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Here is a little something different.  in this episode we infuse.  call center operations, entrepreneurship, and covid all rolled into one!  The host of "Advice from a Call Center Geek!", Tom Laird,  had the opportunity to be on the radio with host Joel Natalie of TalkErie.

We discuss how our call center started, what technologies and employee strategies we are using, and how we have grown to a national presence.

We would really like your feedback on this episode as it's truly from the heart and will allow you behind the scenes into what running a call center is really like!

 For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek:
Text us: 814.247.0366
Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel

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In this episode, we take a look behind the curtain of our call center here at Expivia to talk about what tools and technology we are using day in and day out and what tools are important in your call center based on the size and goals of the center.

This is an interesting episode for anyone who wants to understand how all the call center technologies of omnichannel, analytics, WFM, HR, QA all work together in unison to enhance the customer experience.

 For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek:
Text us: 814.247.0366
Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel

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Happy 100th Episode!!!!!!

We want to set the table for 2021 and our next 100 episodes by asking you how we can do more to add value, and we have some thoughts.  We want and need your opinion in this episode. 

Here is the link to the Advice from a Call Center FB Community Page:
https://www.facebook.com/callcentergeekcommunity

Also, we take some time to talk about the interesting work we have been doing with the national push to schedule covid vaccinations.  It's an amazing story of how the call center has been helping!

For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek:
Text us: 814.247.0366
Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel

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Do you and you care about your associates on a personal level?  I'm not saying you are best friends and go out on the town, but do the reps know that you as a manager care about them?

Respect is something that today's generation really takes to heart, and we need to be able to provide respect to make sure our culture is working at its peak.

In this episode, we talk about "Psychic Income, that that is, and seven ways to show respect for your call center associates.

These include:

• Showing interest in your call center associates as people
• Coaching and reprimanding in private
• Celebrating in public
• Talking about advancement
• Why/how to need to keep team meetings positive
• Having reps talk positively about other reps
• Keeping management office hours

For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek:
Text us: 814.247.0366
Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel

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What happens when you are told to come up with the policy plan to safely get your call center back onsite in your brick and mortar facility?  This episode of "Advice from a Call Center Geek!" will hopefully be able to help you.

In episode 98, entitled,  "Procedures to Move Your Call Center Back Into the Office",  we take a look at our personal case study of how we are planning on bringing back 250 associates safety in-house for a financial services' client that need a secure brick and mortar facility to operate.

We talk about procedures for coming to work, traffic flow, distancing, getting nuanced with break times, and having a safety coordinator for each shift.

If you are planning to have your call center back onsite, this episode will hopefully add a lot of value to your planning.

Blog Post Link:
https://expiviausa.com/procedures-tips-to-move-your-call-center-back-into-the-office/

For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek:
Text us: 814.247.0366
Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel

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You guys may think I am crazy, but I think I found the technology that will be changing the customer service and customer experience industry to levels we have never thought of.

Currently, we are using call center technology to either gauge the CX (CSAT, NPS, Sentiment..) or we are trying to make interactions shorter, more cost-effective, or easier for the customer.

These are all good things...yet we have no technology out there that will totally change of we operate as customer experience professionals.

I think I have found that technology, one that will change how brands service in the next five years.  It's not a call center and it's not an AI chatbot (well not really...).

Listen to this episode, tell me if we are crazy or not!

Blog Post Link:
https://expiviausa.com/the-one-technology-that-will-be-revolutionizing-the-customer-experience/

For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek:
Text us: 814.247.0366
Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel

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In this episode of "Advice from a Call Center Geek!",  we sit down with Jimmy Budnik, the VP of Customer Care and CRM at Overstock.com.

An engineer by trade, Jimmy takes to the role of VP of customer care at Overstock.com with one eye on the culture of his team and another on improving the customer experience through education and technology.

In this 30 minute interview, we tackle topics such as:

• Take a look behind the scenes at how Overstock handles the retail holiday season
• Understand how COVID-19 has affected the Overstock customer care model
• How Overstock is handling changing demographics and self-service
• What technologies are Overstock utilizing to improve the customer experience
• Jimmy's view on how analytics can better understand customer expectations
• How does Overstock view NPS in relation to customer/agent sentiment

Very insightful perspectives from an industry CX leader.  This episode is very technology-driven and will hopefully give you some insights into where customer care is moving to from the views of someone running one of the leading customer care models in the industry.

Follow Jimmy Budnik on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmybudnik/

Blog Post Link:
https://expiviausa.com/a-conversation-with-the-vp-of-customer-care-and-crm-at-overstock-com-jimmy-budnik/

For more info on Advice from a Call Center Geek:
Text us: 814.247.0366
Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel

Send us a text

Outsourcing is not for everyone, and we have been very open about that, in fact, we did an entire episode on 10 reasons why you should NOT outsource.

These 7 falsehoods though are topics that organizations that are new to call center outsourcing think are reasons why they would NEVER outsource.  

This is a false narrative.  In this episode, we talk specifically about these seven excuses for reasons not to outsource.

These are:

• Thinking you will love total control
• Quality will take a hit
• Not being able to integrate your data systems
• Your program is much to complex for an outsourcer
• Turnover will be high
• Security Concerns
• Issues with the cloud

Blog Post Link:
https://expiviausa.com/7-falsehoods-about-outsourcing-your-call-center/

 Text me: 814.247.0366
Follow me: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel

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Call Center Superbowl....

For many of us, that is what Black Friday and Cyber Monday are.  Over the years, we have come up with some tips that help make these high-traffic days go as smoothly as possible.

In this podcast we go over 7 call center tips for Black Friday:

No IT Updates This week
Look at Your Shrinkage %
Have a Motivation for Your Associates
Taking Care of Large Queues
Virtual Call Backs
Using Mon-Wed to Educate Your Associates
Document, Document, Document

Blog Post Link:
https://expiviausa.com/7-tips-to-make-black-friday-run-smoothly-in-your-contact-center/

Text me: 814.247.0366
Follow me: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel

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Speech analytics is an evolving tool that has use cases not yet thought of.

As we are evolving how we use the tool, we want to tell the Geek! community as a whole to possibly spur some thoughts on the best way to use analytics in your organization and to also increase the ROI for an analytics investment.

In this episode we talk about 10 unique ways that we see analytics being used:

1. Proactive Customer Service
2. Incenting Associates to be Nice
3. Generating Marketing Data
4. Finding out WHY?
5. Notating Frustration
6. Learning What the Real SLA Variance Should Be
7. Tracking Silence
8. Fraud Protection
9. Tracking Key Words and Competitors
10. Expanding Service to Other Channels

Blog Post Link:
https://expiviausa.com/10-unique-use-cases-for-speech-analytics/

Text me: 814.247.0366
Follow me: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel 

 Tom Laird’s 100% USA-based, AI-powered contact center. As the only outsourcing partner on the NICE CXone Customer Executive Council, Expivia is redefining what it means to be a CX tech partner. Learn more at expiviausa.com. 

Follow Tom: @tlaird_expivia
Join our Facebook Call Center Community: www.facebook.com/callcentergeek
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlairdexpivia/
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callcenter_geek
Linkedin Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9041993/
Watch us: Advice from a Call Center Geek Youtube Channel