IN FOCUS
1999 Products Of The Year
Among our 1999 Product of the Year winners you will
find products that switch, route, manage, dissect, analyze, automatically respond to,
etc., customer interactions. Many products aid internal operations — helping managers
schedule, train and monitor agents and simulate call volume; or, UPSs and industrial
computers that the customer never has any direct experience with but are implemented to
ensure that when a call comes in computer systems are running to handle it.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Building A Sustainable E-Business CRM
Strategy
By Richard White, BDO Seidman, LLP
E-business is opening the door to unprecedented
opportunities for building sales and increasing revenue streams by expanding geographic
scope, reducing operating costs, improving procurement, productivity and supply chain
efficiency. However, many articles in the business press imply that implementing a Web
site is the “silver bullet” that can propel a company into new-found prosperity
and success. This is not true — e-business is a lot more complex than that.
E-SALES--E-SERVICE.COM
E-Sales, E-Service And Buying The Web Way
By Erik Lounsbury, Editor, [email protected] CENTER
CRM Solutions™
“E-ho, e-ho, e-ho,” said Electric Santa. Being
one who severely abhors the crowds and frustrations of shopping at the mall during the
Christmas season (or any season for that matter) and who also would rather not wait on
hold on the phone, [email protected] CENTER CRM SolutionsTM editor Erik Lounsbury figured he was a
perfect candidate for online shopping, so he plugged in the computer and a-shopping he
went.
E-Sales—E-Service.com
News
Applying Call
Center Business-To-Business Know-How To The Web
By Tom Hennings, OrderFusion
There are many similarities between call center
selling and Web selling. Since most companies have already established an effective call
center sales force, they can apply their call center knowledge to their Web sales efforts.
The author takes a look at seven approaches that have made the call center successful and
how to translate this existing knowledge and experience into potential Web sales.
BUILDING THE PERFECT CALL CENTER
Considerations For Call Center Development: A Case
History
By Rob Copito, The Staubach Company
Many firms are eager to have their new call centers up
and running quickly due to the impor- tance of such a crit- ical, around-the- clock
function that interfaces directly with the customer. However, many com- panies later
sorely regret jumping at the first option available when they discover operation costs are
extremely high, labor is difficult to find, or they are unable to eventually expand the
facility. The author describes the trials of one company that used a step-by-step strategy
to do it right.
Editor's Note:
Building The Perfect Call Center — A Yearlong Journey (sidebar)
Location
Checklist (sidebar)
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
How Companies Recruit Qualified Call Center
Management: The Inside Story
By Cathryn deMartino And Dave Haberman, Lucas Group
As call centers transition from cost-draining operations
to profit centers, the personnel managing a facility become even more important to its
success. Having the right call center leadership can make a tremendous impact on the
bottom line. But in a growing industry, and with record-low national unemployment, these
professionals are in high demand and often difficult to find.
Putting The
Customer Experience Into CRM (sidebar)
By Ted Lubowsky, Comverse Infosys, Inc.
The frenzy over customer relationship management
in the past year has raised some interesting questions for call center managers and
executives alike. The movement to enhance the customer experience by improving agent
performance through monitoring and coaching has surely met its match. CEOs and call center
managers are looking for new ways to manage their customers’ experience and win their
loyalty. While CRM is usually associated with database software, it conceptually includes
people, processes and tools aimed at recording the customer’s history and experience,
preferences and patterns. The goal is to better understand the customer and provide the
intelligence required for more effective strategies aimed at customer retention.
TELESERVICES OUTSOURCING
Teleservices Creates Multifaceted Relationships With
Banking Customers
By Russell A. Martocci, DialAmerica
Marketing, Inc.
Expanding banking operations and technological
innovations have increased the utility of telemarketing as an ideal solution to cross-sell
services such as checking accounts, CDs, credit
cards and mortgages. Outsourcing teleservices has not been traditional for banks, but it
can be a valuable resource for broadening business on an individual-by-individual basis as
well as serving customers and promoting specific offers.� |
DEPARTMENTS
Publisher's Outlook
High Priority
Technology Highlights
Call Center News™
TMC LABS
Maxima Advantage
Through a viable workforce
management solution, call center administrators can organize staff effortlessly so that
their business can save money by minimizing excess staff and take advantage of each
worker’s skills. To achieve these advantages, this solution must provide efficient
scheduling and forecasting capabilities. In addition, resourceful features such as
real-time adherence, skills-based routing and attendance preferences are beneficial.
Pipkins’ Maxima Advantage integrates all of these features with the intention of
maximizing a business’ workforce environment. |
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