ICMI's Top 5 Articles of June 2019

By The Editors | Published: June 28, 2019 | Comments

There's never been a more exciting time to work in customer service, but delivering exceptional customer experiences requires continual learning. At ICMI, we're committed to equipping you with the tools, resources, and knowledge you need to lead your team to success. In this monthly article roundup series, we'll highlight the five most-read articles of the month on icmi.com. Missed them the first time around? Add them to your to-be-read list. These resources will help you keep your skills sharp and stay ahead of the trends.

Featured Friday Reading

Top Five ICMI.com Articles of June 2019:

1. Tips for Coping with Stress at Work by Jenny Dempsey

Do you ever have those days when you feel like you're rushing from one thing to the next, being pulled in a thousand directions, and struggling to keep up with the workload? We all have those days! The good news? Jenny Dempsey has some practical tips that will help you cope. If you haven't already, be sure to read her article for stress-busting techniques you can use immediately.

2. Help Agents Manage Emotions During Difficult Interactions by Karin Hurt

Working on the frontlines of customer service can take an emotional toll. Trying to help angry customers is hard, and often exhausting. And on particularly stressful days, it's not uncommon for contact center agents to lose their cool. In this article, Karin Hurt shares a few ways you can help agents better respond during demanding customer interactions.

3. Two-thirds of CX Initiatives Fail. How Can We Fix This? by Erica Marois, Nate Brown

Customer experience work is often quite lonely. While most businesses claim to be customer-centric and focused on delivering outstanding customer experiences, driving meaningful, sustainable change is difficult. Without executive support, it can be impossible. If you're struggling with CX initiatives, watch this candid, insightful interview with Nate Brown, co-founder of CX Accelerator.

4. Boost Morale by Giving Every Agent an Automated Manager by Mary Ann Chandler

Morale is a top challenge for members of the ICMI community, and it's easy to understand why. Serving customers isn't just stressful; it's often thankless. Imagine being able to offer agents more consistent breaks, real-time support, and a more exciting variety of work. You can! This article on advancements in contact center automation explains how.

5. Decision Trees—Hidden Heroes of Contact Centers by Chris Rall

There's no shortage of data in the contact center and managing all it is becoming more and more overwhelming. Making sure agents have easy access to the most accurate information is critical. Enter decision trees. If you're not familiar with the concept, you'll want to read this article and learn how to supercharge your knowledge base.

We are all striving to be better. Whether it’s being better people, better leaders, or better organizations, improvement and advancement is at the heart of our daily intentions. For the contact center, this mission of constant improvement is fundamental to every interaction. We need to meet the expectations of our customers in ways that improve their satisfaction and brand loyalty. We need to improve employee engagement as we build their skills, knowledge, and experience in ways that grow their own loyalty and improve retention. We need to improve our organization’s operational efficiencies in ways that drive revenue and improve the bottom line.

No one understands the contact center’s focus on improvement like ICMI does. We champion contact centers and their people, and our mission is to make both better every day. Through training, consulting, content and events, we unite the community and empower contact centers to serve their customers better, engage their employees more, and improve the customer experience.

Topics: AI, Customer Experience, Morale

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