Bob Furniss

I recently had a conversation with one of my colleagues in the industry.  We talked about why one company struggles with turnover and low morale while another company flourishes?  We came to the conclusion that the answer is often leadership! As we continued to talk, this story unfolded.

He told me a story of how a CEO was recently talking to a group of his customer service folks about how important they were to the success of the company. After the meeting, one of the frontline people approached him afterwards and was “beaming.” She told him that he made her want to run from the meeting and solve all customer problems. I asked him what the CEO said that would have that kind of impact on an employee. He said it was pretty basic – in fact, the CEO said he was sure he had said much of it before in other management meetings – but that somehow the message was not getting through to the frontline.

He said that in the...

What a great day. I spoke this morning at the ACCA group (Austin Contact Center Alliance) annual meeting. ACCA is one of the best-run local call center groups in the country. Jewell Parker and the board do a great job. And I don’t say that because they have asked me to speak three years in a row – but because it is true! I was honored to be on the agenda again this year.

My topic was Social Media in the Call Center (Contact Center, Interaction Center, Social Media Center – whatever you call it). The key learning that I attempted to share was that social medial is happening already for most companies. The question is how is the call center engaged in the experience. Customers are probably talking about your company on the web – blogs, Yammer, Twitter, YouTube, FaceBook, and many other social places. So, if the noise is out there, my question is, “what are you doing about it?”

The most asked...

I recently had the privilege recently to take a tour of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. St. Jude is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility in the world. The discoveries made there have changed how the world treats children with cancer and catastrophic diseases. It is a place where cutting-edge research happens every day. And what is even more amazing is that all patients are accepted without regard to the family’s ability to pay. The tour was amazing and reminded me of how blessed I am as a parent.

It was also my honor to have more than the standard tour - a former patient conducted my tour. As we walked though the halls of the hospital she shared a perspective that was different. When she described what it was like to pull-up to the front door with her mom and to get out of the car and check herself in for the daily treatment, the perspective and the details were very real. I will never look at St. Jude or the kids of...

It seems to happen with every generation. We look behind us and think - they are end of the world as we know it. My generation saw the he Gen-Xers as skaters and slackers - but today they are running corporations.

At the edge of the Gen-Xers are the Millennials (defined as born after 1980), they are the new workforce.  They gave us Google, Facebook and Twitter. And they seem to be doing a pretty good job raising families and improving our lives.  But in the area of customer service and support, they perhaps offer a special problem for leaders.

While their attention span is short, they have high expectations for success. Their measurement of success is not necessarily being “number 1″ but in “doing something that matters in life. Remember, they have been given trophies all their life, not for winning but for participating!

They are the most connected generation every. They have never known a day without a TV remote...