Cincom Contact Center Insights Randy Saunders

Guest: Pete Blackshaw, VP of Strategic Services, Nielsen Online

Pete Blackshaw is Executive VP of Strategic Services, Nielsen Online, interactive marketing expert and author of the just-released book, “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today's Consumer-Driven World.”

In today’s internet-driven and instant-communication world, customers have more power than ever, and they’re using it. Through what Pete calls "consumer-generated media"—blogs, social networking pages, message boards, product review sites—even a single disgruntled customer can broadcast his complaints to an audience of millions.

In his book Pete reveals strategies to influence the voice of the customer that will ultimately build your brand or tear it down. He shows managers, marketers, and business leaders how to establish and maintain credibility for their brand.

This audio podcast explores some of the hot topics covered in his book and a recent webcast. View the recorded 60-minute webcast at http://www.cincom.com/blackshaw

Also check out Pete’s new web site, http://www.TELL3000.com which has tons of great resources and links for ordering his new book.

Guest: Bob Furniss - speaker, author and highly regarded consultant.

Bob Furniss is part of an elite group of independent consultants who is certified by the ICMI - International Customer Management Institute, he is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), and has authored two books. His most recent book, “Ideas at Work– Powerful Ideas to Transform Your Contact Center,” has been called a “simple read with powerful impact” by industry critics.

Bob has a new in-house half-day seminar program called, Operation Impact – a program designed specifically to address the daily struggles of the frontline manager.

You can find more about this program and other happenings with Bob at:
http://www.bobfurniss.com

On his web site you can:
- Sign up for Bob’s newsletter and other free downloads
- Learn more about the seminar and his books
- Find Bob’s contact information

Also make sure you check out Bob's blog on CustomerThink.com where he is one of the top-rated authors on this site:
http://www.customerthink.com/user/bob_furniss

Guest: Trent Fulcher, Program Director, Cincom Customer Experience Solutions

Today Trent Fulcher spoke at Vanguard’s contact centre conference in Rome. In this episode we talk to Trent about a few of the topics he covered at the conference.

Guest: David Filwood, Founder & Principal Consultant with TeleSoft Systems

While almost everyone can use a telephone, not everyone is cut out to work successfully in a Call Center Environment.

Research demonstrates that 65% to 75% of the costs associated with operating a Customer Contact Center are labor costs, and hiring the wrong Call Center Agent is a significant drain on the Operating Budget, on Customer Satisfaction Levels, on Sales Results, and on overall Call Center Team Morale.

Finding ways to hire better quality Call Center Agents is consistently placed as a priority as far as the needs and interests of Contact Center Directors are concerned.

David Filwood is the Founder & Principal Consultant with TeleSoft Systems www.telesoftsystems.ca, a Call Center Improvement Consultancy based in Vancouver, BC that helps Contact Centers Find, Hire, Train & Keep Better Employees. TeleSoft Systems is also the Publisher of SPAS – Service Personnel Appraisal Software – a Suite of Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Tools.
In this podcast, I talk to David about Best Practices in Recruiting & Hiring Call Center Agents:

- Trends in Maximizing your Pool of Job Candidates
- Telephone/Web-based Candidate Screening
- Skills Testing
- Personality/Job-Fit Assessments

A PowerPoint copy of David’s Presentation can be requested at www.telesoftsystems.ca/64201.html.

For more information:
TeleSoft Systems
phone: 604.986.4116
email: info@telesoftsystems.ca
web: www.telesoftsystems.ca

Guest: Sheila Wilson, Contact Center Consultant

At this week’s ICCM (The International Contact Center Management) Summit in Orlando, Sheila presented “What to Measure When You’re an Analytical Newbie.”

In this podcast we explore some of the topics Sheila discussed during her ICCM presentation.

In this podcast Shelia talks about topics she discussed in that presentation including:

- The differences between reporting and analytics
- How to get started
- The metrics customers really care about
- The cost savings real companies have identified with analytics

Guest: Louis Columbus, Manager of Enterprise Compliance and Quality Management, Cincom.

Louis Columbus was recently a panelist at the Green Technology World™ Conference where he discussed the environmental impact of virtual contact centers and remote agents.

In this podcast Louis answers some of the questions he covered at the conference including:

- Why are so many companies are adopting green technologies now?
- How does a virtual contact center help companies become more “green?”
- What are other advantages of virtual contact centers?
- How does the virtual contact center improve customer service?
- Where will green technologies be in the next 2-10 years?