Earlier this year Vince Vitale, marketing director at Startel, interviewed Peter Lyle DeHaan about the future of the call center industry and learned about his best content marketing tips.
The result is a two-part series.
The first piece, titled “Peter Lyle DeHaan: Contact Center Futurist,” appeared online in March this year. In it, DeHaan looked at the industry’s past to get a feeling for where it’s headed. “I see a bright future for the industry, limited only by our imagination and creativity,” said DeHaan.
His advice to get there is to “Invest in people, for frontline staff is our essential difference and our future distinction. Then support them with the best technology tools possible.”
The second piece, titled “9 Contact Center Writing Tips for Content Writers from the Guy Who Literally Wrote the Book on the Call Center Industry” addresses promotion opportunities for call centers and telephone answering services. DeHaan’s mission is to “change the world one word at a time.”
He warns against posting content on social media which limits what your audience sees and can summarily shut you down at any moment, for any reason. Therefore, post on your website, which you own and control.
“Once you have a professional looking and visitor-friendly website, consider content marketing for engaging prospects and for search engine optimization (SEO),” added DeHaan. Yet he noted that “Writing is easy. Writing well is hard. It requires practice.”
Call centers can produce content internally. Their staff knows the industry but may struggle with writing. Or they can outsource the writing part, but those experts may struggle with understanding the industry. It’s a difficult balance to achieve.
Regardless, “Start by producing quality content with a visitor-first perspective. Don’t write for search engines because they can’t make a buying decision. Only after you’ve written it should you factor into the piece good SEO practices.”
With a lifetime of relevant experience, Peter Lyle DeHaan has written extensively about the call center industry. He owns and publishes Connections Magazine, along with launching and publishing AnswerStat, TAS Trader, and Medical Call Center News.
His industry related books include Healthcare Call Center Essentials, Sticky Customer Service, and How To Start a Telephone Answering Service.
His next book, Sticky Sales and Marketing, is due out later this year.
