human touch; one which further emphasizes the importance of First Call Resolution and overall customer experience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connect: </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-aviles-6843859a/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LinkedIn</span></a>CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-70794897966355609562019-04-22T10:06:00.002-05:002019-04-22T10:06:11.651-05:00Work Ethic, Attendance Management, Mom and The Mrs.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Ron Rhodes</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuRceO1bUgezFDOm5eHlvaJH7sV-hBly7eIWkCNMT1gPQ60z7BMD7puLQHXNpYK2oxzqu1yYR_vcImC4FxvWpO8AybMwWqrsU4Xy84v5OZxg-CQ0f1q9H3fKVdpC6UB2i-Ri-6UeZRIs/s1600/RR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuRceO1bUgezFDOm5eHlvaJH7sV-hBly7eIWkCNMT1gPQ60z7BMD7puLQHXNpYK2oxzqu1yYR_vcImC4FxvWpO8AybMwWqrsU4Xy84v5OZxg-CQ0f1q9H3fKVdpC6UB2i-Ri-6UeZRIs/s1600/RR.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is a quote I enjoy from Reginald F. Lewis, the Baltimore-born CEO/Investor whose life provided so many early inspirational lessons for me. Mr. Lewis once said,<br /><br />“The dream is free, but the hustle is sold separately,”<br />words that bring to mind a belief that seems to have faded with the 20th Century. <br /><br />The belief I refer to is often described as work ethic which, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a set of values centered on the importance of doing work and reflected especially in a desire or determination to work hard.” Your Dictionary.com adds this: “an example of someone with work ethic is a person who gets to work on time every day and always works long days to get the job done.” All of my sources describe work ethic as “a moral good.” It is in it and through it that one can achieve prosperity and enduring emotional reward.<br /><br />These days, however, given the perpetual advancement of time saving technology and the pursuit of work-life balance, burning the midnight oil should not be considered a (work ethic) requirement. It should suffice that you are willing to do what is needed, when it is needed, but if you don’t need to stay in the office, by all means, go home, hug your kids and pet your dog. Do you want to have and be recognized for having a good work ethic? Of course, you do. So, show up consistently and punctually and when you do, do good work. I learned that from the late great Mamie Rhodes (miss you Mom). <br /><br />But our purpose here is to share thoughts about the management of employee attendance. Beginning this way served only to illustrate that work ethic is the metaphorical parent of attendance related behaviors. You’ll likely agree that attendance is the first and most controllable employment essential because without it, nothing else really matters. <br /><br />My wife manages a team of customer service professionals within a large Philippine-based BPO (Business Process Outsourcer). One of the (hopefully many) advantages of our life partnership is that she is entitled to a sort of informal professional mentoring (free of charge) where she may seek my advice and either take it or suggest what else I might consider doing with it. 😊 Thankfully, she does acknowledge that I have a great deal of practical experience in BPO and contact center operations. I may, on occasion, share valuable insight that could help her as she advances. Alas, she is Filipina and quite direct so she doesn’t really put it that way. She just says I’m old so I should know stuff by now. <br /><br />A frequent topic of discussion for us is basic attendance management and why it has become so difficult over the years. I’ll get to my theories and suggestions, but first it seems important to review why staff attendance is so important in a BPO/contact center setting. Start with pricing. Forget the ideals for the moment. The fact is that BPO pricing is typically based on transaction quantity, but more customarily, some increment of time; per minute, per hour, paid or productive. This is almost always measured by modern automation. It follows that if employees don’t show up when scheduled, you (the BPO) may not bill for that time or those transactions while you are still saddled with most or all of the employment expenses. From a purely business standpoint, this is not sustainable over a long period.<br /><br />Next, there are a chain reaction of negative service issues associated with poor employee attendance. You will likely be understaffed, resulting in queues or other work-related backlogs, client dissatisfaction and threats to business stability. <br /><br />Finally, there is the spiraling decline of morale within your department and the fact that behaviors, positive or negative, can be contagious. This is especially true when recognition, where positive, or accountability, where negative, are either, not present or consistently applied.<br /><br /> I have seen and heard of all kinds or practices and devices intended to drive compliance with attendance policies; from “perfect attendance bonuses” where employees accept jobs and then are paid extra to come to that job; to actually making daily calls to (I emphasize) adult employees during which you remind them of their schedule and seek confirmation that they will honor it. Both of these have questionable foundation. One says that we do not expect or feel we have a right to a workforce with a strong work ethic; therefore, we will pay extra and hope the incentive drives the behavior. The other is a bit more dangerous because it allows little balance on the accountability scale. The manager not only owns developing employees, but is expected to literally coddle them as if they were small children. Personally, I would be offended if my manager continually called me just to remind me to come to work…and not because the call wakes me up. The very power source of a strong work ethic is pride.<br /><br />I suppose I am also not a fan of elaborate attendance point systems with challenges and buy backs. And of the approach many organizations take to scrutinizing and validating medical excuses (people in the industry know exactly what I mean). I guess you could say that I’m old school. Establish a policy based on a fair and reasonable definition of excessive absenteeism and then the chair is either empty or it isn’t. I would trust and respect all reasons for unplanned absences so a note from your doctor is not necessary. I would simply manage excessive absenteeism and patterns of abuse. Again, the chair is either empty or it isn’t.<br /><br />As far as managing attendance, I advise my wife to be proactive. Have sincere and direct discussions with your team members. By this I mean that directness and sincerity have to be a two-way street. This is not a time for Facebook or emails. During these discussions three (3) things should happen: 1) The importance and rationale around attendance policy (or schedule) adherence should be clarified. 2) Compliance expectations should be clearly set and 3) If a particular employee has attendance challenges, openness and honesty should be encouraged with the hope of discovering and addressing the root cause. Then be consistent. Say what you mean and do what you say. This expectation will become culture over time.<br /><br />Yes, there are occasionally reasons that employees are unable to come to work, but then they are 23 years old. I figure if I can bring my sore from old sports injuries, diabetes and high cholesterol managing self into work regardless of what time of the day or the week I’m scheduled, someone considerably younger has a much better shot. This is about choice and character, after all, is the sum total of the choices we make in life.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8mGk60eBjzaNvOXKmrnLESVoUFR_N98iaU_pCNx22NQYEr3le_7VE8DWdWoJAaXJt4b1VUMT501Zg5lr2nJphslAt-fVEwDBgMzUvXPNdIsQVJ0dU3-PI8BumRf6MfAJ7Q-qTiD6iNiM/s1600/RR.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="409" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8mGk60eBjzaNvOXKmrnLESVoUFR_N98iaU_pCNx22NQYEr3le_7VE8DWdWoJAaXJt4b1VUMT501Zg5lr2nJphslAt-fVEwDBgMzUvXPNdIsQVJ0dU3-PI8BumRf6MfAJ7Q-qTiD6iNiM/s200/RR.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Passionate about mentoring and developing the industry’s future leaders, in 2000, Ron authored <i>Fundamentals of Call Center Management</i>, a guide intended to help entry level managers, as they begin to master their craft. Having spent 20 years with category leaders, American Express, Nestle, Moore Business Forms (now RR Donnelly) and Comcast, Ron's background includes an additional 10 years of key global BPO assignments with TeleTech, Convergys, Stream, STARTEK and now Connext. Ron's international experience includes stints in Jamaica, Canada and currently the Philippines. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connect: </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-rhodes-5499446/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc6411; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LinkedIn</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-23033892722274217352019-04-17T11:41:00.001-05:002019-04-17T11:41:26.940-05:00Agile Customer Service<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Gail Meintjies</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/agile-customer-service-gail-meintjies/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When it comes to serving customers, these projects need to start with the consumer needs and work back to the technology and software that should be in place to cater to these needs.<br /><br />In conjunction with this, any organization needs to understand its DNA and adopt a passionate customer-centric approach throughout, to gain customer buy-in.<br /><br /><strong>Creating Agile Customer Care</strong><br /><br />By focusing from the outside in, working with collaborative teams, and adopting an Agile project management approach, organizations can use Agile customer care to:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Achieve fewer break downs;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Boost first contact resolution;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Assist customers to help themselves find solutions to simple problems;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Streamline processes and software to suit the customer rather than stick to legacy systems.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the most important aspects of new age project management is to ensure Agile distribution. According to Accenture, the five main characteristics of Agile distribution are:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Offering customers what they need, not what the business has. This is done by personalizing products and services;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Replacing complex distribution processes and continually adjusting offerings as the market dictates;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Transforming fixed costs, such as paying rent, into variable costs and investing savings into revenue-generating opportunities, such as purchasing start-ups;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Combining physical and digital channels to gain more market share;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Making channel decisions quickly and often, based on customer needs and market demands.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>It is imperative that organizations move outside their usual social media circles in the digital distribution playing field, and come up with unique initiatives to grow their consumer base.</em></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An Agile Workforce</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Organizations lose billions by investing in digital solutions that are not accepted by employees or customers. Ingenious solutions and marketing ideas that are aligned to actual customer demands, are nothing, without the buy-in of employees. The Agile teams in place need to hold skills and traits such as:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Collaboration</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Effective and efficient communication</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fast execution</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flexibility</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Discipline</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Taking accountability and responsibility</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">SCRUM masters need to be leading their teams by placing their focus on becoming the best they can be, while Agile coaches must be in place to help the teams that need to apply the Agile practices, do so effectively. They need to be there to review what has gone well and what needs more work, and to get the support of employees’ managers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This can be done with the help of the product owners creating a compelling vision of the project, and communicating it to employees and their managers, to obtain that buy-in from the beginning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">HR need to step in and consistently explore ways in which to create an Agile growth strategy for the business and its employees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">According to a Harvard Business Review study, businesses need to attract employees who go after innovative opportunities passionately instead of sticking to what they know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One thing is clear – customer centricity should be engrained in a business’ culture from the very beginning, and the right teams should be employed to move the business forward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span> </div>
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<em><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Organizations lose billions by investing in digital solutions that are not accepted by employees or customers.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span> </div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Building Agility for the Customer</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By definition, Agile is an iterative development methodology that values human communication and feedback, adapts to changes, and produces working results.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By incorporating working software, and using customer data analysis and collaboration effectively, Agile businesses can stay ahead of their competition simply because they are catering to their customer’s needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However, despite the relevance of software making the user interaction simpler, it’s critical for organizations to realize the importance of the human interaction element throughout the Agile journey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Software that is used to collect customer interaction data effectively, means that each consumer is met with a personalized approach. In some instances, software can be used to direct the customer requirement to a specific person or area within a business, providing consumers with the best advice they can get.</span></div>
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<em><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's critical for organizations to remember the importance of the human interaction element throughout the Agile journey.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">According to Brand Embassy (</span><a href="http://www.brandembassy.com/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">www.brandembassy.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">), a 2017 study shows that a staggering 70% of 18 – 24 year olds have stated that brands which fail to personalize their communication and interactions, will lose them as a customer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Personally having 12 years’ experience in the banking industry, Accenture’s view that retail banks are in a fortunate position to be ahead in the Agile approach, makes sense to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unlike digital-only or physical-only (think online stores and retail stores without online distribution means), retail banks have both a digital and physical presence. Digital platforms such as self-service banking where a client can open an account online, make payments, and get feedback on simple solutions; are already in place. At the same time, customers can visit physical branches. In using both platforms, branches may need to revamp their approach, but are fortunate to not have to build from the bottom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The more prominent banks have a large amount of customer data at their fingertips which allows the testing of real-world scenarios. This creates the space for banks to define the markets, products and customers they wish to target; even creating personas in the marketing space.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Banks can purchase start-up capabilities or invest in integrating white-labels into their value chains, and in so doing, cater for the fast-paced market changes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s important to realize that organizations should seek Agility in customer service not only by being Agile in one area, but by adopting a multi-dimensional approach.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By having a very personal, in-depth understanding of customers; embedding a customer-centric culture; and investing in and empowering team players to be innovative; organizations will continue to move forward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3dQBd_CsDW403Fb2gWsE1i5mOA-cUjpCIo9TK3m23YhOog_cUQkUhHxV6-DRqEH6aRnSCaE5UJNbxOcJQUoLJWo6VlnE9RNNN1zfXGOVTJFMltK9T1bRJKXIk3J4slt8xYarNzH_xGo/s1600/Gail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="560" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3dQBd_CsDW403Fb2gWsE1i5mOA-cUjpCIo9TK3m23YhOog_cUQkUhHxV6-DRqEH6aRnSCaE5UJNbxOcJQUoLJWo6VlnE9RNNN1zfXGOVTJFMltK9T1bRJKXIk3J4slt8xYarNzH_xGo/s200/Gail.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gail Meintjies is a skilled Customer Service professional, offering 12 years’ dedicated experience in the banking industry and 4 years’ earlier experience in journalism. Her background is rich in mentorship, coaching and training, and the consistent delivery of exceptional customer service.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Committed to process improvement, and possessing excellent problem solving skills, Gail has the inherent ability to identify situational needs and provide rational and intelligent solutions. Her exceptional organisational skills, attention to detail, and self-motivation, enable Gail to manage multi-levelled workloads with diligence and focused precision. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connect: </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-meintjies/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LinkedIn</span></a><br />
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CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-76793379577546366212019-04-15T10:25:00.002-05:002019-04-15T10:30:23.104-05:00Women Leadership & Customer Experience<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">By Stacy Sherman (MBA, CX Certified)</span> </span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="1088" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44yQg8U5gmS9HM-yRfcvplsPL4pDbtJhDqFbO4L2jLQqMQFVDg1_6TZRnFQMhXYZX6HAyLyjV74PSnjCn5mvbeZICAfPqZAMfHdlKhQe38wVo2iWlxVqDfgSZD0_bvte4bSI0UGsDT58/s640/women-Leadership-and-Customer-Experience.jpg" width="540" /> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This article originally appeared on </span><a href="https://doingcxright.com/2019/04/08/women-leadership-and-customer-experience/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Doing CX Right</span></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There’s an increasing amount of conversations about Women and Leadership, and I love it! I believe that the next generation, including my own daughter, will have more opportunities to share their voice, without judgments, and pursue jobs that had been traditionally filled by men.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">
I’M WRITING THIS ARTICLE FOR TWO REASONS:</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
1. TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY WOMEN, TO BUILD THEIR SKILLS AND FOCUS ON A CAREER IN THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE FIELD.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">CX is not a fad. It’s here to stay and reputable companies are seeking expertise. </span><a href="https://www.voxprogroup.com/customer-experience/why-we-need-more-women-leaders-in-cx/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Voxpro</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> interviewed five women leaders who talk about the need for females in high-level customer-focused roles. I couldn’t agree more. You can read about what the ladies had to say in an informative article: “</span><a href="https://www.voxprogroup.com/customer-experience/why-we-need-more-women-leaders-in-cx/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why We Need More Women Leaders in CX</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
2. TO INSPIRE WOMEN TO PURSUE THEIR PASSIONS.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ve learned a lot over the past 20 years working in large and small companies. I know first hand the challenges in pursuing a career while balancing parenthood. I am elated that more companies are committed to creating a culture where women matter and employee diversity is valued. Below is a recap of a recent interview of me in honor of </span><a href="https://www.internationalwomensday.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">International Women’s History month</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. I hope it serves as inspiration for all my readers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Source: Schindler Elevator Corp</span><br />
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Josefin Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-transform: uppercase;">INTERVIEW SUMMARY:</strong></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Q: EXPLAIN WHAT YOU DO IN YOUR ROLE.</span></h4>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A: I’m currently the Director of Customer Experience, leading a team focused on delivering best-in-class Customer Excellence and Employee Engagement that serves as a brand differentiator. My role includes establishing & implementing innovative Voice of Customer (VOC) initiatives that provide a deep understanding of how customers interact & feel across all touch points. I’m also leveraging data, including Voice of Employee (VOE) feedback, to enhance customer journeys, and collaborating with cross-team to “close the loop” resulting in record high customer </span></span><a href="https://doingcxright.com/2018/10/14/how-to-measure-customer-experience/#more-3034" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Net Promoter (NPS)</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">scores.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Q: WHY IS GENDER EQUALITY IMPORTANT?</span></h4>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">A: Gender equality is important because all people deserve access to the same resources and opportunities. If two individuals with similar skills & education apply for the same job or promotion, there should be no difference in the evaluation process. Unfortunately, equality has not been the case over time and I’ve witnessed this. I am very glad there is now a cultural shift so that my kids benefit in positive ways.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Q: WHAT HAVE YOU OVERCOME TO GET WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;">A: I have overcome “inclusion” situations in past workplaces. For example, there’s been a multitude of times that I was not invited to all male meetings, even when my level or related positions were in the room and topics pertained to my job. I’ve overcome challenges by communicating tactfully with people and articulating the value I bring, so they’d understand my perspective and need for inclusion. While self-advocacy is not easy, it is essential and a contributing factor </span>for<span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"> my success.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Q: WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF WOMEN ASPIRING TO GET ADVANCE THEIR CAREERS?</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;">A: I encourage everyone, especially women, to communicate openly and honestly, and deal with uncomfortable situations </span>head-on<span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"> versus an avoidance approach. </span>Be impeccable with your words and choose the right moments to contribute. You have 2 ears and 1 mouth. Use them accordingly. <span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Also, always be learning and advancing your skills through formal and informal education. I obtained my MBA years ago but continue to get certifications from prestigious institutions to sustain my position as a credible thought leader. (Read more about my <a href="https://doingcxright.com/rutgers-customer-experience-certification-program-new/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;" target="_blank">Rutgers CX Course)</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Q: WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST PIVOTAL PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED IN YOUR CAREER?</span></h4>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">A: There will ALWAYS be obstacles. Know what you can control and focus your time and effort on those things. People often say “No” without even thinking about situations, but there IS a path to “Yes!” Be creative and figure it out!</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Q: DO YOU HAVE A FEMALE ROLE MODEL THAT HELPED YOU GET TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?</span></h4>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">A: Executive Director </span></span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceyaaronvz/&source=gmail&ust=1553645033410000&usg=AFQjCNG2l0oXr4qM52o4sPryFO8zNJFQag" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceyaaronvz/" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Stacey Aaron-Domanico</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;">from my former job at Verizon, taught me </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;">about </span>leadership and authenticity <span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;">through her actions and words. We are still connected, and she </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;">inspires</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"> me to be amazing and genuine in everything I do.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you like my article, please </span></span><a href="https://doingcxright.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=59ffb65e6a7424ab0c16df642&id=a38b913ddc" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">subscribe</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> to DoingCXRight to continue getting updates. And, join the conversations about customer experience, employee engagement and much more on </span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/doingcxright" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> & </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/doingcxright/" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: currentColor; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76MYvkGUpl5-Uj8KXcD_chM4m1rRurJTcfsrSaMJEYUe86-jCkmXDpHvd18fqpbghUwyHij2fpPj2QtdVsvNGUNEQOXHrmZlDVE7o7SFF9MWge3Nva-brRmuy-Nh462xa66EyIbNgv08/s1600/Stacy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76MYvkGUpl5-Uj8KXcD_chM4m1rRurJTcfsrSaMJEYUe86-jCkmXDpHvd18fqpbghUwyHij2fpPj2QtdVsvNGUNEQOXHrmZlDVE7o7SFF9MWge3Nva-brRmuy-Nh462xa66EyIbNgv08/s200/Stacy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Stacy Sherman is a results-oriented Customer Experience (CX) and Digital Marketing professional with a proven track record increasing brand awareness, sales, and loyalty at B2C & B2B companies of all sizes and budgets.<br /><br /> She’s worked on both the client side and agency environments leading projects for reputable brands (Martha Stewart Crafts, American Girl, Perler Beads) along with well-known Telcom companies (AT&T and Verizon). Stacy is a Founding CX Board Member and Advisor at Rutgers University.</span></div>
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CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-58375389050647581362019-04-01T11:11:00.001-05:002019-04-01T11:11:14.330-05:00Removing The Training Wheels - Self Service Solutions in Speech Analytics<span style="color: #6aa84f;">By Diana Aviles</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I feel like I often say, “One of the biggest challenges in speech analytics is...” in many of my pieces since there are so many moving parts in what we do. From getting the SA program launched, to maintaining the program so that the organization continues to see value in the investment- it’s all a challenge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However, something to think about is how you want your SA program to sustain itself in the long run. Sometimes it seems easier to keep all the knowledge on how to utilize the tool to yourself, but I have found that organizations who operate like this find themselves with very burnt-out speech analysts since what often happens is they become inundated with countless requests. They start feeling like the nerdy kid in school who the popular kids only talk to when they want to copy their algebra homework. So how do you reduce this? With self-service solutions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What does “self-service solutions” mean? Well, it means that you and your team will have to get comfortable with teaching people who are interested in utilizing speech insights on how they can produce those results on their own. It might mean you have to decline certain requests, but kindly offer a 30 minute consulting call to show them how they can run the report on their own. You can also see if you may host a bi-weekly, one-hour “Ask us Anything” type of call, with your most frequent requesters, to see what kind of things they are interested in looking at. “You wanna see AHT? Sure, we can show you how to run a report that shows this, and we can even set it to indicate outliers if you would like.” “You want to see how often an agent uses the proper closing greeting filtered-down by supervisor? Absolutely, we can show you how to set that up.” This allows you to get an idea on what the organization actually cares about so that you and your team can aim to be as proactive as possible with your insights. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also, by establishing self-sufficiency it will help alleviate the workload from your folks so that you can better focus on all the cool types of studies that you’re dying to do. It also helps maintain value by having more than a select few people know how to use the tool. Remember, at the end of the day as speech analysts you should be aiming to spread the word about speech analytics as much as possible. You should be looking to always share your experiences with other people. Those experiences often turn into valuable insights that improve ROI. Heck, even in my new role, I find myself still learning new tricks from my colleagues because each of our experiences with speech analytics is unique.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ultimately, this boils down to a culture thing. If your organization’s culture is one where no one wants to step out of their comfort zone, unfortunately there's not much you can do to fix that, but it is worth trying to put it out there and see who bites. I can guarantee you there is at least one person in your organization who would jump at the chance to see how the magic happens with speech analytics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Diana Aviles Senior Speech Analytics Consultant, Wells Fargo </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Diana has been working in speech analytics for 8 years with a specialty in Nexidia Interaction Analytics. She is a vocal speech analytics advocate with the primary objective to simultaneously promote and educate the world of Speech Analytics with a human touch; one which further emphasizes the importance of First Call Resolution and overall customer experience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Follow Diana on </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-aviles-6843859a/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LinkedIn</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span>CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-55974463681771079792019-03-28T10:57:00.001-05:002019-03-28T10:57:18.891-05:00All About the Feels? Why Emotion Plays a Critical Role in CX Success<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Cohan Daley</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Feel the feels”, “all about the feels”. Whether you love it or hate it, this phrase highlights a key point about digital communication. Customers are increasingly turning to self-service, chatbots or messaging apps, but while digital channels may be replacing voice for some interactions, how your customers feel about interacting with your brand is more important than ever. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> In the words of Maya Angelou, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” And actually, isn’t this as true of customer experience as it is our relationships with friends, family and colleagues?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yet our industry as a whole is still failing when it comes to meeting customers’ emotional needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The </span><a href="https://temkingroup.com/temkin-ratings/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2018 Temkin Experience Rankings</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> raised alarm bells for the industry when it reported that just 7 percent of 10,000 consumers who took part in the research said they felt good about their interactions with brands.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why does this matter?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are numerous studies which demonstrate that emotion is critical to a brand’s bottom line. I’ve provided just a few examples below:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Organisations that optimise emotional connections outperform their competitors by 26 percent in gross margin and 85 percent in sales growth (Gallup, Customer Satisfaction doesn’t Count) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">63 percent of customers with positive feelings about a company will remain loyal, while 74 percent will go a step further and advocate for the brand (Customer Think) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best-in-class brands average 17 emotionally positive experiences for every negative experience, while the lowest-performing brands provided only two emotionally positive experiences for each negative one (Forrester) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Emotionally-engaged customers are three times more likely to recommend and repurchase, less price sensitive and less likely to buy from a competitor (Harvard Business Review)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Emotion trumps success and effort when it comes to building long-term customer loyalty. So what makes your customers feel good about dealing with you? The foundation of good customer experience is making it enjoyable (not just easy) for them to complete their journey with you. It’s vital that your customer journey planning takes this into account:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ensure that you are investing in customer experience from your customer’s perspective rather than making it fit your internal systems and processes – and remember that understanding customer feelings about your service is essential at key stages in the process. While it is vital to capture the behavioural elements of the customer, emotion is a crucial part of the picture</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Design customer interactions that engage with customers at the most critical times in their journeys with a message that connects emotionally and is delivered through their preferred channel</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gain executive buy-in by creating a direct link between emotionally-engaged customers and desired business outcomes</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It might look straightforward but most CX professionals know how hard it is to follow these precepts. It starts with understanding your customers, planning the customer journey based on the real-life needs and motivations of these customers and removing the technology barriers to implementing these journeys. Many brands have invested in legacy systems that operate in silos and it can be difficult to join these up to provide the seamless experiences that your customers crave.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">People are struggling to access the assets they need in their existing platforms and alongside their on-premise systems. West is embracing cloud-based platforms like UCaaS, CPaaS, and CCaaS so we can help our customers pull all the systems they need together. Over the last year we’ve focused on creating a cloud-based contact centre platform that allows us to move capabilities in and out of business systems, while providing a 360-degree view of the customer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Feel the same way as we do?</strong> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At West we’re passionate about delivering technology solutions that enable emotional connections, whether by empowering agents to empathise with customers, by offering joined up omnichannel journeys, or by allowing customers to self-serve if they want to. If you want to build emotional connections with your customers, then download our expert guide, </span><a href="https://l2.westuc.com/cx-masterclass/img/181004NS-002-WP-Why-Service-Design-is-Key-to-CX.pdf?elqTrackId=164ec58a0d8f436ab28166544f11d7c2&elqaid=683&elqat=2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why Eemotional Connections Are Vital to Delivering Outstanding Customer Experiences</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, which includes a wealth of practical advice.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBOL1ukhHZDUgVelPZFCGdLE-tOhCR5HJHGhnRmym_acZhHtD05ys7koEfs0seHrljr5qN_OCcfRx4MxVTDzOtEjOVxVmPRtZ9rwIWhHtz6pvqpWcojhfytvFup_xxjVpNg76sfVzATg/s1600/CD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBOL1ukhHZDUgVelPZFCGdLE-tOhCR5HJHGhnRmym_acZhHtD05ys7koEfs0seHrljr5qN_OCcfRx4MxVTDzOtEjOVxVmPRtZ9rwIWhHtz6pvqpWcojhfytvFup_xxjVpNg76sfVzATg/s320/CD.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cohan Daley, UK&I Acquisition Country Lead, West Unified Communication Services</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cohan is a highly-motivated, energetic and accomplished professional armed with a keen knowledge of Customer experience and Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) A graduate of Reading University, his Neuroscience degree led to his interest in data science, A.I. and Machine Learning. And Cohan's passion for sharing his knowledge was recognised by ICMI who included him in their Top 50 Contact Centre Thought Leaders on Twitter in 2014. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At West he has built a strong internal following for his talent to use available data and information, internal resources and creative thinking to successfully create commercial opportunities. He built the company's Customer Experience practice in EMEA, an achievement which was recognised by his promotion to UK&I Acquisition Country Lead in 2019. In his spare time Cohan has a real passion for sport and enjoys spending time with his children and family. Cohan is highly competitive and trains in mixed martial arts and boxing disciplines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Connect: </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cohanleondaleyuk/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LinkedIn</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> | </span><a href="https://twitter.com/CohanLeon" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twitter</span></a></div>
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CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-41859711912535274052019-03-27T11:28:00.002-05:002019-03-27T11:28:25.947-05:003 Public Speaking TipsBy Kathryn Frankson<br />
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<strong>Say Yes:</strong> There’s no quick hack to getting better at public speaking. It takes experience. So, if there are micro opportunities to speak (meetings, off sites, client demos etc) raise your hand proactively and take advantage. You need to keep flexing the muscle and starting in safe ways will help. <br />
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<strong>Prepare:</strong> Confidence comes through preparation. Give yourself a good runway to practice so if a wave of panic comes up….you can calmly take a breath and realize you have ample time to adjust and nail it. <br />
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<strong>Power Up:</strong> It’s the little moments that can make all the difference. Think through how you’ll walk on and off stage and ensure that all of the activities you do pre speaking allow you to power up. Stand tall, walk around, see the space, be around positive people and eliminate unnecessary noise that will take you out of your zone. <br />
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Becoming stronger at sharing ideas and gaining buy in is a great skill to have as tools and resources become more commoditized.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVNAIGJeWqPyI1BX4KGnM8Z3bDVS3jb6gTPkmsmW2HmXNfINrxwNXMczwdpLu3rY8VbzyRxh3xHiE_r0EU_lIuXhKrCE9RP6VspawsGkJmBORwtmbyK49a0XPFwH1Upo0Oz67fmzNPYQ/s1600/KATHRYN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVNAIGJeWqPyI1BX4KGnM8Z3bDVS3jb6gTPkmsmW2HmXNfINrxwNXMczwdpLu3rY8VbzyRxh3xHiE_r0EU_lIuXhKrCE9RP6VspawsGkJmBORwtmbyK49a0XPFwH1Upo0Oz67fmzNPYQ/s200/KATHRYN.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Kathryn Frankson</span> is a B2B event sales and marketing professional at UBM. A believer that 2019 communication means knowing how to get the markets attention through thumb stopping content, audience development and storytelling, she executes sales and marketing strategies in the catering, food service and special event space. <br />
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Connect: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynfrankson/"><span style="color: #cc6411;">LinkedIn</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-83785375740597326482019-03-19T11:57:00.001-05:002019-03-19T11:57:56.508-05:00A Tale of Two (Well, Three) Customer Experiences: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Erica Marois</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two years ago, after an 18-month stint as Connecticut residents, my husband and I boxed up our belongings and made the journey back down south, landing in Richmond, VA. Unlike our move to Connecticut, we hit the road with significantly fewer belongings. If you’ve ever lived in New England, you might be able to guess why. The cost of living is high, and the closet space in the beautiful historic buildings tends to be rather sparse. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fast-forward a year, and we were ready to move into our newly built home in Virginia. There was just one problem; because we downsized in Connecticut, we suddenly found ourselves in need a ton of new furniture to fill up the bigger space. Now, as much as I love to watch HGTV and daydream about decorating, I’ve never particularly enjoyed shopping for furniture. Mainly, for two reasons. One: furniture is expensive! Two: I’ve had so many bad experiences buying furniture over the years--from poor quality to poor service to nightmare deliveries and high-pressure sales staff. To me, furniture shopping is about as enjoyable as car shopping.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alas, we needed a new sectional and new bedroom set, so we set out on a quest to find the perfect pieces for our new home. Did we get what we needed? Ultimately, yes. But the journey there was complex. We encountered a tale of two, then three, customer experiences. Whether you work in retail or not, the stark contrasts between these stores offer a few lessons worth gleaning. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A Tale of Two (and Then Three) Customer Experiences</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Several months ago, motivated by a closet organization spree, my husband and I set out to find a new set of dressers for our bedroom. The set we had was just too small. Remembering a browsing excursion we’d taken a few weeks earlier, I suggested we head to Haverty’s to check out their options. The last time we’d gone there, I thought their selection was impressive, and the store was nice and clean. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we walked through the door, a kind gentleman named Bert greeted us. He asked us what we were looking for, pointed us in the right direction, and let us loose to browse without interruption. Pretty quickly, we found a set we both loved, and Bert helped us place the order. He explained the payment options in detail, went over warranties, and made friendly conversation while we waited for some of the back office folks to complete their paperwork. It was a pleasant and no-hassle interaction, which I appreciated. To make it even better, Bert let us know that we could have the set delivered to our home just two days later, and we would receive SMS updates on the day of delivery, including a custom link we could use to track the delivery drivers in real-time to find out exactly when they’d be arriving. Furniture stores are notoriously bad about giving you vague delivery windows, so this shocked me. I’ve spent many a day waiting for deliveries that never showed up at the promised time. I was cautiously optimistic that this would be different.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Luckily, it was. The day before our delivery, I received a text letting me know that our furniture would arrive between 4:00 & 6:00 the next day. As promised, I got access to a link I could use to track the delivery team on their route--I could see that they had nine deliveries scheduled ahead of ours, and I could even see the other zip codes in which they’d be making stops.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At 3:00 on delivery day, I got a text letting me know that the drivers encountered a delay at the stop before ours, so it looked like our delivery would be closer to 6:00 than 4:00. I appreciated the proactive update! By 6:30, everything was in its place and drivers were on their way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All in all, we couldn’t have been more pleased. Not only do we love the new furniture, but we appreciated how easy and transparent the entire process was. And as a pleasant surprise, we received an email from Bert a few months later--he wanted to check in and make sure we were still enjoying our furniture. Ironically enough, that email came just as we were dealing with a very different experience involving one of Haverty’s local competitors. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Customer-Centricity at the Competition? More Like Customer-Chaos</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Four or five months after we bought our bedroom furniture, we realized new living room furniture was the next priority. With family coming to visit for the holidays, we wanted more seating. While I loved the experience at Haverty’s, they didn’t have the size sectional I wanted at I price that I could stomach, so I was open to looking elsewhere for a good bargain on an oversized sectional. After being lured by some convincing TV ads, we stopped by a local chain to see if their holiday deals were as enticing as advertising.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After “winning” 20% off our purchase at their one-day sale event, we decided to go ahead and buy a gloriously soft, cozy, and spacious sectional. While they didn’t currently have the one we wanted in stock, our salesperson assured us that they were expecting one to arrive any day, and said he thought we could have it delivered within the next week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A week passed. We didn’t receive a phone call. I finally decided to call the store after Christmas to see if I could get an ETA on delivery. The customer service representative let me know that our sectional had arrived over the holidays and she went ahead and set up a delivery time for four days later. I was excited! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fast forward to the day before delivery. My phone rings, and I see it’s the furniture store. I’m expecting that they’re calling to give me my delivery window, but instead, they called to tell me that they discovered our sectional was damaged, so they needed to reorder and reschedule our delivery. At this point, I was starting to get annoyed, but I also appreciated that they didn’t send us a defective product. Unfortunately, from here, things just spiraled more and more out of control. I never got a call back to give me an update. After another week of no word from our salesperson, I called the store again, and this time a manager told me they wouldn’t have another sectional in for at least six weeks. She did offer to refund the delivery fee, so I decided to wait it out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Six weeks, then seven weeks later, we never heard from anyone at the store. We called three times, and could never get a straight answer. Each person we talked to tried to pass the buck to someone else. Finally, one of the managers told me they had no idea if or when our furniture would arrive. After a visit to the store, and a few more frustrating phone calls, we finally canceled our purchase and got a refund. To me, the most frustrating part of the ordeal was the lack of proactive communication, or really any communication at all. And ironically, this company is now running an aggressive TV ad campaign touting its focus on customer experience. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rooms to Go for the Steal</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The weekend after we got our refund on the sectional that never arrived, we decided to stop by Rooms to Go, just to browse. I’ll be honest, I had a few mediocre experiences with them in the past, so my expectations were low. Much to my delight, the shopping experience was low-pressure, pleasant, and incredibly easy. As soon as we walked in, a friendly salesperson named L.T. greeted us, explained their current sales, and then left us alone to browse. My husband and I were debating between two sets, and we asked for his opinion. He offered up his thoughts, and we got to chatting for a bit. When we were ready to check out, he used his iPad to tell us exactly when he could get the new sectional to our home. Much to our delight, he said us we’d have it within 48 hours. And guess what? We did! The delivery team was incredibly courteous and professional, and we love our new furniture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The icing on the cake? Two weeks later, we received this note from L.T. in the mail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgap5OoayATL-uf4Aa0aB0xjEq6ea6SgXxkjZ1h01ujamHZGL7_oEnnZ2ISvkAJ9y8fRpgl7gaH6qCuxir2JfzzOu2pOgGsF5WyYKJQZvV6-M0Xhn6OQKKozTB_cX87yxUm6r6w4KQLZEM/s1600/EM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="389" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgap5OoayATL-uf4Aa0aB0xjEq6ea6SgXxkjZ1h01ujamHZGL7_oEnnZ2ISvkAJ9y8fRpgl7gaH6qCuxir2JfzzOu2pOgGsF5WyYKJQZvV6-M0Xhn6OQKKozTB_cX87yxUm6r6w4KQLZEM/s320/EM.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bringing It All Together</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I didn’t write this post to vent or shame (in fact, that’s why I never revealed the name of the second store). Instead, I hope this real-life example serves to illustrate that customer experience really does trump price; and if you’re going to market your products on the basis of customer experience, you better be able to back it up. Like it or not, the experience that other brands deliver impacts the expectations that customers have for your company. What can you do you to make sure you don’t fall short? What could furniture store number two have done to deliver better service?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here are two quick tips:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Keep your promises! If you can’t, be transparent about why, and offer an alternative.</strong> I’m not an unreasonable person. I understand that things go wrong--and sometimes it’s nobody’s fault. However, as service professionals, we have to be creative problem-solvers. Furniture store number two could have found a way to keep their promise: they could have offered to give us the floor model (which they clearly had in stock) at a discount. They could have offered to have us pick another sectional that they knew they could deliver within a reasonable timeframe. Rather than trying to work out another solution, they chose to ignore that there was even a problem in the first place.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Communicate proactively! Don’t make your customers reach out to you for updates.</strong> This one seems like a no-brainer, but plenty of brands still struggle to do this effectively. The good news? You don’t necessarily need any fancy or expensive software to keep customers in the loop. Free email marketing services like Mail Chimp are an excellent solution for small businesses or budget-strapped teams. Setup automated emails to let customers know what’s going on with their order, what to expect next, or how to reach out with a question/issue. Or, utilize simple calendar reminders. Have a customer order that’s set to go out next week, but you don’t yet have an ETA? Setup a reminder to take the 5 minutes to check for an update and provide the customer with more information before that week is over.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What advice would you add to the mix? How would you have handled things differently? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! For more insights on meeting customer expectations, check out this </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgNFQ9xEYmQ" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">useful advice from Brad Cleveland</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Erica is the Content Manager at ICMI, an Informa PLC company that helps business elevate the customer experience through training, events, consulting and information resources. A passionate connector of people, Erica is a customer and employee experience enthusiast who loves helping others find unique solutions to their biggest challenges. Outside of her day job, she's also a community organizer for <a href="https://www.cxaccelerator.com/" target="_blank">CX Accelerator</a>.<br /><br /> You can connect with her on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ericamarois"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and join her on Tuesdays at 1:00 ET for #ICMIchat.</span> <br /><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-22198748381936636632019-03-18T15:48:00.002-05:002019-03-18T15:48:52.588-05:00I'll Be Back: Repeat Customer Feedback Is Vital for Growth<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Jodi Beuder</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: black;">This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ill-back-repeat-customer-feedback-vital-growth-jodi-beuder/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></span></span><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><br />
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When Arnold Schwarzenegger first uttered, “I’ll be back”, in the 1984 film The Terminator, he wasn’t joking. Five sequels later, Arnold, and audiences have continued to come back again and again. The now infamous line has appeared in dozens of other films, landing this quote a spot, on the American Film Institute’s (AFI) 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wouldn’t it be great if we could count on our customers returning this often? I think most company executives would leap for joy if their customers repeated, “I’ll be back” and meant it. There are a number of steps a company can take, to wow customers into returning again and again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>First step</b>: Understand your customers needs! Before you can begin to dazzle your customers, the first step is to truly understand the needs, desires and expectations of your customer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The surest way to understand more about your customer is through customer feedback. All too often, I’ve seen companies make assumptions about who their customer is, without asking the customer directly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sometimes, companies get lucky and their assumptions match their customer demographic. But, in today’s hyper-competitive market place, this is shaky ground to stand on. There’s a saying you may have heard; when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. When it comes customers, don’t assume you know them. Spend the time getting to know them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Technology has made customer feedback options simple and easy. There are email/contact forms that can pop up at the end of a transaction for customers to fill out, surveys that can be completed at the close of a transaction, social media listening and monitoring, comment boxes, and of course, paying attention to data analytics, to help paint a picture of your customer demographics. There are plenty of other ways to capture customer feedback, so really, there is no excuse!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When companies spend time getting to know their customers they can confidently create products that are in demand and in alignment with what their customers want and need. Generating a product or service that has demand, will allow you and your company to rest easy. Trust me, there is no sweeter sound to an executive’s ear than to hear a customer say, “I’ll be back.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Jodi Beuder</span> is a marketing strategy expert, with a digital marketing twist, and a passion for the customer experience. She is keen to creating and following through, from canvas to fruition and back. This includes targeted social media campaigns, content and internet marketing, and product and branding campaigns.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connect with Jodi: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodibeuder/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/jodibeuder" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span>CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-32871486090297651602019-03-04T10:45:00.001-06:002019-03-04T10:45:25.124-06:004 Reasons to Create Job Descriptions & Performance Standards <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Errol Allen</span><br />
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Errol Allen is an operations consultant and customer service expert. Using his 25 + years of corporate experience with companies such as ADT, The Houston Post, TCI Cablevision and GEICO, Errol assists his clients in developing a customer focused environment via documenting processes, creating task manuals, identifying key performance indicators and providing customer service training. He is the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Keys-Delivering-Amazing-Customer-Service/dp/1329130065"><span style="color: #cc6411;">“Keys to Delivering Amazing Customer Service”</span></a>.<br /><br />Connect <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/errol-allen-a415a52b/"><span style="color: #cc6411;">LinkedIn</span></a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/consult53"><span style="color: #cc6411;">Twitter</span></a> <br />
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CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-91625402962091949982019-02-11T11:48:00.000-06:002019-02-11T11:48:08.525-06:00Attrition Analysis & The Psychology of Disengagement<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ron Rhodes</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Without a doubt, my most perplexing and profound observation from years of leading large organizations is a behavioral complex I refer to as the psychology of disengagement. In the back office BPO and contact center business, competition for labor is heavy and aggressive. The work can be repetitive, mundane, offering considerable risk to workforce stability. Workers, increasingly millennials, have a lot of choices to go along with their impatience and innate need for challenge and social expression. With their 1980’s + vintage years, the modern workforce is vocal and self-assured so it is not hard to figure out if or when they are dissatisfied with their employers. And even if you missed the earlier signs, the dark computer screens and empty cubicles can be quite convincing.<br /><br /> Labor attrition, being the effect, is the result of basic employee needs and expectations not being met. The psychology of disengagement acknowledges that people simply leave under these circumstances, but more importantly, that people leave before they leave. In other words, their contribution progressively declines like slowly vanishing silhouettes occupying seats. In fact, the probability exists that a significant portion of your workforce is surfing job site postings and mauling over employment leads received via text and social media –at this very moment. We have to pay attention to more than KPI and financial results if we hope to achieve our planned performance targets. Labor stability, in Six Sigma terms, is “critical to quality.” It is very likely that our financial plan was based on the assumption of a fully engaged workforce. Colleagues and friends, take some advice from an old war horse, this is the job. Focus on hiring and retaining good people. Everything else will fall in line.<br /><br />Employee attrition can be costly or even devastating to businesses of any size in both, financial and less tangible ways. I like the quote by former Xerox CEO, Anne M. Mulcahy, “Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.”<br /><br />It is therefore vital that attrition be subjected to extensive and continual observation, measurement, and analysis. While many companies do this, they may stop at the straightforward and perhaps simplistic measurements of turnover which include the percentage of attrition to total headcount by month, and cumulatively on an annual basis (the months added together). This is certainly a helpful measure of butts in seats, but falls short of providing advanced indicators or an understanding of what employee attrition is costing in financial terms, competitive positioning or customer satisfaction.<br /><br /> <strong>Importance of Measurement</strong><br /><br />The ability to measure turnover can give business leaders the information needed to reduce its negative effects, while shedding light on what can be done to address the underlying causes. Thorough analysis that encompasses the impact of attrition on finances, productivity, efficiency and your brand image over time will allow you to develop strategies to mitigate the concluded risks, while potentially providing clues as to the reasons behind them.<br /><br /><strong>Average Tenure Compared to Turnover Rate</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Measure the average length of time that employees remain with your company to spot internal and external risk factors. For example: If a large percentage of your employees stay for years, but your monthly attrition rate is still high, you may want to look at recruiting and on-boarding and how it may have changed over time. Other time-inspired factors may also be in play which could include changes in labor market conditions, local leadership issues, the recent cancellation of the company picnic, etc. The opposite holds true as well; If your average tenure is low and a large number of employees leave the company within months or even weeks, the drivers are likely entrenched in your on-boarding process or management practices and not influenced by time, one way or the other.<br /><br />To calculate the average, add the total length of time each employee has been with your company. Divide the sum by the number of employees used in the calculation. Consider how long your business has been open when analyzing the result. Newer companies will naturally have shorter average lengths of employment, while more established companies should see longer average lengths.<br /><br /><strong>Base versus Backfill Attrition</strong><br /><br />Your base headcount might be the number of employees on your roster when the year begins. This would be compared to attrition from this roster throughout the year. You can then add your backfill, as well as attrition from backfill. In other words, at the end of the year, I have 80 of the original 100 on my roster so 20% base attrition. My annual cumulative attrition rate was 80% so by backfill turned over 3 times (4 times including the original backfill). Also, since program launches and/or expansions during the year may not be included in the starting roster you should exclude any added headcount or attrition directly associated with them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This view is helpful when trying to validate your investment in employee training, for example. The higher your base retention, the more sensible the investment or, at least, that’s the theory.<br /><br /><strong>Average Tenure or Length of Employment</strong><br /><br />Measure the average length of time that employees remain with your company. This will help you in financial planning as pertains to recruiting and training expense, salary increases, and facility initiatives. To calculate the average tenure, add the total lengths of time each employee has been with your company. Divide the sum by the number of employees used in the calculation.<br /><br /><strong>Performance and Production Regression</strong><br /><br />Calculate the ratio of new hires to your total number of employees at a specific point in time to get a clearer picture of how much of your workforce is made up of newcomers. A higher ratio of new employees can be a sign that your turnover is unusually high, unless you have recently started your business or expanded your workforce. It is often a sign of lower quality based on a lack of experience.<br /><br />To calculate this ratio, divide the number of new hires currently employed by the current total number of employees. The result is the percentage of new hires compared to the total workforce, including the new employees.<br /><br /><strong>Cost of Turnover and Break-Even Analysis</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hiring and training new employees incurs direct and indirect costs. Your cost-per-hire includes the costs of advertising available positions, performing background checks, paying out referral bonuses and other costs incurred simply to inform job seekers of your available positions. Internal costs include management's time spent reviewing resumes, making calls and conducting interviews, as well as the time spent by dedicated recruiting staff and the HR department. Other related costs could include paying temporary workers and the opportunity costs associated with lost productivity, sales, billable hours, etc. Add to this the costs of training new employees once they arrive, and you will get a picture of just how much it costs to lose and replace an employee.<br /><br />If you would prefer – as we do – to not spend your time dutifully conducting attrition analysis, consider an equal or greater time investment in initiatives that effectively drive workforce stability. Listen to your employees and challenge yourself to have an increasingly high yes ratio when considering their requests. Their disengagement declines as your engagement grows.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Passionate about mentoring and developing the industry’s future leaders, in 2000, Ron authored <i>Fundamentals of Call Center Management</i>, a guide intended to help entry level managers, as they begin to master their craft. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having spent 20 years with category leaders, American Express, Nestle, Moore Business Forms (now RR Donnelly) and Comcast, Ron's background includes an additional 10 years of key global BPO assignments with TeleTech, Convergys, Stream, STARTEK and now Connext. Ron's international experience includes stints in Jamaica, Canada and currently the Philippines. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connect: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-rhodes-5499446/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc6411;">LinkedIn</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<br />CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-17154724131732997962019-01-22T13:21:00.001-06:002019-01-22T13:33:52.540-06:00You Make Me Want to Be a Better Agent: Customers Can Inspire!<div>
<span style="color: #93c47d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Jodi Beuder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-make-me-want-better-agent-customers-can-inspire-jodi-beuder/">LinkedIn</a> <br /><br /> Jack Nicholson is one of the few actors who can make a despicable character likable. In the movie, As Good As It Gets, he plays Melvin Udall, a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive sourpuss. For much of the movie it’s hard not to want to throw your popcorn at the screen. Melvin is rude, paranoid, demanding, difficult, and exasperating. There are few people who Melvin trusts in the world, and one of them happens to be Carol, a waitress played by Helen Hunt. Over the course of the movie Melvin drops some of his defenses and comes to realize that he feels better when he’s around Carol and, arguably, one of the best scenes in the film is when Melvin softens just enough to convince Carol to give him a chance at spending more time together. The line from this movie that has probably been uttered in a thousand different marriage proposals is, “You make me want to be a better man.”<br /><br /> While this movie certainly centers around Melvin, it is really Carol who inspires and is the biggest motivating factor behind Melvin’s softening. For anyone working in customer service, it might be easy to think of customers as Melvin. Yes, they can be infuriating at times. However, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">if we twist the analogy around, customers can just as easily be thought of as Carol. A lot gets written about dealing with difficult customers, but customers can also inspire!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /> When we work with great customers, a positive feedback loop starts to form. We feel good about our interaction. We want to do even better for the next customer. We take pride in our company. We notice that with each positive interaction, more positive ones follow. What if our industry focused more on the positives and elevated these interactions?<br /><br /> Customer facing agents, who experience the benefits of positive customer interaction, often feel inspired to want to do better. Training modules that teach agents how to take their customer service skills from good to great benefit the organization, the employee and the customer. When employees are inspired, and working to create even better experiences for customers, they are better able to handle negative interactions when they occur. Inspired employees have enough working knowledge to know not to let negative experiences “stick.” They don’t get dragged down by the challenges, and instead remain committed and devoted to delivering excellent care, because they know they are better for it.<br /><br /> “You make me want to be a better agent!” When our customer services teams are well trained to deliver excellent customer experiences, our customers can bring out our very best!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Jodi Beuder</span> is a marketing strategy expert, with a passion for customer experience. She is keen to creating and following through, from canvas to fruition. Her expertise includes targeted social media campaigns, content and internet marketing, and product and branding campaigns. <br /><br /> Connect with Jodi: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodibeuder/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc6411;">LinkedIn</span></a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/jodibeuder" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc6411;">Twitter</span></a></span> CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-55484005100840479342019-01-16T10:41:00.003-06:002019-01-16T10:41:47.397-06:00Your Query Failed. Now What?<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Diana Aviles</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sometimes, you just get stuck. You sit there at your desk trying to come up with every way possible a person can say something with the hope that it will help make some progress on getting your category or query to pass validation. But like Pac-Man, you keep getting hit by the ghosts repeatedly dying. I think it’s important to slow things down and be honest with everyone. Even us seasoned veterans have our tricky builds. [Please note: I am going to use the term “build” to refer to query/category building in order to maintain neutrality in this piece.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Frustrating building is often one of the major contributing factors for why organizations pull out of speech analytics programs. It's like Super Mario Bros 2. The one we have here in the US, where you are running around throwing radishes, is technically not the official version</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nintendo of Japan, thought the sequel game should continue where the player left off in the last game, by following a traditional path of progressive difficulty. The end result was that Nintendo of America said "no thank you", and created the version of SMB2 that we are more familiar with. Outside of showing how dorky I am, why am I mentioning this? The frustration that Nintendo of America experienced with the game, is often similar to what some speech analysts experience when they get stuck on a tricky build. So while there is no real life Speech Analytics equivalent of a Game Genie, I came up with a list of things that might help you get past the level.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>You may have too low volume</b> – If the particular subject you are building does not drive a lot of volume, you are entering the needle-in-haystack territory. You cannot make hits appear out of thin air. In these situations, it’s important to communicate that to your requestor, to set those expectations. I have found that it can help to offer them a monitoring period, to observe volume, and see if it improves somewhere down the line. You would largely do this in the form of ad-hoc searches or term lists, if your software offers the option.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Cross-talk Interference</b> – This is one that burned me recently. Sometimes, if you are trying to look for something on a specific line, you may encounter situations where noise on one line bleeds into another line, causing the appearance of cross talk. This can result in a missed hit in your build. Speaker separation relies on having high quality, and clear audio to be able to differentiate who is who. This is one of those situations which you should communicate to your requestor, after taking your best shot.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Too complicated for your own good</b> – In a previous article, I suggest building is comparable to good a marinara sauce. You have to mix a bit of this and that. Everything has to be balanced. Some builders get too complicated, and it hurts the performance of the build. Remember, to keep your builds to one topic at a time. I’m also going to call out builders who are looking for the most specific of items to capture in their build. I knew someone who was getting hammered trying to build for a specific issue that was supposed to capture a specific type of change being made on accounts, but without a specific piece of information being verified. I don’t know if it was ever built successfully, but again, it’s really important for as a builder, to keep things simple and educate end users.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, I want you to remember that frustration is normal. Do not get discouraged, or destroy company owned property. A query/category build that is stubborn does not mean that you or the software is substandard. This comes with the territory. If you have speech analytics mentors, talk with them and see what advice they might have for you. If you do not have any mentors, and you are reading this, please contact me. I’ll be Luigi to your Mario, even though I like Princess Peach because she floats.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I promise, I am done with all the retro gaming references.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Diana Aviles</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> has been working in speech analytics for 8 years with a specialty in Nexidia Interaction Analytics. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She is a vocal speech analytics advocate with the primary objective to simultaneously promote and educate the world of Speech Analytics with a human touch; one which further emphasizes the importance of First Call Resolution and overall customer experience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Follow Diana on <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/deeaviles">LinkedIn</a></span>.<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-81267138596477850312019-01-14T11:22:00.000-06:002019-01-14T11:22:23.269-06:00Employee Engagement via Motivation and Encouragement<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Crystal O'Hara</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The importance of employee motivation is vital to any business. If you have motivated staff, you have a highly productive staff. The fact that we are in the call center industry means we market our employees; they are our front line to our clients. Finding ways to motivate employees is always a concern for management. It's something we always have in the forefront. We want our employees to be happy and have a level of energy and commitment to the company. If our front-line employees are happy that means, they will give the customers a positive experience, when they answer the phone. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />At </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://accsolutions.com/" target="_blank">American Communication Centers</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">there are many ways that we motivate our staff. Here are a few incentives we have come up with to keep our employee morale up.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We personally thank employees for doing a good job. When I speak with an employee, I thank them for what they do. I like them to know I appreciate the hard work they put in. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Listen to your employees. I’m always asking if they have suggestions, ideas or any feedback. When they share it, I listen. If it’s a suggestion that we cannot do, I will try and find some way to incorporate it somewhere else or, tweak it to where it does fit. However, just listening shows you care and are interested in what they say. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Provide feedback on job performance. Every week I do some evaluations on each of my employees and provide feedback, and not just what needs to be worked on, but what they did well. I believe constructive criticism as well as positive words are just as important. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5C policy. This has been a policy that I have used for many years. When you answer phones for 8 hours a day, you get those occasional calls where the other person is just not satisfied with anything you can do for them. These calls can drag people down, so we have a policy in place that doesn’t spread that negativity to the rest of the staff. It’s called the 5C policy. This policy is a zero-tolerance policy where we do not allow anyone to talk in a negative or derogatory way about our c</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">allers, clients, competition, and c</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">o-workers. It goes with the adage, "if you don’t’ have something nice to say then don’t say it at all". It has worked really well over the years, and it’s actually become a policy that everyone likes. Let’s face it, most people don’t want to sit around listening to others complain. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These are just some of the ways we try to keep our staff motivated and enjoying work. In what ways do you motivate employees? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: inherit;">Crystal O'Hara</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is a vision-driven, goal-focused executive with a proven history of innovation and achievement. Throughout my 17-year career, I have established a reputation as a transformational leader who is driven by challenge, undeterred by obstacles, and committed to furthering standards of excellence. My expertise encompasses all aspects of business development and administration, from controlling costs and maximizing revenues to harnessing team strengths to improve company wide performance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Connect: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystal-o-hara-6744a610/">LinkedIn</a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-47575149492543471652019-01-08T09:52:00.001-06:002019-01-14T12:20:14.010-06:00Finding Your Way Home<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Sabrina Permuth</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are you stuck in a job you don't love? Have you heard of the three C's? They are choice, chance, and change. Will you make the choice to take the chance to make a change?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Francesca Battistelli released <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0wpP5o7xpI" target="_blank">The BreakUp Song</a></i>, last year. In it she tells a story about a person sick and tired of being sick and tired. She talks about fear and being over being afraid. I sang this song out loud one day and realized it was fear keeping me chained to a job that I had grown to hate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My situation didn't get there overnight. To be honest it was a culmination of events that opened my eyes to where I was. That is a story for another time. What's important is listening to this song helped me realize I had become the victim of my own tale. I felt weak, hopeless and helpless. That's how I got stuck in a job I didn't love anymore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Giving in to the reality that I am strong and free to make my own choices I decided I was going to write a story I wanted to live. Don't live in frustration. There is always somewhere to turn and options to choose from. To see my options I had to give up the fear that convinced me I was stuck in my job. I had to make a choice to take a chance to make a change. So I did.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Without fear consuming my heart I had the energy and inspiration to get to know who I was, what I loved, what I was good at, and how I could get paid for it. I had to literally envision cutting the chains that bound me to a place that I didn't want to be. What can you do to get past your situation? Try this:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Realize fear is a liar</b>. All of the reasons we tell ourselves to keep us in a job we hate are lies. You are good enough, you can learn new things, there is something better out there for you, and other peoples opinions of you don't matter. You know what happened when I did this? I changed my life. I fired my job. I took a month off. I fell in love with myself again. It took some heavy lifting and unpacking of my issues. But I got there once I made up my mind to do the work.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Make a plan</b>. You don't have to know where you are going just plan how you are going to get there. People keep asking me what that means? My plan was to find a job. Notice my plan wasn't to find someone who can find me a job. I had to overcome how much the job search had changed. I built time into my plan to learn to hunt the new way. You get to decide where you want to land and create a path to get there.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Leverage the power of LinkedIn</b>. I knew I was going to be looking for a new job so I started building my network a year before I started looking. Until August of last year I didn't really understand how important that would be to my plan. With a strong network and egoless self promotion you can uncover opportunities that are right for you too. This too takes work. Initially I spent eight hours a day watching how people most effectively interacted on the platform, researching companies, and identifying people that could help me in my quest.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Implement ideas others seeded</b>. I embraced the fact that I didn't have to figure it all out on my own. When I allowed myself to listen my LinkedIn journey started to bare fruit. Opportunity began knocking at my door. My job search gained traction. I even got to the point where I could start turning down opportunities. I took control of my destiny with the help of my LinkedIn network. No longer was I just hearing, I began to listen. I didn't just see, I had a vision.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Be different</b>.<b> Be the change</b>. The process was painful. I was frustrated by how long it took to move through recruitment processes, it stung when my calls weren't returned, I hated it when I got ghosted. At the end of the day, none of that was in my control. I learned I had to stop dwelling on all of the things I had no control over. When that happened and I flipped the script, I started to see the path that was meant for me and just me.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I prepared my financial situation to allow me to be out of work for as long as it took to find a new position. I set a very aggressive goal of finding a new role in two weeks. Two weeks later I was no where close to finding a new job. I reflected on what was working, what wasn't, and I made the adjustments. In other words, my plan changed as necessary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also, I decided to pay for the LinkedIn Premium account. It gave me access to data that I would not have otherwise have. It also allowed me to reach out to people outside of my network. This was so valuable in the beginning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some people think I had an inherent advantage because I was in HR. I didn't. I knew how to find people to fill jobs... that was part of my job. I heard the horror stories of what it was like to search for work in 2018 but the reality slapped me in the face just like it does for everyone else. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. In the Army they say "embrace the suck". That's what I did. I learned to embrace the fact that finding a job is hard work and it's a skill that we don't use often. I was rusty and I needed help.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I got really comfortable with the uncomfortable. Make sure you make time in your plan to write, research, and rehearse. Before I knew it I was scheduling calls with strangers. I even posted for the first time... initially about my job search. It was scary. I was worried about what others thought. I didn't know how to find my voice. I had to take a good hard look at the fear that was holding me back and tell it goodbye.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You know what else? When I really got honest with myself I realized I needed to find my value. I needed to learn how to translate that into actionable things I could do in a new role. I learned that I had to tell every single person I encountered that I was looking for a job. But who wants want to sound desperate? That's just fear talking again. Let it go. <b>Pro tip</b>: let other people talk you through this and use their feedback to fine tune your message. Before you realize it your words are full of confidence and self worth instead of fear and panic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I got very intentional about what I was doing and how I showed up. My mind opened about the process of looking for a new opportunity. I needed that openness to be effective in my search. I needed to discover the reality was, I did have nonnegotiables. What were they? I needed to find an inspirational boss, an emotionally safe and healthy work environment, and I needed opportunity to grow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before I realized LinkedIn, and the people I met through it, helped me discover strengths I didn't know I had and how I could use them to enrich my job search and my life. The door that was closed when I left my old job led to a door to my soul that had never been opened before. The people that were attracted into my life by this newfound confidence challenged me to push myself in ways I didn't know where possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's when I started to accept invites for coffee, meetings for lunch, I learned how to utilize Zoom and Calendly. I had all of these fears that vanished because these people were only interested in helping me help myself. They had nothing to gain from these interactions. Then I started helping them too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gone are the passive days of waiting for employers to find you. HR departments are stretched thin. The workplace is changing quickly. When you demonstrate how you are able to add value in the new workplace you will find your right fit position.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's the secret. What worked for me might not work for you... that's ok. Make the choice to take the chance to make the change that is right for you. Cut your chains. Build your network that believes in your value. Embrace your imperfections because you are the only you and that is awesome. Your tomorrow has everything you need. Believe in the power to be more and do more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You have to stop trying to make life fit into your mold. Stop demanding answers and start asking questions. Get really comfortable with being curious and honest about what you don't understand. When you do you can't help but love what happens next. Where can you start? Have you figured out... What is your "it"? What does it do? Why does it matter?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Put in the time to figure "it" out. Thank you to all of the people who told me "you got this" along the way. Thank you for teaching me to reach out for help when I needed it. I wish for others is that they learn to highlight their superpowers and take the driver's seat of their lives. If you think I am crazy... I went from no offers and a feeling of hopelessness to multiple offers and a new life in a little over a month. Find you path and love your journey. You got this.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sabrina</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> is a progressive manager, leveraging big-picture thinking to identify trends and opportunities, communicate initiatives, and lead change. Scope of leadership includes recruiting, interviewing, on-boarding, development, and administration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Connect: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrina-permuth/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> </span>CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-10314367125808962462019-01-04T09:05:00.000-06:002019-01-04T09:05:15.053-06:00Friday Funny<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-29946574237377189772019-01-03T11:58:00.000-06:002019-01-03T11:58:12.072-06:00Customer Experiences are Like a Box of Chocolates!<div>
<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Jodi Beuder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/customer-experiences-like-box-chocolates-jodi-beuder/">LinkedIn</a></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The movie "Forrest Gump" has so many great scenes and themes running through it that it is darn near impossible to settle on my go-to favorite moment. Pair those scenes with arguably one of the greatest movie Soundtracks of all time, and you’ve got endless possibilities for tugging on your emotional heartstrings – and I mean that as the highest compliment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If I had to pick favorite scene, it may have to be the most iconic one. You know, the famous box of chocolates and a bus stop. Forrest sits at the bus stop holding his box of chocolates, recounting his “story” to the variety of strangers that come and go as he waits for his bus. It’s been a long journey already trying to reach his destination, Jenny. They haven’t seen each other for years and this box of chocolates was her gift. Alas, as he offers away the chocolates (as he is inherently kind), we see he’s already eaten half the box. Hey, who wouldn’t after that long journey? It’s a sweet moment that brilliantly paints a picture of the character. There’s much you can draw from this scene, but what I always wondered was, why didn’t they show him picking through the chocolates. A lot can be said about how a person approaches choosing how to eat, or pick apart a box of chocolates. Allow me to explain…</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From my observations, how a person selects and then reacts to the particular type of chocolate they’ve chosen says a lot about their personality. Stay with me here. There are three types of chocolate choosers: </span></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Researcher:</b> these are folks who read all of the descriptions and map of the chocolate on the box lid prior to selecting so they know exactly what they’re going to get. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Biters</b> (not to be confused for Walkers, Zombies or anything else on trend): these folks will simply (and often aggressively) bite into half the chocolate and if they like it, finish it off. If they don’t like it, they put the half-eaten piece back and select another one, working their way through the box, leaving a chocolate graveyard in their wake and, </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Beta</b>. This last Chocolate Chooser is the one who doesn’t read the guide, doesn’t aggressively dive in, but takes a taste then suffers silently eating the whole piece, like it or not. For now I will refrain from divulging my endorsement of one of these methods.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In pondering all this, it got me thinking; Customer experiences are like a box of chocolates. Forrest Gump’s mama always said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” This is a perfect analogy for the customer service industry. We never know exactly who are customer will be. The more crucial question is, how will we approach this “Box of Customers”. To answer that question, I hereby endorse Chocolate Chooser Number 1, The Researcher! If we want to be in business for the long run, then we can’t approach difficult customers like a pistachio cream-filled chocolate and abandon them halfway. Apologies to pistachio cream-filled chocolates. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We must leverage all of our available tools, to determine who our customers are, and what expectations they may have. Creating exceptional customer experiences requires a strategy and commitment from beginning to end.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we know our customers and guide them on their journey with our brand and product we can be assured that we’ve done our part in creating an experience that keeps them coming back. The key to providing great customer experiences is to use all the resources and tools we have available through CRM software, proven training techniques, and analytics to know as much about our customers as possible. Once we know our customers we can then craft strategies to deliver the best customer experiences based on our knowledge. Just like reading the guide on the chocolate box lid, if we deploy the right tools then we can deliver the best customer experiences and feel confident about “what’s in the center.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While you may be the type of person who doesn’t mind the surprise when biting into a chocolate, when it comes to delivering customer experiences that are repeatable and predictable then you’ll have to kindly dispense with mama Gump’s advice and use all your tools available to best understand your customer and the types of experiences they expect from your company. Buy all means; keep the element of surprise in chocolate. When it comes to customers, it’s always a good idea to read the guide.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jodi Beuder</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> is a marketing strategy expert, with a passion for customer experience. She is keen to creating and following through, from canvas to fruition. Her expertise includes targeted social media campaigns, content and internet marketing, and product and branding campaigns. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connect with Jodi: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodibeuder/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/jodibeuder" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span>CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-33189863719926562252019-01-02T14:22:00.001-06:002019-01-04T09:15:18.297-06:00Marketing Strategy That Works<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our team is mid cycle marketing an event, and our revenue and conversions are up. Here's what's working. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Humanize B2B marketing</b><br />Brand emails from real people (and yes, we respond to all emails!). Ads and signage featuring real people. Live Chat with real people. <br /> <br /><b>Bet on social</b><br />Facebook ads are underpriced and convert. Community management is treated as a brand KPI. Every tweet, comment and message is replied to. Social is the current state of communication even if it's feeding attribution to other channels.<br /> <br /><b>Build The Plane While You are Flying It</b><br />Do we have a robust marketing strategy - yes? Are we still coming up with new partnerships, channel optimization, ideas and campaign activities each and every week - yes. React to the market.<br /><b><br />Work Toward Your Strengths</b><br />We are a small but very mighty team working toward our strengths each day. Faster is better. Feeling confident and excited about the work makes us go faster. <br /> <br /><b>Data + Creativity = The Sweet Spot</b> <br />Put things in the field, measure them carefully and use data wisely. Think creatively about email, ad and SEM copy, imagery and video length. Both have a seat at the table.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #ba0007; display: inline; float: none; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica neue" , "fira sans" , "ubuntu" , "oxygen" , "oxygen sans" , "cantarell" , "droid sans" , "apple color emoji" , "segoe ui emoji" , "segoe ui emoji" , "segoe ui symbol" , "lucida grande" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #ba0007; display: inline; float: none; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica neue" , "fira sans" , "ubuntu" , "oxygen" , "oxygen sans" , "cantarell" , "droid sans" , "apple color emoji" , "segoe ui emoji" , "segoe ui emoji" , "segoe ui symbol" , "lucida grande" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Kathryn Frankson</span> is a B2B event sales and marketing professional at UBM. A believer that 2018 communication means knowing how to get the markets attention through thumb stopping content, audience development and storytelling, she executes sales and marketing strategies in the catering, special event, cruise shipping and pharmaceutical space. <br />
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Connect: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynfrankson/"><span style="color: #cc6411;">LinkedIn</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-67393455273671411962018-12-14T10:52:00.001-06:002018-12-14T10:52:15.548-06:0012 Practical Steps to Achieving Customer Satisfaction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As we enter the Christmas season, our awareness and desire to help others increases. That can be helping those in need, donating our time and/or money, or being a little more kind to others. When we are help one another, not only does it make us feel good, it is encouragement for the recipient. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For customer service professionals, helping others, is what we do throughout the year. The challenge is to do so in ways that transcend the profession of customer service. Customers are people. It's easy to lose sight of that when you are focused on meeting objectives, analyzing data, or looking for ways to improve. At some point, the customer can become secondary to the service. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With that in mind, and in the spirit of Christmas, let’s take a look at 12 steps that help ensure you are providing excellent service, and a high level of customer satisfaction. This isn't an exhaustive list, nor is it the result of extensive research. These are things I incorporate as a leader, to ensure people </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">are always my highest priority</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">12 Practical Steps to Achieving Customer Satisfaction</span></b></span></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b></b><span style="color: #38761d;"></span><br />1. Treat customers as you would treat yourself<br />2. Always respect customers<br />3. Going above and beyond, should be the norm<br />4. Keep your promises<br />5. Be an advocate for customers<br />6. Be personable<br />7. Make it easy for customers to do business with you<br />8. Anticipate the needs of your customers<br />9. Listen to understand, and to be helpful</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10. Be honest<br />11. Tell the truth, always</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />12. <b>T</b><b>he above, must first be given to your employees</b></span><br />
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<b></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is there something you'd like to include? Please leave a comment. I am always eager to try an approach that works.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have over 15 years of progressive customer service leadership experience in the public, private and government sectors. I have led or consulted contact centers of various sizes across numerous industries. Additionally, I’ve implemented new technology and products, while maintaining award-winning contact centers. <br /><br />Connect with me on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanbhawkins">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanBHawkins">Twitter</a>.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-91019055754268992502018-12-13T09:53:00.002-06:002018-12-13T09:53:40.691-06:00Customer Service Quote of The Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738514601720880522.post-7950651673844396812018-12-12T11:21:00.000-06:002018-12-12T11:30:02.016-06:00Does It Matter Which Customer Experience Metric You Choose?<i><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "segoe ui";">This post originally appeared on the <a href="https://getthematic.com/insights/matter-which-customer-experience-metric-you-choose/" target="_blank">Thematic Blog</a></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are you responsible for measuring the progress in improving customer experience? If yes, I’m sure you needed to come up with a rationale on which metrics to choose for this: Is it an all ubiquitous Net Promoter Score (NPS), the traditional customer satisfaction CSAT, or a more recent invention Customer Effort Score (CES)?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is one enough or should you implement several metrics? Does it actually matter? Here, we discuss the two arguments: Pro and against.</span></div>
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Why choosing the right metric matters</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Choosing the right metric matters to the extent that the metric must be meaningful to the specific customer touchpoint you’re wanting to analyze.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A metric such as the Customer Effort Score (CES), which measures the ease of the experience on a scale from Very Difficult to Very Easy, will be relevant for a touchpoint where the ease of use is the primary driver, for example when setting up a money transfer using online banking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">CES is ideal to use immediately after an interaction with a product that led to a purchase or subscription, or after an interaction with customer service rep to solve a problem. You can also use it to measure the aggregate experience someone has with your brand or product in general.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Your <strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">perception</strong> of something is your own view or interpretation of something. However, an <strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">attitude</strong>is closely related to actions or behavior. An <strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">attitude</strong> is often expressed, through words or behavior – and can be <strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">perceived</strong> by others.</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are you measuring perception or attitude?</span></strong></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Remember that when choosing a metric, you need to define between, for example, measures such as attitude and perception. Attitude is a mindset or a tendency to act in a particular way due to both an individual’s experience and temperament. Perception is our interpretation of a particular process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As Bruce <a href="https://experiencematters.blog/2014/08/07/customer-effort-net-promoter-and-thoughts-about-cx-metrics/" rel="noopener" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009aff; cursor: pointer; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.4s cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.46, 0.45, 0.94) 0s, color;">Temkin</a> (Managing Partner of Temkin Group), <a href="https://experiencematters.blog/2014/08/07/customer-effort-net-promoter-and-thoughts-about-cx-metrics/" rel="noopener" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009aff; cursor: pointer; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.4s cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.46, 0.45, 0.94) 0s, color;">writes</a>: “CES is a perception measure while Net Promoter Score (NPS) is an attitudinal measure. In general, perception measurements are better for evaluating individual interactions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So CES might be better suited for a transactional service while NPS may be better suited for a relationship service.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So for example, when measuring experience in an expensive restaurant, it’s less about the individual transactions (ordering, eating, paying) and more about the how we feel after the fact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, a metric like CES won’t make sense here.</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is word of mouth marketing valid in your industry?</span></strong></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The metric needs to be relevant for your particular industry. For businesses such as restaurants and chiropractors, word of mouth is key. These types of services get recommended a lot, but it is not usually because of their price or ease of use, it is because of the quality offered or level of service.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When it comes to some financial services, we often see comments (as much as 10%) that say, “I do not recommend banks”. This seems to be based on the principle of not wanting to recommend banks. Could be due to historic or cultural reasons? For centuries people have been losing money because of failing banks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, some people may be using financial services but not actually fully trusting them. Also, in many cultures, talking about money isn’t something people do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In my view, you can have a metric (such as CES or NPS) score to gauge how you’re doing and get a <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">broad idea</em> of if you’re going in the right direction or not. If not, there should be a system in place to give you a clear indication as to what is causing the problems.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And you should ideally have an automated system in place to alert the relevant departments as to which customers are at risk, what types of issues the business is having and what you can specifically do to improve CX.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, it’s not just a case of having a metric, but how you use it and how you implement the feedback collected throughout the organisation.</span></div>
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Why CX metrics don’t ultimately matter</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As the Temkin Group report’s <a href="https://experiencematters.blog/2013/12/17/report-state-of-cx-metrics-2013/" rel="noopener" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009aff; cursor: pointer; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.4s cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.46, 0.45, 0.94) 0s, color;">State of CX Metrics</a>, (2015) found, most organisations thought they were “good” at collecting and calculating CX metrics. Although their CX programs still faced a number of problems, which are quite common:</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Limited visibility of CX metrics across the organization (58%)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Lack of taking action based on CX metrics (57%)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Poor communication of CX metrics (41%)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Lack of resources for tracking CX metrics (39%)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Too little compensation tied to CX metrics (36%)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Temkin Groups report identified four characteristics that make CX metrics efforts successful: Consistent, Impactful, Integrated <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">and</em> Continuous. Then, when they used these elements to evaluate 200 large companies, only 12% had strong CX metrics programs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, even though your organisation might have a customer metric implemented, there is no guarantee that it is going to be what you need to improve your CX, or that it is working the way you intended. Or, that it helps you identify what specifically impacted your CX positively or negatively.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ultimately the focus should be on <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">the feedback itself</em> and less on the score. As an example, if you did five things to try to increase the metric and it did increase, how do you know which of the things worked and got noticed?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The score alone won’t tell you. But the customer feedback will.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whichever customer metric you choose to implement (and you may spend thousands on doing so, and training your whole company to adopt it and use it in their customer interactions), it’s worth nothing without analysing the customer feedback you’re collecting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And you <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">are</em> collecting feedback, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As <a href="http://customerthink.com/customer-effort-net-promoter-and-thoughts-about-cx-metrics/" rel="noopener" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009aff; cursor: pointer; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.4s cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.46, 0.45, 0.94) 0s, color;">Bruce Temkin says</a>: “The choice of a metric isn’t the cornerstone to great CX. Instead, how companies use this type of information is what separates CX leaders from their underperforming peers. There is no such thing as a perfect metric.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, in this case it does not matter, but how you use the information does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In addition, as Michael Lowenstein, (Ph.D., CMC Thought Leadership Principal, Beyond Philosophy) <a href="https://beyondphilosophy.com/popular-customer-experience-metrics-just-immature-bigger-challenges/" rel="noopener" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009aff; cursor: pointer; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.4s cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.46, 0.45, 0.94) 0s, color;">writes</a>, “none of these customer experience metrics takes brand favorability and volume/type of positive and negative informal online/offline word-of-mouth into consideration.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There simply isn’t one metric that does it all, so using a multi-faceted approach to attack from all angles is the best way to go.</span></div>
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Do you know what your customers are saying?</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today, it’s essential to be able to understand customer feedback sentiment and importantly the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">impact</em> of your customer feedback on your brand overall, including the bottom line metrics like revenue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By not just collecting, but also analysing feedback, you get access to the real customer insights: What are the things that are holding our customers back? What’s driving positive customer experience, what delivers the wow moments?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My prediction is that in the near future, businesses will gather data and feedback from all types of interactions and marry them up with drivers of loyalty, and behavioural metrics, to then use predictive analytics to bypass these one-dimensional metrics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don’t stop measuring, but don’t put too much emphasis on whichever metric you are using. Focus on getting those deep insights and actioning them.</span></div>
CallCenter Weeklyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942161914876270871noreply@blogger.com1