“The Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. Let’s All Listen Once Again!!! It’s in that new movie “Joyful Noise” and yesterday it set my heart on fire once more.
The “WOW” factor is hard to understand. People who are inspired themselves give that “WOW” right over to the customer. How do you “WOW” someone? It is like “love” so undefinable yet we all know it when we “feel” it or the lack thereof. I like the comment from Lark Will, a very powerful woman Call Center Director. She wrote on LinkedIn all about reinforcing the good stuff with coaching and training, etc…AND I agree, still, I really think we need to build the self-esteem of the agents themselves. As David Stuart, another giant in the industry, said: “Make sure the agents know what’s expected of them.” I agree with that as well. Here is where I think we fall short…we need to make sure the agents know that we know they know…get it?

We can talk and we can talk and we can talk. We can make rules. We can announce expectations; we can even hire the people who match the profile…if that is so? Why is there still a problem? Whenever we do anything to push our beliefs down the throat of an agent, we just said: “We know you don’t get it.” That’s why we work so hard to push it on to you.

How about working on what’s inside and making […]

Motivational Games – UHG! Eeeuw… Whenever I was in a call center or on a sales team, I just hated the GAMES. I would laugh at them because if they didn’t have an instant reward, I didn’t want to play. They would have games that lasted a year….WHAT? I can’t remember yesterday and I have a target that is due tomorrow. How can I play an annual game?

Then there are games that push you toward results. They are funny, too. I want results but I want them now as well. Later never works for me. Then they even have games that let you win a trip to Hawaii if you are the raffle winner. WHAT? I don’t want the raffle ticket, I want the bungalow on the sandy shore, listening to the waves all night.

Then there are the TEAM games, boy, oh, boy, did I NOT fit in or what? I just didn’t want to play any game that was predicated upon someone else getting their number of sales or customer service stats… I am not a team player that way, do I need a shrink? Is there something wrong with me that I don’t like to play on the team? I want to WIN but Joe over there is not pulling his weight. Do I have to pull his weight as well as mine or I am Not A GOOD PERSON, A TEAM PLAYER? […]

Tim Searcy, the outgoing past president of ATA speaks to me.

I know it has always been about ENGAGEMENT.  No kidding.  WE have so many rules about AHT.  The agents are ‘freaking out’ about it.  The companies are counting their money and the one who gets lost in this shuffle is the CUSTOMER!  Engagement requires Questions.  NOT ANSWERS!
The world is Crazy for answers.  Some people don’t even know the right questions.
An open ended question like “What would you like to know?” won’t cut it.  We have to say something about making the customer right and then ask a good question.  It’s time we asked the RIGHT questions.  Why is that so hard to understand?

• What is your agent asking the customer?
• Ask yourself: Does the customer like the questions you ask?
• Does the customer know the answer to the question you ask?
• Are you able to ask a question that will move the call forward?
• Does the Customer “feel” good about the questions and
• Does the Customer want to answer it?

These are some of the questions you should be asking yourself.
NOT How can I cut the call time or the AHT?
The real question is: How can I make the customer feel good, smart and right with the question I ask? Now that’s a question worth asking yourself, your training department and your management.

It’s NOT: “How can I cut the AHT? — It’s, “How can I make the customer “feel” good and smart to answer my questions in a way that gives the agents the information “they” need […]

Blown AWAY is what I am (YODA)

Today, I just want to say, that I worked with a person with Go-to-Webinar for ten minutes.   His name was Rubin and he did not conduct Business as Usual…ho-hum.