Communication

While it’s never easy or much fun to tell a customer “no,” you can write it the wrong way—causing write-backs, harming satisfaction, destroying rapport—or the better way. The better way doesn’t mean saying “yes”...

We all need to engage in continuous learning about Brand - our company brand, creating a branded experience, generating brand energy, etc. But what about our personal Brand? I’d like to spur some thinking...

This month, our blog readers were interested in a variety of topics affecting their centers. Leslie discusses the skill that is of the utmost importance for our remote workers--writing well. The pandemic has brought...

Whether you and your team are working remotely a couple of days per week, or you (or they) are remote all day, every day, you’ve probably found that being remote has made you better...

Your heart is in the right place. You intend to focus on the important writing tasks on your to-do list: that detailed response to an angry customer’s email, that project proposal you promised to...

In today’s call centers, employers aren’t just looking for professional expertise or experience in team leaders. They’re also looking for other qualities like the ability to build rapport with customers, team members and other...

We are living in the future I’ll tell you how I know I read it in the paper Fifteen years ago. John Prine wrote these prophetic lyrics back in 1980. In an interview shortly thereafter, Prine said it...

Early in 2020, Pipeline published results from the 2020 Contact Center Challenges & Priorities survey and declared 2020 the “Year of the Agent.” The focus on the agent is a change from 2019’s “Improving...

FACT: Stress is a huge side-effect of any sudden change. We all react to stress differently. Have you noticed an occasional change in behavior in your team members and agents? Ever wondered how to...

Today’s contact centers continue to expand their channel mix beyond voice (e.g., chat, text, email, web and video) to keep up with the communication demands of their consumers and prospects. Voice traffic, while dropping...

Early in my management career, I followed the Golden Rule: Treat others as I would want to be treated. I believed that if I treated everyone the way I would want to be treated,...

There are a plethora of training options available to service leaders who are looking to enhance the communication skills of their agents. Having had exposure to many of these, DiSC is my top choice...

The origin of the phrase “don’t shoot the messenger” comes from ancient times when the only option for communication during wars between kingdoms was the use of human envoys. When one side or the...

Passing the baton” refers to handing over a particular duty or responsibility to someone, as in a relay race. Years ago, I devised a leadership seminar and much of the program’s focus was on...

The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms defines the phrase to “let someone have it” as originating in the mid-1800s and meaning “to give a beating, scolding or punishment.” While “bite your tongue” is defined...

“To make a long story short” is an idiom that dates back to the 1800s. In 1857, Henry David Thoreau penned these words in a letter: “Not that the story need be long, but...