Waiting for Service

Bob Furniss and I prognosticate on what the future of the contact center would look like.

• Starting with its mission
• What skills the people will need
• Goals and Metrics
• Reward and Incentive

Predictions are a risky game, so naturally I invited Bob to play. It is clear we are in for a wild ride. #customerservice #customerexperience

Live show with an in studio audience with my partner in crime Bob Furniss.

• What CX means
• Role of AI 
• Do we still need humans?
• How do you get buy in from senior leaders
• Much much more.

• Leadership lessons and career Mistakes
• How do you continue to grow in your career
• Bad bosses
• What makes a good boss 
• Servant leadership in practice

• Effort vs Delight
• Is effort sexy?
• Is empathy a skill or an Emotion
• What happens when you have to show empathy 27 times in a row
• What happens when the company sucks but the agents are good.
• Favorite customer survey question
• @bobfurniss

• Tell stories to be effective
• 6:00 Why it is a tough gig
• 7:29 Agents picks their own supervisors
• 9:00 Recognize good agents
• 9:37 What do you read
• 11:00 Are you a traffic cop or a leader
• 13:32 Tips for gaming the stats system
• 19:28 The YMCA coaching method

Attached is a must read list

Show Notes:

• I start the show talking about my biggest career regret
• Bob shares his opportunity to be one of the first Fedex employees
• Interviewing for a job is like dating - everyone lies on the first date. Find a way to find out who your future boss is, pick the wrong one and you are screwed.
• At any stage in your career you are, find a wave and ride it. Bob found Salesforce a decade ago before it became big in the service world.
• I ask Bob about how he got comfortable bringing his whole self to work
• Without warning I asked Bob about his daughter - Keesha, who passed away after a grueling battle with Cancer. It was emotional and powerful testimony on how his Why fuels him every day.
• Bob talked about intimacy with your employees

Learn more about Keesha's story at http://www.warriorprincess.org

Follow Bob @Bobfurniss

• Bob Furniss is a 40 Year veteran of the space
• Customer Service Agent and Supervisor are the toughest jobs in the space
• Human emotion has a formula that is changing in real time
• As you improve Self Service the CS job gets harder 
• Level 1 customer Service is going out of business
• Best Practices/Benchmarking should be you comparing customer's latest expectations with your level of service
• Focus on getting a little better every day
• Employees over Customers

- Odds are against you

- Why are the odds against you?

- What can you do?

-Explore gen 1, gen 2 and gen 3 service employees

-What skills do you need now