Hiring the Right People
At some point in their career, all managers have made poor hiring choices. Read on to discover how to minimize those occurences. Read the rest of this entry »
Employee Development
Training your new support analysts, creating a career plan and providing continual learning opportunities creates a productive and loyal workforce. Read the rest of this entry »
Escalations: The Ticket to Successful Problem Resolution
Triaging support requests and successfully escalating those that require higher levels of expertise are the key to effective support operations. Read the rest of this entry »
Making the Help Desk the Fun Desk
Help Desk jobs are stressful, to say the least! Customers only call when they have a problem. Make the Help Desk a fun place to work needs to be our motto, or we’ll all go nuts! Read the rest of this entry »
Sourcing the Support Center Offshore: Bane or Benefit?
Outsourcing support operations to offshore call centers has become a controversial topic. In this article, Kristin discusses the appropriate situations in which to consider offshoring. Read the rest of this entry »
How to Maintain Quality and Control with an Outsourcer
Kristin identifies six steps to creating an effective partnership with an outsourcing vendor. Read the rest of this entry »
Customer Service Basics
As customer support professionals, it is a best practice to re-examine our basic service skills every now and then, and do some customer service jumping jacks. Let us take a look at what market research tells us about what customers desire from a service provider, and make sure that our skills match their needs. Read the rest of this entry »
Quality Monitoring: Why Not?
There are many reasons why support centers do not implement quality monitoring programs, which sample and evaluate analyst's interactions with customers. Which one is holding you back? Read the rest of this entry »
Certifications for the Support Professional: Do they make Cent$?
What does certification really mean and does certification make sense for every organization? This article can help you understand the current state of certifications, and help you make a decision on whether certifications are right for your organization. Read the rest of this entry »
Patience is a Leadership Virtue
Through interviews with three highly effective executives, Kristin outlines the virtues of patience when leading change. Read the rest of this entry »