“This Industry is Ever-Changing, and You Need to...Quickly Adapt.”

Each month, we’re featuring a member of ICMI’s Strategic Advisory Board. This group of industry thought leaders, practitioners, and solution providers helps ICMI keep tabs on customer insights and contact center market developments, and ensures that our content offerings are aligned with industry best practices and that our products evolve at pace to serve the community, and grow industry relationships.

This month, we’re featuring Brenda Kross, of Quickbooks Online, where she has served as Experience Delivery Manager, Customer Care Manager, and Customer Support Manager.

Could you describe your current role?

Quickbooks Online Experience Delivery Leader – I am the operational liaison between Intuit and our outsourced vendors. We ensure staffing is accurate and experts have the knowledge and tools to ensure their success, while also monitoring the performance of the vendor to ensure they are delivering an amazing customer experience.

What, in your opinion, are the characteristics of someone who is successful long-term in this industry?

Flexibility – This industry is ever-changing and you need to be able to quickly adapt to the changes to meet your customers’ needs and expectations.

Empathy – Customers and employees are dealing with frustrating issues. The ability to understand where they are coming from and communicating that you understand can make all the difference.

Communication – The ability to listen and ensure you have a good understanding of the issue/concern, and then to clearly communicate to the customer/agent your understanding and the resolution.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with those who are just setting out on a career path in the contact center industry?

Learn all of the various roles within the contact center and understand how they align and work together and impact one another. This will enable you to be a better partner and know who/what resources are needed to solve the issues/concerns that come up.

There have been so many changes in the contact center industry, both because of new technology and because of the COVID-19 crisis. How do you feel those changes will shape the industry in the next decade?

We will definitely see more work-at-home/remote workers within the industry. This has accelerated that model. We are also seeing more channels for contact. SMS text is now more popular in some areas, and there is a higher focus on social media and the impacts that can have on a company’s brand.

It’s clear by your participation on the board that you believe in the role of mentorship in the contact center industry. Can you share a valuable lesson you learned from a mentor, and share who that mentor was?

Pam Plyler, Executive Consultant for Salesforce, said that whenever you are dealing with an initiative or change in a contact center, always consider what the impact is to your agents and what the impact is to the customer. Ensure that you are setting your agents up for success and that you are making it easy for customers to get their issues/concerns resolved and receive an awesome experience.