Mr. Bruce Belfiore, CEO of BenchmarkPortal, Harvard Alumni, Keynotes on Customer Engagement at the 5th Global Contact March 11th and 12th, 2014

Mr. Belfiore will share significant research, company data and metrics that highlight and outline the relationships between customer engagement and profits, to help business leaders make rational and effective decisions. Mr. Belfiore's talk will focus on the hard evidence and processes required to increase Customer Engagement effectiveness and improve Customer Experience and Loyalty. 

The 5th Global Contact Forum: The event is going into its 5th year as the #1 Latin American conference for customer engagement thought leaders. Attendees come from around to network, educate, inform, advocate and gain knowledge and experiences from other industry professionals. The ongoing focus is service, support, technology and customer and employee engagement. The theme for 2014 is the New Culture of Customer Engagement - Technology Enabling People & Connection. Last year's event attracted over 1840 attendees.

Management Certification in Downtown Scottsdale, AZ. Hosted by McKesson Specialty Health January 21-23, 2014

BenchmarkPortal's World Class Professional Certification courses are among the industry's highest rated programs for call center management and employees. Our courses have increased effectiveness and efficiency while at the same time reducing cost at organizations such as Verizon, Mercedes-Benz, Motorola, Hewlett Packard and GE.

The Management Certification workshop is composed of ten information-rich modules that include lecture, discussion and learning activity case studies that focus on practical problem solving and current best practices.

Our program is led by the industry's top-rated instructors, with over 150 years' combined experience. Be part of a true high-intensity learning experience which will bring out the best in you and your fellow attendees. You will return to your center with new best practice ideas...and the skills to turn them into reality!

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"The training was more than I expected. It was applicable to any call center, whether you have 4 people or 400. It brought home real life examples and experiences which definitely are designed to help support supervisory and management decisions. The training provided more than a cursory glance at topics like customer satisfaction, quality assurance, human resource management to name a few. The value of detail I got from the data analysis and reporting module opened my eyes to how to effectively utilize data generated from the center. Overall this experience provides you with an arsenal of information to guide you to be a better manager and challenges your creative process as you go through the normal paces of work. This was an eye opener, a true "WOW" learning experience. i am glad I was a part of this experience."  -- Inger Hainsley-Bennett, Customer Service Manager, Companies Office of Jamaica - July 2013

Bright Horizons Achieves Certification as a Call Center of Excellence

BenchmarkPortal recognizes the exceptional efficiency and effectiveness of the Bright Horizons Contact Center by awarding it Certification as a Center of Excellence. The granting of certification is based on a company’s operational metrics, customer satisfaction and agent satisfaction.

The customer contact center of Bright Horizons Family Solutions® has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “The achievement of the Center of Excellence represents a contact center’s commitment to delivering customer service that is both effective and efficient,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “A contact center that seeks and achieves the Center of Excellence Certification from BenchmarkPortal demonstrates a noteworthy commitment to service excellence. The obvious beneficiaries of this commitment are the center’s employees and customers.”   

Click here to continue reading this news release: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2013/12/bright-horizons-achieves-certification-call-center-e

Kick-Start 2014 With Certification Workshops

2014 Winter/Spring Call Center Training Schedule
Management Certification
Workshop Agenda: Organizational Leadership Human Resources Quality Monitoring & Coaching Customer Satisfaction WFM Forecasting & Scheduling Call Center Technologies Tech-Enabled Processes Knowledge Management Benchmarking Self-Service Analytics Discover More »	Management Certification Dates and Locations: Jan. 21-23, 2014 Mckesson Specialty Health Scottsdale, AZ - Downtown   Feb. 18-20, 2014 Hotel Palomar San Diego, CA - Downtown, Gaslamp   Mar. 18-20, 2014 Lincoln Financial Group Greensboro, NC - Downtown   Apr. 15-17, 2014 AutoTrader Atlanta, GA
Quality Assurance Certification
Workshop Agenda: Creating a Quality Assurance Strategy Positive Culture, Behaviors and Definitions Quality Assessment Forms Service vs. Compliance Call Monitoring Process Evaluation Frequency Art of Coaching Time Management Reward & Recognition Methods Technology Discover More »	QA Certification Dates and Locations Jan. 29-31, 2014 Live Online   Mar. 12-14, 2014 Live Online
Workforce Management Certification
Workshop Agenda: Gathering Information - The foundation to all workforce management practices Forecasting - Setting the framework for contact center success Planning - Matching supply to demand Optimizing Performance - Real-time adjustments to the plan, forecast and data Analysis - Reviewing the outcomes to determine improvements to the next forecast and plan Change Management - Preparing leaders to lead workforce management change Discover More »	WFM Certification Dates and Locations: Feb. 26-28, 2014 Live Online July 23-25, 2014 Live Online
Coaching For Performance
Workshop Agenda: Review the role, responsibilities, and characteristics of an “ideal” coach. Match management expectations of using call center metrics and the impact on performance. Perform a gap analysis to identify what you have versus what you want in terms of performance. Examine successful verbal communication techniques. Compare and contrast the needs of new stars, rising stars, super stars, and falling stars. Create a strategic plan for all levels of performers to include team building, retention, and motivation. Practice and Application: Review the performance for five agents. Practice and Application: Create a coaching plan to sustain and/or improve performance. Discover More »	CFP Dates and Locations: Feb. 5-7, 2014 Live Online   May 21-23, 2014 Live Online
Supervisor Certification
Workshop Agenda: Defining & Performing the Supervisor's Job Communication Development Process Feedback Improvement Action Plans Coaching Course Formats: On-Site Personalized Training Discover More »
Agent Certification
Workshop Agenda: Complaint Handling Basics Active Listening Anger Diffusion Objection Handling Mediation Negotiations Course Formats: On-Site Personalized Training Discover More »

MAXIMUS New York Medicaid Programs Achieves Its Fourth Certification as a Call Center of Excellence

The New York Enrollment Broker Services customer contact center operated by MAXIMUS has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “A contact center that seeks and achieves the Center of Excellence Certification from BenchmarkPortal demonstrates a noteworthy commitment to service excellence. The obvious beneficiaries of this commitment are the center’s customers, employees, and shareholders.”   

Click here to continue reading this article.

Prince Charles and AHT - Contact Center Economics 101

“If you chuck away too many things, you end up discovering there was value in them.”  This quote from a Time Magazine article on Prince Charles (11/4/2013) is a warning to our sector.  The customer contact industry is prone to vogues just like any other.  Several years ago it was fashionable to be obsessed with average handle time (AHT), while these days increasing numbers of managers dismiss AHT as irrelevant, or even harmful.  I recently participated in an industry panel in which some felt that it is definitely time to chuck AHT.

My feeling is that would be a mistake; there are solid economic and quality reasons to keep AHT as a key performance metric, at both the center and the agent levels.

We should recognize how much may be gained from benchmarking and thoughtfully analyzing the components of AHT, which are: Average Talk Time, Average Hold Time, and Average After Call Work Time.

Average Talk Time
Average Hold Time
After-Call Work Time

Click this link to read the rest of this article

  “Contact Center Economics 101” articles are written by Bruce Belfiore (Harvard MBA), Senior Research Executive and CEO of BenchmarkPortal to spotlight practical opportunities for financial improvement of contact center operations.

Lincoln Financial Group’s Individual Annuity Operations Customer Contact Center Achieves Its First Certification as a BenchmarkPortal Center of Excellence

Lincoln Financial Group’s Individual Annuity Operations Customer Contact Center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry. Contact centers that achieve certification are remarkable in their ability to balance a commitment to service excellence with cost effective service strategies.”

“The achievement of the Center of Excellence represents a contact center’s commitment to delivering customer service that is both effective and efficient,” said Belfiore. “ It is the culmination of important initiatives that were undertaken to achieve sustainable service excellence. Lincoln Financial Group has shown its ability to achieve that balance through its objective performance metrics. We have validated its metrics and have certified that Lincoln Financial Group is, indeed, among the best in its industry. I congratulate Lincoln Financial Group on a job well done.”

MAXIMUS Indiana Enrollment Broker Operations Achieve Certification as a Call Center of Excellence

The Indiana Enrollment Broker Services customer contact center operated by MAXIMUS has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry. Contact centers that achieve certification are remarkable in their ability to balance a commitment to service excellence with cost effective service strategies”   

http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2013/10/maximus-indiana-enrollment-broker-operations-achieve

Edmentum Customer Support Achieves Its Third Certification as a BenchmarkPortal Center of Excellence

The Edmentum customer contact center has been certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal, a leading contact center research and consulting organization. “Only the top 10 percent of those benchmarked annually achieve this distinction,” said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. “Achieving Center of Excellence certification is an acknowledgement of strong management and leadership in the call center industry.”   

Edmentum is a leading provider of online learning solutions. The company’s support center is responsible for providing a broad spectrum of knowledge across the full range of Edmentum learning solutions, which nearly 1 million students use every day to enhance their learning experiences.

About Edmentum
Edmentum Inc. is a leading provider of online learning solutions designed to drive learner achievement for academic and career success. With more than 50 years of experience driving significant advances in the industry, Edmentum offers a wide variety of innovative solutions spanning a multitude of program areas to empower 21st century teaching and learning. For more information, visit http://www.edmentum.com.

http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/press-release/2013/10/edmentum-customer-support-achieves-its-third-certifi

Workforce Management Analytics Demystified - Employee Focus (Session 1 of 2)

If you have been approaching Workforce Management (WFM) the same way for the last few years, you may be missing important advances.  WFM is no longer just about the labor force (agents) and putting butts in seats; its evolution is now about changing floor leadership (managers and supervisors) from ‘baby sitters’ into business people involved in the larger process of guiding the growth of the center in its role in fulfilling corporate goals. This is accomplished through the following practices:

Click here to continue reading this article on our website: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/call-center-newsresources/calltalk-online-radio-show/calltalk-archive/workforce-optimization-analyti