Resources

Recommended Websites

If you are thinking that the last thing you need is another website to visit - think again. Here is a great list of sites that will enhance your world as a personal and professional leader.

• Call Centers / CRM Websites:
  
  
  • Destination CRM - This is a great site for the latest articles about powerful impact of CRM. There is also usually some horror stories that will help you avoid the pitfalls of ineffective implementation. Bob was recently featured in the article "Six Common Contact Center Mistakes".
  • 1 to1 Magazine - I love this magazine. Although it is seen as a marketing magazine, there is usually a great article each week about the contact center or how to improve overall customer experiences.
  • Call Center Magazine - This site is a great extension of their monthly magazine. If you are looking for information about technology, their Buyer's Guide is a great place to start. Click here for a free subscription to the magazine.
  • TMC - Customer Interactions Magazine - This is an extension of their magazine on contact center management.
  • Contact Center World - Although you have to sign-up to reach much of the information, a free membership will allow you to access many great articles. For a monthly fee you can access more information than you can possibly digest in any one week. Bob is a Certified Expert for this site and often responds to the questions posed in their customer forums.
  • CRM Buyer - This site offers daily postings of great articles about CRM, contact centers and more. Check out Bob's latest contribution that is actually an excerpt from the book "Ideas at Work" - "The Need For A Comprehensive Call Center".
    
  
  
• Personal Growth Websites:
• Personality Test - here is a neat and FREE personality test. We often talk about the importance of knowing your personality type to lead others better. Although it is not Myers Briggs, it is a cool little alternative. By-the-way, you can take the Myers Briggs Personality Assessment at this site for $175 - (http://www.capt.org/take-mbti-assessment/mbti.htm). Another alternative is the book listed above - Please Understand Me.
• Ken Blanchard - I just love Ken Blanchard. I saw him speak recently and realized what an impact he has had on my life as a manager. I read many of his books as a young manager (One-Minute Manager, Who Moved My Cheese and more). You will have to give them your e-mail address to sign-up for the newsletter, but it is a great read every time. I also love his new ministry Lead Like Jesus
• Relational Leadership - I recently had the opportunity to attend one of Gary Smalley's conferences. I came home with a briefcase full of books on relationships. Click on ARTICLES to access some great work on relationship - at home, at work and throughout your life!

Contact Center Ideas

"WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?" Do you really know the people on your team? We often talk about the need to create customer relationships - CRM is everywhere! Yet we may not have created a relationship with those that we work with on a daily basis. They may work for you – but don’t forget that they also work with you.

Here is a quick idea to test yourself on this subject:

1. List all of your direct reports from memory.
2. List their last work accomplishment.
3. List their last life accomplishment.
4. List something about their family – kids names, etc.
5. List their “passion” for life (music, painting, model cars, racing, etc.).

"KILLING THE DRIVE-THROUGH COMPARISON!!!"
Does your center provide a "Bud’s Burger" experience for your customer? Think about it. What’s the first thing you do before you leave a fast-food drive through window? Right. You check your order. Why? Because you expect it to be screwed up! Do your customers have those same expectations from you? Always end the contact by asking if there is something else you can do for the customer (this may increase your talk time, but it will reduce call backs and improve first contact resolution). Surprise your customer. Offer them something they weren’t expecting.

"JUST WALKING AROUND"
How long has it been since you scheduled – actually scheduled time to walk the floor of your contact center? I know that you walked through the center on the way to your last meeting, I know that you walked through the center yesterday when you needed to ask a question about the schedule. But, how long has it been since you scheduled an hour or more to just walk through the center – to answer questions or say "hi" to agents – to just be visible as a Manager, Director or Executive?

This communication style is wonderful for contact center managers who make a commitment to spend a dedicated amount of time on the floor with the employees. This approach must be compatible with your style; it should not be forced or just a charade. Employees will see through you if you are "just doing this to do it." Walking through the organization looking for opportunities to make positive comments, and/or receive input and feedback, allows you to see everything going on and allows you to listen directly to the employees. Permitting all employees to have direct access to the boss frequently generates high levels of spontaneous, creative synergy while employees and the manager exchange ideas.

Alexander the Great managed his forces, not only by walking around, but also by riding into the thick of battle. He shared the hardships of his men, and his troops loved him for it. In the Shakespeare play, Henry V, King Henry goes out among his men on the eve of the battle to see if they are prepared and willing to fight. If we visit the contact center floor, talk with agents and ask sincere questions, we will quickly hear from agents what our customers are saying. We should also be able to gauge the mood and morale on the floor. In the play, King Henry returned to his tent knowing whether his men where ready to fight and setting his own mind in the proper frame to lead them into battle.

LET US HEAR YOUR IDEAS!