Reports

This complimentary report is on a survey of European consumers who use social networks on a regular basis provides companies with information on consumer preferences and expectations of customer services provided through the social media channel.

13 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader)

Call centers vary tremendously in size and mission, but ICMI has found that the best managed call centers around the world have a number of qualities in common.

In this special report, ICMI senior advisor and former president and CEO, Brad Cleveland, explains what these traits are and lays out a blueprint for call center managers who seek to make their call center one of the very best.

27 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader)

This classic trilogy of Call Center Management Review articles by former ICMI President and CEO, Brad Cleveland, offers timeless insight into fundamental incoming call center management concepts. It's definitely required reading for everyone in call center management, from supervisor to CEO.

Calculating and Budgeting Call Center FTE Requirements

• Why Staff Shrinkage Perplexes Your CFO -- and Shrinks Your Budget, by Brad Cleveland
• The Science and Judgement behind FTE Budgets, by Brad Cleveland
• Troubleshooting FTE Requirements, by Brad Cleveland

9 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader)

Call center jobs are rapidly evolving in response to new technology, multiple customer access channels and heightened customer expectations. Is your compensation policy keeping pace? Learn about other call centers' compensation levels, strategies for maximizing your compensation budget's effectiveness and the importance of aligning compensation practices with your call center's culture and the expectations you have for your agents.

Call Center Compensation

• Companies' Belt-Tightening Measures Revealed in Flatter Pay Increases, by Susan Hash
• Compensation: Motivate Without Burying Budgets, by Dan Coen
• A Candid Conversation on Call Center Compensation, by Mary Beth Ingram

9 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader)

Greg Levin is the self-proclaimed--and self-medicated--"King of Call Center Satire." For years his "In Your Ear" column has raised eyebrows and induced belly laughs with outlandish articles on everything from "call monitoring junkies" to "rep cloning."

It must be noted that Greg's articles are intended for entertainment purposes only. Using them to guide the management of your call center can cause severe damage to your health and reputation as a competent professional.

This trio of Call Center Q & A columns is an irreverent, random collection of farcical suggestions that you just may find yourself tempted to try.

7 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader)

Greg Levin is the self-proclaimed -- and self-medicated -- "King of Call Center Satire." For years his "In Your Ear" column has raised eyebrows and induced belly laughs with outlandish articles on everything from "call monitoring junkies" to "rep cloning."

It must be noted that Greg's articles are intended for entertainment purposes only. Using them to guide the management of your call center can cause severe damage to your health and reputation as a competent professional.

If you've been involved with a technology implementation, you'll get a kick out of these three articles. Greg's advice about call center technology is absurd, of course, yet strangely familiar. And we admit his portayal of technology vendors is downright mean, but it's kind of like watching someone get a whipped cream pie in the face -- it's hysterical if you're not on the receiving end.

• The Almost Definitive Guide to E-Business in the Call Center
• Some More Really State-of-the-Art Call Center Technology
• An Uncensored Guide to Vendor Selection

6 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader)

Greg Levin is the self-proclaimed -- and self-medicated -- "King of Call Center Satire." For years his "In Your Ear" column has raised eyebrows and induced belly laughs with outlandish articles on everything from "call monitoring junkies" to "rep cloning."

It must be noted that Greg's articles are intended for entertainment purposes only. Using them to guide the management of your call center can cause severe damage to your health and reputation as a competent professional.

C'mon, admit it, we've all picked up one of those "self-help" books at least once or a dozen times, hoping to learn how to turn around all the disappointing aspects of our lives or careers. You may think that if you've read one self-help guide you've read them all, but then you haven't read Greg's advice before. In this collection of columns, Greg mercilessly lampoons traditional management improvement efforts and the managers most in need of them.

• Five Habits of Highly Unsuccessful Call Center Professionals
• Call Center Boot Camp
• Should You Be Here?

6 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader)

It takes a significant amount of information to effectively manage a call center. That has always been the case, even in the relatively straightforward telephone-centric centers of yesteryear. But throw in proliferating channels of communication, an ever-increasing range of responsibilities and the competitive necessity to track customer interactions at deeper levels, and the task of collecting and interpreting call center reports becomes even more daunting.

The articles in this bundle, from the pages of Call Center Management Review, offers fundamental guidelines to help you to set the appropriate metrics and goals for your staff and operation.

• Call Center Metrics How Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are Evolving
• How to Translate ASA into Service Level Requirements
• Creating Balanced Measures in a Multichannel World
• Establishing and Meeting Call Center Performance Objectives: Three-Part Series
• Are Your Processes Too Complicated? Take the Call Center Complexity Quiz
• Understanding How Queues Behave
• Forecast Accuracy: The Most Important Metric You’re Not Measuring

28 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader)

Customer care outsourcing is showing no signs of slowing down. When should you consider an outsourcing partnership? How do you find the right service provider? The articles in this bundle, from the pages of Call Center Management Review, offer insights into call center outsourcing trends and practices, outsourcing partner relations, plus take a look at the top hotspots for offshore and nearshore outsourcing.

• The Outsourcing Evolution: Economic Trends Make It a More Viable Option
• A Four-Step Process for Landing the Ideal Outsource Provider
• Indian Outsourcing Firms Set for Explosive Growth
• The Smaller Side of Outsourcing
• The Evolving Role of Mexico in Nearshore Site Selection
• Saving Local Jobs in a Global Economy
• South Africa: A Diamond in the Rough for Offshore Outsourcing?

19 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader)

Are all of the elements of your call center aligned and functioning smoothly? Can you identify weak spots or areas for improvement? These two quick assessments will help you uncover useful knowledge and identified specific activities that need to be tracked and understood. Although not meant to be an all-inclusive audit, it will point you in the right direction.

• The Quick Call Center Assessment Outline by Brad Cleveland
• Are Your Processes Too Complicated? Take the Call Center Complexity Quiz by Tim Montgomery

8 pages, PDF download (requires Adobe Acrobat or Reader