ARTICLES
Although copyright for these articles is held by Centre-ing
Services, first-release rights have been granted to other web-based
and print publishers. Should you wish to obtain a copy of any
of these articles, please email centserv@iafrica.com.
CUSTOMERSERVICE
Customer
Service Excellence: A September 11th Benchmark
How an incident that took
place on September the 11th speaks to the areas of meaning
at work, service professionalism
and the very essence of customer service excellence.
centserv@iafrica.com.
Service
measurement is about culture
Successfully selecting and applying the right service
benchmarks, best practices, measurements. centserv@iafrica.com.
CRM
or MCR?
Moving deftly from mere customer relationship management
systems to meaningful customer relationships that really
enhance business performance. centserv@iafrica.com.
ERM
- Internal CRM
A framework and approach for implementing a comprehensive
system of Employee Relationship Management. centserv@iafrica.com
Engaging
the right customer service consultant.
A guide to the criteria to
use for the successful selection of a management consultant
or consultancy firm that will help make a real difference
to your customer service delivery. centserv@iafrica.com
Smoothing
inter-departmental interfaces for improved service delivery.
Apply service from the inside out by using a process
to address perceptions, expectations, measures and skill-deficits
where a 'silo mentality' exists and co-operation between
internal departments is in need of improvement.
centserv@iafrica.com.
Using
competencies to provide service from the inside-out
Why deeper, hidden competencies are so much more important
than surface competencies such as skills and knowledge.
centserv@iafrica.com
Principles
of becoming a customer-centric organisation
A call for greater recognition of the connections between
people, process and technology, and for recognition
of the primacy of the people factor centserv@iafrica.com
Customer service as a vocation and a route to finding
significance and meaning in the workplace today. centserv@iafrica.com
A
Question of Customer Service
A discussion to raise awareness
that there are similarities and differences in how customers
perceive their service experience and how they evaluate
service in different countries, cultures, industries
and via different channels of communication. centserv@iafrica.com
Learning
to leverage customer value propositions
In the emerging experience
economy, there is a need for organisations to examine
their competence at delivering both physical process
value and interpersonal/ emotional value to customers
according to well developed customer value propositions.
Includes a useful visual measurement tool. centserv@iafrica.com
Is
there good chemistry between your contact centre and the
rest of the organisation?
The consistent delivery by
an organisation of excellent customer service, which
service is supported and enhanced by the contact centre
remains an elusive dream for far too many. A primary
cause of dysfunction is the failure of organisations
to fully integrate their contact centre/s with the rest
of the organisation. This article examines the causes
and effects of insufficient integration, and offers
a number of techniques for forging better integration.
The end result is better chemistry between the organisation
and its customers – moving towards a situation
where your customers want to do business with you only,
and want others to also experience doing business with
you. centserv@iafrica.com
CONTACT CENTREOPERATIONS
From
Sweat Shop to Shop Window
Orwell’s chilling vision
of the future has been realised in too many customer
contact centres: those where low level, repetitive,
mundane tasks are conducted with little deviation, where
the emphasis is on cost minimisation, and insistence
on absolute conformity. These contact centres have lost
the plot.
Poor physical and motivational workplace environments
have serious impacts on the physical, mental, social,
emotional and spiritual health of contact centre employees,
which in turn impacts on the image and performance of
the entire business. For the committed their are sound
ways to fix this pathological and untenable situation. centserv@iafrica.com
Laddering
the Measurement of Contact Centre Effectiveness.
The systematic four - step
progression of actionable measures - from internal productivity
and quality to internal outcomes-based measures to customer
satisfaction measures to an integrated balanced service
scorecard framework that integrates the contact centre
with the rest of the organisation Click here to read full article centserv@iafrica.com
Finding
the Call Centre Stress Points
This article anticipates stress points that occur during
the typical call centre lifecycle, and suggests ways
of alleviating or dissolving them. centserv@iafrica.com.
Will
customer call centres disappear?
An examination of the impact on customer service centres
of the latest developments in multi-channel communication
technology. centserv@iafrica.com.
Is
the role of the telephone declining?
An article about balancing shifts in communication
media usage by customers (Web, email, 'phone, snail-mail
etc.) and an analysis framework for organisations. centserv@iafrica.com.
Using
memory anchors for improved service delivery.
Making use of a powerful communication aid to reinforce
values, principles, learning and motivation. centserv@iafrica.com
Using
Call Blending to Raise Service Centre Cost-efficiency,
productivity and service levels
An expose of the fallacious reasoning and manipulative
tactics being applied by certain CTI and CRM vendors.
centserv@iafrica.com
A
fast spreading web
An analysis of the size, rate
of growth, distribution and nature of contact centres
world-wide. centserv@iafrica.com
LEARNING
Sage
Counsel: a framework and tips for establishing your corporate
e-learning facility
Advice on formulating your e-Learning vision, strategies,
design process and measures, and engaging learners.
centserv@iafrica.com
What
is outcomes-based education?
A brief idiots' guide to the
new skills development world of outcomes, levels, unit
(of work) standards, assessment criteria, credits, notional
hours, qualifications, critical cross-field outcomes,
embedded knowledge. centserv@iafrica.com
LEADERSHIP
3H
leadership to activate followership
A look ahead at leadership competencies required in
the new millennium. centserv@iafrica.com.
A
Framework for Mentoring Future Leaders
A five-step process for the development of future organisational
leaders and for refreshing the skills of established
managers. centserv@iafrica.com
SALES
Four
ways to become a better sales team and better sales persons
