ACCE Surprises

I shared earlier that I had the opportunity to speak at the ACCE (Annual Call Center Expo) conference in Seattle with my friend and co-author Scott Thomas. It was nice to spend some time with people that are the back-bone of customer service in America. Over the course of three days I had several surprising moments:

1. The were more Quality Management vendors at the trade show than any other. In addition to the companies that have been leaders in the market segment – Nice, Witness, e-talk and more – there seems to be ten to twenty other companies that are marketing a way to record calls. I find it interesting in a world where the level of customer service provided on the phone has actually decreased – we are now recording more calls than ever before. Ten years ago it was new technology – now it is a given for most medium to large companies.

2. Microsoft made their presence known on the trade show floor with a large booth. They have a contact management product. I have read about them entering the CRM market with plans to dominate – it was the first time I can remember them being at a call center conference.

3. In our session, we asked the participants how many of them were allowing their agents to listen to their own calls – 80% of the people said they were. I believe this is THE most effective way to improve the performance of the agents – they are often harder on themselves than we are when we monitor and score their performance.

4. I believe there is a shift occurring in American call centers – away from trying to save money and to trying to improve the customer experience (which of course improves the top-line over time). It is excited to hear people in the sessions sharing stories of how they are improving the customer experience. Companies understand that loyalty among their frontline employees is important – and usually leads to more happier and more loyal customers.

If you did not get the chance to attend ACCE this year – I would recommend that you add the plans to your 2007 budget. The conference is moving to San Diego next year! We are hoping to have the chance to take our live radio show (The QUE – Radio for the Call Center Generation) to the next level next year!