News, insights and advice
from our experts.

Earlier this month, our EVP Kim Wallace and Julie Crawford, an HD project manager, attended the International Customer Management Institute’s (ICMI) Contact Center Conference, a truly global gathering for the contact center industry. She heard case studies from organizations such as JetBlue Airways, Time Warner Cable and Bank of America, who are leading in the customer management industry by experimenting with successful strategies for contact center professionals.

The conference was chock full of great speakers and information, and Kim shared some of what she learned over those few days in sunny Orlando for this post:

Erik Wahl was a featured keynote at the conference and talked about the art of leadership. The internationally recognized graffiti artist, best-selling author, entrepreneur and philanthropist shared that to thrive in this new era, we need to rethink the habits that have made us successful in the past, and challenge the conventional wisdom and industry models that have defined our world.

Wahl said that we are trained as adults to be standardized, and to unlock our potential and that of our teams to allow the advancement of creativity. As an artist he didn’t stay in the lines, and likewise, too much process can stifle an organization. Engage employees to be creative and productivity will happen because of loyalty and emotional connections

Dennis Snow, a 20-year Disney veteran, presented a keynote on delivering world-class service and the three keys to an extraordinary customer experience.  He says:

• Look at everything through the lens of the customer – it’s not about the money, it’s about the way you make them feel. Work to understand the true question behind what the customer asks.
• Pay attention to the details because “everything speaks.” Understand how your customers perceive you, and don’t let the back office be on the front stage, because the brand will suffer, like when people saw Cinderella smoking.
• Create many moments of WOW that add up to a great customer experience. Customers expect accuracy and availability in a company’s service, but partnership and advice become the WOW opportunities.

Rebecca Gibson with Interactive Intelligence talked about motivating employees to perform at their highest levels. Her presentation titled, “No Money, No Time – Overcome the Two Most Common Employee Development Challenges,” dove into building and maintaining a pipeline of effective managers, and calculating the ROI of performance development. She shared that developing employees is all about building on their strengths through a program that has heart and goes beyond just tasks and goals. But when it comes to goals, she suggests letting high performers create their own because they will often do more than expected. Managers should guide and support their charges with consistency, because after all, “it is a marathon and not a sprint.”

In a couple weeks, Hire Dynamics will host our annual Contact Center Executive Forum (CCEF) to discuss the hot topics and challenges contact centers face in today’s business environment. The event will take place in Atlanta on Thursday, June 4^th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Atlanta Perimeter at Villa Christina (Azalea Room). CCEF is an educational panel discussion comprised of industry peers and topic experts which also allows attendees the opportunity to network and share best practices with other contact center leaders. Register online here: http://bit.ly/1G4baWi

This year, we are encouraging attendees to contribute to the discussion in advance of the event. Email your most significant contact center challenge or topic of interest to Kim Wallace at [email protected] and we will pull topics together to ask the panel. All who submit will be entered for a chance to win a Visa gift card.

See you at CCEF 2015!

Whether you’re a company looking to improve your customer service, or a job seeker looking for customer service jobs, Hire Dynamics can help!