Contact Centers

Meeting the multichannel challenge means providing highly customer-focused strategies, applications and platforms, as well as call-center agents equipped with the training and tools they need to provide consistent service across all contact media.

Talk about valuing your customers and providing exceptional customer service! It's no wonder that GMCR is one of the fastest growing brands out there today, with 11 consecutive quarters of better than 40 percent net sales growth.

A simple CSR training program can solve the lackluster attitude and increase conversion. Using this technique at one company I worked with, we increased conversion rates by as much as 20 percent. Also, by fostering an atmosphere of teamwork and healthy competition, we increased the enthusiasm and morale in its call center as well.

No matter what company I visit, I always come away with the same thing: They're not as efficient at converting sales as they could be. I get that knowledge the old fashioned way; I listen to calls in the call center, and I make a number of test calls externally. I also go to a client company's website and just order (or attempt to in some cases).

Kansas City, MO, March 29, 2010 - USA 800, the largest employee owned contact center in the U.S., recently won a contract with Boston Apparel Group servicing their two fashion brands, Chadwicks™ and metrostyle®. In 1983, Chadwicks™ was the first company to offer woman the innovative concept of a fashion catalog with the same high-quality…

USA 800 recently released a white paper on the ‘Keys to Success’ for sales effectiveness in the Contact Center.  In this economy, companies need to deliver better results with less (money and resources).

Mountain View, Calif. (February 23, 2010): eGain Communications Corporation (OTC BB: EGAN.OB), the leading provider of multichannel customer service and knowledge management software for on-site or on-demand deployment, reported that over 70% of leading North American enterprise businesses were rated "below average" or "poor" in multichannel customer service experience.

When catalogers and retailers first started to go multichannel, they believed Web-based self-service would be significantly more cost efficient than fielding a full operation of customer service reps at terminals. Over the long haul, they reasoned, humans are more expensive than machines. But like the benefits of the paperless office, many call-center payroll reductions have been elusive.

Like many entrepreneurs who launched catalog businesses in bygone eras, the late Eddie Smith, whom I had the pleasure of knowing during the ’90s and early 2000s, stuck firmly to a number of ironclad principles during his 50-plus years at the helm of the National Wholesale catalog.

I’ve always been a proponent of in-house call centers, especially as a former manager of one. But times are tough … and changing. Every company today is looking for ways to save money without hurting sales and customer service. As the pressure on businesses to dramatically reduce costs intensifies, look to domestic or offshore outsourcing of some or all call-center and data entry functions as a way to improve your bottom line. Companies can outsource these functions to avoid using capital for new order management and telephone systems. One of our clients recently outsourced 300,000 phone calls offshore, resulting in a substantial reduction in