As 2008 approaches, many people are making lists of resolutions and things to do in the New Year. Phil Gerbyshak at Make it Great! pointed out a new trend called the "F List," which lists five (or more!) great blogs that may be "under noticed." The idea is to give exposure to blogs that you learn and grow from, while also uncovering new sites along the way. So, I submit my five sites to the ever-growing "F List:"

• http://callcenterqablues.blogspot.com/ -- the Call Center QA Blues gives great insights into the daily life of a quality analyst.
• http://www.qaqna.com -- Call Center QA Questions and Answers by Tom Vander Well is always full of good advice and insightful stories of the call center world.
• http://customersrock.wordpress.com/ -- Customers Rock! by Becky Carroll includes tales of customer experiences and how companies are continuing to improve their interactions.
• http://www.customersarealways.com/ -- Customers Are Always by Maria Palma. Maria pulls from her experiences in retail and in call centers to provide ideas and commentary on superior customer service.
• http://www.serviceuntitled.com/ -- Service Untitled covers customer service and customer experiences as well.

Here are the original F List contributions as well:

• http://littlemissteacher.blogspot.com/
• http://insideschools.blogspot.com/
• http://www.toddseal.com/rodin/2007/12/in-my-backyard-please/
• http://www.leadertalk.org/
• http://www.carla.umn.edu/speechacts/sp_pragmatics/home.html
• http://www.slowdownfast.com/blog
• http://www.inspirepossibility.com/blog
• http://coconutheadsets.com/
• http://middlezonemusings.com/
• http://www.theideadude.com/
• http://sharecompassion.blogspot.com/

What has made your reading list in 2007 and 2008? I'd be interested in hearing about your additions to the F List as well. You can participate by creating a new post on your blog, adding 5 of your "unsung heroes" of the blog world, and cutting and pasting the above links to your post.

Post tags: F List, Phil Gerbyshak, contact center, call center, contact centre

Judy McLeish at the Employee Factor points out that employees are stressed around the holiday season, and that one of the best things that we can do as managers is to express empathy. She suggests that employers can help employees through the holiday stress by creating an uplifting environment and by framing interactions with the notion that everyone's stress-levels are amplified this time of year.

Holidays can bring out the best and worst in people, and for those on the front-lines, it can be difficult to handle the deluge of customer interactions/inquiries. I agree that creating a positive work environment where employees feel motivated and supported is key. Last year I wrote about one company that provides small gifts when they hear a great "wow" or "save" call. Cammy McCafferty of Northwest Airlines has also told us about how her center "makes it fun" with stress carts and small give-aways for employees. There are a lot of ways to make your employees feel like millionaires and to keep morale high in your contact center.

Just remember there are three critical employee needs that rewards and incentives can't buy. They include: physical, mental, and emotional needs. As you're making your way through the holiday season, be sure to address each of these needs, and you'll be on your way to happy employees!

Post tags: Judy McLeish, Employee Factor, Cammy McCafferty, call center motivation, QA, call center coaching, call center, contact center

flickr photo courtesy of Georgie Sharp.

Today's Call Center Quick Tip comes from Dale Raduenz, quality assurance analyst for Great Lakes Educational Loan Services:

Encourage Ideas

Listen to your customer service representatives. They are on the front line. They are the ones who know what is working and more importantly what is not working. Because management needs to function with a larger picture in mind, they frequently lose touch with the day to day activities of a CSR who is on the phone all day. When we receive a large volume of calls regarding a specific problem, our CSRs are the first to notice. If we openly solicit their ideas and input, they are more likely to feel needed, appreciated, and part of the team. Discouraging input from CSRs will shut down a valuable source of information. Some of the best ideas for improving our overall operation have come from suggestions made by our customer service representatives.

Today, Becky Carroll at Customers Rock! posted a free eBook for all of her readers. The eBook is packed with customer experience tips and a sampling of the conversations that have taken place on Becky's blog. You'll want to drop by Customers Rock! to read more about topics like:

• Taking care of existing customers
• Customer or client?
• Tips for listening to customers
• Stories and the personal touch
• Measuring customer relationships

One of my favorite sections in the eBook is about listening to the voice of the customer (see page 18). One of the first tips is to "read the actual customer comments verbatim." In the contact center, I would take this one step further, and advocate listening to your customer recordings. Are you using your quality monitoring recordings to the fullest? Have other department and company leaders truly listened to the voice of the customer? Why not forward call recordings directly to the rest of the organization so that they can hear exactly what the customers are saying? Carroll also states:

Take decisive action based on the results of listening to customers. Don’t let their feedback be wasted! Use what you learn from listening to customers as a critical piece of data to put alongside your other research findings as you make decisions on products, services, and experiences.

Have you closed the loop with your customers, taking action on their feedback and letting them know that their voice has been heard? I'd love to know what your contact center and your company overall is doing to listen to the voice of the customer.

Post tags: Becky Carroll, customer service, customer satisfaction, customer experience, call center

Today's Call Center Quick Tip comes from Greg Gamble, a training and communications supervisor at Weyerhaeuser:

Empower your call reps

Call centers are known for high turnover. By empowering and involving your call reps in departmental initiatives and decisions you encourage involvement. Involvement leads to inclusion and inclusion is the gateway to loyalty. An employee who feels included is less likely to stray. Not only that, you will be surprised as to what ideas, efficiencies and cost cutting measures a fresh face brings forward. Besides, who knows better than the person doing the job every day?

• Pace of effort required
• Sense of powerlessness or lack of control 
• Frustration of not being allowed to do a good job
• Repetition
• Daily physical confinement (tied to their desk)
• Over-regimentation
• The feeling of being spied on
• The feeling of not being appreciated by others in the organization
• Handling complaints and problems all day
• Odd work hours
• Pay
• Better opportunities elsewhere

Over the past few weeks, I have been on the road more than usual, and have had a great deal of interaction with airlines and airline employees. (Keep in mind, I previously worked in the travel industry and am very savvy.) Last week, I had a particularly long return trip home from the Boston area and encountered numerous delays and travel headaches. One incident in particular left me with a sour taste in my mouth... it was so bad, in fact, that every time I have a choice in which airline I fly, the airline in question will never be an option. Here is my tale of customer service woes:

It had been a long day for me, and I arrived late in Philadelphia due to flight delays and air traffic control issues. These delays caused me to miss my connecting flight back to Seattle, and there were no other flights available that evening. So, I had to overnight in Philadelphia. The airline that I had been flying booked me on a return flight to Seattle the next morning on a partner airline. I noticed that there were no seats assigned and was advised that I would have to go to the partner carrier for seats Unfortunately, they did not book an assigned seat for me, so I trudged my way that evening to the other airline's ticket counter to get an assigned seat, but the counter had closed 15 minutes before I arrived. The nice ticket agent that happened to walk out as I arrived at the counter smiled at me and apologized, as she couldn't help me because the closure meant that all of the computer terminals were inaccessible for the night.

When I awoke the next morning in my airport hotel, I noticed on the departures information that the flight that I was booked on was delayed by more then an hour which meant I would miss my tight connection.  My original airline's ticket counter was closest to my hotel, so I approached their ticketing line first. The line was very long (as the holiday travel season is underway here), so I asked one of the agents at the back of the line if I needed to stand in the line or if I needed to go to the other airline's ticket counter. I was brusquely informed that I couldn't bypass the line. The agent wouldn't even answer my simple question as to whether or not I was in the appropriate place! I commented loudly that perhaps the airline should consider taking care of their customers and then proceeded to the partner airline's ticketing counter of which I was rebooked on. 

After I approached the partner airline ticket counter that I was to be flying out on, I was informed that I would have to return to the original airline that booked my flight, as it was "more important for us to take care of our customers first." As a ticketed passenger on the flight, wasn't I a customer too? Frustrated and exhausted, I worked my way back to the first airline counter to once again sort out my travel woes and wait in yet another line.

After many hours, and two flights later, I made it back home with a few more travel war stories to tell and another urgent sense of the importance of customer service and the impact my experiences will have on one airline's future bottom line. Here are a few key take-aways from my travel tale:

• Customer service happens at every interaction -- from the simple questions of "should I stand in this line?" to the bigger questions of "please help me utilize your services." Your employees' responses and your reactions make a big impression.
• Employee empowerment and knowledge is key. There were several times in my travel where simple gestures and empathy from the airline and/or the agent would have made a difference.
• Every customer, no matter how big or small, is important and valuable. Taking the time to help every customer through their plight improves the customer relationship and can cement customer loyalty.
• There is one airline which will remain nameless here but will be mentioned to many of my family and friends in a negative way and I will do my best not to give them any of my future business.

What can you do to improve your customer interactions today? How can you make sure that every customer feels taken care of and important?

Post tags: customer interaction, travel, customer service

flickr photo courtesy of gisarah.