The Contact Center Blog

NCOF 08 - An Exhibitor's Perspective

The 24-7 INtouch team just got back from NCOF 2008 in Orlando last week and overall I think the show was pretty successful. We can never really define success from an ROI perspective until our sales team has the time to follow up on the leads generated from the show. But overall, here is my critique for the main elements we look for in a tradeshow (out of 5 star rating):

1) General Traffic -  2.5/5

The traffic in the exhibit hall was very low this year, which was surprising to us and also many of the other exhibitors. We definitely expected to see more people at the show which was a little disappointing. The attendee to exhibitor ratio seemed very low. There were several reasons that could explain the slow traffic, one being the American Airlines flight cancellations. AA canceled 3,300 flights over 5 days last week effecting travel for over a quarter million people. I guarantee some of those where destined to Orlando for the show. But a few things that could be controlled by the show management was the amount of breaks in the hall. There were very few traffic drivers into the hall (the "Food Factor" discussed in a previous posting) and also they closed the hall for 3 hours in the middle of the day! Last, the Exhibit hall was pretty far (downstairs) from the attendee tracks which made it easy for attendees to miss the hall.

2) Show Location - 4/5

The Gaylord Palms Resort was a very nice venue and since it was a little secluded it ensured many of the attendees would stay at the resort. This allowed for additional meetings with clients and also no one was in a rush to leave.

3) Attendees - 3.5/5

Out of the people we did speak to, many of them were very receptive of our services. They seemed interested and many were decision makers. Again, we have to wait for 6 months to see how interested they really were but, overall we were satisfied with who we were speaking to.

Those are my overall thoughts. I think I would give it a 3/5 using other shows we attend as a benchmark. We are attending next year again, so I still believe in the value of NCOF. If anyone would like to share their experience at the show I would love to hear from you! All comments welcome! Most of our competitors at the show were pretty forthcoming on how they thought the show was going, which is nice to see. There is nothing like a little friendly competition!

- MK

February Call Center Absorption

Site Selection Group, LLC just released their February numbers for call center openings and closings for the month. The company researches the absorption of the call center and back office jobs across the world and releases the numbers on a monthly basis.

For February 2008, they report "Our research identified the creation of 12,285 call center jobs at 27 facilities and the displacement of 2,675 call center jobs at 14 facilities." The following table identifies the employers creating jobs during February of 2008:

ACCM Early Registration Savings

Mark your calendars for the Annual Conference for Catalog and Multichannel Merchants (ACCM) taking place in Orlando, Florida on May 19-22, 2008.

The ACCM is one of the only conferences devoted to merchants who need to understand, segment and market to today's customers and prospects across an array of media. ACCM will help you focus on the strategies you need to successfully integrate your catalog, web, store, phone, sales force, e-mail and other channels.

To REGISTER visit - www.accm4me.com/merch. If you register by March 7th you will save up to $100 on a full conference pass. Use savings code E05.

24-7 INtouch (Booth 607) will be at this event along with other call center outsources such as AnswerNet, Cyber City, Hamilton Call Center, and Midco.

- MK

Yahoo Says NO to Microsoft

To follow up from my previous post regarding the Yahoo/MSN Merger, Yahoo has rejected Microsoft's offer and find it "inadequate" and "undervalues the company". With a price of $31 offered, pundits are reporting Yahoo will not take anything lower than $40.

The Industry Standard reported, "Yahoo said that its management team, along with financial and legal advisors, believe the offer doesn't reflect cash flow, earnings potential, or recent investments in its advertising platform."

- MK

Calling all Catalog, Online, and Multi-channel Retailers

Registration is now open for NCOF 2008. The Operations & Fulfillment Conference will take place through April 7-10, 2008 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, in Orlando FL. To register visit www.ncof.com.

New this year - Zappos.com Keynote. Benchmark Results on: Fulfillment, Returns, Contact Center, DC Trends. Session Tracks: Distribution Mgmt, Customer Experience; People Mgmt, Material Handling.

Call centers attending the show as exhibitors include 24-7 INtouch , Cyber City Teleservices, Global Response, Midco Call Center, The Connection, and USA 800.

I personally will be at the show so please feel free to stop by Booth #608 to discuss how you can contribute to the Contact Center Blog, or just to say hello!

- MK

2008 MCM Awards for Catalogers

Multichannel Merchant has announced entries for The 2008 MCM Awards asking online retailers to submit their website and/or catalog by Jan.25th. This is a great award which represent the industry’s top honors for b-to-b and b-to-c multichannel marketers. Finalists will be announced in April, and presentation ceremonies will be held during their 2008 Annual Conference for Catalog, Internet and Multichannel Merchants (ACCM) . This year the conference will be held in Orlando, Florida in May.  Winners are also featured in Multichannel Merchant Magazine's Annual Awards issue in September 2008.

The awards are based on various criteria such as cover page, copy, design, merchandise, customer service and ordering, and navigation of website. Winners last year included Black Box Corp, Crutchfield Corp,  L.L. Bean, Harry & David, and more. Check out a full list of last year's winners.

The online entry form can be found here - multichannelmerchant.com/toolbox/awards/.

- MK

Home Depot Closes Call Center

I came across this article on MSNBC and thought it might interest some readers. You can find the full article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22090094/from/ET/:

Home Depot Cuts 750 Jobs

By DAVE SIMANOFF and JEROME R. STOCKFISCH , The Tampa Tribune

updated 12:41 a.m. ET, Tues., Dec. 4, 2007

BRANDON - The Home Depot is laying off 750 people locally and closing its call center in Brandon.

The Atlanta-based retail giant, known for its home improvement warehouse stores and bright orange work aprons, said the shutdown is a prudent business decision and part of a wider initiative to bring some customer service functions back into the stores.

Employees at the call center primarily helped Home Depot customers get prices and schedule appointments for installation services. Once the center closes on Jan. 28, the stores will handle those tasks.

"It's an effort to improve the customer experience, and also part of an effort to find savings from outside the store to help us invest in the store," said spokesman Stephen Holmes.--> READ FULL STORY

- MK

Choosing the Right Tradeshow

It’s around that time of year when I am working on our marketing plans for 2008 and of course trying to justify an ROI for our marketing budget. Over the last 4 years, the tradeshow category has been increasing significantly with respect to our overall % budget spend, which contrasts industry trends where more money is being put into online marketing initiatives. I really believe in the value of tradeshows and think they are a great opportunity for our sales team to interact directly with our clients face to face. That said, exhibiting at a show is a large marketing investment for our company (as we like to do a lot promotions) and it can be a difficult decision to select the right show for our company.

Choosing a Show

I like to try and attend a show before making the decision to exhibit. This allows me to get a feel of the floor, who is currently exhibiting, and the experience overall “vibe” in the exhibit hall.  You never really know until you walk the floor. I was recently at the DMA show in Chicago and spent some time talking to other call centers such as The Connection, 800USA, Centris, and Intelemedia Communications. They were all very welcoming and told me their view on the show and what success they have had so far. I originally though other vendors might not like the competition seeking intelligence, but to my surprise everyone was very open to sharing their thoughts.

Here are a couple key factors I have found in selecting the right show:

§          Fit – make sure you are picking a show that you know is a good fit with your target market. Don’t just go where your competitors are going as they might have more success due their positioning. For example, I would not recommend 24-7 INtouch going to a marketing show largely focused on direct response, like the ERA. This is not the best fit for our call center even though many other centers we compete against frequent these types of shows.

§          Booth location – this is very important for organic traffic. If you have a smaller booth it is always a good idea to find another exhibitor who might draw traffic you can feed off of. Of course, if you want to do a show right, you need to spend the money to drive your own traffic and promote your location on all other marketing channels. But keep in mind most shows have some sort of pecking order for booth selection. You might need to compromise for the first couple years until you earn some points.

§          Food – probably one less talked about, but the great shows according to attendees are the ones that give out good food (people go crazy over the big cookies!). It’s a great traffic driver into the exhibit hall. When looking through the agenda, try and see if the show organizers are doing a good job of driving traffic into the hall for breakfast, dessert, lunch, etc. Only a couple shows in my opinion are really good at doing this, one being IRCE.

Be Realistic

My last advice is to be realistic when choosing to attend a tradeshow from a budget perspective. It is probably better to spend more money at a few shows than spend just a little at many…get more bang for your buck. If you think spending $10K is scary then you might need to reconsider. 24-7 INtouch usually spends about $25K – $35K just on exhibiting at the show (for a 10x20 space). Add in some sponsorships and your costs can double (or even triple).

Also, have a long term strategy. There is a reason why I met a couple call centers who have being at the DMA show for 10+ years! They do it every year and people begin to expect them to be there. Talking to a couple peers, this was not always a good thing, as they felt they had to go back each year even if the ROI was not there. They said, if you didn’t show up one year your clients would wonder what was wrong with your business!

Alright, back to my budget planning…

- MK

Considering the Rising Canadian Dollar

Traditionally, the Canadian/US exchange rate has favored the American client. Recently this has changed due to the rising value of the Canadian dollar. Many people have asked me why U.S. clients are continuing to choose Canadian and other near-shore options for outsourcing? The answer is that Canada can still offer a few key advantages:

• Lower turnover. Comparing records on Statistics Canada and the U.S. Department of Labor sites, we can see that in spite of the healthy Canadian economy the U.S. still maintain an average lower unemployment rate then Canada, which leads to lower turnover of employees. This creates more stability of staff translating to better consistency in service quality.
• Better Education. When choosing an outsourcer, you are choosing their agents to speak with your contacts and represent your organizations. Canada statistically has a more highly educated workforce. According to a study done a few year ago by The Urban Institute, about 8% more of the Canadian workforce have obtained at least a high-school diploma.
• Pricing. Yes, that’s right, we’re still generally less expensive up here. How? According to jobfutures.ca it’s a generally higher standard of living at a lower wage. In the U.S. the national mean hourly wage for contact centers is $11.63, where as the average in Canada is only $10.60.

Outsourcing to near-shore centers has always worked well due to geographical proximities and cultural similarities. Canada has been the near-shore leader for over a decade now and there's more than one reason for that. If you’re considering outsourcing, I recommend calling on a few Canadian companies and let them give you their best shot.

I think you’ll be impressed.

-Jeff Fettes

Contact Center Best Practices Report

I received an email communication from the CCEOC promoting their best practices report. I thought it might be of interest to call center professionals out there.

This report brings up the discussion - what makes YOUR contact center a GREAT place to work? With high attrition rates in our industry and once great call center communities saturating, it is becoming increasingly important to create a culture that fits with your company brand and helps retain good employees.

Based on 24-7 INtouch's strategy, we keep our environment small and intimate enough to create a positive culture and supportive atmosphere for all employees, especially frontline staff. If Sally knows that she will let her team down by "calling in sick", she might think twice before doing so. We'd also want her to want to come into work because she enjoys who she works with, albeit the actual role is very challenging. Other things in my opinion that make a great call center environment are the little things like being heard and having support - again which can usually only take place within a smaller work community. Of course leadership must also foster this and encourage communication between all levels of the company.

I would like to open the discussion up to see what readers think makes a contact center a great place to work - comments anyone?

MK

Welcome! An Introduction....

Hi, I'm Maya Kotecha and I will be one of the main contributing authors on this blog. I'm currently the Director of Marketing & Corporate Strategy at 24-7 INtouch. My role is to keep our company current through new marketing and communication campaigns (like this blog for example!). To learn a little more about me, please check my bio on our corporate site or view my LinkedIn profile.

My personal goal for this blog is to provide some insight and expertise on all things contact center. I will share my ideas and give my comments on topics related to the outsourcing industry and those industries where our clients reside - online retail, automotive, financial services, food and beverage, etc. I plan to focus more on marketing, sales, and general strategy as that is my area of interest. Please feel free to make comments and stimulate some good conversation. This blog is all about communication with other industry professionals and those who are interested in learning more about outsourcing and the dynamics behind an outsourced contact center.

Happy reading!

Welcome to the Contact Center Blog!

Well folks, here it is, finally, at long last, the contact center blog has arrived.  What is the contact center blog you ask?  The general idea was to create a blog where people who are stakeholders in contact center outsourcing companies, whether it be clients, suppliers, partners, or even outsourcers themselves can have open discussions on all things contact center.   Whether it be topics like operations, new technology, driving volumes, workforce, human resources or whatever, we want to encourage open and honest communication in our industry.

I'm sure your next question is "who the heck is this guy?"  Well, my name is Greg Fettes, and I am the President and CEO of 24-7 INtouch, a contact center outsourcer based in Canada.  You can check out my LinkedIN profile or visit the about us area on the 24-7 INtouch website.  At the risk of sounding too "salesy" (a big no-no on this blog from here on!), we have been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in Canada two years in a row and pride ourselves in being a true leader in innovation for technology, process, and management in contact centers.  In fact, that is the underlying reason this blog got started.  It was a way to create a community that will push the industry in a new direction.  In the coming months you will see guest authors from inside and outside the contact center world make posts on different issues concerning contact centers.  But here's the trick; we are depending on you, the readers, to make comments and push discussions forward.  Maybe you agree, maybe you disagree, or maybe you have experiences that you can share that will bring the conversation in a new direction.  We will not be censoring posts or comments for any reason (except vulgarity of course!) so you will be free to absolutely speak your mind.   Anyways, enough background already, lets get on to the blog!

My plan for posting comments on the contact center blog will be to follow a somewhat similar format each week.  I am hoping to post regularly once per week on Mondays and have a few random posts throughout the week.  Please feel free to give feedback on the blog in general as my goal is to make it as useful and informative as possible.

Thanks and happy blogging!

GF