Many of the most successful leaders I’ve worked with are uneasy depending on surveys and rolled-up data alone to tell them what’s really happening. They want to put themselves in their customers’ shoes. They want to see the organization, products, employees and competitors as their customers do. The video below, from my LinkedIn Learning course “Customer Service Leadership,” shares some …
In a recent issue of The Edge of Service®, I relay my experience meeting actor and author Henry Winkler at a recent ICMI Conference. Winkler reminded me of advice that my mother used to give me, especially when facing awkward or difficult challenges—”just be yourself.” It was sound advice then, and it still is now. And I believe it’s good …
It’s hard to believe that Contact Center Management on Fast Forward is in its fourth edition. It is a testimony to the strategic importance of contact centers to organizations of virtually any type. It has been a privilege to be a part of an industry that is dedicated to connecting with customers and helping organizations succeed. If you’ve read any …
Our customer advocates trust us. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be advocates. They want that trust to continue and we need to do our part of this. Sadly, businesses lose advocates daily. Often, this stems more from neglect than from anything we do. The video below looks at five principles for maintaining trust and keeping the momentum going. This video …
Over the past decade, ICMI has studied, codified and periodically published a summary of the most important principles behind building strong, profitable customer relationships. Lately, I’ve been asked, are these principles less important? Have evolving customer expectations, social communities, new channels and other developments changed the fundamentals? Not at all! These 12 principles are as important as ever, in large …
Adherence to schedule is an important performance objective for agents. It is within their control (when implemented appropriately) and measures if agents are available to handle contacts as scheduled. However, to ensure your approach is supporting the culture you want to establish, consider these suggestions for getting the best results: 1. Educate each person on how much impact he or …
The impact of employee engagement is incredible. In fact, engaged employees are four times more likely than non-engaged employees to go beyond what’s expected of them according to the Temkin Group, a US firm focused on customer experience. Other studies show that quality improves, customer loyalty goes up, and employee turnover goes down. Learn more about the power of employee …
The amount of intelligence gathered through customer service is significant, in any industry. There’s far more value to handling customer contacts than improving the satisfaction and loyalty of customers, as vitally important as that is. So, how do you build the potential of customer interactions to deliver value? Assemble a small cross-functional team to explore how well your organization uses …
