Tales From The Cube

Recently I had to take some time away due to medical and also the death of my wife. I am now restarting to add new content to all my channels, I wanted to start with a bit of an experiment, a video podcast, which will also be posted on YouTube. The idea drives new people to the page and the podcast. Let me know what you think by commenting on the YouTube Channel via this link https://youtu.be/TlXbPHRJqQ4

This episode features actual questions that are funny and a bit off the wall. Also, I explain how you should handle them.

Welcome to SEASON 3

This is a short introduction to season 3.

This episode explores ideas for making Christmas and New Year's Eve more fun and easy for staff working in call centers during the holidays.

Call center staff are tasked with a variety of call types. Sales tech support and other account management-type calls. They also deal with many types of customers. One of those is known as the Tin Foil Hatter.

Separate from mental health issues or possibly due to mental health issues, the callers often call and tout ideas and theories that are outlandish. These kinds of nuisance calls to the center make the job hard to do, which I address in this episode. There are real issues with account and device security, and there is a need to try to help a person who appears to be mentally ill or has a mental disability. At the same time, there needs to be a clear path to getting nuisance callers cleared off the line so we can deal with what we are there to deal with. Calls that are in our scope.

In this episode, some of the funnier calls that I get and, generally, are received in call centers are the subject.

Besides what is discussed in this episode, I am including some links here in the show notes to sites where some hilarious calls are shared.

https://www.ups.com/ca/en/support/shipping-support/shipping-special-care-regulated-items/prohibited-items.page

https://www.callcentrehelper.com/funny-customer-service-stories-make-chuckle-147152.htm

https://www.funny-jokes.com/funny-support-calls

This episode features a talk about call avoidance. In it, we look at what it is, the root causes, and steps to resolve it.

This is the second of two episodes about how quality works in a call center. This talk outlines what a Quality evaluator does and why they do it.

Most call centers do not have a union in them. Generally speaking, employers and some staff prefer not to have them on site.

In this episode, I explain the rules and things one can expect during and after a vote to certify. Be advised that I am not suggesting one does or does not join a union. These are the facts; you need to make informed decisions before finalizing your choice. That is what this episode is intended to do.

We all have an opinion about our boss and company. It is normal not to be happy with a policy or a corrective action. How you give feedback is very important. Managers and other senior leaders in companies are highly sensitive to employee pushback. In a lot of call centers, management hates employee pushback. That is changing, but it is taking time.

In this episode, I dive in and offer some tips for feedback to the managers in your center or for any job.

What do T1, 2, and 3 do in tech support? I explore this edition of the podcast. I also tackle the recent uptick in angry customer interactions with a message about the importance of being respectful on the call.

We cannot ignore the reality that AI is everywhere. Even in Call Centers, AI is having an impact. Good or bad whichever way you see it the fact remains that AI is changing the job and in this episode, I speak about AI and its benefits and drawbacks.

A CRM tool is software that helps you manage the customer relationship. In this episode I give a very basic idea of what a CRM is does and how to use it.

Premium rate, premium service, or 900 numbers. Whichever way you slice it, they are where billable services like adult chat lines, tarot reading, and special services, including tech support, are offered for a price, a very hefty one too.

Back in the 80s and 90s, 900 numbers generated huge profits for companies and people. Some still exist, but for the most part, billable offerings are offered on 800 numbers and are billed to a card, not your phone, with some exceptions.

Listen here to find out more.

The Operations Manager is a pretty important person in the call center. They intersect with Team Leaders and Call Center Managers. They have to have a lot of skills to do the work. The biggest among them is a keen eye for detail and the ability to manage many systems, and they should also be people-centered. That is a lot to juggle in a day, but a good OM can and does do it. Learn more about the role and what I think OMs should have in the way of skillsets. There are also tips for staff who work for OMs in this episode.

C. T.

This episode is about humor on and off the call and some of the humor that you may encounter in a call center.

In this episode, I drop some tips about what you should and should not do on a call. From the Agent and customer side of the call. It's important to think about who you manage the call, whether you are the agent or the person calling.

Below is the webpage I got most of the list from. It's called Helprace.

https://site.helprace.com/blog/30-dos-and-donts-in-customer-service

The article is 30 Do’s and Don’ts for Better Customer Service and is a blog post from Helprace.

In this episode I jump on the soapbox a bit and tackle customer satisfaction surveys.

This episode features a talk about call center terms that are commonly used.

There is a blog that has 50 terms in it that relate to call centers the name of it is, VCC.live.

here is the exact link. https://vcc.live/blog/call-center-terminologies/

In this episode, I explore the four types of customers that agents get on calls.

They are as follows: The babbler, Relationship Oriented, Detail Oriented, and Opportunity customers.

Each is unique, and we have to work with them in different ways.

As I mentioned, in the podcast, there is a really great podcast out there called The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week, created by Popular Science. This show explores some pretty wild facts.  Check them out at this link, https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/popular-science.

Working from home has become a bit of a battleground, pitting employees against employers. In call centers, there is pushback being felt by managers as staff rail against the return to the office.  I discuss the issue in this episode of Tales From The Cube.

In this episode, I speak about telemarketing and how it works.

In the first of hopefully many podcasts this year I speak about the different types of Call centers that are out there.  Internal, external, in and outbound an of course specialty centers that handle just one kind of caller or business / consumer class.  

A brief history of how I got to where I am in the call center industry.

In this short episode I explain what the podcast will be about.  The topics that will be covered and the goal of the podcast.

This episode is the introduction to the podcast and what it is about.