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Stop Instrumenting and Start Solving Problems
Published on 2012-05-16 15:48:00
Taking your car to the mechanic. > read more
The Customer Service “Leap of Faith”
Published on 2012-02-27 19:58:00
Customer service departments share a great many common practices. They hire new agents as needed and put them through the company’s standard on-boarding program. This usually includes a number of training courses and simulation exercises designed to make sure the new agent has the basic skills to do their job. The new agent, comfortable in their new cubicle, then begins the process of improvement. Every phone call is recorded and many are evaluated looking for areas of improvement. Perfor [..] > read more
Is Apple Immune to the Osborne Effect?
Published on 2012-02-20 00:25:00
The iPad3. The iPhone5. Both products are expected to be released this year. Both products are expected to offer vast improvements over current versions. Both products are both the best kept secrets and the worst kept secrets at the same time. So how is it that Apple avoids becoming subject to the “Osborne Effect?” I know, sounds like a rhetorical question but it isn’t. I really do not know how Apple continues to sell monstrous numbers of products when a new model is known to be rig [..] > read more
Innovation Applied to Existing Technologies
Published on 2012-01-16 07:00:00
It rains a lot in Oregon so wipers are pretty much a necessity. Watching them go back and forth one afternoon got me to thinking, “I wonder how many cars are made today that do not have intermittent wipers?” I suspect that the answer is very few if any. Were Low – Medium – High not sufficient? Certainly better than On/Off as an option. How many of you would trade in your intermittent wipers for a “standard version with 3 speed settings? Yeah, me too. I like my variable speed opt [..] > read more
The Role of Social Media in Simple Terms
Published on 2011-12-28 11:46:00
Wind the clock way, way back. Look at retailing before telephones and radios. Customer service was a personal experience that happened at the place of business. Want to visit with other customers, visit with your neighbors as the smaller towns all supported the local merchants and the merchants generally listened or went out of business. Wind the clock forward and retailers are on a steady path to greater and greater levels of isolation with their customers. Most retailers today have no rea [..] > read more
Social Media: Where’s the integration?
Published on 2011-11-23 00:25:00
Like many of you, I have a Facebook page and a Twitter account. I cannot say I am an active user of either system but I do occasionally take a look at what is being posted. What amazes me is that I have friends who are only reachable via their Twitter handle or a private FB message. This situation has really stumped me lately; how do you reach someone on Twitter or FB if you are an e-mail user? It strikes me as totally arrogant that Twitter does not have the sense to create a simple gateway [..] > read more
An Idea Steve Jobs Would Have Appreciated
Published on 2011-11-07 07:30:00
Steve Jobs, along with Jonathan Ive, embraced the love consumers have for technology “that just works.” The iPod, iPhone and iPad are great examples of existing ideas re-defined by an unyielding desire to make the products simple to use. The design of SmashTalk follows that same principle. None of the myriad of group text messaging solutions that are garnering millions of VC investment dollars follow the basic rule that has helped Apple catapult itself ahead of all other vendors in its ta [..] > read more
The Role of Social Media - The Cold, Hard Truth
Published on 2011-10-26 22:19:00
Social media must be about letting the customer meet the "company" and other customers in order to develop a sense of community. People like to share and like knowing there are others who also acquired the product. Encouraging others to "spread the word" is what the purpose of Social Media ought to be and that supports a larger branding mission if done well.The idea that FB, YouTube & Twitter ought to be a primary means of customer support is just plain wrong. No one needs to create the next Dav [..] > read more
Social Media: Is a Dangerous Pattern Emerging?
Published on 2011-10-17 00:53:00
A friend of mine recently had a problem with her American Express card. She had an issue with a late fee, called the 800 number, was told that the charge was valid and though there were many years of great purchase and payment history, the late fee would not be waived. My friend cancelled her AMEX card and posted a short version of the incident on Twitter. Not surprisingly, American Express reached out to her as they are an avid user of Twitter search technology. The Social Media representati [..] > read more
Here We Go Again!
Published on 2011-09-06 05:00:00
Many years ago, instant messaging was all the rage. More than a dozen companies sprang to life all promoting their method and their “standard” as the next big thing. Even the really big players decided to try their luck in this new game that was going to take a large bite out of the e-mail market and make ICQ a dinosaur. Anyone old enough to remember what happened knows that instant messaging is still in its infancy and has no hope of ever becoming the ubiquitous communication utility so [..] > read more
The New Traveler’s Gathering Spot
Published on 2011-07-12 18:08:00
As a regular business traveler for the past 30 years, there have been a number of changes in the traveling environment; some good and some not so good. Obviously, the TSA experience fluctuates between grand nuisance and mild annoyance depending upon the location and calendar. Choices of eateries is also much broader today than it was years ago.The most stark difference I have noticed in the past couple of years is actually an update of a very old model; the phone bank. Remember those walls of [..] > read more
The Case for Tablets
Published on 2011-03-22 20:07:00
Having just returned from CTIA and having had an opportunity to try out all the latest tablets, I can firmly state that while the idea of a tablet computer is very enticing, there are just too many shortcomings to get me to buy one. TypingFirst and > read more
Solving the Mobile Payment Problem
Published on 2011-02-25 04:15:00
I don’t know about you but the idea of transmitting my credit card data from my smartphone to a receiver in order to avoid using my credit cards does not sound like a good idea. I know about the encryption and all the steps to secure the transmiss > read more
Making Every Contact Center Resource a High Performer
Published on 2011-02-12 23:00:00
Today, contact centers around the world are spending hundreds of millions every year in an effort to measure the performance of their employees. Quality Monitoring (QM), Infomarts, Datamarts, Key Performance Indicator (KPI) tracking and Speech Analy > read more
20 Years of Electronic Calendars and Time Zone Shifts are Still a Problem
Published on 2011-02-04 23:01:00
Maybe it’s the wave of new technology that has me bothered or maybe it’s the real lack of innovation that seems to be largely ignored or maybe it’s something else. All I know is that I still cannot put appointments into my Outlook calendar, tra > read more
Multi-player board games via Smashtalk text messaging. Good or bad idea?
Published on 2010-11-21 18:28:00
Imagine playing Monopoly or Bridge or Yahtzee via text messaging. Smashtalk is designed to support applications sending and receiving Smashtalk text messages. Player A starts the game on their smartphone and invited 3 friends to play. The invi > read more
History in Spirals
Published on 2010-09-14 00:01:00
History is a wonderful subject of study if the study includes the “cause and effect” behind the events. Some would say that history repeats itself. I would suggest that history does not repeat but rather history occurs in a spiraling pattern. Wha > read more
Customer Service Staff: The Last Investments
Published on 2010-09-07 16:39:00
I listen to a lot of webinars focused on how to improve the delivery of customer service. I read lots of analyst reports about the state of customer service and where investments are being made and expected to be made in the future. As I am sure you > read more
The Next Big Thing in Mobile Technology
Published on 2010-07-31 20:44:00
I was recently asked what I thought was going to be the next big thing to drive the mobile telephony industry. I imagine many of you chat amongst your colleagues about this same question. To really understand what is it that is coming, it is useful t > read more
Science of Business – Made Easy! [Gravity]
Published on 2010-07-15 01:47:28
Gravity is all around us. It is part of everything we do every day. So what exactly is this thing called Gravity.Let’s start with the definition. Gravity, according to the Collins Junior Dictionary, is “the force that makes things fall when you d > read more
Why the outrage about AT&T and iPhone4?
Published on 2010-06-15 12:53:00
AT&T is the displaying the financial calculations of a company that has a monopoly. Why invest in systems capable of handling the known volumes when it is a temporary condition? Why really work to build out the network when a VZ-versi > read more
Why All the Fuss About Social Media?
Published on 2010-06-09 12:33:00
Social Media is quite the rage these days. I must be seeing at least 2-3 webinars per week on the subject from various companies and vendors talking about how Social Media is impacting our lives, our customers’ lives and the world around us. In man > read more
UC and the Contact Center: The Real Approach to Success
Published on 2010-05-26 13:48:00
Unified Communication (UC), as both concept and product, has been around for over 10 years. In fact, I remember working on my first UC client 15 years ago. So why has it taken so long for the idea to really take hold, or has it? Better yet, what i > read more
Science of Business – Made Easy! [Inertia]
Published on 2010-05-25 10:30:00
The law of inertia is very simple. It states that an object in motion will stay in motion until it is acted upon by something that changes it direction or speed of motion. The law of inertia also states that an object at rest - motionless > read more
Science of Business – Made Easy! [Friction]
Published on 2010-05-09 23:01:00
Friction is one of the more useful terms in business for which the origins are clearly in the field of science. Friction, by definition, is the rubbing together of 2 or more surfaces. That rubbing produces heat, wear and eventual failure of component > read more
Do You Have the Skills?
Published on 2010-05-04 17:08:00
All of us have a unique blend of talents, abilities, experiences and interests. It is those things that make each one of us unique. It is those differences that ought to be the cornerstone of every contact center but sadly are not. Historically, c > read more