Business Fairy Tales or Reinventing Your Contact Center

Business Fairy Tales

Author: Cecil Jackson

On the heels of the Enron trial, there are many lessons to be learned from the barrage of fraud hammering corporate America-including how to spot signs of future impropriety. In a gripping and intriguing read, Business Fairy Tales uses real-world scandals to illustrate the top twenty most common methods used by companies to fraudulently overstate their earnings and hide their debt. Based on an analysis of the frequency of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions, it identifies the twenty most prevalent accounting schemes. The book explains each accounting trick with a detailed, engaging story of a company and the officials who committed a spectacular version of that method of fictitious financial reporting. It goes behind the scenes to describe the organization's acts of deception, and to examine the character failures of the leaders. In addition to the specific cases, the book presents a compelling argument for the kind of reform that is needed, as well as the ethical frameworks that must support authentic reform. Ultimately, Business Fairy Tales equips and empowers readers with the skills to spot signs of potential accounting fraud so that investors and employees can be forewarned of future financial shocks. It provides analysts and students with the specific, tell-tale signals of the top twenty financial-reporting frauds and schemes-signals that are inevitably left behind in financial statements that have been manipulated.

Read also The Experiential Student Team Consulting Process or The Houghton Mifflin Brief Accounting Dictionary

Reinventing Your Contact Center: A Manager's Guide to Successful Multi-Channel CRM

Author: Lisa M Schwartz

Emphasizing the worth of positive customer interactions, Re-Inventing Your Contact Center provides tools for building the very best multi-channel customer relationship management system. Learn why customer contact centers are so valuable to the company’s bottom line. Discover how to keep employees motivated, challenged and committed. Understand the multiple channels used to communicate effectively with consumers. This new text unlocks many of the secrets behind successful customer service management and is filled with cases, exercises and assignments that build communication strategies, listening skills and confidence to re-invent one’s own contact center. Highlights multi-channel contact center strategies. Includes all forms of customer contact, such as: voice, email, fax, Web and more! Emphasizes the value of contact management centers. Discusses how customer service experiences impact consumer behavior and purchasing plans. Includes numerous lists, charts, and calculations that can be used to determine contact center effectiveness. Excellent for anyone involved in managing a Contact Center.

Table of Contents:

	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