Voice of the Customer

Just Because the Economy Slows Down Doesn’t Mean You Have To

Moderated by: David Powis, Vanguard Communications

In my last few entries, I’ve talked about the option of hosted technology to help reduce capital costs in these recessionary times.  But what if you’re lucky enough to have pretty robust technology in place?  If things are slowing down in the call center, perhaps now is the time to look at some of your operating processes to see how you can improve things.  If you have some extra agent time in the schedule, put together a team(s) to identify ways to improve effectiveness – and the bottom line.  Here are some thought starters:

Successful Software Implementations – 11 Steps for Saving Money & Building Organizational Capacity

Moderated by: Lisa Stockberger, Vanguard Communications

“This is just like a normal Monday!”  I heard those words from a contact center Supervisor at 11:00 a.m. the first day a new CIS application went live.  Not only did the cutover go very smoothly, the project also came in several million dollars under budget.  All music to this contact center consultant’s ears.

What were the keys to success?

Making Metrics Meaningful

Moderated by: Jason Alley, Vanguard Communications

In a recent Internet Telephony Magazine article, The Numbers Trap, Elaine Cascio makes some really good points about how we often get too hung up on numbers, benchmarking rather than what's best for customers and the business.  She explains, "People may adopt a key statistic from a benchmarking study in their industry as a goal, assuming it's a best practice. But often, benchmarking exercises expose not best practices, but common ones...One of the keys to running a successful contact center — or business — is to clearly identify what it is you want to measure, not just what you’re able to report on. The 'wrong' numbers not only mask bigger issues, they also send the wrong messages up and down the line, from agents to senior management...The key to having meaningful metrics is to tie them to strategic enterprise-wide goals."

Have you been bitten by the numbers trap?

Have you been successful in tying metrics to enterprise goals?

BTW - I am embarrassed to admit that I can't wait to place my American Idol votes this year!  I'm listening to my favorite Idol of all times at this very moment (not intentionally...funny).  Any guesses?  First name starts with C, last name starts with D...  Last year my favorite was David Cook.  Looks like my mild case of dyslexia has snuck up on me again...:-)