By Colin Taylor As I look at the new and shiny year ahead, I wonder what delights and innovations and opportunities may lie ahead for Contact Center operations.  I think in many ways we will finally shake the post-pandemic hangover; we just need to take two aspirin and realize that what we have been dealing with for the past two years was really a realignment. Realignment of healthcare, global supply chains, work locations, employment relationships (quiet quitting, great resignation, etc.) …  We have seen Contact Centers struggle to find and retain workers. More candidates were gho ..read more

By Peg Ayers As Supervisors and Managers, we often feel we must have all the answers. We need to share our great experience and knowledge with those on our teams. We’ve been promoted for our skills, and we need to make sure everybody understands that. This can lead to coaching conversations where we spend more time talking than listening. If your goal is to develop your people, consider spending more time listening and less time instructing. Why listen instead of talking? Buy In: Everybody’s more interested in doing something when it’s their idea. Credibility: Showing a willingness to learn ..read more

By Colin Taylor We are now into the fourth quarter of the year. Retail and ecommerce firms are gearing up for the holiday season, which means more staff. But where are they going to find more staff? It is hard to find new staff. We can blame the Great Resignation if we like, but where did all of the workers go? Have all of the frontline agents found new rewarding and well-paying jobs? Certainly, some have, but I think many people have decided to take a pause. Sure, some are opening a shop, trying their hands at gig work, changing careers, and certainly some have shifted completely out of the ..read more

By Colin Taylor [This post was adapted from a webinar that Colin Taylor delivered for Customer Contact Central on September 8, 2022. You can see the replay here while available: https://www.customercontactcentral.com/frs/22041151/top-industry-secrets-for-successful-contact-center-scripting/email] There has been a continuous evolution in scripting since we were taping printed copies onto cubicle walls. There are primarily 4 different types of scripts that are employed in contact centers and many variations on these. Traditional scripts These are the type I was writing 35 years ago. These outl ..read more

By Colin Taylor [This post was adapted from a webinar that Colin Taylor delivered for Customer Contact Central on September 8, 2022. You can see the replay here while available: https://www.customercontactcentral.com/frs/22041151/top-industry-secrets-for-successful-contact-center-scripting/email] When we think of a script a number of things can come to mind: The Cambridge English Dictionary defines it as both ”the words of a film, play, broadcast, or speech” and as “a piece of paper on which a doctor writes the details of the medici ..read more

A visionary leader in PC gaming and peripherals development and manufacturing has called in The Taylor Reach Group, Inc. (TRG) to provide an assessment of its critical Customer Service and Technical Support Contact Center Operations. The company’s global and online presence, with a highly demanding audience, means it needs to be able to create a consistent and successful customer experience across multiple brands and lines of business. The challenge they face is in coordinating multiple contact centers, with operations ranging from pre-sales to technical support. Ensuring consistent, efficien ..read more

A major professional North American sports league has begun implementing changes to its contact center operations, based on recommendations by Taylor Reach. The organization, which initially contracted The Taylor Reach Group to assess its global contact center operations in 2021, has now started to put the recommendations into practice. “With millions of fans — not just across North America, but also around the world — there was a need to ensure a smooth and efficient customer experience,” notes Taylor Reach CEO and Chief Chaos Officer Colin Taylor. Taylor Reach performs detailed strategic as ..read more

By Colin Taylor Contact centers are always striving to improve efficiency, increase customer satisfaction and deliver a superior customer experience. Technology is frequently the strategy employed to achieve this goal. While technology can certainly support improvement in all three areas, improvement can also be realized through increasing First Contact Resolution or FCR. FCR is a contact center performance metric that identifies the center’s ability to resolve an inquiry on the first attempt. While not a true measure of customer satisfaction, as the customer is not always asked if they are ..read more

Taylor Reach CEO and Chief Chaos Officer, Colin Taylor, has been recognized as one of TechSee’s “22 Influential Leaders to Watch in 2022.” TechSee calls the list “an homage to the business leaders and influencers pushing the envelope when it comes to innovation in customer experience.” As the article points out, Colin is “an author and a frequent international speaker on all things contact centers, including customer service, CX, operational transformation, CRM, sales, and team building.” Colin; along with the rest of the TRG organization; is frequently listed among the top Customer Experien ..read more

By Peg Ayers As Supervisors and Managers, we often feel we must have all the answers. We need to share our great experience and knowledge with those on our teams. We’ve been promoted for our skills, and we need to make sure everybody understands that. This can lead to coaching conversations where we spend more time talking than listening. If your goal is to develop your people, consider spending more time listening and less time instructing. Why listen instead of talking? Buy In: Everybody’s more interested in doing something when it’s their idea. Credibility: Showing a willingness to learn ..read more