The Contact Centre Podcast

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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: ...

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:...

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...

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...

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,...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...