People Management
Don't Play the Customer Management "Blame Game"
April 09 by Brian CantorIt goes without saying that some things are out of the customer-facing brand’s control. Suppliers fail to deliver goods on time. Manufacturers err in developing the products the brand is dis...
AMEX on Customer Experience: How to Make Service Your "Biggest Competitive Advantage"
April 05 by Brian CantorIn 2012, few in the business world would dare dismiss the importance of the customer experience. Though some might debate the significance of certain trends and channels, when it comes to the overa...
Workforce Optimization in Loan Operations: Adding People to the Productivity Equation
April 05 by Customer Contact WeekCurrent tools and practices in loan operations overlook a huge opportunity for improved effectiveness. In this eBook, Verint® Systems explains workforce optimization—a software solution f...
Content as a Competitive Advantage: 6 Best Practices for Knowledgebase Development
April 02 by Customer Contact WeekWhether your organization is just launching a knowledge management initiative or seeing strong uptake and wants to reward usage by leveraging feedback for continuous improvements, you’ll want...
Are You Making Customers Hate Your Call Center?
April 02 by Brian CantorWith report after report and anecdote after anecdote suggesting that a growing contingent of customers prefers self-service and social channels to the traditional contact center environment, it is i...
Responding to Pinkberry vs. Subway: What Culture Drives Your Customer Experience?
March 28 by Brian CantorStrong opinions generate strong reactions. And in posting contributor Ayad Mirjan’s firm, pull-no-punches comparison of the Pinkberry and Subway customer experiences, I knew Call Center IQ wa...
How National Grid is Learning to Build Relationships in the Contact Center
March 26 by CCW Digital EditorMany of today’s customer management professionals commonly talk a big game about the importance of CRM. Relationship-building, they argue, is a fundamental tenet of all contact center interac...
Luster of Call Center Offshoring is Fading, But Are At-Home Agents The Answer?
March 22 by Brian CantorContact center outsourcing is nowhere near as obsolete as many critics allege, but it is decidedly less debatable that the practice has at least somewhat lost its luster. In an era overrun with co...
5 Signs That Customer Service Reps Don't Care
March 21 by Brian CantorYes, at the end of the day, when a customer contacts support, his focus is to receive resolution for the good or service challenge he is experiencing. But a live interaction between a customer ser...
Pinkberry vs. Subway: Customer-Centricity vs. Efficiency
March 21 by Ayad MirjanPinkberry vs. Subway. Customer centricity vs. efficiency. Relationship vs. transaction. Customer experience vs. assembly line. That is what I see when comparing the two retailers. They are b...
Lying Might Work for Some Managers, But What About Your Customers?
March 19 by Brian CantorOur society maintains that "honesty is the best policy," but when it comes to the actual rewarding of that honesty, our tendency is to dismiss the practice as a fantasy of movies and television. B...
Your Brand Promise: What Customers Hear You Say and What They Actually Get
March 14 by David Lee"When I hear how our people talk to our customers, I cringe." This was said to me recently by someone calling to inquire about customer service training. Her comment reminded of a story I heard rece...