Often, the first interaction that customers have with your company is with your phone system, and a good first impression is critical to the relationship with these customers. This requires great, well-designed call flows. There are many articles, videos, and classes devoted to this subject.

They cover topics such as the following:

In many cases, the first thing a customer hears when calling into your phone system is a recorded prompt – perhaps something like “Thank you for calling XYZ! For sales, press 1. For support, press 2.” This relatively simple prompt creates a first impression of your organization that may be difficult to change. Whether it is a greeting, menu, or compliance message, the prompts a customer hears should accurately reflect your business and give them a positive impression… even if they haven’t actually spoken to an employee.

Something important crashes to the floor from the desk in the rush to get to your phone for the executive conference call you were supposed to join three minutes ago. After looking up the number and quickly punching it into the handset, you hear “bee-Bee-BEE. Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number…”

A quick Google search for call troubleshooting tips returns a few possible first steps:

• Everything is true, look for what isn’t
• Keep an open mind
• Maintain complete objectivity]
• Trust your data

It wasn’t very long ago that I was shopping for a very specific product and learned that a specialty retail outlet had just what I needed. Three days later, I had an opening in my morning schedule, which made it possible for me to go and pick it up. I called the store to make sure that they were open, no answer…

The Contact Center 2011 conference continued on Wednesday. Many more great speakers presented. Here are a few of the highlights I picked up from the day.

Change thought for the day: “Home agents – if you’re not doing it, do it. If you are doing it, it’s time to expand it. All of the excuses to not do it are gone.”

We hear so much about customer satisfaction, but is “satisfaction” enough? Moving a step beyond to delighting – even astonishing — our customers helps build loyalty that keeps customers coming back. What does it take to create an astonishing experience? I had one of those experiences recently and I saw 3 things I’d like to share with you.

As I think back on one of the greatest innovators the world has ever known, I believe there is learning opportunity for IT professionals.

I’d never been to an NFL game until a couple of years ago.  CPI installed the phone system in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  I was a member of the project team.  As a result, I was awarded tickets to a Colts game.  I also got to attend a game last season.  Wow – what incredible experiences.  The stadium was rocking – loud – enthusiastic – electric.  People were screaming, stamping their feet, and standing for every Colt’s play.  The fans even cheered for the silly little contests that were played by Blue, the Colt’s mascot, during time-outs!  They were truly awesome events to attend!

This morning, I decided to see what the latest Google results for “Contact Centers” were. The results were a little overwhelming…Software, IVR, SaaS, Cloud Computing, Predictive Dialing, CRM, Outsourcing, Business Process Automation…just to name a few. I’ve been in the Contact Center world for 15+ years now and have watched and participated in the evolution of the technology that powers them… going from offering simple ACD Processing to now being able to automate business processes, there has been a huge leap in the technology. I personally think that Contact Centers are no longer a “cost” center; but a must have “value” center for end customers. Contact Centers are driving innovation for end customers who are more educated then they have ever been…customers want to do business-how THEY want to do business….on the phone, via email, text, web chat, etc….it’s a trend that is driving the contact center industry.