| Foreword | |
| Preface | |
| About the Authors | |
Part 1 | The Emerging Contact Center | 1 |
Chapter 1 | From Call Center to Contact Center | 2 |
| The Evolution from Call Centers to Multichannel Contact Centers | 2 |
| The Evolution of the Call Center Era | 3 |
| The Evolution from Call Centers to ... | 4 |
| The Help Desk Era | 4 |
| The Internet and Web Self-Service Era | 4 |
| e-Service Meant No Service and Reduced Business | 6 |
| An Industry in Search of Solutions | 6 |
| The Contact Center Era | 8 |
| The Multichannel Contact Center Era | 9 |
| Using CRM to Become a Company Hero | 10 |
Chapter 2 | Managing the Customer Service Chain and CRM | 13 |
| A Futuristic Look at the Contact Center | 13 |
| Establishing a Unique Brand of Service | 14 |
| The Customer Service Chain | 16 |
| A CRM-centric Contact Center | 17 |
| The Complexity of Integrating CRM Information | 17 |
| Ineffective Automation and Integration Fallout | 18 |
| The Fallout from Poorly Integrated Technology | 19 |
| Knowledge, Skill, and Desire | 19 |
Chapter 3 | The Contact Center Professional | 24 |
| India-Contact Centers Provide Respect | 24 |
| The Changing U.S. Contact Center Environment | 24 |
| The Manager's Role in Creating a Motivated Contact Center | 26 |
| The Power of Recognition and Appreciation | 26 |
| Employees as Professional Athletes | 29 |
| Contact with Customers Is a Strategic Advantage | 30 |
| Management's Opportunity | 30 |
| Why Develop Contact Center Professionals? | 30 |
| Characteristics of Contact Center Professionals | 30 |
| The Seventeen Characteristics of an Extraordinary Contact Center Professional | 32 |
| The Seventeen Characteristics of an Extraordinary Contact Center Manager | 33 |
Chapter 4 | Managing Customer Lifetime Value | 37 |
| The Value of a Customer | 37 |
| The Cost of a Service Slump | 39 |
| A Complaint Is an Opportunity to Create Additional Revenue | 44 |
| Contact Center Professionals That Understand the Value of a Complaint | 45 |
| Are You Motivated to Receive Complaints? | 46 |
| What Does It Take to Delight a Customer? | 47 |
| Collecting Data versus Building a Relationship | 48 |
| Delighted Contact Professionals Give You the Edge | 48 |
Chapter 5 | Putting Money Where Customer Lifetime Value Lives | 50 |
| Building Customer Lifetime Value-the Next-Generation Contact Center | 50 |
| Cutting the Contact Center Budget Again? | 50 |
Part 2 | Barriers to Excellence in Multichannel Contact Centers | 55 |
Chapter 6 | CRM Growing Pains | 56 |
| High Customer Expectations | 56 |
| What Are the Various Channels of Communication? | 56 |
| CRM Growing Pains | 57 |
| Getting an Early Start | 57 |
| Demotivators in Loosely Integrated Contact Centers | 58 |
| Voice, Phone, Call Logging | 58 |
| Technical Support | 59 |
| Service Desk Database | 59 |
| Technical Knowledge Databases | 59 |
| Frequently Asked Questions | 59 |
| E-Mail Management (Inbound) | 60 |
| E-Mail Management (Outbound) | 60 |
| Chat | 60 |
| Fax | 60 |
| Web Collaboration | 61 |
| Telemarketing | 61 |
| Sales Force and Billing Integration | 61 |
| Real Mail Integration-Also known as "Who is minding the company mailbox?" | 61 |
| System Response Time and Uptime | 61 |
| Logging In and Logging Out | 62 |
| Can Contact Center Professionals Survive Multichannel Communications? | 63 |
Chapter 7 | Effects of Change-The Valley of Tears | 68 |
| The Psychological Impact of Change | 68 |
| Preventing the Effects of the Valley of Tears | 69 |
| Strategic Recommendations: How a Project Team and the Contact Center Can Effectively Deal with Change | 70 |
Chapter 8 | Stress: A Hidden Barrier to Excellence | 75 |
| In Search of Individual Excellence | 75 |
| Decreasing Turnover and Maintaining Excellence | 76 |
| Causes of Stress | 77 |
| Stress Prevention | 77 |
Chapter 9 | Recognizing Ineffective Teams | 82 |
| Stages of Teaming | 83 |
| Build Teaming Skills in Employees | 83 |
| Teams React to Change Too | 83 |
| Normal Stages of Team Development | 83 |
| Positive Effects on the Contact Center | 84 |
Part 3 | The Motivated Contact Center | 89 |
Chapter 10 | Conscious Leadership: Creating A Motivating Environment | 90 |
| Conscious Leadership and Motivation Defined | 90 |
| The Various Motivational States of Contact Centers | 91 |
| Building Relationships | 92 |
| Motivational Ideas and Tools That Work | 92 |
Management Idea 1 | To Motivate a Contact Center, Start at the Top | 92 |
Management Idea 2 | Understand the Value of Coaching, Monitoring, and Development | 93 |
Management Idea 3 | First Shift Priorities to Motivate and Develop Relationships | 94 |
Management Idea 4 | Reverse the 80/20 Rule | 94 |
Management Idea 5 | Decrease Meetings and Increase Development of Contact Center Personnel | 95 |
Management Idea 6 | Establish Constant Management Consciousness | 95 |
Management Idea 7 | Determine Where You Spend Your Time | 96 |
Management Idea 8 | Assign Tasks in a Conscious Manner | 97 |
Management Idea 9 | Address Resistance | 97 |
Management Idea 10 | Deal with Issues "in the Moment" | 98 |
Management Idea 11 | Ask Questions and Listen to the Responses | 98 |
Chapter 11 | Identify Motivators in Ten Minutes: A Conscious Coaching Tools | 101 |
| Motivator Defined | 101 |
| Classic Theories of Motivation | 101 |
| Alderfer's ERG Theory | 102 |
| McClelland's Acquired Needs Theory | 102 |
| Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory | 102 |
| Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory | 103 |
| What Surveys Show | 104 |
| Dynamic Assessment of Motivations | 105 |
| How the Motivational Assessment Works | 105 |
| Behavior Defined | 105 |
| What Drives Behavior and Attitudes | 106 |
| What Is an Attitude? | 106 |
Chapter 12 | The Conscious Coach: Show 'Em Who Cares! | 112 |
| Coaching, Monitoring, and Development | 112 |
| Coaching Defined | 112 |
| Monitoring | 113 |
| Development | 114 |
| Why Monitor, Coach, and Develop? | 114 |
| Inclusive versus Directive Management | 115 |
| How to Show You Really Care | 116 |
| Develop Your Contact Center Culture Daily | 117 |
| A Message for Start-ups and Centers with High Turnover Rates | 117 |
| A Balancing Act | 117 |
| How Current Monitoring Practices Fail | 117 |
Chapter 13 | Early Involvement in Organizational Choices | 121 |
| Quality of Work Life Defined | 121 |
| Participation Defined | 122 |
| Choosing Technology Is Motivating | 122 |
| Contributing Value to Quality Control and New Product Development | 124 |
| Being a Customer Advocate | 128 |
| Conclusion | 128 |
Chapter 14 | Other Departments Affect a Contact Center | 132 |
| Importance of Cross-Departmental Communication | 132 |
| The Effects of Ineffective Cross-Departmental Communication | 132 |
| Maximizing Customer Service Chain Performance | 133 |
| Management's Influence over Third-Party Providers | 134 |
| Positive Positioning of the Contact Center within Your Organization | 136 |
Chapter 15 | Performance Management Made Easy: C.A.R.IN.G. | 139 |
| C.A.R.IN.G Defined | 139 |
| Performance Management Based on the C.A.R.IN.G. Method | 139 |
| Employee Development and Evaluation Methodology | 141 |
| Writing the Evaluation | 142 |
Step 1 | Collect Evaluation Information | 142 |
Step 2 | Evaluate the Performance | 143 |
Step 3 | Write the Performance Appraisal | 144 |
| Presenting the Evaluation | 145 |
| Performance Evaluation Time Lines | 147 |
| Putting the Review on Paper | 147 |
| How Do Managers Demonstrate C.A.R.IN.G? | 148 |
| Compensation, Recognition, and Respect | 148 |
| Avoid Overacknowledgment | 148 |
| The Doughnut and Pizza Reward System | 148 |
| Everyone Likes a Challenge-Well ... Maybe Not? | 149 |
| Enriching Jobs for Individual Growth | 151 |
| The Next-Generation Contact Center Professionals | 152 |
| Conclusion | 152 |
Chapter 16 | The Physical Office Environment-A Motivator | 155 |
| How Is Your Contact Center's Physical Space Perceived? | 155 |
| Office Decor-A Contact Center Motivator | 156 |
| Contact Center Ergonomics | 157 |
| The Ergonomically Correct Computer Workstation | 157 |
| The Contact Center's Physical Environment Is a Motivator, Too | 157 |
| Giving Choices and Including the Contact Center Professionals in Decision Making | 159 |
Part 4 | Best Practices in Multichannel Contact Centers | 163 |
Chapter 17 | Customer Interaction Management and Planning: For Multichannel Contact Centers | 164 |
| Multichannel Contact Center Defined | 164 |
| On Multiple Channels and Change | 166 |
| Preferred Contact Center Multichannel Analytics | 166 |
| Understand What You Are Buying | 166 |
| Multichannel Best Practices | 166 |
| Considerations for Online Staffing | 179 |
| Statistics from Purdue University's Center for Customer Driven Quality | 180 |
| Conclusion | 180 |
Chapter 18 | Contact Center Benchmarking: A Best Practice | 183 |
| Benchmarking Defined | 183 |
| Why Benchmark? | 183 |
| Establishing an Accurate Peer Group | 184 |
| Selecting and Defining Performance Metrics | 185 |
| Conclusion | 193 |
Chapter 19 | Increasing Emotional Intelligence with Work-Style Assessments | 196 |
| The Hiring Challenge | 196 |
| Work Styles Defined | 196 |
| Increase Emotional Intelligence | 197 |
| Managing for Productivity Drops | 198 |
| Assessment Benefits, Accuracy, and Validity Studies | 199 |
| Increasing Uptake and Efficient Use of CRM Technology | 202 |
| A Final Word on the Work-Style Approach | 202 |
Chapter 20 | SP3M-Measure, Market, and Manage Your Contact Center Results | 205 |
| The Customer Service Measurement Challenge | 205 |
| Customer Service Levels Defined | 205 |
| Producing Business Results through the SP3M Service Model | 206 |
| The Steps in the SP3M Service Model | 206 |
| The First Step in SP3M | 206 |
| The Second Step in SP3M | 208 |
| The Third Step in SP3M | 209 |
| The Continuous Improvement Cycle | 211 |
| Traditional Quality Improvement Process versus the SP3M Model | 211 |
| Traditional Use of Technology to Measure | 211 |
| SP3M-People Using Technology to Measure | 213 |
| Realizing the Value of the SP3M Initiative | 214 |
Chapter 21 | Understanding Customer Lifetime Value-A Best Practice | 216 |
| Customer Lifetime Value and Customer Profitability Defined | 216 |
| The Customer Value Chain | 217 |
| Customer Revenue | 218 |
| Customer Profitability | 218 |
| Customer Loyalty or Retention | 219 |
| Customer Attrition | 219 |
| Customer Growth | 220 |
| Calculating Customer Lifetime Value | 221 |
| One Customer's Value | 222 |
| More Than One Customer and Customer Segment Values | 222 |
| Increasing Corporate Customer Assets | 223 |
| The Value in Handling Customer Complaints and Improving Customer Service | 223 |
| The Effects of Poor Service on Your Market | 224 |
| Winning Customer Loyalty through Exceptional Service | 226 |
| Educating Your Contact Center on Customer Lifetime Value | 226 |
Chapter 22 | Coaching Best Practices for Contact Center Leaders | 229 |
| Results-Oriented Coaching Defined | 229 |
| Best Practices for Designing Effective Coaching Programs | 229 |
| Six Key Operating Principles | 230 |
| Getting Started | 230 |
| Steps in Coaching Contact Center Professionals | 231 |
Step 1 | Opening the Door to Communication | 231 |
Step 2 | Big Picture and Individual Goal Setting | 233 |
Step 3 | Getting Commitment Ask versus Tell Skills | 235 |
Step 4 | Giving Feedback to Reinforce High Performance | 235 |
| Index | 241 |