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Call Center

A Different Perspective on Health Insurance

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It happened again. It shouldn’t surprise me but it does. In fact, it has been said so often that most people believe it to be true and accept it as fact. What am I talking about? Once again, a politician has stood up and impassionedly, emphatically, and convincingly asserted that […]

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Call Center

Are You In or Out?

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Since you are reading this column, it is highly likely that in some way or manner, you are in the call center industry. However, the question, “Are you in or out?” does not query your connection to the industry, but rather your participation within it. Those who operate call centers, […]

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Call Center

Beam Me Up Scotty

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It was a lazy summer afternoon, a Friday. Things were a bit slow at the office and upper management had all left to get an early jump on their weekend. I, being a front-line manager, did not have that luxury. Besides, I had work that I wanted to complete before […]

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Call Center

My Response to Spam

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Do you like spam? Does anyone? I’m not talking about the luncheon meat product SPAM, which is produced by Hormel Foods Corporation, but rather the inundation of unwanted messages that increasingly plagues us. Unless you happen to be one of those who delight in propagating spam messages, I am confident […]

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Call Center

Call Center Shrinkage

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD In retail, the term shrinkage is euphemistically used to reference stock which “disappears” before it can be sold. In essence it is a product that the retailer bought, but can’t sell. To be direct, shrinkage is theft. While some of this occurs in the form of shoplifting, it also results […]

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Call Center

My Career in Broadcasting

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD In the years between high school graduation and my first real job, I took on a variety of part-time work while being a full-time student. One job was at a machine shop, where my sole goal was to have all body parts intact when I left. Another job was laboring […]

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Call Center

Maximizing your Business: Business Improvement Groups

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Last month, in part one of this article, we discussed Benchmarking. The premise was that there is value in being able to statistically compare your call center with other centers. Taking that concept to the next level, there is the more intense and equally more valuable Business Improvement Group. Business […]

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Call Center

Maximizing your Business: Benchmarking

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD North American culture salutes the solitary leader, the charismatic visionary, and the lone voice. It celebrates those boldly marching to the beat of a different drum. It is this perspective that makes for exciting cinema, painting an inspirational picture for viewers to admire and emulate; it successfully offers to fill […]

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Call Center

Service Sold It

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Growing up I remember a commercial on the radio with the tag line, “Service sold it.” Even as a young child I was able to grasp the concept that this business provided such a high level of service that their mere reputation was sufficient for them to close sales and […]

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Call Center

Al Gore and the Internet

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD When I write, there is often a fact that needs to be verified or supporting material to be gathered. My first recourse in such matters is my personal library, which is not small and often contains what I seek if it is business related. I also am prone to save […]