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| Nothing Soft About It | |||||||||||||
| By Rich Gallagher, Point of Contact Group Could you imagine what Starbucks would be like if its CEO hated coffee? Or what if you started a rock band and never listened to rock and roll? These are examples of what, in my mind, is the single biggest problem with the customer support industry today. I recently spent two days at an executive retreat with support leaders from some of the biggest names in technology, as an observer. I heard lots of things about metrics, processes, and systems. But customers? Nary a word. So why is it that in a business that has "customer" as its first word, its C-level executives often seem to care about the customer experience? | |||||||||||||
| [Full Article] Aug-17-2011 | |||||||||||||
| How to Get the Most Out Of Proactive Customer Care | |||||||||||||
| Proactive customer care (PCC) is an exciting concept that, when done properly, delivers benefits to both enterprises and their customers. Customers want to hear from preferred retailers, healthcare providers, airlines, delivery companies, etc., as long as they consider the communicated information beneficial. The challenge for businesses and other organizations is to create useful communications that their customers welcome, and to deliver these messages in each customer’s channel of choice – phone, email, SMS, fax and, in the future, video. | |||||||||||||
| [Full Article] May-10-2011 | |||||||||||||
| The Last Customer | |||||||||||||
| by Rich Gallagher, Point of Contact Group What if you had one simple rule – for you and your support team – that would guarantee excellent service? I recently completed a new business fable (stay tuned!), with a charming story that was based around just such a rule. Here it is: Treat every customer like they were your very last customer. That's it. No policy manuals. No committees. No balanced scorecards. Just one simple rule that clarifies all of your actions and all of your policies, now and in the future. A compass that will always point you on the shortest path toward success and profitability. And a guiding principle you can teach everyone on your team in less than five minutes. | |||||||||||||
| [Full Article] Feb-09-2011 | |||||||||||||
| Fire the Robots | |||||||||||||
| by Rich Gallagher, President, Point of Contact Group We now live in a socially connected world, and your brand lives or dies on the basis of conversations – ones that you have with your customers, and ones they have about you. Your scripts need to reflect this brave new world of conversation. And while you are at it, your metrics also need to treat your agents like they have half a brain – particularly when it makes sense to vary from the script. | |||||||||||||
| [Full Article] Sep-10-2010 | |||||||||||||
| Family Therapy for Your Support Center | |||||||||||||
| by Rich Gallagher, Point of Contact Group So what can your support center learn from someone who is stroking his chin and saying, "Tell me how you feel about that"? Plenty, actually. There is a great deal of science nowadays behind how we resolve conflicts with people, much of which has come from the field of family therapy over the last 20 years or so. And a lot of it translates directly to things you can teach your support team about dealing with customers. Here are a few you might not have thought of. | |||||||||||||
| [Full Article] Jul-19-2010 | |||||||||||||
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