Call Center CRM

Canadian Call Center Shut-Down

March 13, 2008

Better-Than-Expected Teleservices Financials

March 12, 2008

Outsourced call center services provider Sykes this week posted better-than-expected financial results (revenue of $197.7M was ahead of the consensus $189.9M estimate, and OPM of 7.7 percent was above the 7.2 percent consensus estimate). Analyst group Stifel Nicolaus Business Services (www.stifel.com) has chalked it up to the fact that the company is experiencing "sustained, broad-based demand (across all verticals including financial services) from both new and existing clients, and the company plans to add 3,000-4,000 additional seats over 2008 and into 2009 to meet this demand."

This demand, according to the Stifen Nicolaus report, is good news for the outsourced contact center service provider market as a whole, and indicates that "clients continue to spend on customer service work despite broader economic issues."

TES

Posted in Call Center CRM

Cable Company IVR Crimes

March 10, 2008

I got my online version of the ASRNews and was interested to read about two cable giants: Charter and Comcast, and the fact that ASRNews tested their IVRs and found that the data customers feed in to the system is not used for CTI screen-pop purposes. Basically, Charter and Comcast are using their IVRS merely to annoy customers at the front end.

Said the newsletter, "This month we tested Charter Communications. No CTI. They gather ID information from the caller and then throw it away. Comcast does the same thing. These folks should either implement CTI of get rid of their IVR that is doing nothing other than irritating callers."

More high-quality customer service from the cable companies.

Posted in Call Center CRM

First-Call Resolution Podcast

March 5, 2008

First-call resolution, as a call center principle, gets a lot of attention, and for very good reason. While 10 different call centers may not agree on their management, hiring, training and technology approaches, all 10 will probably agree that first-call resolution is far and away the most important metric to master. Why? It's a realistic way to achieve increased customer satisfaction at lower operating costs.

Posted in Call Center CRM

Marketing Salaries Guide

March 4, 2008

Posted in Call Center CRM

Call Center Life Saver

March 3, 2008

Posted in Call Center CRM

Canadian Call Center Woes

February 28, 2008

Here's an article from the Edmonton Journal about the closure of a Toronto Dominion Bank call center in the city, for a net loss of about 140 jobs.

Though this is a Canadian company shutting down a Canadian call center, there have been other Canadian call center closures that can be laid at the foot of the weak U.S. dollar.

Outsourcing to Canada (an important destination in the so-called "near-shore" outsourcing model) is no longer saving U.S. companies money due to the unfavorable exchange rates for the U.S. dollar.

A recent Datamonitor report covered on TMCnet by associate editor Patrick Barnard revealed that companies are truly starting to pack up Canadian operations.

Posted in Call Center CRM

Another Upside To Virtual Call Centers

February 21, 2008

Posted in Call Center CRM

Call Center Space Availabilities

February 20, 2008

Posted in Call Center CRM

Feeling The Love From Offshore Outsourcing

February 19, 2008

Here's a piece on TMCnet today that takes a look at the pitfalls, both obvious and hidden, of offshore outsourcing and how to overcome them. First, it's important to identify the problems.

My favorite snipped from this article was that one company discovered that an agent at one of its foreign call centers was ending customer calls with, "I love you." He thought it was a great way to show customers he cared. Sometimes...agents can care a little TOO MUCH.

The best way to make offshore outsourcing work for you is to get a better handle on training. Studies show that even if a foreign call center agent has a heavy accent, if he or she handles the call the way a North American customer expects (use the right words, strike the right tone and effect good results), accents are immediately forgiven.

And your customer will know you love them without you have to tell them, which...let's face it...is a tad creepy.

TES

Posted in Call Center CRM

Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ... 35 Next

The Readerboard

Call Center CRM