Interview with Seasoned Call Center Industry Expert Frank Fuhrman

Frank Fuhrman is a happy guy—perhaps that’s because he loves his industry. Fuhrman has spent years with American Customer Care and is now a consultant with Pronto Connections. A staple at every big call center industry event, Fuhrman sits down with Blake Landau at the 5th Annual Call Center Summit to talk call centers, employee breakfast meetings and selling in any economy.

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Fuhrman is the first one to say that the call center industry was primarily looked at as a cost center. They were a necessary evil. But over the years, Fuhrman has seen call centers becoming smarter about marketing themselves internally, switching from cost centers to profit centers. They are bringing value to market research in addition to cross-selling, up-selling and retaining customers. They are stretching across the phone and delving into customer needs.

Each company is different, and Fuhrman knows there is no panacea. He encourages Customer Management IQ listeners to see where there might be opportunities and encourages call center managers who are looking to improve profits to look at products and services to find proper extensions. However, be careful. Cross-selling customers products that aren’t appropriate will only alienate customers. Do not roll out a cross-sell up-sell program across your call center. Try a particular group and execute a test.

Fuhrman also offers creative ideas. For example, Fuhrman believes strongly in meeting with call center staff, and he is the king of breakfast meetings. This type of informal meeting can spark innovative ideas and concepts.

Listen to this podcast for even more call center improvement ideas from Fuhrman.