CallTalk™ Radio Show | CallTalk Radio Show

Let’s Clear the Smoke: Drug Testing and Background Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic | Guest: Christine Cunneen

Mar 10, 2020 9:27:13 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Marijuana in the Workplace, CallTalk Season 11, Background Test, Drug Testing

Join Christine Cunneen , CEO of Hire Image, a nationally accredited background screening company, as she shares helpful information about the latest drug testing and background screening trends facing call centers. Christine provides her particular ...

SPECIAL CALLTALK: Coronavirus & Contact Center Management | Guest: Dr. Charles Fenzi

Mar 10, 2020 9:12:20 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 11, Coronavirus

Guest Dr. Charles Fenzi and our host, Bruce Belfiore, author of Coronavirus and your Call Center: Don’t Panic – Plan and Prepare, which focuses on how to show true management leadership in the face of this crisis. This special episode of CallTalk™ is ...

Living Wage vs. Market Wage: Pros, Cons, Whys and Hows for Contact Center Managers | Guest: Mike Dershowitz

Feb 20, 2020 10:29:54 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Compensation Strategies, Agent Turnover, Employee Morale, Market Wage, CallTalk Season 11, Living Wage

Join Bruce Belfiore as he talks with Mike Dershowitz about the market and corporate forces that push us to offer compensation based on market conditions, and about the human and political elements that push toward offering “living wage” compensation. Mike ...

Hidden Obstacles to Outstanding Contact Center Service | Guest: Jeff Toister

Oct 17, 2019 12:28:32 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Customer Service, CallTalk Season 10, Agent Performance

Are you endlessly trying to get agents to improve their customer service? There might be a culprit you’ve never considered. Discover hidden and counterintuitive obstacles that hurt agent performance. Are you endlessly trying to get agents to improve their ...

Agent Performance and Quality Training | Guest: Nancy Munro

Jul 25, 2019 12:43:37 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Agent Engagement, agent training, CallTalk Season 10, Agent Performance

Does your contact center struggle with getting agents floor ready – you won’t want to miss this episode! Ever have a bad experience with a contact center agent? Why do you think this happened? One answer may be poor training or poor coaching – either way ...

Incentives, Gamification and Engagement | Guest: Elijah Cox

Jun 11, 2019 11:02:15 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Incentive Plans, Employee Incentives, Employee Engagement, Gamification, Agent Engagement, CallTalk Season 10

If you understand the science and principles of Engagement, Gamification, and Incentives, you have the power to change an organization. You can improve morale, increase tenure, see metric improvements of up to 40%, all of which promotes a healthy organization ...

Contact Center Associations: Leveraging Information and Networking | Guest: Stuart Discount

May 21, 2019 8:21:57 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 10

Are you a member of a contact center industry association? If not, are you thinking about it? This episode of CallTalk will tell you what to look for and how to get the most from your membership.Contact center industry associations can contribute a lot to the ...

Conversational Virtual Agents: Advantages and Caveats | Guest: Livio Pugliese

Apr 8, 2019 5:17:07 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Bots, CallTalk Season 10

"Conversational Virtual Agent (sometimes known as chatbots) are all the rage. There has been an explosion, with easily accessed and low-priced conversational frameworks from the likes of Amazon and Google. However, while it’s easy to put together a bad ...

Customer Care in a “Transhuman Era” | Guest: Garrison Macri

Mar 19, 2019 9:58:38 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 10, Transhuman Era, Customer Care

Technology is impacting every aspect of our lives from home shopping, home deliveries, video streaming, voice activated home hubs, to kids paying to watch their favorite gamers … well play Video Games. Technology developments in the Customer Care world are ...

Drama, The Poison of Customer Service | Guest: Eric Berg

Feb 5, 2019 2:05:09 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 10, employee satisfaction, agent retention, Drama

The Call Center industry can be full of drama that can be a poison to the customer experience, employee satisfaction, agent retention and your overall center performance. In this episode, we will learn how to identify different types of drama and discuss ...

Changing the Way Collection Agencies are Viewed by being Ridiculously Nice! | Guest: Kenlyn T. Gretz

Jan 22, 2019 9:56:19 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 10, Collections

Has the collections industry taken a few black eyes through the years? Yet, your specific company was not at fault? Does your company get “stereotyped” unfairly Our guest today, owns a collection agency that is intent on changing the way collection ...

Turning Your Contact Center into a Profit Center by Leveraging Chat | Guest: Tony Medrano

Dec 21, 2018 10:23:00 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk, Millenials, CallTalk Season 9, Chat, Profit Center

Contact centers are under increasing pressure to become profit centers and leverage new channels of engaging customers. Live chat is growing in use--especially among millennial customers--and chat communications can be optimized using machine learning in ...

Workforce Management: New Insights From a Seasoned Veteran | Guest: Rick Seeley

Nov 12, 2018 1:43:30 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Workforce Management, Work Environment, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9, WFM

Workforce Management is both science and art. Hear the voice of experience as Rick Lee, Workforce Manager for Convergys, is interviewed by host Bruce Belfiore on his WFM best practices tips. Practitioners who are looking for a deeper level of WFM insight ...

Highlights from Call Center Campus

Oct 23, 2018 12:33:20 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9, AI, Bots, RPA

Digital Workforce, Keeping Automation Real | Guest: Martijn Zuiderbaan

Sep 11, 2018 1:04:08 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Workforce Management, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9, AI, Bots, RPA, WFM

Nowadays you hear a lot of companies who are doing ‘something’ with Automation (RPA) or Artificial Intelligence (AI), however, what is the real story behind it, is it truly as easy as the vendors pitch it or does it require effort?

The Power of an Effective Feedback Loop | Guest: Dan Handy

Aug 6, 2018 5:01:14 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Customer Feedback, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9, Feedback Loop

Information feedback is the lifeblood of continuous improvement for contact centers. However, most centers don't employ a structured approach to originating, processing and acting on feedback. In this session, guest Pam Wilson explains the 4 stages required ...

Fair Trade Outsourcing: Sustainable, Ethical and Profitable | Guest: Mike Dershowitz

Jul 6, 2018 8:08:34 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Outsourcing, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9

Join Bruce Belfiore and Mike Dershowitz, CEO and Managing Director of Rethink Staffing, as they discuss a novel approach to managing call centers for outperforming results and creating social and economic impact at the same time. Mike shares his philosophy ...

Marijuana in the Workplace | Guest: Christine Cunneen

Jun 5, 2018 9:01:13 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9

Legal cannabis is becoming a reality, in one form or another, across the country. It brings with it numerous issues, both legal and practical, which managers should know about (there's no hiding from this one!). Christine Cunneen is an expert and speaker on ...

The Knowledge Loop: Improve Your Products and Customer Experience by Leveraging Front Line Agents | Guest: Dr. Fred Van Bennekom

May 8, 2018 9:27:54 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9, Knowledge Loop

How contact centers can leverage agent knowledge to improve the products they support. Design for improved Customer Experience while sharing valuable input with other departments: marketing, product development and sales. Information gathering, analysis and ...

Thought Leadership in the Contact Center: You Can Do It! | Guest: Mitchell Levy

Apr 5, 2018 1:02:51 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9, Thought Leadership

Join CallTalk host Bruce Belfiore as he talks with author and speaker Mitchell Levy about ways to bring thought leadership into your life and your organization. Hear the tips he shared with his Ted Talk audience about listening, hearing, connecting and ...

Contact Center Work and Life Balance | Guest: Sean Vierling

Mar 12, 2018 5:26:01 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Balancing Life and Work, Customer Service, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9

Lets face it, finding the right work-life balance in a contact center isn't easy. It takes guts to make changes in your center that allow agents to balance their personal life with the company's needs. Unfortunately for contact centers, ignoring an agent's ...

The Prize at the Intersection of Experience and Engagement: Customer Loyalty | Guest: Bob Kobek

Feb 9, 2018 10:39:41 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Customer Service, CallTalk, CallTalk Season 9, customer loyalty

Join Bruce Belfiore for a timely interview with Bob Kobek, President of Mobius Vendor Partners and CustomerCount. Bob will address items of interest to both outbound centers and inbound centers, focusing on ways to get to the prize of customer loyalty by ...

Agent Engagement & Empowerment | Guest: Maureen Lewandowski

Jan 15, 2018 3:42:55 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Call Center Training, Customer Service, agent training, CallTalk, training, CallTalk Season 9

Maureen Lewandowski of Delta Dental of Wisconsin shares tips on how to get buy-in from your people for major initiatives. She illustrates the roles of well-structured processes and carefully chosen technologies to empower and incentivize employees to improve ...

How to Lead Customer Contact Center Professionals Through Change | Guest: Steve Ellis

Dec 5, 2017 2:04:32 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Call Center Training, Customer Service, CallTalk Season 8, agent training, CallTalk, training

Change surrounds contact center managers: mergers, systems changes, organizational changes are all high-impact events that present managers with huge challenges. Join us for the final CallTalk episode of 2017 as we explore these issues with our Change ...

How to Overcome Three Critical Training Challenges that Hamper Excellent Service | Guest: Connor Burt

Oct 18, 2017 9:44:41 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Call Center Training, Customer Service, CallTalk Season 8, agent training, CallTalk, training

Excellent customer service requires excellent training - - and a culture that supports learning and doing. You need to articulate the results you hope to obtain in order to determine the training you need.

Team Huddle Boards: Enhance Communication & Maximize Efficiency | Guest: Debbie Frazier

Sep 13, 2017 10:52:32 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Team Meetings, Customer Service, CallTalk Season 8, Customer Focused Culture, Team Development, CallTalk, Huddle Boards

Huddles can be the team’s daily opportunity to communicate and plan. A Huddle Board is the team's tool to record important information and memorialize decisions and goals. If there is a special focus on a particular metric or initiative, the Huddle Board can ...

Build a Customer-Focused Culture in Your Contact Center | Guest: Jeff Toister

Aug 11, 2017 4:41:44 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Customer Service, CallTalk Season 8, Customer Focused Culture

Contact center managers know that a strong, positive, can-do culture will improve their metrics and make their customers satisfied. However, culture can seem like a complex, difficult thing to turn around, to build, and to maintain. There are some important ...

Delivering Profoundly Remarkable Customer Service | Guest: Chip R Bell

Jul 21, 2017 2:39:17 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Customer Service, CallTalk Season 8, Customer Experience

What do Google, Netflix, Apple, Uber and Amazon have in common other than rapid growth and amazing profits? They all are considered among the most innovative companies, perpetually seek ingenious ways to delight their customers. Remarkable service for today’s ...

Voice of the Customer and Agent Engagement: Roses, Daisies & Weeds | Guest: Michael J. Tamer

Jun 26, 2017 12:15:18 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 8, Agent Engagement

Agents are the heartbeat of every Call Center and are every manager's greatest challenge. We will explore how to optimize agent engagement and get the viewpoint of a long time Call Center Pro, Michael J. Tamer. Guest Speaker: Michael J. Tamer, CEO and ...

Employee Engagement at Salesforce.com | Guest: David Kingsley

May 30, 2017 6:37:05 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Employee Engagement, CallTalk Season 8

Getting it right, right from the start! Hear about:

Emerging Best Practices in Agent Screening: Success through Optimized Simulations | Guest: Joe LaTorre

Apr 17, 2017 9:40:32 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Best Practices, CallTalk Season 8

Joe LaTorre, Director of Innovation at Employment Technologies, will talk with host Bruce Belfiore about emerging practices that every contact center manager should know about. Focus will be on giving you take-aways that will make your recruiting and ...

Americans with Disabilities: Positively Impacting Contact Centers Nationwide | Guest: Michael Sanders

Mar 27, 2017 2:16:00 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 8

Have you considered hiring disabled workers for your at-home or brick-and-mortar contact center operations? Bruce Belfiore interviews Michael Sanders on his efforts, with the non-profit NTI, to help Americans with Disabilities and Disabled Veterans back into ...

Customer Experience: New Mind Meld Methodology | Guest: Mark Coudray

Feb 14, 2017 2:47:46 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 8, Customer Experience

Air Date: Friday, February 17, 2017 - 10AM/PT Host: Bruce Belfiore, CEO & Senior Research Analyst, BenchmarkPortal Guest Speaker: Mark Coudray, DScisive Season: 8, Episode Number: 2

Call Center Employee Recognition Best Practices | Guest: Christopher Tomsa

Jan 16, 2017 11:22:05 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 8, Employee Recognition

A thoughtful review of employee rewards and recognition programs will provide you with ideas for improving your operation. These programs do not have to be expensive - many motivational techniques cost little or nothing. Applying latest best practices to your ...

Culture and Agent Compliance: Rules vs. Trust | Guest: Marge Robba

Dec 15, 2016 2:58:46 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 7, Agent Compliance

Your own kids, the team you coach and the people you lead at work. How much do you reel them in by rules, and how much do you let them run on trust? It’s often a struggle to figure out how to get the balance right, and many managers have been hurt by ...

Accountability in Your Contact Center: Tips on Making it Real | Guest: Debbie Frazier

Nov 16, 2016 4:04:15 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 7, Accountability

Lots of talk about employee engagement, lots of talk about inclusion in decision making.

Agent Turnover and Retention: Stay Interviews to Drive Employee Engagement | Guest: Chris Mulligan

Sep 19, 2016 1:01:29 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Agent Turnover, CallTalk Season 7

Agent turnover is one of the costliest issues for Contact Centers and when the agent is heading out the door, it’s usually too late to save the agent or the day.

Intentional Coaching: Everybody Wins When You Give Agents What They Want | Guest: Barbara Burke

Aug 19, 2016 1:11:35 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Intentional Coaching, CallTalk Season 7

Intentional Coaching: Everybody wins when you give Agents what they want. "Intentional Coaching is an innovative coaching approach in which supervisors are out on the floor with their agents, reinforcing what’s right and helping them go beyond fast, efficient ...

Leadership and Happiness | Guest: Charles Paelinck

Jul 14, 2016 2:38:30 PM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Leadership Development, CallTalk Season 7

Do Happy Leaders Lead Better? In this special episode of CallTalk, our guest argues that, in today's business organizations, great leaders usually are truly happy leaders. Does this reflect you and your contact center?

Best Practices in Call Center Consolidation | Guest: Tim Rauschenbach

Jun 23, 2016 11:38:12 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Best Practices, CallTalk Season 7, Consolidation

In this episode, you will learn “Five Keys To Call Center Consolidation”. Consolidation is an important and complex process that needs to be approached and executed carefully. It is crucial that you fully consider the impacts on your operations, including on ...

Knowledge Management in the Contact Center | Guest: Brian Golden

May 28, 2016 11:43:29 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Knowledge Management, CallTalk Season 7

Knowledge Management tools and resources are the brain of your contact center, providing your agents with the information they need right when they need it…when developed effectively and working properly. The effectiveness of your Knowledge Management tools ...

Leadership Perspectives | Guest: Sheena Monnin

Apr 13, 2016 11:00:29 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Leadership Development, CallTalk Season 7

Leadership Perspectives: Have you ever wondered why some people are more difficult to work with than others? No matter how hard you try, it seems impossible to see eye to eye with the other person. Believe it or not, there is a quick way to figure out why the ...

Customer Experience Journey Mapping | Guest: Amy Novak

Mar 23, 2016 11:00:56 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 7, Customer Experience

How can an organization increase the customer satisfaction by providing a positive experience and reducing the customer’s effort? Is your organization thinking of, or looking into, more effective and less expensive says of interacting with customers?

Outbound Predictive Dailing - Is it Dead in the US? | Guest: Alex Demczak

Feb 17, 2016 11:02:39 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Outbound Calls, CallTalk Season 7

There have been astounding changes to the outbound calling process over the years. If your company uses predictive outbound dialing or your agents are spending time performing outbound calls, you need to hear about recent federal and state changes.

Before Buying WFO Technology, Listen to this: Two Emerging Changes in the Contact Center Industry | Guest: William Durr

Jan 13, 2016 11:08:49 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Workforce Management, CallTalk Season 7

Lately, Bill has begun to detect some striking changes emerging in the contact center industry. Something that has always mystified Bill Durr is the absence of change in the industry. He sees that contact centers really don’t want to buy software, they want ...

Big Data | Guest: Geoff Colgan

Nov 18, 2015 11:00:42 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Big Data, CallTalk Season 6

Almost 70% of Fortune 1000 companies have Big Data initiatives. But even smaller companies are using Big Data techniques to find competitive advantages. Learn how Big Data is transforming call center operations, and why your company should be planning Big ...

Inbound Sales: Accelerate your Sales Cycle | Guest: Mark Coudray

Oct 14, 2015 11:51:07 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Inbound Sales, CallTalk Season 6

The inbound sales process is changing. In the old days, the consumer would do about 1/3 of the sales process in advance of reaching out to the call center; now this fraction has more than doubled in many cases – with important implications for sales ...

Leadership Development | Guest: Chris Abel

Sep 16, 2015 11:43:40 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Leadership Development, CallTalk Season 6

Leaders play a vital role in the call center, they are an important reason why people stay or leave, engage or not engage. Research shows the relationship agents have with their lead, supervisor or direct boss are key. Have your leaders gone into their ...

Employee Engagement and Retention Trends | Guest: Chris Abel

Sep 16, 2015 11:00:40 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Employee Engagement, Retention Trends, CallTalk Season 6

Employee engagement and retention are core talent management building blocks. Staying abreast of key trends and new approaches is important for HR professionals across disciplines. TalentKeepers’ annual Employee Engagement and Retention Trends Survey is the ...

Surveys - 15 Tips to Optimize Yours | Guest: Dr. Fred Van Bennekom

Sep 15, 2015 11:32:47 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, CallTalk Season 6, Surveys

Survey Design Surveys are an important tool for measuring your customers’ and agents’ satisfaction along with identifying areas needing improvement. While a survey seems deceptively simple — it’s just a bunch of questions — getting good, valid data for ...

Technology - Leveraging Industry Benchmarks to Build a Business Case | Guest: Drew Wright

Jun 15, 2015 11:26:37 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Technology, CallTalk Season 6

Leveraging Industry Benchmarks to Build a Business Case for a Technology Investment. Technology is a crucial component of a good contact center. Drew Wright will share his experiences as a problem solver and business case builder. He will shed light on how ...

Coaching Strategy - A Success Formula | Guest: Dave Gregory

May 13, 2015 11:22:24 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Coaching for Success, CallTalk Season 6

A Success Formula – How to Coach and Develop Discretionary Effort Learn how each employee is unique and valuable when properly mentored. As a coach use this knowledge to guide them through important transformations toward top performance.

Process Improvement at Contact Centers - A Lean Six Sigma Approach | Guest: Walt Sweeny

Apr 15, 2015 11:17:30 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Process Improvement, CallTalk Season 6

Customers are demanding more efficient and effective service from Contact Centers throughout all industries. Host Bruce Belfiore chats with veteran manager Walt Sweeney about a Lean Six Sigma approach to Contact Center process improvement that Contact Center ...

Culture - How To Build and Work With Culture | Guest: Walt Sweeny

Apr 15, 2015 11:08:13 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Culture, CallTalk Season 6

Many of us describe our strong culture and its impact on our organization as a “secret sauce”. What are some factors that can serve a barriers to creating a strong and healthy culture?”

Quality Assurance - One Minute Survey | Guest: Dayne Petersen

Feb 11, 2015 11:02:16 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Quality Assurance, CallTalk Season 6, QA

Listen to host Bruce Belfiore interview Dayne Petersen in an illuminating discussion on Quality Assurance best practices.

Caller I.D. and the Contact Center | Guest: Ian Roncoroni

Jan 15, 2015 11:00:49 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Caller I.D., CallTalk Season 6

Cost of caller identification: Even though it’s been around for decades, caller ID continues to pose problems for your contact center. Today, we’ll be talking about why those problems are actually getting worse, and discuss some ways your contact centers can ...

Highlights from Call Center Campus: Imagining Excellence in the Contact Center | Guest: Amy Novak

Nov 26, 2014 11:56:17 AM |

CallTalk Radio Show, Imagining Excellence, CallTalk Season 5

After another amazing Call Center Campus event in Las Vegas this November 2014, Bruce Belfiore and Amy Novak review some of the highlights from the event. Listen as they review best practices shared in our Round Tables and Panel Discussions, as well as ...

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