Author: Peter Lyle DeHaan

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

Over the years, I have gone to countless conventions, trade shows, expos, and conferences. Sometimes I am there to make a presentation, others times to be an exhibitor, recently as a reporter and photographer, and at still other times I am there as an attendee. Typically, I fill more than one of these roles at a single event. For each of these functions, there are certain things one must do in order to be successful.

Vast quantities of books and articles have been written on how to successfully make a speech or give a presentation. In like manner, much has been offered on how to successfully stage and staff a trade show booth for optimum sales and marketing outcomes. There is also ample advice for reporters and photographers.

What has not been covered is how to succeed as an attendee. Although “how to be a successful attendee” may seem trivial or even self-evident, all too often people get it wrong. How frequently does someone return from such an event only to lament, “It was a waste of my time.” To be candid, I have said that on occasion, too; so if you concur, you are not alone. It is true that some events may be a waste of time; however, I submit that, more often than not, we only get out of them as much as we put into them. As such, it is of paramount importance that, as attendees, we too plan and strive for a successful convention.

As an attendee, what are your goals and intentions? Some people attend conventions as a means to get away, visit a new place, or do some sightseeing. These are really mini-vacations written off as business trips; I will leave that between you and the IRS. Others have the goal of merely seeing long-time industry friends, and a convention offers a convenient opportunity for that to occur. Setting these instances aside, the prime business justification for attending a convention is to learn: to encounter new ideas and concepts, to identify industry trends and developments, and to discover innovations and processes to take back to the office. In this case, intentionality is required if the results are to be maximized.

Too many people, intent on maximizing their learning, have a self-centered, protective attitude about it. They want to receive information and insights, but are guarded, paranoid, or even disingenuous about sharing their knowledge. This is shortsighted; it is truly better to give than to receive. In this regard, I’ve developed a principle to guide me when attending a trade show and for life in general. It’s called Peter’s Law of Reciprocity, which states: “Everyone you meet knows something you don’t… so politely and tactfully learn what it is. Conversely, everyone you meet doesn’t know everything you do…so be willing to graciously share whatever you can when you are asked.”

Over the years, this principle has served me well. When I have chosen only to receive information, my own closed mental stance effectively served to limit what I could receive. On the other extreme, when I opted to only share information, I quickly grew to believe that people wanted and needed what I had to offer. This was an unfortunate, patronizing attitude that I hope to never repeat.

When soliciting information, exercise discretion in what you ask. Certainly, some things are off-limits. Personal information (compensation comes to mind), trade secrets, and strategic plans are prime examples. Also, it is critical to be genuinely interested in what you ask. Insincere and devious queries serve to quickly short-circuit the pure and uninhibited exchange of information. Quite simply, if you don’t care about the answer, don’t ask the question.

When you are asking others for their opinions and ideas, it is acceptable to jot down notes for you to refer to later. Don’t rely on your memory; if you’re like me, you already have too much to remember. Some people assume that making notes is rude to the person you are talking to. This is not the case. Note taking actually affirms the speaker and their message. In effect, note taking conveys that their message is noteworthy, and you demonstrate respect by writing it down.

Likewise, there are guiding principles when sharing information. First, be careful not to betray a confidence or divulge a secret. It is critical to use discretion and common sense to protect and respect the privacy of others – if you don’t, people will stop sharing with you. It is also important to not offer unsolicited advice. The only outcomes of proclaiming unwanted counsel are either to be ignored or viewed as arrogant. Lastly, it is critical to not talk down to your inquirer, but instead treat them as a peer and an equal.

It’s human nature to share our communications with those we know and are comfortable with. This implies that we will naturally be seeking information from and sharing knowledge with our friends. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, except that after a time, ideas – even bad ideas – tend to get recycled. If something is repeated often enough it is believed and accepted, even if there is no basis or reason to do so. This is intellectual incest, a provocative, yet apt description of what happens when information is continually circulated among a small group of closely connected people. Certainly, we should talk with our friends at conventions, but we need to be aware of blindly accepting what is said without carefully considering its merits.

More valuable than interacting with our friends and acquaintances is interacting with those we don’t know. These are the people most likely to share something that is fresh, new, or innovative to us. This, however, is also much easier to suggest than to do. Nevertheless, most of my “aha!” moments have occurred when talking with someone I had just met.

If the goal is to learn and grow, then even more limiting than focusing our interactions on our friends is to restrict our attention to those we are traveling with – be it family or coworkers. Although this is a safe and natural tendency, it also prevents us from being exposed to the new thoughts and diverging viewpoints of others.

When I have traveled with coworkers, I often set prearranged limits on how much time we spend together in order to make it easier to interact with others outside our company. Yes, we would plan some strategic times to reconvene and share what we learned, as well as to just relax in each other’s company, but for the most part we would intentionally split up, sitting with, eating with, and meeting with others in order to maximize our exposure to new ideas and perspectives. Also, as it is much easier to connect with someone by themselves versus when they are part of a group, this serves to spread us out to be more available and more approachable when someone wants to talk.

Though it is often uncomfortable to talk to a stranger or ask them a question, those are the precise times when I am the most rewarded. Similarly, it is when I seek to freely share information that I unexpectedly receive the most benefit. Both instances lead to greater understanding and enhanced perspectives – which is what conventions are all about.

Read more in Peter’s Sticky Series books: Sticky Leadership and Management, Sticky Sales and Marketing, and Sticky Customer Service featuring his compelling story-driven insights and tips.

Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Connections Magazine, covering the call center teleservices industry. Read his latest book, Healthcare Call Center Essentials.

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By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

What will your agents say to make a sale? The answer might surprise you. I recently had two telephone sales experiences that didn’t turn out as I expected. The first related to changing satellite TV providers. An abrupt network lineup change left my family without their two favorite shows. In the midst of unsatisfactory interactions with my current provider’s customer service department, a direct mail piece arrived from a competitor. It offered a seemingly attractive price, free installation, and new equipment, including a DVR (Digital Video Recorder).

Upon calling the prospective provider, I talked to a helpful and confident agent named Karl. My first query was about this missing network. Karl assured us that they did in fact carry it. We quickly established a rapport and he addressed my secondary questions. I confirmed my understanding of what Karl said and placed my order.

A few days later, the installer arrived and set up the system. He quickly gave me an overview of its operation as the programming guide was downloading. I asked for the channel number of the network in question. “I don’t know offhand,” he said, “but it’s there someplace. If you can’t find it, call this number.” He handed me an information sheet and left.

Thirty minutes later and frustrated, I dialed that number. “I’m sorry,” the agent said. “I can only help you with installation issues, and this isn’t an installation question. You’ll need to call the provider.” (I had apparently bought from an authorized agent.)  The provider’s call center told me it would be an extra $5 a month to get that network (which ultimately turned out to be incorrect). Mad at this unexpected news, I called my buddy Karl. Unfortunately, he was no longer my buddy. “I only deal with sales questions,” he stated curtly. “I can’t help you,” and he hung up.

My wife, who is tenacious in righting wrongs and fixing the unresolvable, took over the quest to watch the missing network. Over the next few days, she called Karl, the service department, the installation line, and the billing department, as well as all the other numbers she was given. Several days and countless hours later, she resigned herself to accept that we had been had.

There is much to be learned from this saga. One seemingly small miscommunication had widespread and far-reaching ramifications. One agent’s words resulted in more than a dozen follow-up phone calls to multiple call centers, not to mention a new customer who is angry and unhappy.

At the same time, a similar scenario was unfolding. Again, it involved a transaction made over the phone; again, an agent was willing to say anything to make a sale. I have had a long and largely favorable history with this company. Though much of my interaction with them is via a self-service website, there is sales and technical support available by email and phone. I had been long contemplating a particular service for which, by design, only limited technical support is provided.

Rarely does this company call me. Fortunately, Alex’s timely call was about the very service I have been cautiously contemplating. I shared my concern over the limited support provision. He dismissively acknowledged that reality and quickly downplayed its significance. He told me the service was easy to use and that after a short learning curve, I would be up to speed and proficient. He promised to walk me through the setup, preconfigure as much as was feasible, provide instructions over the phone, and do whatever he could to make the migration to this service go quickly and smoothly.

Based on his representations and promises, I placed my order and confirmed my credit card number. We scheduled a time for him to begin his tutelage of me. Within seconds, I received an email confirming the credit card charges and I began preparations for his training. Alex never called. The following day I called him and left a message; no response. This went on for several days, with each subsequent voicemail message containing increasingly stronger language and pleas that were more urgent. My final message was quite terse and rightfully accusatory.

After being snubbed yet again, I called their main number. As calmly as I could, I insisted to the unsuspecting agent that I be immediately connected to a manager. A bit nonplused (he didn’t know who Alex was), but willing to assist, he gathered the requisite background information and transferred me to his supervisor, Dennis.

Dennis, although responsible for a different department, immediately and sincerely apologized for Alex’s transgressions. Furthermore, Dennis promised to refund all my money if I wasn’t completely satisfied with the outcome. He was both assertive and definitive in his course of action: Dennis would be the point person in dealing with and resolving the problem; Alex’s supervisor would be having a “talk” with Alex; and I would be assigned a technical guru to help me with the product I ordered. In the end, I opted for the refund, since Dennis took time to understand my objective and offered me a less-costly and easier way to achieve it.

The learning outcomes from these stories are both helpful and illustrative:

• Training: If the miscommunications were out of ignorance, then better training could have averted both ordeals. Unfortunately, the payback from training is not directly quantifiable, whereas sales numbers are. This is a dichotomy that call center managers must acknowledge and grapple with.
• Call Monitoring: Making active call monitoring a management mandated priority (and not just lip service) might have caught these errors, could have eliminated these rogue agents’ self-serving focus, and certainly would have minimized all agents’ propensity to lie.
• Incentives and Measurements: What gets measured gets done and what gets paid for gets done more. These miscommunications were likely intentional, a calculated lie aimed at making a sale. Unfortunately, call centers’ metrics and reward systems often unwittingly serve to promote and foster activity and performance that is detrimental to an organization’s overall best interests. The big picture must be continually considered; agent measurements and compensation must to be aligned with a long-term perspective.
• Avoid Ripples: There is a ripple effect when a mistake is made. This occurs both within the organization as more and more people are pulled into the problem, as well as outside the organization as more and more people are told about the problem. Both take their toll. Frontline reps need to be empowered to act and to solve pressing issues, not encouraged to end the call just so they can take the next one in queue.
• Effectively Resolve Problems: In the first example, no one ever said, “What would you like done to resolve this?” No one ever suggested a course of action or recommended a solution. In the second case, it was obvious that Dennis had been trained in effective problem resolution; plus, he was practiced and proficient at its implementation. He apologized, expressed empathy, took decisive action, and shouldered the responsibility for resolving the problem – even though it rightly belonged in a different department. The people he elicited for assistance were both supportive and efficient at effectively meeting the common goal of turning a bad situation into a desirable conclusion.

The preceding are recommendations that all call centers should follow. They may not produce short-term gains, but the long-term results are inescapable: results that are in the best interest of your call center – and your job.

Read more in Peter’s Sticky Series books: Sticky Leadership and Management, Sticky Sales and Marketing, and Sticky Customer Service featuring his compelling story-driven insights and tips.

Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Connections Magazine, covering the call center teleservices industry. Read his latest book, Healthcare Call Center Essentials.

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

Working in a call center is challenging and demanding work. Owning and running one is even harder. Daily activity seems, all too often, to consist of reacting to the urgency of the moment. There is little time to plan and few opportunities to look beyond the confines of the call center.

Yet looking beyond is exactly what needs to be done. Seeking ways to give back to your community may be precisely what you need to do. Some call centers have done so – with profound results.

Why Give? There are many reasons why it is wise and appropriate for a call center to give back to its community. Aside from principled reasons, the practical justification is that it is good for business. Community involvement expands networking opportunities, increases corporate standing, and generates goodwill. From an employee standpoint, it builds team camaraderie as staffers serve together and pursue common non-work related goals, increases employer esteem, and provides a connection outside the workplace. These, then, have an indirect effect of improving employee job satisfaction and thereby decreasing turnover.  Lastly, as employees see a new and different side to their employer, respect can be increased and better understanding nurtured. With all these benefits, what call center wouldn’t want to promote and pursue a philanthropic effort?

What to Give? There are primarily two forms of assistance that can be provided: money and manpower. Most organizations are more in need of volunteer labor than they are of monetary donations. (Although, as nonprofits find volunteers scarcer, they seek the funds to hire the labor that could otherwise be volunteered.)

Let’s start with the manpower aspect. You can provide opportunities for your staff to volunteer. They can go in groups. It is generally easier to go somewhere new or try something different if it is done with a friend. Plus, there is the bonus of being able to serve together; this has its own rewards. Generally, these opportunities should occur outside regular working hours. Some businesses have a provision to take time off without pay; a few even offer paid time off when volunteering. These, however, are rare, costly to the company, and generally not needed. Setting up a simple means to allow employees to know about and pursue volunteer opportunities takes little time and incurs little cost to the call center.

For many people it is easier to write a check than it is to volunteer. The same is true for businesses. But if a corporate financial donation is not feasible, don’t worry about it. Having you and your staff involved is generally more important anyway. If making a financial contribution is feasible, one consideration is setting up a matching fund. This is when companies budget monies to match the donations of their employees. The employee makes the donation, submits the receipt, and the company makes a matching contribution. This, too, is quite easy to set up. Payroll deductions for charities are also an option, but more costly and time-consuming to implement. Of course, there is also the option for the call center to make a direct contribution.

Where to Give? Needs exist all around your community. Find out what is already going on. Consider after school programs, food pantries, clothes closets, homeless shelters, and soup kitchens. Call your nearest school and ask how you can help. Opportunities might include “adopt-a-classroom,” reading programs, tutoring, providing back-to-school supplies, or helping with GED classes. If you have a college nearby, check with the service organizations on campus and see how you can support them. A side benefit of working with college students is that you will be interacting with potential job candidates. Just make sure that agent prospecting doesn’t become the reason for getting involved.

Who to Give to?  By now, your mind is likely spinning with ideas. So many needs, so many opportunities, so much to do. It can quickly become overwhelming; being overwhelmed leads to discouragement, which leads to inaction. The key to prevent this from occurring is to whittle down the list, identify one organization that is a good fit, and focus on how you can help them.

Start by asking your employees to make recommendations. They will tend to suggest groups which they already support with their time or money. Although only a small percentage of your staff will currently be involved with any organization, it is a great place to start. They already have a connection and an affiliation; they can acclimate others as they step forward to volunteer. You will also have some staffers who have esteem for a particular organization, but have not yet taken that first step towards involvement. Those recommendations are also worth considering. Again, their predilection towards that organization will help move things forward.

Before you make a final selection, perform a “due diligence” just as you would for an important business purchase or partnership. For nonprofits, find out how long they have been in your community; check out their annual reports; ask what percentage of donations goes to overhead; see if the Better Business Bureau has a file on them or what the Chamber of Commerce may know. If things look good, meet with the executive director, ask to attend a board meeting, and seek an easy way to test if you are a good fit for each other.

Regardless of the size of your call center, pick just one organization to support – at least initially. It is far better to make a significant and sustained effort with one group, then to be thinly spread to many different organizations, resulting in frustration and ineffectiveness. Once you have successfully proven that support can be provided for the long-term to one organization, then a second one could be considered, but proceed slowly and carefully. Remember that for many call centers, focusing on one group is the ideal.

How to Give? Once you have selected a group to work with and identified an initial area of service, it is time for tangible action. Ideally, call center leadership should be in this first wave of volunteering, setting the example and inspiring others to follow. As previously mentioned, it is easier to go as a group, especially for the first few times. Hopefully, there are already one or more employees who have practical volunteer experience with the organization. Let them take a lead role, comfortably easing others in and showing how things are done. In no time, everyone will be serving with practiced confidence. Then they can repeat the process with others.

It is important to remember that, no matter how great the need or how rewarding the work, only a percentage of employees will opt to take part. Also, their degree of involvement will vary greatly. This is to be expected, so accept it. Just make sure no one feels obligated to get involved, and remind them that volunteering is, in fact, voluntary. After all, you don’t want to serve with someone who is negative or resentful; the goal is to have fun and find fulfillment as you volunteer. Leave the naysayers at the office.

When to Give? Now! Not next month, not next year; now.

Read more in Peter’s Sticky Series books: Sticky Leadership and Management, Sticky Sales and Marketing, and Sticky Customer Service featuring his compelling story-driven insights and tips.

Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Connections Magazine, covering the call center teleservices industry. Read his latest book, Healthcare Call Center Essentials.