High Tech High Touch Solutions eSharings July 17 2006 Issue

Insights, hints, tips, and resources for service and support professionals, given in the spirit of sharing information in a quick-read, content-rich newsletter.

In this Issue:

-- Exclusive offer to attend HDP 2006

-- Sharing - Sharing the traditional and non-traditional

-- Resources - Eight Best Kept Secrets for Improving Workforce Productivity

-- Subscription Information

"SAVE NOW BY ACCEPTING OUR EXCLUSIVE OFFER TO ATTEND THE 8th ANNUAL HELP DESK PROFESSIONALS CONFERENCE AND EXPO, the most in-depth, highest quality Help Desk conference available, as stated by our attendees!"

ITIL Foundations Certification
Certified Help Desk Managers training
All day Government Summit
All day VoIP workshop
Mike Rayburn returns with his amazing talent on the guitar and motivational messages.
Some of the most recognized names in the industry and top scoring speakers from our previous events will be back.
A mix of longer session workshops and shorter breakouts will be packed with content delivered by expert speakers.
Our very own Mastermind sessions, one of the most popular components of our event will be held twice.
And a Leadership Keynote on day one which may be unlike anything you have ever heard.

Will you join us in San Antonio and be part of the exclusive 350 people who join top leaders in our industry for these in-depth educational sessions and take-home, templates, handouts and loads of resources, plus a flash drive with all of the presentations pre-loaded?

SHARING (top)

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

This issue of eSharings is packed with information so I'm going to keep my letter short this week so you will have time to read and access the useful resources included.

I like to go outside of the norm of the typical call center and help desk topics to explore things that you don't come across in other newsletters in our industry, and will contribute to your personal and or professional life. My goal is to provide new, fresh information both in our newsletters and at our conferences.

"To learn is to grow, both personally and professionally." I learn from every issue I write because I look for new things to share with each of you. I hope you will benefit too.

We like to share proven solutions and resources as well as those outside of the norm. This month's issue includes a mix of both.

*******

Hmmmm, interesting - no more pennies? Did you hear, they want to pass a bill to slowly phase out the penny? It costs 1.23 cents to make a penny. Check out how much it costs to make everything from a penny to a Sacajawea dollar. Click to read the short and interesting article on this topic.

Summer reading. Have you read, "Treat Your Customers: Thirty Lessons on Service and Sales That I Learned At My Family's Dairy Queen Store, by Bob Miglani?" I haven't read it yet, but it looks great and reviews are excellent. One of my first jobs was in a Dairy Queen. I learned that a little extra squirt of whipped cream or hot fudge on someone's sundae could make their day. That little extra demonstration of kindness and the smile of a teenager can make an impact on the parent trying to keep the screaming kids quiet. Let me know if you enjoy this book.

What are they teaching call center and help desk professionals in other countries about the idioms of the English language, how to deal with accents, and other language considerations? Want some free documents to train your own staff who are multi-lingual? Visit this site: www.speak-read-write.com.

"They doe neev'n lye kit." In English that means, "They don't even like it." Interested in accent training? You might find this site useful: www.americanaccent.com.

Will you help me? Do you like what you get from reading eSharings? If yes, will you help us grow our database by forwarding your copy to others and encouraging them to join our highly secure, never sold or shared email database? It would mean so much to us to have your help to build our community of practice in the interest of sharing information.

If you have something you would like us to include, or a topic you would like to see covered, please email me directly at ivy@hthts.com or call us at 425-398-9292.

Sincerely,

Ivy Meadors
High Tech High Touch Solutions

www.ivymeadors.com / www.hthts.com

425-398-9292

The program is ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE EVER OFFERED IN THE HELP DESK INDUSTRY.

People are saying it's the best they have ever seen.

Check out this awesome program at: www.helpdeskconference.com

Save $200 now!

Do you want to make an impact on your business and demonstrate your pride and ownership in the organization, offering the best possible service at the lowest most reasonable cost? Then join us in San Antonio to hear from our speakers as they deliver high quality, content rich presentations, give you handouts, templates, and loads of resources.

As with all of our events, we offer a full repayment of your conference investment after you attend all three days of the event if you are not satisfied, excluding pre-conference sessions and certification courses.

Can we sign you up now? We would love to have you as one of the exclusive 350 people at this once a year event, the Help Desk event unlike any others in the industry.

“Celebrate with the Legends of the Help Desk Industry and join the
"Round-Up of Top Leaders in the Help Desk Profession"”

Hundreds of Help Desk Professionals, including industry experts, legends, vendors and practitioners, will come together September 25-27, 2006, at the spectacular Hyatt Regency in San Antonio for the 8th Annual Conference for Help Desk Professionals. This is a gathering of peers from the user and vendor communities with a common interest in establishing advanced service and support environments, managing down costs, utilizing technology to its fullest and in doing so achieving increased customer satisfaction.

Each year our event features updated conference formats, some of the most recognized names in our industry, and numerous well thought-out networking opportunities. We are adding even more in-depth sessions, delivering loads of handouts and templates, and including comprehensive working sessions.

In three days you will learn:

Confidence in the way to turn your help desk into a service desk learning time-tested lessons you can put into practice to achieve the same results now.
Practical, actionable information on strategy, vision, and execution to establish advanced help desks
Business strategies for developing the collective skills of your team - exceeding your organization's standards for performance, productivity and efficiencies.
Top leadership techniques to lead and empower your people - Ways to advance the skills of the team members.
How to forge effective relationships with those above, below and alongside of you.
How to deliver results the right way - understand the proven best practices in service and support.
Ways to deliver exceptional, high quality customer service.
The 10 key considerations to developing young leaders - Understanding The Millennials, Gen X and Boomers. We will have a panel of Millennials for you to hear their perspectives on leadership.
Advanced uses of technology from small or no investment to more advanced options.
The key components of ITIL - how to select and implement the best practices of ITIL in your own organization in practical, relevant terms.
How to implement VoIP in your organization or company and what considerations must be made to guarantee success.
Master techniques to create valued services in your support groups.
Hear success stories for effectively applying VoIP, identity management, knowledge management, change management, and security measures.
Learn techniques to reward and motivate your team on a shoestring budget.
Deliver extraordinary customer service and offer self-service options to your customers.
Hear how others successfully outsourced and/or consolidated their support centers.

We invite event partners (sponsors) to join us and make a contribution to the exclusive community of practice at the 8th Annual Help Desk Professionals Conference and Expo.

Email HDP@hthts.com now.

RESOURCES (top)

"Eight Best Kept Secrets for Improving Workforce Productivity"

This topic applies to Help Desks and Call Centers.

Penny Reynolds did an excellent job presenting this topic at the 5th Annual Government Customer Support Conference and Expo. Our attendees pulled out these key nuggets from her session.

After the list of lessons leaned, we've added some websites for you to visit for more information for those who missed Penny's session. Penny was one of the highest scoring speakers at GCS and HDP last year. She's a can't miss speaker.

Penny will be presenting at HDP 2006 again this year, so be sure and join us as she shares her wealth of knowledge.

Attendee comments:

Very good!! Kept audience engaged!
This session was great!!
Could be a 2 hour session.
Give her more time - she was outstanding!
She is a very good presenter.
A lot of very good info.
Expert speaker - great SME knowledge.
Great interaction of Penny with the audience.
Practical examples used by the instructor.

Lessons learned from Penny:

3 Basic reasons for non-performance
Free staffing software available
Rethink ideal CSR
Can't, won't, don't factors
Six deadly reinforcements
Predictive assessments - look at current success stories
Psychometric testing - good point
Identified why people don't like call centers
Measuring consistently
"Head in the oven, feet in the freezer" ("On average, they are comfortable.")
Design job simulations that will accurately measure job skills and performance
Basic reasons for non-performance
Great tips on workforce management
Measure speed to answer in 1/2 hour increments instead of averaging the entire day
Ideal agent - rethink requirements
Performance management model is needed
Workforce management tool is needed
Staff based on competencies and character
Reward and train based on immediate feedback
Quantitative expectations
Measure current performance
Supervisors blueprint for employee performance
The realistic picture of CSR - great!
Don't use "sandwich" approach
Everything is not always what it seems

Resources:

The Call Center School - loads of GREAT articles for no f**ee - http://thecallcenterschool.com/tools/articles.aspx
ERP Call Centers - various ideas included in article about benchmarking, consolidation, education, etc. - http://educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0325.pdf
Sandwich Approach - This article sort of helps to explain what it is - http://www.happycashflow.com/newsletterarchives/news200603.html

Attendee comments:

"This session was great!!" said Teresa Robinson from the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Carolyn Bachmann from the IRS said, "The realistic picture of CSRs was great!. Penny is a very down to earth speaker! Great!; Learned not to use the "sandwich" approach. Penny is a great presenter."

"What I gained from Penny's session was that Ideal agent might not be what you think," says Mary Nelson from the USDA Forest Service. It is important to apply the proper consequences. It is also key to focus on the negative and positive separately."

Take-away: Penny shares how to calculate shrinkage. If you want to know more, email solutions4u@hthts.com and we will introduce you to Penny so you can get loads of additional information.

Paid time off: 8 hrs x 10 days = 80 hours

Paid breaks: 1/2 hr/day x 5 days x 50 weeks = 125 hours

Meetings/training: 3 hrs/week x 50 weeks = 150 hours

Off-phone time: 1/2 hr/day x 5 x 50 weeks = 125 hours

Unexplained: 1/4 hr/day x 5 x 50 weeks = 63 hours

Total 543 hours

(Available 2080 hours)

Shrinkage = 26%

Get key statistics that managers need to benchmark their operations

Each year, the Customer Service Group compiles key statistics that managers need to benchmark their operations. We'd like to invite you to participate in this year's online survey.

To thank you for your participation, you will receive a f**ree copy of the final report - a $39.95 value.

The data in the report is enormously helpful in benchmarking your salaries for reps, supervisors and managers. It also offers key service department data, such as average number of calls handled per rep, average length of call and average number of minutes callers wait before speaking with a rep.

Plan to spend five to 10 minutes with the survey - after all, the results are only as good as the data participants provide. And be sure to provide your complete contact information so that we can send you a copy of the published results. Your data will, of course, be kept in the strictest confidence.

To participate in the survey and get your complimentary report, a $39.95 value, just click the link below before July 21, 2006. www.CustomerServiceGroup.com/benchmarking.php

Call Center Attrition Rate High in India - The survey compared 200 call centers in India, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea on their performance in customer service, sales, revenue, operations, technology, and human resources. "Inadequate focus on human resources leaves much to be desired," said director Catriona Wallace.

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION (top)

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our motto: "whatever it takes!"

Insights, hints, tips, and resources for service and support professionals, given in the spirit of sharing information in a quick-read, content-rich newsletter.