What would you do if you had 30 extra minutes?
Thanks to Chris Brogan for a recent post at chrisbrogan.com on the same subject. He asks the same question.
So what is our answer as you are a frontline Supervisor? Would you spend time catching-up on email? Finishing-up a report? Finally get a chance to take a lunch-break?
How about this – what you spent the 30 minutes focusing on an employee that really needs some coaching or hands-on mentoring? If it has been a while since you took a walk, why not tell someone you will be back in a bit and ask an employee to take a walk with you. Three laps around the parking lot should give you both some fresh air – and more importantly give you 30 minutes of unencumbered time with someone that could really use some feedback and mentoring…
What would you do? What is your suggestion?
Hot Topics @ ACCE 2010 Conference
Filed under: Leadership, Management, Relational Leadership, Social Media, Uncategorized
New Orleans in mid-June redefines the word humidity. I am from Memphis and we thought we invented the word, but a week in NO let me know we are B-league at best. So, it was hot… but so was the sharing and learning at ICMI’s ACCE Conference. Traditionally one of the best call center conferences, there was a buzz this year in the sessions and on the trade-show floor. I heard that attendance was up (perhaps a leading indicator for the economy) and the hot topic was social media.
Having been in the industry for more than 29 years, there have been years when everything seemed to be status quo. I remember being excited about quality systems in the early ‘90s. The technology went on to revolutionize the call center industry and I believe has been a key element in the consistency in centers. The IVR had a huge impact on centers in the mid-90’s. IVRs are now a part of every-day life (although they can be a HUGE point of frustration for those companies that don’t do it very well).
In the late 90’s CRM was “all the buzz.” It was everywhere. I even remember seeing a headset company that advertised their headsets were “CRM approved.” If you were a vendor in the 90′s you had to find a way to be a part of the craze! Of course the success has been undeniable. CRM systems are now a part of centers as small at 10 agents and as big as 10,000. Email management, chat and speech analytics were the next hot topics.
Well, this year the buzz was Social Media – and I say that not just because I had the opportunity to speak about it in three different sessions. It was the topic of conversations at breakfast and lunch – and on Bourbon Street when attendees put down their hurricanes to talk shop at night. One guy at lunch said it best, “Jezz, it is all I hear.”
ACCE is always an interesting blend of all levels of call center leaders. I talked with VPs of Customer Service for large corporations and to a lady leading a team of 25 in a small health practice.
It is cool to think about the possibilities of Social Media. There’s no doubt that companies with an online presence are the early-adopters and are leading the way for the rest of us. Actually I think we are all on a huge learning arch. In our session on Monday, I was happy to hear a story of one leader who said their small doctor’s group is “dabbling” in social media. Mike Pace with Constant Contact was a great resource in the session – sharing many success stories from his center. 1-800-Flowers, Dell and Intuit also shared best-practices. It comforting to know that even these companies, who are leading the way, have been doing this for less than two years so we all have time to ride the Social wave behind them.
Salesforce.com knocked it out of the park again at the sponsored lunch event. They may not be the only vendor doing Social CRM but they are definitely leading the way in teaching us how to do it right.
The trade show floor was lively. There were the usual suspects in the area of CRM, Outsourcing and Quality Management. I continue to be intrigued by CallCopy. I have several clients that have their systems and all have been VERY satisfied.
Many may have not noticed it but there was a new vendor in the mix this year with a totally new concept. He is actually an industry veteran. Michael Tamer (a previous Call Center Pioneer winner for his contribution to Quality Management while at Teknekron/etalk) was there representing his company Tamer Partners Corporation. They are offering a new SAS application that provides a way for customers to give feedback directly to the call center agent. The system allows the customer to become a direct “coach” for the agent. It is pretty cool stuff. I might add that I have worked with Mike and his top consultant Scott Thomas for many years – so while my comments may include some bias, they are still relative.
The ICMI team should be congratulated for a great conference. If you choose only one conference in 2011, this is the one to attend.
Finally, here are some great Social Media links that we shared in our session. If you have questions or want to talk more about how Social Media might affect your center, please give me a call or send me an email:
Learning more about Social Media:
http://mashable.com/ – Understand more about Social Media
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/ – great blog
http://mashable.com/2009/01/21/best-twitter-brands/ – 40 of the Best Twitter Brands and the People Behind Them
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=22754 – Directory: 100 technology experts on Twitter
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=916 – Techies: The top 10 people you should follow on Twitter
http://mediasosial.com/socialnetworking/the-ultimate-list-of-people-to-follow-on-twitter/ – The Ultimate List of People To Follow on Twitter
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/ - the guy I read consistently…
http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php – great site for policies.
Thanks to Faith LeGendre for the opportunity to co-present on several sessions. She always makes me look smart!
Power of One – One Little Note….
Today is the first day of a great new decade. If you are like me you may feel like your life is on fast forward. I have always been a person who sends out thank-you cards. I guess I can thank my sweet mom for this habit. But, I recently read an article about the power of writing thank-you notes. Mike Bowen is the President of Champion Awards in Memphis, TN. He has a great company and I love his perspective on life and business.
Business Advice From A Grown Up Kid
From the desk of Mike Bowen
Power of One
You know that light bulb moment. You know, when you just became conscious of something so simple that you say to yourself ” I can do that!” Thank goodness we all have these ideas. It’s the “action” part that has to take over next. Because if your like me, you have a tendency to think and analyze and rethink way to much. I can still remember so clearly one such moment that happened to me over 25 years ago.
I was a decent young salesperson but had a really deep inferiority complex. I was in my early 20′s and still didn’t think I was worthy of being ultimately successful. I went to the Memphis Chamber meetings, was a Memphis Jaycee, joined Sales and Marketing Executives. I even even listened to all the sales tapes. Zig Ziglar, Art Linklerter, Fred Herman, Tremendous Charlie Jones, Tom Hopkins, Don Hutson. Now mind you, all this greatly helped in some measure, but I wasn’t necessarily getting the satisfaction out of selling stuff that I should.
Then I met a man; Mr. Carl Carson was a great man. He single handedly invented the truck leasing business with Carl Carson Leasing. Was one of the first in the 50′s and 60′s to have uniformed logo’d trucks. He even advertised on television of all things. He was in his 80′s when I finally got a chance to meet him at a Sales and Marketing meeting. He had sold his company to Saunders Leasing, which became Ryder Leasing. He was a gracious humbled man. He was wealthy with not only money but friends as well.
After I first met him, I received a simple ” thank you” card. I can still remember the words, ” Mike, It was a great pleasure seeing you. Thank you so much for your time. Hope to see you again soon. All the best, Carl.” It made me feel so good. You know what? Every time I spoke with him at any event, I would receive another card!
One day, I stopped and asked him why he sent me a card every time he saw me. I’ll never forget what he said next. He said, Mike because you have given me the greatest gift anyone can give an old salesman. “A little bit of your precious time.” I was floored and wanted to know more. “Mr. Carson, you attend dozens of functions a month and meet 100′s of people. How do you do it?” He responded, “well son, I’m up every morning at 5:00am and I can whip out 30 to 40 of these by 6:00am.” He went on, ” I started with one card a day and now it’s a habit that gives me a great start to the day.” Then he leaned over and whispered, ” It makes me feel gooood.” I still wanted to know more. He said, “writing letters and notes was a lost art, but don’t you always get a little tingle when you open the mailbox and you have a personal card written to you.”
That very moment is when the “Power of One” hit me. If I write just one card a day each working day a week that is 260 cards a year, WOW! To this day I still try very hard to send a Thank You card to people that have given me the most precious thing they have, a little bit of themselves.
(©2009 Mike Bowen – used with permission)
So how cool was that idea? So starting today, I have taken the challenge – I am going to see if 2010 can be my official “year of the card.” Care to join me on the journey?
You can find out more about Mike’s company here: www.gochampion.net
Bob Furniss
As founder and President of Touchpoint Associates, Inc., Bob Furniss has more than 25 years of experience in the customer service field - assisting organizations to increase productivity and profits by bringing out the best in their people. He has shared his experience in the areas of leadership and service with some of the top companies in America - companies like FedEx, Corporate Express, DePaul University, Delta Airlines, Hanley Wood and more.
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