By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Over the past few months I have been amassing call center anecdotes. Here is my compilation. First up is Netflix. Netflix is one of my favorite organizations, mailing me DVDs to watch on my TV and providing downloads to watch on my computer. In my January 2007 article, The Netflix […]
Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD The success rate of agents transferring calls is not good. In fact, based on my experience, successful call transfers actually occur less than half the time. The most common result is being disconnected. When a disconnected caller calls back, the happy caller has likely become irritated, the irritated caller has become […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD My bride and I recently watched the movie Get Smart. As a long-time fan of the 60s TV series, I was greatly anticipating this flick—and was not disappointed. There were a good number of subtle tie-ins and allusions to the show, but not so many as to be excessive or […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I once received a flier for one of the most bizarre promotions I have ever seen. It was a “Back to School Special” — to have my septic tank pumped. I hope that it is obvious that I have never listed “pump septic tank” on my back-to-school to do list—and […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I recently received a perplexing postcard. In exchange for taking a two-minute survey, they promised me some substantial rewards—free lodging and gas. Here is the front and back of the postcard: I called the number on the card and entered my twelve-digit code, as instructed, into their automated system. The system […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD For AnswerStat magazine, I have posted on directories of medical call centers (call centers that provide services to the medical community). This information has been compiled from information provided by the companies listed. As such, they made a choice to be listed; they want to be there—ostensibly to gain new clients […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. My daughter is a teacher. Her work – and the stories that she shares – cause me to reflect on some of my teachers. Though I don’t recall much about my own first grade teacher, I do know that I really liked her. My parents said, on numerous occasions, that […]
This week I received an email from a PR guy, pushing a press release for his client (www.ergotron.com and dare2dual.ergotron.com). In the teaser, he wrote: “Imagine how much companies would gain and save if they equipped all of their employees with more than one computer display. The research findings are conclusive and striking: nearly a […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I continue to be amazed at the way certain products are packaged. There is often waste and much more packaging material than is needed or justified. The black hose fitting below is accompanied by the blue holder. Both made of plastic, the holder, or packaging, is about 25 to 33% of […]
Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I once read an article whose title espoused the opposite perspective of this post. Perhaps you saw it too. I began reading it, in eager expectation of an enlightening and insightful discourse on the use of IVR (Interactive Voice Response) in the call center. I was soon to be disappointed. Essentially, […]