Call Center Services

Low Hanging Fruit: Is Your 3rd Party Overflow Call Center Cost Effective?

I spent this morning talking with a good friend who is the COO of a midsized business to business multichannel company.  I wanted to get his take on what data and analysis they use at an executive level to make decisions and to develop strategies.  He made a point that is something we believe very [...]

Call Center Services, Outsourced services, Strategic, Financial and Operational Planning

Why Are Your Web Customers Calling the Call Center?

In talking with a past client today regarding call center metrics, a measurement came up that we see people try and measure but not enough actually do.  The measurement I am referring to is the percent of web orders that begin on the website but are finalized in the call center.  In this particular case [...]

Call Center Services, State of the Industry

One option for going direct to your customers

In this economy, everyone is looking for some kind of advantage – a way to build their brand image, how to increase product margins, reduce warehouse and logistics expenses – all while sticking to their core competencies.  This can be especially difficult for consumer product goods companies and manufacturers.  Often times they sell through vendor [...]

Call Center Services, Outsourced services, State of the Industry, Strategic, Financial and Operational Planning, Warehousing Distribution Planning, e-Commerce

Measuring Your Employee’s Performance

The following is from a recently received email sent to Curt Barry…
Dear Curt -
We met briefly at the NCOF conference in Vegas, and I wanted to reach out  to you regarding performance errors.  I was hoping you could provide  me with some insight into how other 3 PL fulfillment companies manage employee errors.  Currently, we [...]

Call Center Services, Outsourced services, Warehousing Distribution Planning

BI systems across the enterprise

The most serious business information problem companies face is finding a “single version of the truth.” Many companies are installing best-of-breed systems for order management, fulfillment, call center, marketing, product information, inventory, finance and e-commerce.
Yet no one vendor in the marketplace today can provide more than two of the best-of-breed components needed. Even most ERP [...]

Business Intelligence Tools, Call Center Services, Marketing & Merchandising, Multi-Channel Business Systems, Strategic, Financial and Operational Planning, Warehousing Distribution Planning

“SORRY FOR THE DELAY – THANK YOU FOR WAITING”

I just had a pleasant experience with a back order from L.L. Bean.  How can you have a good experience with something that’s been on backorder for 6 weeks?  Well let me tell how.
First the background.  On April 1st, I ordered 5 pairs of chino pants and 1 was on backorder.  The CSR told me [...]

Call Center Services, Freight Costs, Marketing & Merchandising, State of the Industry, Strategic, Financial and Operational Planning

From the Dark Side of Productivity

I’m with a firm that spends much of its time helping clients improve productivity and reduce costs. We are ever mindful of the negative side—the “dark side”—of productivity projects. What is the dark side? It’s what happens if we don’t take the human factor into account. As someone with 30 years of experience in industrial [...]

Benchmarking ShareGroups, Call Center Services, Forecasting & Inventory Management, State of the Industry, Strategic, Financial and Operational Planning, Warehousing Distribution Planning

Managing Customer Call Center Costs in an Uncertain Economy

Today’s call center mantra is, “Do more with what you have.” In this uncertain economy there is even more pressure to perform miracles by increasing productivity while lowering costs, yet still continuing to provide expected customer service levels. In our consulting engagements with direct call centers and through our F. Curtis Barry & Company Best [...]

Call Center Services, Outsourced services, State of the Industry, Strategic, Financial and Operational Planning

Top Ways to Cut Costs and Improve Customer Satisfaction

Every smart business manager is constantly looking for ways to reduce costs and make the operation more productive. In today’s challenging economic climate, such efforts become even more crucial. Small steps that can help to save money may make a big difference. Our experience in the fulfillment and call center has been that often the [...]

Call Center Services, Forecasting & Inventory Management, Multi-Channel Business Systems, Strategic, Financial and Operational Planning, Warehousing Distribution Planning

Outsourcing to Save Call Center Costs

Having managed a call center, I have always been a proponent of in-house call centers, but times are tough and they are changing. Every company today is looking for ways to save money without hurting sales and customer service. As the pressure on businesses to dramatically reduce costs intensifies, you need to look at domestic [...]

Call Center Services, Outsourced services, State of the Industry, Strategic, Financial and Operational Planning