The Calling (formerly The Agile Contact Centre Podcast)

Ryan Klausner is the Head of Customer Experience at Who Gives A Crap. Who Gives A Crap is one of Australia’s leading toilet paper subscription services and operates as a profit-for-purpose social enterprise that donates a portion of the profits to improving sanitation for people around the world.

In this episode, Ryan discusses how to turn a contact centre into a value centre, the role of AI and balancing technology with human empathy, and the importance of cultivating a good employee experience. He also shares the challenges of operating a contact centre through the pandemic and the lessons he learned from those experiences.

Resources and links:

• Who Gives A Crap website
• Ryan Klausner on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Cameron Geason is the General Manager of Retail Operations at Origin Energy. Origin Energy is one of Australia's largest energy providers and delivers electricity, gas, and LPG for more than 4 million customers nationwide.

In this episode, Cameron reflects on his career and how contact centres have evolved throughout his career. He talks about how Origin has incorporated AI into their operation and how their unique contact centre configuration is better for employees and customers.

Resources and links:

• Origin Energy website
• Cameron Geason on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Simon Kriss is the Chief Innovation Officer at the Customer Experience Innovation Institute (CXII) and the author of ‘The AI Empowered Customer Experience’. The Customer Experience Innovation Institute aims to change how businesses engage with customers using innovative strategies, insights, and research.

In this episode, Simon shares his insights into how AI can improve contact centre operations and customer engagement. He discusses the differences between traditional and generative AI, how AI has evolved in the CX space, and how businesses can begin incorporating AI in small but meaningful ways.

Resources and links:

• Purchase ‘The AI Empowered Customer Experience’ here
• Customer Experience Innovation Institute website
• Simon Kriss’s website
• Simon Kriss on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Marc Stickdorn is the CEO and Co-founder of Smaply. Smaply is a software design company specialising in journey mapping and management software used by businesses worldwide.

In this episode, Marc explores what service design is and how to use it to improve customer and employee experiences using journey mapping. He emphasises the value of focusing on system design rather than KPIs and explains how Smaply 3.0 can improve the customer experience through more effective journey management.

Resources and links:

• Smaply website
• Marc Stickdorn’s website
• Marc Stickdorn on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Greg Curcio is the Director of Customer and Performance for Knox City Council. Knox is located in Melbourne’s southeast and is one of Victoria’s most populous municipalities with over 165,000 residents calling Knox home.

In this episode, Greg shares his journey to Knox City Council and emphasises the importance of community engagement and maintaining the human element in the contact centre. He explains the unique challenges faced by contact centres for local government including the need for operators to manage everything from rates to who to call when you need a tree cut down.

Resources and links:

• Knox City Council website
• Greg Curcio on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Sharon Melamed is the Founder and Managing Director of Matchboard. Matchboard is a matchmaking service between companies and suppliers to take the hard work out of making business connections.

In this episode, Sharon shares how a love of matchmaking in her personal life led her to found Matchboard. She also explains how living and working overseas in Japan and the U.S.A. influenced her approach to customer service and what lessons she’s brought home to Australia.

Resources and links:

• Matchboard website
• Sharon Melamed on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

At the time of this interview, Hefin Evans was the Head of Service for the Asia-Pacific region for Philips. Philips is a leading provider of healthcare technology and medical equipment to improve the health and well-being of communities globally.

In this episode, Hefin shares his leadership journey and highlights the importance of balancing effective leadership, employee satisfaction, and customer happiness. He discusses how geographic and cultural differences impact the customer’s expectations for service in different regions and how Philips uses an engineer-led contact centre model combined with AI to deliver service.

Resources and links:

• Philips website
• Hefin Evans on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Jaquie Scammell is the CEO and Founder of Service Q and has written several books on CX. Service Q creates and delivers culture transformation programs for businesses that want to change how they engage with customers and clients.

In this episode, Jaquie shares her career journey and how her understanding of service culture has developed over time. She discusses the contents of her latest book, ‘The Future of Service is 5D’ and the importance of mindsets, habits, and resilience in providing excellent customer services, particularly during challenging times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of all, Jaquie emphasises that the future of service lies with human connection and empathy.

Resources and links:

• Service Q website
• “The Future of Service is 5D” website
• Jaquie Scammell’s website
• Jaquie Scammell on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Adrian Swinscoe is a Customer Experience Advisor and the Author of “Punk CX”. For over 25 years, Adrian has worked with businesses to break the mould and take a more punk approach to the customer experience.

In this episode, Adrian explains the Punk CX philosophy and what it means to embody the values of “investigation, agitation, and instigation”. 

Resources and links:

• Punk CX website
• Adrian Swinscoe’s website
• Adrian Swinscoe on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

AI has been on the lips of every industry in recent years, with contact centres particularly embracing the technology for servicing customers. Can it improve the employee experience as well?

Luke Jamieson is a Solutions Consultant with Upland Software and a thought leader in EX and CX. Throughout his career, he has focused on exploring growth and opportunity in the customer service industry and has committed himself to finding creative solutions to common problems. 

In this episode, Luke digs into AI and the opportunity it presents to improve the employee experience by providing meaningful, impactful changes to their work life. He also gives a sneak preview of his upcoming book about creating sustainable employee engagement and how to use AI to ignite the creative “spark”.

Resources and links:

• Luke Jamieson website
• Luke Jamieson on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Callo Consulting website
• Sean McGinn on LinkedIn
• Arnold Ho on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.