The American Heart Association Site Tour

A highlight of this year's Call Center Demo & Conference is the opportunity to participate in a tour of one of four local call centers. On Tuesday afternoon, I had the privilege of accompanying a group of contact center professionals as they visited the American Heart Association's National Service Center in Richardson, T.X.

ICMI's site tour participants received a hearty Howdy! when we arrived at the NSC’s "Ranch."  We were greeted in the front lobby by members of the staff, each dressed up like cowgirls and boys, and then personally escorted to the next room for a presentation. In fact, the whole 80-seat center was decked out in Old West paraphernalia, from the "Wanted" posters on the walls to the little toy cowboys that lined each table in the conference room.

Patricia Bolivar, Customer Service Manager, and Robin McDonald, Project Manager, were our hosts, along with their entire team of supervisors and specialists. Our afternoon was packed with informative presentations from the staff, focusing on their dedication to excellent customer service - and employee engagement! This customer service center boasts a 6% attrition rate, which they proudly attribute to maintaining a compelling, supportive workplace that celebrates its staff on a regular basis.

We learned about their practices for keeping employees engaged, as well as an overview of their training and evaluation processes. The NSC team also shared with us their models for measuring VOC and the technology they use every day. They also took the time to answer dozens of questions from the ICMI tour group before giving us a quick tour of their facility. Of course, there was also time for a bit of fun stuff – the NSC team graciously provided drinks and snacks and held a raffle for several "goodie bags" that they put together.
 
Overall, a wonderful and enlightening experience!