Brad Cleveland - Brad Cleveland

The Nature of Contact Center Work

Sep 20, 2018 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Service, Organization and Culture

People who are new to contact centers are often surprised at how different they are compared to other work environments. The workload is so variable and timing is so critical. This is all true, so it can be helpful to better understand the nature of contact center...

12 Principles for Building Profitable Customer Relationships

Sep 14, 2018 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Experience, Customer Relationships, Customer Service, Leadership

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...

TEDx Talk: Thriving in an Always-on World

Sep 7, 2018 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Service, Leadership, Mobile, Social Media, Videos

September is in full swing and for many of us that means the beginning of another busy season. How do you stay connected with family, friends, co-workers and clients without being a slave to your smartphone? Is being “always connected” a blessing or a...

Reinforce the “Power of One”

Sep 5, 2018 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Service, Leadership, Organization and Culture, Quality Management

Here are some of the steps organizations are taking to reinforce the power of one. Think through how you could approach them with your customer service team. Educate each person on how much impact he or she has on the queue—incorporate these or similar scenarios into...

Forecasting the Customer Contact Workload

Aug 30, 2018 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Service, Leadership, Workforce Management

Everything to do with getting resources right in a contact center begins with predicting what the workload will be. Workload is what leads to how many agents are hired, what your schedule should look like, the number of work stations you need, even how many snacks are...