More Free
Stuff; Will it Ever End?
A few weeks ago I received an email from a reader of In
Queue asking the following question: "Do you happen to
have another conference like this one later in the
year?" referring to the Call Center Week banner ad in
the newsletter. I informed the reader that the Call
Center Week conference was not ours, but that we do our
best to share as much industry information with
professionals in the industry as possible. Then I began
to list all of the forthcoming workshops, webinars, and
conferences in 2007. It was at that time that I realized
that for every email we receive at the NACC, there are
scores of unwritten emails with the same request. So, we
decided to offer the professionals in the industry a
single point of reference for all events in our
industry. We call it simply our "Calendar of Events."
This means that if you are looking for a webinar,
workshop, classes, a conference, a showcase or any other
such event, take a look at the "Calendar of Events" from
our entry pages on the NACC website (nationalcallcenters.org)
and you should have your choice of various activities
many months out. If you are an event planner, conference
organizer, webinar maker, workshop speaker or someone
who will wear something scandalous at an up and coming
public event and want us to see you, send us the
information for the event and we will post it on the
site for free.
The Customer is
Always...
You
know the mantra, "The customer is always right." Well, I
am here to tell you that a) the customer is often wrong;
and b) that placing such a philosophy as a cornerstone
of your call center has repercussions.
Stay with me here for a second as I explain this.
You have three people. A manager, representative and
a customer. If the customer is always right-no matter
how stupid he/she is, acts, speaks to you on the phone or
screwed up a process royally-then there is an issue
between the customer and the representative that the
manager must resolve through an escalated call. In
situations like this the representative loses because,
let's say it all together, "The customer is always
right." Very good. This means that in any given
situation where a customer is not perfectly happy an
inherently conflictual situation is set between the
customer and the representative. This makes the customer
more aggressive and the representative more cautious,
both knowing that if anything screws up, the
representative is always wrong. This creates
discontentment within the call center and pushes
representatives into a more conservative, less helpful
position on the phones vis-à-vis the customers. Let's
now turn the idea on its head.
"Employees First" is a philosophy adopted by a group of
companies and organizations. This philosophy has as its
core that the employees are supported, protected, and
treated with respect everyday, no matter what. I know
what you are thinking, "If this is the case, then the
employees will treat the customers poorly knowing that
they can get away with it and then we will lose
customers, revenue, and market share." Nope, you are
wrong. Why? Because when an employee is hired and
supported correctly, empowered to do their job well
without fear of always being on the wrong side of a
conflict, they rise to the occasion, go out of their
way to help customers. Customer service increases, not
decreases. Empathy for the customer increases,
willingness to solve the problem (hello 1st call
resolution) correctly increases. They are empowered to
do their best, which is why you have hired them in the
first place, correct?
What I am Watching
Gone with the Wind-1939.
The movie that won 9 Academy Awards and was nominated
for 14. Notable Oscars went to Vivien Leigh as "Scarlet"
and Hattie McDaniel as "Mammy;" the first
African-American to be nominated and win an Academy
Award.
The movie is an epic, large in size, scope, duration,
and issues. It pushes all of the buttons with heroes and
heroines, love stories abound, struggles to survive,
sibling rivalries, unrequited love, wealth, and poverty.
It is all here, bundled together in such a way there is
something for everyone of any age to appreciate.
There are books written about this movie, so I won't
even attempt to do this movie justice, but would like
to make three comments. One, though nominated, it did
not win for special effects. In watching the Oscar
movies from the past, to this one in 1939, the special
effects were dramatic, and combined with the score,
meshed with the movie perfectly. I know when people
think of Gone with the Wind they do not think special
effects, but given the technology of the time, the
multiple images of the burning of Atlanta overlaid with
people escaping was dramatic, effective and an amazing
feat for 1939.
Two, Heaven and Hell. The use of colors and imagery,
combined with the score, worked perfectly, moving the
plot forward with a pitch between living in heaven with
the barbeque at 12-Oaks, the family relationship of the
Butler's (no relation) on the town, and the connection
of people with the soil and people with their wealth,
all heavenly. Hell was dark, dank, deep base sounds and
elements of orange all around whether from the flames of
the burning of Atlanta to the flicker of the candle in
the dining room when Rhett and Scarlett get drunk and almost
abusive. The director carries us along this epic movie
though various levels of heaven and hell, toying with
our emotions.
Three, the acting was superb throughout the movie. In
each movie leading up to this that has won Oscars, each
has had its share of excellent actors, with supporting
actors being just so-so. The acting in this movie was
superb throughout, whether it was Clark Gable and Vivien
Leigh, or Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen,
everyone put their best acting forward producing a heck
of a good movie.
If you are interested in renting this DVD, I have
linked the image to the left to Netflix.com.
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Copyright 2007 National Association of Call Centers
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