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In
this issue: |
January
2007
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In Pursuit of Service Greatness
by Phil Verghis
President, The Verghis Group, Inc.
One of the many perks of my job is the privilege of working with and
learning from a number of smart people around the world.
This month I'm pleased to feature two resources that have been made
available to Verghis View subscribers that I'm confident will help
you in your own pursuit of service greatness.
The first is from the non-profit
Consortium for
Service Innovation which has done some interesting work over the
years. Perhaps best known is the
Knowledge Centered Support (KCS) model.
Another area the Consortium has focused on is how best to help service
executives morph into the new world of support and service. As we have
seen, it is a place where the traditional "command and control" metrics
that most of us have used to manage our teams does not provide a nuanced
enough picture of either demand or supply for services.
As Greg Oxton, Executive Director of the Consortium, put it:
The rise of indirect support – online self-help, user forums, and help
and automation integrated into products – is profoundly affecting the role
of conventional direct support – person-to-person interactions by phone,
email, or chat. Managing direct support, especially across multiple
channels, presents support execs with challenges enough. But managing the
new combination of indirect and direct support takes those challenges to a
whole new level.
The transformation of support raises three key issues for support execs:
4 How do we build and maintain customer loyalty in indirect support
channels?
4How do we best organize and manage direct support in this new
environment?
4What
assets do support organizations need to facilitate the transformation?
To read more,
download Greg's paper here.
The second resource is from the
Association of Support
Professionals. As you know, I've been a long-time judge for ASP's
Ten Best Web Support Sites awards. Everyone who enters receives a
very detailed analysis of how their site compares against benchmarks based
on scores from all the other entries -- a critique that's well worth the
$145 entry fee.
Now the ASP has published a report on Web Support Assessment Techniques
that explores five different methodologies, including Task-Oriented
Scenario Analysis, Traffic Metrics, Design and Copy Review, Knowledgebase
Analysis, and Competitive Benchmarking.
ASP executive director Jeff Tarter has agreed to send this report to
Verghis View subscribers at no charge. To request your copy, send Jeff
an e-mail at jtarter@asponline.com.
It's a must-read if you're trying to create a site upgrade plan.
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Upcoming
Talks
- Be the Voice
of the Customer Workshop (Boston)
April 3, 2007 Boston Marriott Newton (space is limited)
Based on The Ultimate
Customer Support Executive, the workshop's basic premise is: To be
perceived as the voice of the customer, we have to EARN respect -- then
DEMAND it. Learn more
here. NOTE:
As a Verghis View subscriber, you get a
courtesy discount. Just enter TVG256 in registration page.
- April/May 2007
World Conference on IT and Technical Support, Mandalay Bay, Las
Vegas.
I'm doing a pre-conference workshop exclusively for their senior manager
track and a talk.
More info.
- June 2007 Pacific
Rim Help Desk & IT Service Management Conference
I'll deliver the keynote address and breakfast meeting by invitation
only for CIOs.
Get details.
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What's
On Your Mind?
I
want to hear from you! Your ideas, insights and feedback are important to me.
What topics or books would you like to see discussed? Who would you like to see interviewed? Your comments, questions, ideas,
suggestions, feedback and contributions are welcome. Send them to the editor here.
You're welcome to forward this
to
colleagues, co-workers and anyone else you think might be interested in improving the quality of their customer service. To subscribe, visit our website
and click the "Subscribe Now" button.
Privacy Policy: Your
email address and personal information will never be sold or shared
with any third party.
Previous issues:
December
2006
September
2006
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 About Phil Verghis
A preeminent expert on global service delivery,
Phil was vice president of Infrastructure & Support at Akamai
Technologies and a member of the Senior Executive Operations Group.
Among other responsibilities, he launched Akamai's award- winning
Customer Care Department and ran the world's largest IP network: 15,000
servers in 66 countries handling billions of hits per day. More
about Phil.
About The Verghis
Group
We unleash the power of your
customer (SM). The Verghis Group
brings years of expertise with innovative solutions that enable
companies like yours to conceptualize and implement world-class
customer support strategies that delight your customers and enhance
your bottom line. Our strategies encompass your people, processes and
technology. For the right clients, we can add significant value by
taking a comprehensive look at issues from your customer's point of
view.
We are vendor-neutral. Our mentorship and
facilitation based model emphasizes the speedy transfer of knowledge to
your internal teams.
For more information or a no-obligation initial
consultation, contact:
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Phil Verghis |
Box 123, 1770 Massachusetts
Ave. |
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The Verghis Group |
Cambridge, MA 02140-2808 USA
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info@verghisgroup.com |
Toll-f'ree: (800) 494
9142 |
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www.verghisgroup.com
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Phone: +1 (617) 395 6613 |
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Fax: +1 (617) 395 6643 |
This publication is a presentation of The Verghis
Group, which is solely responsible for its contents.
©2007 The Verghis Group. All rights reserved.
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