Advice from a Call Center Geek!

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we look at call center routing technology from the first call center, through the invention of the first ACD and skills-based routing to the routing of the future... Predictive Behavioral Routing where we can route not just by skill, but by customer and agent personality...super cool. We also have a special announcement in this episode about the next call center b...

Send us Fan Mail The Geek takes a deep dive into a personal experience with the United Airlines baggage Customer Service department and what we can all learn from the experience.  We also look at the newest technology that will be coming to the call center space in a recap of NICE inContact Interactions 19 from Las Vegas. Join the Advice from a Call Center Geek texting community! Text us at 814-24...

Send us Fan Mail Let's take a walk down memory lane to the call center of 1985 when there were no computers,  outbound was king, stats were few and far between and smoking in the call center was the norm!  Wow, have things changed! I would love to hear some of the stories of your call center back in the day.  Head over to https://www.facebook.com/callcentergeek/ to post! Join the Advice from...

Send us Fan Mail No matter what type of Contact Center you are operating,  there is always some aspect of sales.  Customer service centers are looking to upsell and cross sell, outbound center are looking to sell.  How do you get your associates to do this the right way without having your quality drop? Almost all internal call centers fight with the concept of interdepartmental mingling.  The fin...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 18 of the Geek we look at a new way to incent your call center associates based on your culture.  No longer is it good enough to just look at a couple KPIS.  Learn how to build a well rounded associates with incentive! Join the Advice from a Call Center Geek texting community! Text us at 814-247-0366 and you will be able to have direct access to us for any call center o...

Send us Fan Mail Let's take a look a the types of chatbots that are available for your call center today, what ones you should be using and where the technology is moving to.  We discuss not only the technology behind them but the use cases and costs. Join the Advice from a Call Center Geek texting community! Text us at 814-247-0366 and you will be able to have direct access to us for any cal...

Send us Fan Mail When you think call center costs most people think agents and minute charges.  In this episode of the Geek! we we look at the full scope of costs that are involved in your center and the reasons you many not be as efficient at possible. We use our fun Call Center Calculator at www.expiviausa.com/savings-calculator as well so listen to the episode and follow along with our interact...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Geek! we dive deep into the awesomeness of speech analytics. There are many powerful use cases for this amazing call center tool but understanding what it can do and its limitations are vital to having a great experience.  We will tackle some topics such as: 1) What Speech Analytics IS and IS NOT 2) Why Its such a powerful tool 3) Real life use cases to impr...

Send us Fan Mail In the episode of the Geek!,  the we discuss the benefits of moving your call center to the cloud and why we believe its so beneficial. We also talk about our history with premise based solutions.  We are not shy for our love for what we believe is the best in class Cloud Telephony provider Nice inContact. Join the Advice from a Call Center Geek texting community! Text us at 814-2...

Send us Fan Mail In this Episode of the Geek we talk about 9 ways to improve your call center coaching techniques: Coach off the Floor Be Specific The Tone is the Message Tie Goals Let your Reps Give Feedback Role play Redefine Goals Understand Expectations Re-Monitor Join the Advice from a Call Center Geek texting community! Text us at 814-247-0366 and you will be able to have direct access to us...

Send us Fan Mail So many people judge what a world class experience is by metrics that our industry has been using for over 30 years. Has using these metrics really improved the CX? Take a look at a new approach to KPI's.  One that measures not just how quickly the agent answers the phone but measures both sides of the conversation. Isn't the who point of world class customer service to...

Send us Fan Mail We have re-done the original episode 4 to now include more games, more engagement and more fun to have in your call center.  There are over 20 games and ideas to have fun in your call center in this episode. We break the games into basic, intermediate, and advanced games for your center. If you want any of the rules for these games email the Host of the Geek, Tom Laird at tlaird@e...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode we look at 10 concepts to consider before you outsource your call center.  Many great things can happen when you outsources to the right partner.  Nightmares happen when you don't.  This is a must listen is you are considering an RFP or looking to outsource your call center. 1. Proper Size 2. Track Record of Management 3. Client Support Method 4. Associate Match: ...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 9 of the Geek! we take a deeper dive into the quality aspects of your center.  From starting or improving your QA scoring, educating on delight and tone and taking a look at the benefits of Speech Analytics, we strive in episode 10 to improve your Quality processes! The Tone is the Message Scoring Calls Setting up a QA system Speech Analytics Educating the Right Things...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 8 of Advice from a Call Center Geek we look at some ways that we have made our call center different and unique and show you how to do the same in your environment! Call Center Communication Speech Analytics for Agent Tone TVs/Monitors KPI suggestions Supervisor Tools Social Media in Your Call Center Head over to https://www.facebook.com/callcentergeek to join in a disc...

Send us Fan Mail How do you facilitate call center management training in your call center?  Do you have a training plan at all or are you just pulling long tenured/high producing associates to be your supervisors? Stop that!  Start a management training program in your call center.  In this episode of the Geek! we tell you how! Join the Advice from a Call Center Geek texting community! Text us at...

Send us Fan Mail While we all want a world class center with happy associates, well trained supervision and a great culture, we know that good times sometimes go bad.  In this episode of the Geek! we discuss five strategies for avoiding and resolving issues that arise on the call center floor. 1) Supervisor Respect 2) Progressive Discipline 3) Don't let it Linger! 4) Get to Know Your Associat...

Send us Fan Mail  We have updated the really well received talk that we gave at the Nice incontact Interactions Conference on 10 Ways to Disrupt Your Call Center. We want to to think about: 1) Your Technology and Current Customer Trends 2) Your Operations 3) Your Culture (This is by far our favorite podcast and provides an awesome overview to the state of where your center needs to be in 2019) Joi...

Send us Fan Mail We discuss the importance of controlling the first 30 minutes of an associate's day to have an awesome and productive shift with our "Call Center Coffee Procedures". We discuss: 1) Your call center environment and energy. 2) Greeting each associate with enthusiasm! 3) Recapping team and individual goals. 4) How are you going to have fun today? 5) Work transition. Jo...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of "The Geek" we discuss tips to limit turnover during the first 90 days of hire and how to educate associates the right way.  Want to improve ongoing education?  You need to implement your very own agent analysis program, we show you how. Join the Advice from a Call Center Geek texting community! Text us at 814-247-0366 and you will be able to have direc...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of "The Geek" we look at your call center culture and how we can evolve it so be a tool to hire, incentivize and engage our call center associates. We look closely at: 1) Defining your call center culture 2) Hiring the right call center associate, not the "best" candidate 3) How to incent off culture 4) The importance of getting employee buy-in...

Send us Fan Mail In our inaugural episode we give some background on why we created "The Geek" we discuss three distinct topics to start off our podcast: 1) Who we are are 2) Why we created "the geek" and whom it will benefit 3) We dig into our first topic of "The Seven Reasons why your Call Center Stinks! The "Advice from a Call Center Geek!" podcast is sponsore...