By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Most readers of Connections Magazine are outsourcing service providers, offering an array of telephone-related and contact services to their clients. Just as organizations, businesses, and individuals can outsource call processing to telemessaging and teleservice companies, these call centers can in turn outsource certain aspects of their business to other companies. […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD “You need a hobby,” my wife exclaimed in exasperation. I don’t recall the circumstances, but it is safe to assume that I was doing something she deemed a nuisance. Regardless of the cause of her frustration, her impromptu advice gave me pause. Yes, a pastime, a relaxing diversion, would be […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Almost every day, someone asks me, “How can I get more sales?” In fact, for my clients and prospects, increasing sales is usually a primary concern. Rarely does anyone tell me that their company is making all the sales they want. I wish they would ask me easier questions, like […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD As the economy becomes more global and society becomes more ethnically diverse, differences in language become more pronounced. In some areas, where there is a heavy concentration of a particular ethnic group, it is not uncommon for call centers to effectively be bilingual. In some areas of the United States […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD About three years ago, I started to sense that it was time for a career change. Work wasn’t fun any more. Many of the things I relished weren’t being pursued at my company or had been delegated to others. My days were filled with tasks that I didn’t enjoy, responsibilities […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It amuses me to tell people that I went to college for 26 years. Their reactions vary from shock to admiration, from pity to surprise. As a high school sophomore, I learned that the local community college would admit select high school seniors. Acting partly out of youthful arrogance and […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It was an emotional moment for me. After proudly carrying and using a Shell gasoline credit card for more than 20 years, I had just canceled it and was in the process of cutting it up. Not that I was angry or upset with Shell, but it no longer made […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It’s only been a few years that I have been following the sport of hockey. Before that, a myriad of other athletic diversions captured my attention. As a youngster, I did what many of my peers did and played Little League baseball. Not that I was good at it or […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD At the risk of appearing self-congratulatory, this issue marks my first anniversary at the helm of Connections Magazine. Normally, I would let such an event go by without fanfare, however, since so many readers have taken the time to ask, “How are things going?” I think it is appropriate to […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I will admit it – I have a propensity towards idealism. I think that life should be fair and that everyone, regardless of position or past, ought to be granted equality of opportunity. This perspective causes me to advocate impartiality when distributing calls in the call center, with each call […]