Chicago Ill.

“I love and respect Step Up Women’s Network for its ability to provide young teenage girls with opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable in its community,” says Janet Livingston, founder of Answer Center America. “Step Up Women’s Network boosts self esteem and confidence in young women.  I am committed to helping spread their message.”

With Chicago’s unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent this summer, teens face fierce competition to find part time work or summer internships. SUWN lends a hand to its young teens and helps them land internships among local Chicago businesses in areas that personally interest them. Dillard will perform tasks for multiple departments throughout ACA, with a strong focus in the marketing department.

“Step Up is thrilled to partner with ACA for a second year and I could not ask, nor hope, for more from a company,” says Rachel Bronson, program manager for Step Up Women’s Network. “These internship opportunities are a vital part of our programming that helps teen girls become confident, college-bound, and career ready.”

ACA looks forward to continuing its relationship with Step Up Women’s Network for many years to come.  Dillard hopes to one day own a company of her own within the pet care or fashion design industry.  ACA’s goal is to give Dillard one more stepping stone towards her dream.   

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About Answer Center America

Based in Chicago, Ill., Answer Center America, Inc. is an experienced partner in providing seamless call center and answering solutions. Founded in 1995 by Janet Livingston, ACA has proven itself as an industry leader through cutting-edge technology, unwavering customer service, and customized services. For additional information, please visit www.goacanow.com. 

About Women’s Step Up Network

Step Up Women’s Network is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to connecting and advancing women and girls. By bridging communities of professional women and underserved teen girls through mentorship, networking and advancement, we ensure women and girls have the opportunities they need to create a better future. Connect with us at www.suwn.org.

Soft Skills versus Hard Skills in the

In the call center environment, hard skills are easily enforced, measured and monitored without hesitation. With these skills, there is a clear distinction between right and wrong. For this reason, hard skills are often used as a measurement of an agent’s success.  Soft skills, however, prove to be more elusive and indefinable. Soft skills involve the ability to communicate, motivate, listen, solve problems and manage stressful situations. What many contact centers fail to recognize is that encompassing a blend of these skills creates a recipe for success. One skill set without the other is ineffective and unproductive.  Failing to address the significance of both skills will quickly lead to low morale, frustrated employees, and failure to meet customer expectations.  

Hard skills can only help an agent get so far with the caller.  To effectively ease and resolve the caller’s concern, an agent needs to possess effectual communication, listening and conversational skills. Something as simple as answering the call with a friendly demeanor, “Hello, thanks for calling ______”, can set the tone for a positive call experience. An agent may say all the right things and follow all the correct procedures, but without the soft skills to communicate with the caller, the agent will quickly fall short.  

Investing in equal training time and tools for soft and hard skills will provide agents with the right talent to succeed in their role. Simple role-playing exercises or call reviews can help agents see where, and if, they fall short in soft skill techniques. While soft skills are not as definable and trainable as hard skills, the impact of training and employing a team of individuals who possess these skills will undeniably create an environment that will sustain long-term success for agents, as well as clients.

Bio: Sarah Wilson is a marketing communication specialist for Answer Center America, a leading provider of inbound, outbound and answering solutions.

Multi-Channel Enhancement Service Options

Most companies are available by phone; however, to beat the competition, this isn’t always enough.  Today’s consumers have much higher expectations than ever before.  24/7 live agents are critical to maintaining a positive customer service experience, but supportive communication channels ensure a more comprehensive and complete solution.  Voice, email, click-to-call and Web chat are quickly proving to be a worthwhile investment to a company’s bottom line. 

According to Forrester Research, “An investment in reactive chat is likely to produce a small positive return on investment (ROI) of 15%”.  Chat is a cost-effective motivator to convert more Web site viewers into Web site customers. Web chat, in addition to other customer service interaction channels, creates an environment where call center agents can provide support to multiple users at the same time. Together, these channels create a bundled approach of interactive touch points to obtain and retain customer relationships. 

Communication channels available…

Web Chat – Web Chat allows the customer to connect with your company instantaneously through your Web site with the click of a mouse. All chats are in real-time and are proven to be a convenient way for customers to connect with your company.

Click-to-Call – Click-to-Call makes it easy for web site visitors to call you. This service allows web site viewers to make an immediate connection to a live agent by phone.

 Email Response – Email response makes certain that customer email responses are rapid and consistent. Live agents are trained to respond to email inquiries in a way that would not be possible with an automated system.  

With the right technology, best practices, and properly trained agents, these communication channels can address the needs of every customer. Multiple touch points allow the user to interact with your product/service in a way that is most convenient for them. In order to face the competition, companies are using these tools to get ahead and work proactively to obtain new customers.

Chicago, Ill.

Answer Center America is a leading provider of inbound and outbound call center solutions. The company has more than doubled its size in the past three years. Due to ongoing growth, ACA continues to hire on a weekly basis. With a recent increase in hiring, Kern’s role at ACA will ensure the employee hiring and retaining process remains seamless. ACA maintains an above average employee retention rate within the call center industry and has hired Kern to maintain their employee friendly culture of excellence.

Kern’s professional experience most recently consists of serving the last five years as a Senior Recruiter for one of ACA’s personnel staffing partners, Banner Personnel. Prior to this, Tara has numerous years of experience in the management and human resource arenas.

Kern is a graduate of Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Arts in marketing. In her free time, Kern is an avid marathon and half-marathon runner and stays active in the Chicago running community. 

About Answer Center America Inc.

Based in Chicago, Ill., Answer Center America, Inc. is an experienced partner in providing seamless call center and answering solutions. Founded in 1995 by Janet Livingston, ACA has proven itself as an industry leader through cutting-edge technology, unwavering customer service, and customized services. For additional information, please visit www.goacanow.com. 

Scripting (ACA Contact Management Solution)

The scripting method is the most commonly used conversation flow method.  This process leads callers through the call process with prewritten answers and responses based on the information exchanged. Generally the script consists of a predetermined introduction, information exchange and closing statement.  Scripts can be easily modified and customized to accommodate the individual needs of the client and their callers. With today’s advance technology, call flows and scripts can be easliy delivered to the agent’s computer screen.

The ACA Contact Management (scripting) Solution can be an effective process to improve call center efficiency, reduce labor, and provide a consistent message to customers.  A well engineered script, in addition to accurately trained agents, can hit key performance metrics. Scripting can help reduce human error on calls and still allow call flows to be flexible during interaction with customers.

Conversation Modeling (ACA CISR Model)

For more complex calls, a modeling approach can benefit the client and caller.  Modeling requires the agent to be trained on all aspects of the account and prepared to answer questions off the cuff.  An information guide is provided for the agent but the call flow is not as detailed as a scripted account.

ACA uses our proprietary conversation model, called CISR, to train customer service representatives to lead conversations with customers and to clarify each customer’s specific service need.  The CISR model consists of four steps. These steps are used in sequence while interacting with the customer. A customer service representative is able to guide the conversation and determine all of the information needed to identify and deliver solutions that are customer focused and results driven.

C = Concerns

I = Indicators

S = Solutions

R = Responsibilities

Answer Center America can help determine which call method works best for your company.  Contact an ACA sales consultant to determine a customized contact solution for your company.

Walker holds 15 years of leadership experience in strategic planning, telecommunication, system design and human resources management. She comes from Rush North Medical Center where she worked as director of telecommunications for more than 10 years.

“Walkers experience in the healthcare industry will be a tremendous asset to our organization.” says Trey Bynum, general manager of Answer Center America.

As manager of call center operations, Walker will oversee the operations team. Major responsibilities include implementation procedures, managing daily workforce, tracking team productivity and additional responsibilities.

In addition to Walker, Troy Berry is a recent addition to the ACA team. Coming from Navagon as director of customer service, Troy Berry brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.  For more than 15 years, Berry has managed operations, new business development, CRM and technical support in call center settings. 

“It’s rewarding to enter a position with such an enthusiastic team,” says Berry. “The environment here fosters a strong sense of commitment and innovation. I look forward to collaborating with my team to offer ACA customers the ultimate customer service experience.”

In his role at ACA, Berry is responsible for managing account development, implementations and management.  These three functional groups outline the strategy for ACA’s entire relationship with their business-to-business client base.

“In response to the growth we’ve experienced in the past year, we realize the value of bringing in external employees to accompany our growing family of clients,” says Bynum.  “Their fresh perspective and previous experience is sure to bring innovative ideas and solutions to the table.”

Berry is a graduate from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science in sociology.  He was raised in Ottumwa, Iowa. Walker attended DePaul University and earned her certified telecommunication technician license through AT&T. She is a native of Evanston, Ill. 

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About ACA Inc.

Based in Chicago, Ill., Answer Center America, Inc. is an experienced partner in providing seamless call center and answering solutions. Founded in 1995 by Janet Livingston, ACA has proven itself as an industry leader through cutting-edge technology, unwavering customer service, and customized services. For additional information, please visit www.goacanow.com or call 1-800-270-7030.

Outsourcing your customer service representatives can be an effective solution to manage the cultural differences between these two sectors.  The growing demand for a bilingual call center enables companies to accommodate this segment of the population, without the high-cost of hiring internal employees. With the Hispanic and Spanish speaking population on the rise, make sure your call center is providing bilingual services.

Here are key benefits you’ll gain when outsourcing a Spanish Speaking call center:

• Increased efficiency
• No need to hire or train employees
• Call center management already set in place
• Competitive edge
• A wide-range of services

Bridging the language barrier between your company/organization and the Spanish speaking community will quickly prove beneficial.  Answer Center America can help determine an effective strategy to help you reach Spanish speaking individuals.

Article: All of us are familiar in some way or another with the decline of personalized customer service due to the growth of technology.  Over the past few years, we’ve come into contact with automated voicemail and automated phone answering services.  As technology continues to advance, the personal side of customer service is diminishing—but call center services preserves this important part of customer care and customer service.  Connecting your callers with a live receptionist is crucial to customer satisfaction and Call Centers serve as virtual extensions of your company that provide competent customer support.  Call Center Services make customer service available to individuals during and after business hours and enable companies to provide unsurpassed customer care, regardless of the time of day or night.

Call Centers ensure that their agents are trained to care for each caller’s needs efficiently and quickly, eliminating the need for callers to jump through hoops.  Your business can work with call centers to determine which solutions are necessary for accommodating various customers—each caller should be treated as an individual.

Call Center Services:  Customer Service Solutions

Three-tier solutions are available to accommodate varying needs from customers and callers: For optimum customer service, you’re going to need to get your callers in touch with the individuals who can provide answers to their questions and helpful information for their unique needs.  Work with your Call Center to set up responses or solutions for specific customers.  For example, decide which customer’s questions can be solved by the call center staff and which need to be forwarded on to others.  Your Call Center will be happy to work with what guidelines you set for call escalation protocols and some cases help you accommodate multiple lines of communication with web chat.

24/7 multi-lingual technical support agents: The Hispanic and Spanish-speaking market is a unique market segment experiencing unprecedented and explosive growth.  Call Centers focused on customer service will have Spanish-speaking agents available for your bi-lingual customers.  If you’re currently not reaching this market, strongly consider a Spanish language call center.

Online reporting and monitoring: Online reporting and monitoring of calls, information, and other data is particularly useful for the collaboration and exchange of information between your Call Center and your business.

Digitally recorded calls for quality assurance and training: For your records, and for future customer satisfaction, calls can be recorded.

An Inbound Call Center can save you time and money, while providing an excellent quality of customer service.  Businesses have discovered that when call center services assume responsibility for customers’ experiences and satisfaction, productivity and company image generally improves.  Call Centers also help to maximize sales and retain internal and external customers.

If you haven’t discovered what benefits Call Center services can provide, learn more about smart, customized Call Center solutions.  Consistent high-quality customer service isn’t hard to achieve, even in this day and age.

This situation may be a bit extreme, but it’s safe to say everyone has had a personal experience or knows someone with a personal experience similar to the one above.  Having just one negative experience with even the best company, can result in detrimental damage to the reputation of the company.

Here are a few tips to making sure your call center  agents are avoiding scenarios like the ones above:

-          The customer is always right – Although most companies will admit that this isn’t always the case, a good customer service professional will know how to respond to a customer properly without further upsetting the individual.

-          Honesty goes a long way – Not overpromising customers can make a lasting impact in your sales and customer service.  Setting reasonable expectations for your product and service and sticking to these promises can help avoid problems before they arise.

-          One Call Resolution – Individuals don’t want to jump through hoops with your call center agents to get their problem resolved. So make it a point to provide them with resolution on their first call.  Some argue that first call resolution is the call center metric that matter most.

-          Consistent training – Proper training is so important to the health of your call center. An inconsistent customer service experience can result in angry customers.

-          Effective listening – Although obvious, not all call center agents understand the art of effective listening. Knowing how to read customers and deciphering exactly what their need are will provide a rewarding customer experience.  Effective listening skills are a must.

Have your own terrible customer service experience? Tell us about it.  For more information on call center customer service solutions, visit Answer Center America’s  website www.goacanow.com

At one point, David asked the crowd how many people had their Twitter handle on their business card. Only a few hands shot up in response.  Despite its widespread use during the presidential campaign in 2008, Twitter was not yet embraced by the mainstream.

 I bet that if you asked that same question today, every person in that room would have their hand held high. The world of social media exploded in 2009 and a whole new vertical for many businesses emerged.  

Companies are now using social networking website like Twitter and Facebook to engage their customers faster.  

For example, Dell  announced that as of July 2009, they sold over $2 million dollars in products and can attribute it directly to Twitter.   

It’s not too late to jump on the wagon, but make sure you have the right cowboys and cowgirls escorting you down the trail.

 Stacy Jill Jacobs   currently works at Answer Center America as an Implementations Specialist within the Client Services team. In a past life, she is a survivor of the late 90’s Dot-Com Boom, and has worked in Marketing and Promotions for many years.  In her spare time, she is a writer, event producer, marketing nerd and self-declared geek.