The Contact Centre Podcast

Jeanette Hunter of Jabra discusses ways of improving Customer and Agent Experience in the New Normal. In our conversation with Jeanette we examine the emerging trends within the contact centre environment post pandemic, looking at how technology can help support new ways of working for contact centre agents and how you can use data and analytics to manage KPI and coaching delivery seamlessly regardless of where your agents choose to work. This Podcast was made possible by our sponsor Jabra. To find our more about Jabra visit: www.jabra.co.uk 

Helen Ginman of UandI Wellbeing discusses what contact centres can do to improve employee well-being and take good care of their teams in the “new normal”. In our conversation with Helen, we also talk about common sources of contact centre stress, how you can actively promote wellbeing and the positive impact that looking after wellbeing can bring. To read the article on “52 mental health & wellbeing ideas for your workplace that won't cost you a penny”, as discussed towards the end of the podcast, click here. For more great content from those of us at Call Centre Helper, check out our industry-leading magazine, by clicking on the following link: www.callcentrehelper.com

Colin Gill of Akixi joins us for a conversation for how contact centres can take their reporting to the next level, sharing lots of clever advice along the way. In our discussion with Colin, we reveal lots of simple tips to help you improve your reporting, highlight some key mistakes to avoid and give extra advice on how you can make sure that you're measuring the right things. To find out more about Akixi and their call centre reporting tools, visit: www.akixi.com

Sarah Morgan of new contact centre consultancy Luceat Coaching discusses what team leaders and managers can do to help their team to improve their call center skills. In our conversation, we also talk about which skills are most valuable to improve, as well as how to boost motivation levels and employee engagement to help agents further bolster these skills. For more great content form those of us here at Call Centre Helper, follow some of the links below to find some of our latest, must-see content. To take a look at Call Centre Helper's upcoming webinar programme, click here. To take a look at Call Centre Helper's latest industry-wide report, click here. To take a look at Call Centre Helper's great selection of free tools, click here.

Lee Jones and Rob Clarke of new contact centre consultancy Elev-8 Performance, discuss some of the most challenging types of customers to deal with and how to best communicate with them.  In our conversation with Lee and Rob, we also talk about preparing the call center team for difficult conversations, coaching advisors to stay resilient and dealing with call escalation requests.  For more great content form those of us here at Call Centre Helper, follow some of the links below to find some of our latest, must-see content. To take a look at Call Centre Helper's upcoming webinar programme, click here. To take a look at Call Centre Helper's latest industry-wide report, click here. To take a look at Call Centre Helper's great selection of free tools, click here.

Gavin Scott, a Customer Service Coaching Consultant, gives a presentation on how we can tweak our existing coaching methods to inspire contact centre advisors to improve their performance. In his presentation, Gavin also talks about how to best give feedback, introduces us to the concept of the “full emotional bank account” and also discusses the importance of focusing on the good things. To watch the full recording of the webinar that this podcast has been sourced from, click here. In this podcast we also highlight some of the other free resources that Call Centre Helper has to help you run the best possible contact centre. The links below will be helpful in finding some of our latest, must-see content.  To take a look at Call Centre Helper's upcoming webinar programme, click here. To take a look at Call Centre Helper's latest industry-wide report, click here. To take a look at Call Centre Helper's great selection of free tools, click here.

Sandra Thompson, Founder of Exceed All Expectations, gives a presentation on training emotional intelligence in the contact centre to improve customer experience. In her presentation, Sandra also discusses how to best show empathy, changing the language of the contact centre and improving leadership.    This podcast was made possible by our sponsor Odigo. To find out more about Odigo's contact centre solutions, visit: www.odigo.com To watch the full recording of the webinar that this podcast has been sourced from, click here. Look out for the previous episode of our podcast, which features Sandra, that is entitled: “Customer Experience: The New Thinking for Delighting Your Customers”

Carolyn Blunt of Ember Real Results shares a model for improving contact centre morale, which she calls “The 3Cs”, and discusses how you can use this model to boost employee happiness in the contact centre. In her presentation, Carolyn also talks about the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the contact centre industry and how you can help boost the morale of your remote agents, in these uncertain times. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor CallMiner. To find out more about CallMiner's contact centre solutions, visit: callminer.com To watch the full recording of the webinar that this podcast has been sourced from, click here.

John Casey, an experienced Resource Planning expert, gives a presentation sharing tips on workforce planning in the contact centre, in this new format of The Contact Centre Podcast. In his presentation, John discusses the importance of understanding your shrinkage, building on your contact centre forecasts and experimenting with new planning ideas. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com If you would like to read the workforce planning article discussed in this podcast, follow the link: Workforce Planning: 20 Fundamental Rules To watch the full recording of the webinar that this podcast has been sourced from, click here.

Morris Pentel, Chairman of the Customer Experience Foundation, gives a presentation on where you can transform your contact centre's performance, in this special edition of The Contact Centre Podcast. In his presentation, Morris also discusses key learnings from the COVID-19 outbreak, the importance of building positive habits and talks us through how we can set new tactical goals in the contact centre. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor NICE. To find out more about NICE's contact centre solutions, visit: www.nice.com To watch the full recording of the webinar that this podcast has been sourced from, click here.

Annette Franz, a well-known customer experience consultant and author, starts our conversation by discussing some of those common blockers that many of us face in trying to create great customer experiences. In our conversation, we also talk about using customer feedback to improve customer experience, understanding the impact of emotion and the creating great customer journey maps. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor Natterbox. You can check out their cloud telephony platform by visiting: www.natterbox.com/voice360

Doug Casterton, a Senior WFM Manager, shares some key pieces of advice, which he has learned through great experience, in how to increase resource planning efficiency and employee engagement. In our conversation, we also talk about boosting forecast accuracy, designing shift patterns and the personal qualities that make-up a really great contact centre planner. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor NICE. To take a look at their great WFM technology, follow the link: https://www.nice.com/engage/workforce-optimization/workforce-management/

Thomas Laird, host of the podcast “Advice from a Call Centre Geek”, discusses the traits of an excellent contact centre and how you can stand out from the crowd.   In our conversation, we also talk about how to improve contact centre culture, share tips to create a unique customer experience and give examples of how leading organisations are excelling at customer service. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor Vonage. To find out more about their great contact centre solutions, visit: www.vonage.com/contact-centers

Erica Mancuso, a service transformation expert, discusses some of the most promising technologies that are emerging within the contact centre industry. In our conversation, we also talk about using tools to increase advisor engagement, getting more out of your existing software and creating a business case for call centre technology. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor Talkdesk. To request a demo of their contact centre software, visit: www.talkdesk.com/demo

Keith Gait, an experienced customer service director, shares great insight into the current changes that are going on within the contact centres and makes some interesting predictions into the future of the industry.   In our conversation, we also discuss how service levels are shifting, why organisations need to focus more on supporting advisors with the right knowledge, as well as other trends like AI and customer emotion. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Jacqui Turner, the Founder of Turner Corner Learning Solutions, discusses how we can better support team leaders in the contact centre, in order to improve advisor performance. In our conversation, we also talk about the dangers of micromanaging, building positive working relationships and preparing leaders to have those difficult conversations with their teams. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com To help us improve - and potentially win a bottle of champagne or a box of chocolates  - fill in our simple five question survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CCPodcast  

Kim Ellis, a customer service coach who has worked with many renowned brands, discusses the keys to improving skills like empathy, active listening and knowledgeability in the contact centre. In our discussion, we also discuss training exercises that will help to develop these skills further, while Kim makes reference to a number of her own contact centre experiences along the way. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com To help us improve - and potentially win a bottle of champagne or a box of chocolates  - fill in our simple five question survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CCPodcast  

Martin Jukes, a highly experienced consultant in all areas of customer service and the customer experience, shares his vision of the contact centre advisor of the future. In our discussion, we also talk about the new complexities of working in the call center, how managers should be reacting to that and the key advisor skills that will become increasingly valuable to your organisation. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com To help us improve - and potentially win a bottle of champagne or a box of chocolates  - fill in our simple five question survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CCPodcast  

Leslie O'Flahavan, a Professional Writing Trainer and Coach at E-WRITE, discusses some of the most common mistakes that we make in customer service writing and how to avoid them. In our conversation, we also talk about personalising emails and chats, the danger of imposing “word bans” in the contact centre and interesting activities to improve our customer service writing. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com To help us improve - and potentially win a bottle of champagne or a box of chocolates  - fill in our simple five question survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CCPodcast  

John Casey, a Resource Planning Expert at CCplanning, discusses how we can help to prevent and manage periods of unexpectedly high contact volumes in the call centre. In our conversation, we also talk about factoring absenteeism into our forecasts, the link between scheduling and employee engagement, as well as sharing more tips that will help you to steady the ship when things get a little crazy! This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com To read John's most recent article for Call Centre Helper, simply follow the link: https://www.callcentrehelper.com/forecast-plan-live-chat-147549.htm To help us improve - and potentially win a bottle of champagne or a box of chocolates  - fill in our simple five question survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CCPodcast    

Jo Hale, a greatly experienced Customer Contact Director, shares great insights into overcoming those common challenges that we all face when managing the contact centre. In our discussion, we also share expert tips to improve communication across the contact centre, secure more budget and lower attrition, as well as much, much more.. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com The research that Jo references in this podcast comes from Call Centre Helper's report: What Contact Centres Are Doing Right Now (2019 Edition) To take a look at the report for yourself, simply follow the link: https://www.callcentrehelper.com/resource.php?id=797  To help us improve - and potentially win a bottle of champagne or a box of chocolates  - fill in our simple five question survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CCPodcast 

Sandra Thompson, the Founder of the management consultancy Exceed All Expectations, shares her top tips for using emotional intelligence to create memorable customer experiences. In our discussion, we also talk about mapping the customer journey, optimising your Voice of the Customer (VoC) programme and the link between the customer and call center advisor experience. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com Follow the link to find out more about Sandra's Applied Customer Experience course. Also, we value your feedback to help us improve our podcasts. So, if you are happy to take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us, please click here!

Morris Pentel of The Customer Experience Foundation shares his strong opinions regarding the future of call center metrics and discusses why we should consider moving away from certain, traditional measures.  In our discussion, we also talk about the dangers of measuring success through metric scores alone, the growing focus on customer emotion and how to best measure the employee experience.  This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Natalie Calvert of CX High Performance discusses the keys to employee engagement, sharing lots of practical tips for how to better motivate call center advisors along the way.  In our discussion, we also talk about developing team leaders, the impact that metrics choices have on advisors and the best ways to measure contact centre engagement levels. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Nick Drake Knight introduces us to his favourite method of coaching advisors in the call center, before sharing some expert tips for how to improve your training programme.  In our discussion, we also talk about how we can sustain key learnings from training, gamification in customer service and discuss how you can protect yourself against the “But Monster”. Yes, you read that right! This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Fellow call center podcaster Martin Teasdale discusses the value of having a well-structured quality programme and shares his advice for helping you get there. In our discussion, we also talk about using quality to increase advisor motivation and maximising the value of scorecards, as well as sharing tips to improve your quality calibration sessions.  This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Peter Massey of Budd discusses where your customer engagement strategies might be going wrong, giving plenty of advice along the way of how to improve.  In our discussion, we also talk about Peter's well-known customer service slogans, share good examples of successful strategies and look to the future, to assess future ways in which organisations will try to engage with customers.  This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Dr. Nicola Millard of BT discusses the latest trends in customer behaviour and how they may influence your call centre's channel shift strategy.  In our discussion, we also talk about how you can improve your digital customer service strategy, the growth of live chat and the future of the contact centre. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Martin Hill Wilson of Brainfood Consulting discusses how we can improve the customer experience by designing simple, low-effort and fast customer journeys. In our discussion, we also talk about understanding customer behaviours, reducing customer service costs and the fundamentals of digital transformation.  This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Dr. David Naylor of Humanotics discusses how call centres are using different forms of artificial intelligence (AI), while dissecting some of the hype surrounding the technology. In our discussion, we remove many AI in customer service miscoceptions while discussing the promise of technologies such as predictive routing, biometrics and chatbots. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Nerys Corfield of Injection Consulting shares her own observations of how call centers are using First Contact Resolution (FCR) and talks about the metric's growing popularity.  In our discussion, we also discuss the foundations for measuring FCR realistically, how to use your FCR figure to make positive changes to customer service and ask if "One and Done" is right for every scenario?  This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Dan Moross of MOO draws on his own experience to discuss the keys to creating a call centre culture that facilitates both learning and enjoyment.  In our discussion, we also talk about optimising recruitment, bringing fun into the workplace and developing key customer service skills amongst the contact center team.   This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com

Colin Shaw of Beyond Philosophy discusses how we can evoke positive emotions from our customers, first focusing on the wider customer experience, before sharing some practical tips for call centers.  In our discussion, we also talk about creating positive customer memories, increasing employee engagement and coaching contact centre advisors. This podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Genesys. We now have a new link to visit their website, instead of the link mentioned in the podcast to request a demo. So, to find out more about Genesys, simply visit: www.genesys.com