Bob Furniss
5 Most Influential Trends in Customer Service: Insights From ICMI’s CCDemo
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to speak at ICMI’s CCDemo event in Orlando. It was an extremely rewarding experience to interact with leaders of contact centers for some of the best brands in the world. After the conference, several people have asked me,...
Avoid Implementation Potholes on Your Path to Cloud Telephony
There was a time in the not too distant past when early adopters of contact center technology were beginning to consider Cloud Telephony. But that is no longer the case today; premise-based telephony is becoming more and more expensive, while cloud-based systems are able...
Improve Frontline Connections In The Contact Center
Whenever I speak at conferences across the country, I often ask the audience, “What needs to be improved in your contact center?” “Better communication” is almost always within the top five responses. Whenever I ask employees about their manager’s communication with them, the answer...
DF13 Was a Service Cloud Dream
It is hard to believe that 2013 is coming to an end. Maybe it's my age, or maybe it's the technology, but everything these days seems to be on fast forward. The pace of change and innovation certainly did not slow down this year...
Contact Centers: Choose Your CRM Solution Wisely
Customer Service is a new corporate battleground. Providing outstanding service is mission critical to building customer loyalty and a long lasting brand. That being said, the cornerstone of every company's customer service strategy remains the telephone, and the customer service agent. Innovations in cloud technologies...
Is Your Contact Center Living Up to Customer Expectations?
A major focus in the contact center is shifting from measuring the costs to service customers—to the need to provide an exceptional customer experience. Improving your 'experienced' brand and the quality of every interaction are critical drivers for growth. Cloud-based technologies offer advantages and...
Telephony and CRM: A Perfect Cloud-based Match
"Customer Service is the next competitive battleground." - Jerry Gregoire, CIO, Dell Computers Welcome to the 'era of the customer.' The accessibility of company and product information place customers firmly in the driver seat when deciding between brands. This new empowered buyer demands exceptional...
ACCE Insider: The Top 5 Things I Learned at ACCE 2013
It is hard to believe that ACCE celebrated its 10th Anniversary this year. I've had the honor of speaking nine of those ten years. ICMI is an obvious industry leader—and this year was one of the best ever. ICMI asked me to share the top...
Agent Knowledge is the key to Customer Engagement
Marketing has traditionally been responsible for brand positioning in the market, while Customer Service owns the 'experienced' brand. In other words, Marketing brings the customer in, and Customer Service keeps them coming back. With the rise of digital, the two departments are merging. So who...
Contact Center Success: Focus on Your Technology
Your contact center budget is already in place for 2013. What else can you do now to impact your bottom line? It's never too late to consider your people, process, and technology. In my last post, I discussed ideas for improving your processes. In...
Contact Center Success: Focus on Your Process
Your budget may be in place for 2013, but it's not too late to consider the people, process, and technology in your contact center. In my last post, I discussed ideas for improving your most important asset—your people. In today's post, let's take a...
Contact Center Success: Focus on Your People
It is hard to believe that it's already February 2013. You are probably like me and asking, "Where did 2012 go?" Most companies create budgets 6 to twelve months in advance so there may not be a lot that you can do about budgets. However,...
Will Your Call Center Drive Profit In 2013?
Despite a downward curve in the economy, and perhaps spurred by recent legislation to reward companies that outsource onshore versus offshore, the US contact center industry continued to grow in 2012. New technology and customer channels continue to dominate the contact center landscape. Traditional...
Top 5 Reads For Service And Support Leaders (And Everyone Else)
When I speak at conferences, I always recommend a book (or three) as part of the content. It's my belief that everyone should try to improve their skills as a leader and as a person; and there are so many good books out there...
Get Social (More Responsive) At Dreamforce ’12
Everyone has heard the stories: jaded customer takes to Facebook or Twitter with a complaint to try to get a company's attention. Understanding and responding to customers on social media channels is most definitely a new imperative for companies, but the future of customer...
“I Hate Your Contact Center” x 156,659
Over the past 10 years, technology has been the catalyst for huge change in the contact center. But social media may just be the biggest impact yet. Social Media has now put the customer in a place of control that he or she has...
The Wrath of the Social Customer
It really was their fault – and eventually they admitted it – but it took an angry tweet to get them to notice. The connection for my second flight was not that tight – one hour and 10 minutes. I left the office feeling pretty...
What would you do if you had 30 extra minutes?
Thanks to Chris Brogan for a recent post at chrisbrogan.com on the same subject. He asks the same question. So what is our answer as you are a frontline Supervisor? Would you spend time catching-up on email? Finishing-up a report? Finally get ...
Passion Produces Passion
I recently had a conversation with one of my colleagues in the industry. We talked about why one company struggles with turnover and low morale while another company flourishes? We came to the conclusion that the answer is often leadership! As we continued to...
People are Valuable
About 15 years ago, I had a manager tell me that I would never go anywhere because I cared too much about the people that worked for me. He said that I needed to pay more attention to the business and less attention to...