The History of Call Centers
Over the years I have had the opportunity to speak at many ICMI events. In 2003 I passed the process to become a Certified Associate (it was pretty intense!). I have always felt honored to be a part of the ICMI team and have taught their premier workshop, Essential Skills and Knowledge, around the world.
The organization just celebrated their 25th Anniversary. If you have been around call centers as long as I have, you probably remember the huge trade shows from the past and perhaps attended a class taught by the Gordon McPherson (the guy that is credited with giving us the term “call center”). To celebrate the history of the organization, the former President, Brad Cleveland recently sat down for an interview. While it is a look at the history of the ICMI organization, is it also, in my opinion, a priceless look into the history of the call center industry.
I love to tell people that I started working in call centers before they were called call centers. My first call center job was in a “phone room.” We had 10-key brown phones with the headset hanging on the side. The ACD was nothing more than a blinking light indicating that a call was on hold. In the video, Brad will take you back to those days and bring you forward to the technology of the future. The video is about 10 minutes long but I think it will be worth your time.
Top 10 Signs You Work in a Call Center
Letterman-style list for your next manager meeting (although the last one may be a little
10. You supply your spouse with a daily quality performance report and analysis.
9. You end your date with the question, “is there anything else I can do for you?”
8. After a romantic evening with your spouse, you send him or her a satisfaction survey.
7. Your kid’s names are acronyms.
6. You find yourself calculating the average talk time after an argument with your spouse.
5. When you watch your son play soccer you keep yelling that the other team is out of adherence.
4. You keep losing bets by insisting that “Shook Me All Night Long” was sung by the mega-rock group “ACD”
3. At Halloween, you answer the door and say: Press one for Snickers, Two for Butterfinger, Three for Almond Joy, Four for Kit-Kat, or press 0 to opt out for an apple.
2. When choosing a line at the grocery store, you run a quick intra-day forecast.
1. Your dates always seem to go downhill because you keep bringing that your last date said you did not meet service level.
Thanks to Scott Thomas for co-authoring this. He is one of a kind!
Simple Words Seem To Be Hard To Say
As I stood in line for my daily shot of caffeine, a guy walked in the door with a coffee in his hand. He sorta
stepped to the front of the line and said, “I just went through the drive-through and this is not what I ordered.” Being a customer service kind of guy, my expectation was that the lady behind the counter would apologize - nothing big or dramatic but a simple “Oh, I’m sorry - how can I make it right?” But the answer did not include one of the most simple tenants of customer interaction; instead she asked him what he ordered? He told her (I cannot remember the details because it was one of those silly multi-word coffee orders that included “extra hot.”) She then said, “what is wrong with it?” He said he was not sure but that he ordered it almost every day and that in addition to not being extra hot, it did not taste right.
Again - she had the opportunity to apologize but failed again - saying, “OK - I will remake it for you. They must have not included the caramel.”
Now, the funny part was that there were only two people working - she, as the coffee barister and the person working the window - which means she was the “they.” With that, the conversation took another turn. Instead of taking responsibility for the mistake, she was blaming others for the problem.
In a workshop recently I had an employee tell me that she did not think she should ever say she was sorry because that was admitting that the company had done something wrong.
Here’s the question of the day - do your employees feel the same way? Is it OK for them to take responsibility for mistakes? Do they have permission to say they are sorry? If I were your customer - and I walked in and said that my coffee (or product/service) was not the right one, would your employee instinctively say, “I’m sorry” and then attempt to solve my problem? I hope so! You should know so!
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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.
Click here to email Bob direct -
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