Are You A “Thinking Organization”?

March 10, 2010 – 4:17 am
A Script Is Like Chocolate For a Dog--In Moderation It Won't Kill But Too Much Is A Death Wish!  Most of us want to be treated like a human being--not a number dispensed at an old fashioned bakery. Today there is a communication crisis. And as an industry we are exacerbating this problem. How? This is a loaded question--and we have brought in the experts to address this on Customer Management IQ in a series of "power player panels"--discussion and debate on the state of the call center industry. One topic of interest includes the use of call center scripts. Through succinctly written scripts call centers streamline processes and keep the legal department happy. But there are some alarming truths that come with scripting. One reality is many companies forbid their agents from apologizing to the customer--an apology implies guilt.... Scripts take the human element out of the customer-agent interaction and don't accomodate variation in customer demand.  Most importantly customers (human beings), want to be talked to--not talked at! Management, Parenting and the ...

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TOMS Shoes Brings Conscious Capitalism with the One for One Model

March 7, 2010 – 3:54 am
I want to buy Argentinian farmer's shoes--and I want to buy them from a business owner named Blake. No I am not talking about myself in third person--I am talking about Blake Mycoskie, Chief Shoe Giver at TOMS Shoes. What Is TOMS Shoes? The other week I had lunch with my cousin who recently re-located to Los Angeles for an internship at the much buzzed about shoe retailer TOMS Shoes. When I saw my cousin she was sporting a pair of shiny black slippers--they were gorgeous. She is a a proud ambassador for the brand and you know why when you hear the premise of TOMS. image from TOMS Shoes TOMS donates one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold--a one for one business model. The company was founded by Blake Mycoskie who launched the project after traveling to Argentina. He found many of the Argentinian children didn't have ...

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Jean Nidetch, F.F.H. (Formerly Fat Housewife), Customer-Centric Crusader

March 1, 2010 – 4:14 am
On October 12, 1492, a man discovered America. On October 12, 1923, America discovered a lady who was born to discover Weight Watchers. He was Christopher Columbus. She was Jean Nidetch. He took the mystery out of the world. She took the L out of ‘Flab.’ We all know his story. Here is hers.*This was the introduction for a televised appearance for Jean Nidetch, former CEO and President of Weight Watchers International, who was born on Columbus Day. Photograph from Getty Images Taking the L out of FlabFor such a little lady Nidetch has a big personality—but she wasn’t always little. Nidetech, in her new book The Jean Nidetch Story, writes about her own weight loss journey through 72 pounds, and what spawned Weight Watchers International. She grew up near Coney Island where she took shelter from the Summer heat at the local Candy Shop indulging in “egg cream” drinks containing neither eggs ...

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Paco Underhill Tells Us What Women Want And Some Thoughts on Gender and Business

February 18, 2010 – 3:49 am
This week at Customer Management IQ we've published a podcast with Paco Underhill, author of the new book What Women Want. Underhill is known for his ground-breaking work on the psychology behind shopping. He joined us for the interview to talk about the research and findings for What Women Want. The podcast got me thinking about gender in the business world. As a kid I was fascinated with Oprah. Something about this woman was captivating. I had never seen a woman so comfortable in her own skin who embodied strength, calm and compassion. I thought "how could this woman, who appears to lack competitive edge, be the richest woman in the world?" Suze Orman, the financial pundit, author and speaker, has a similar profile. Both of these women have been through adversity. Was it that to learn empathy you had to struggle or be marginalized?   I live and work in midtown in ...

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Nuts About Southwest: Good Fat Versus Bad Phat

February 16, 2010 – 7:43 am
Kevin Smith is phat. Well let me re-phrase that...he is fat (meaning he is overweight) and he is phat (meaning he's "Silent Bob" the hilarious and talented comedian, screen writer, film producer, director, comic book writer etc). Smith is known as "Silent Bob" who turns out to be not so silent. Smith was kicked off a Southwest Airlines (SWA) flight over the weekend for being fat (not phat). The flight fight unfolded on Twitter where Smith tweeted, "Wanna tell me I'm too wide for the sky? Totally cool but fair warning folks: If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest." Rather than ejecting Smith, if I were the SWA stewardess I would have planted Smith at the front of the plane and had him tell jokes like the JetBlue crew does. Instead they used the Lean (Six Sigma) method and cut him out of the equation by booting him from the flight. image from uwyo.edu On the corporate blog Nuts About Southwest Linda Rutherford ...

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Super Bowl Marketing–Keep Viewers AND Reggie Bush on Their Toes Next Time

February 8, 2010 – 5:16 am
As a New Orleans fan I was jazzed the Saints took the victory. But at the same time when I took off my Saints hat and put on my marketing hat I was very underwhelmed by the ads! Weren't you? As I sat down with friends to watch the Super Bowl I was ready to be wowed. The commercials are my guilty pleasure. But this year the commercials were tepid at best. If we had 3 million dollars for a T.V. spot for Customer Management IQ  trust me we would make those dollars go far... Perhaps this is the problem with consumer data. I am sure the marketers sweated over their consumer reports, customer feedback and focus groups. Regarding trusting focus groups I have a few friends here in NYC who participate in these "focus groups," and I apologize for them--I would take their feedback with a grain of salt (perhaps even Tequila salt...). I was particularly bored with ...

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Super Bowl Sunday–Move Your Brand to the End Zone!

February 5, 2010 – 7:41 am
Tight white pants, camaraderie, sweat, adrenaline, rock stars, tortilla chips, screaming fans, beer....If "Super Bowl Sunday" was simply known as "Football Day" would the day still conjure these images?  While Super Bowl Sunday is about the great American sport football, it's also the "innovation olympics" of brand managers everywhere.    image from mmipublicrelations I started thinking about brands last week while attending Call Center Summit in Orlando, Florida. At the event I met the Former SVP Technology and Worldwide Reservations for Budget Group Mary Murcott who is now a Call Center Futurist.  This morning Mary and I were chatting about her own recent re-branding. She changed her title from Call Center "Expert" to Call Center "Futurist." By pumping up her title she attracted a handful of fresh clients and increased her speaking engagements at large business events (even making her way Istanbul for a keynote). Great brands, small and large need to embody the excitement, dynamism and creativity that John Gerzema, Y&R's Chief Insights Officer, talks about. What are the images that pop into your customer's mind when he/she thinks ...

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“Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone” and Other Thoughts On Change

February 2, 2010 – 7:18 am
Many of us experienced change at the end of last year. We were tasked with responsibilties, divisions, or even departments we weren't prepared to manage. But just with trying anything new once you get your feet wet it's only a matter of time before you become comfortable in the new role. To prove this I want to share with you my experience with snowboarding. No one in my family snowboards or does anything where gravity could work against them. I surprised them all with my recent obsession with snowboarding. But snowboarding wasn't always a bowl of cherries for me--in the beginning it was downright a bowl of pits! In the beginning I couldn't keep up on the mountain with my friends, I had bruises in places I won't mention and I was emotionally exhausted from fear.   The hardest thing about snowboarding is you have to be willing to lose some control. You have to listen ...

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Stop-Watches, Numbers and How Frank Eliason Is Creating a Sea Change in the #CCTR Industry

January 29, 2010 – 10:36 am
My favorite part of the event was my podcast with Frank Eliason Senior Director in National Care Operations for Comcast. Frank is the most recognizable social media customer service expert. Frank believes that social media has forced companies to lose control--but he came to this conclusion after a winding journey. He's worked incredibly hard for the title of social media guru. He spent six months fielding every single tweet for @Comcast--this meant at 2 P.M. and 2 A.M. Keep in mind this was two years ago--a long time before Twitter was as mainstream as it is now. While I hesitate to include this story in my blog I think it exposes the human element of social media. Frank's daughter Gianna Rose tragically passed away due to complications from a liver transplant surgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He needed to take the day to observe her passing. He left a simple note on his Twitter account that he would not be available that day to ...

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Adventures On The Ground From Call Center Summit–Part 1

January 27, 2010 – 12:38 am
I am very excited to be at the Orlando airport waiting for my shuttle to Call Center Summit--it's the night before the conference kicks off. I approach the counter of the Mears shuttle service where I meet Ron. Ron appears to be grumpy. Perhaps it's that he still has a job while some of his retired family members spend their time golfing and taking vacations to key west (I wouldn't blame him). He stands slumped over behind the counter as I ask him in a somewhat upbeat voice for the round trip ticket to the Gaylord Palms Resort where the conference is. He looks very annoyed that he is being summoned for something. Eventually, without looking up, he mutters "ah it's a forty minute wait." Me "oh really-ok well --I suppose I should come back in forty minutes at 8 P.M. (hoping to scavenge for some nuts and berries to hold me over until dinner)". Ron "Nope-you better ...

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