SupportIndustry.com - TrendWatch

Crazy Tech Support Stories
IT: It's Not Just About Technical Skills
Workforce Management: Three Tips for Managing Agent Schedules during a Downturn
The Richest CIOs: CIO Magazine's Annual List of Top Earners
On the Prowl for New Ways to Cut Contact Center Costs
The Seven Principles of Call Center Budgeting
Post-Meltdown Lessons Learned for Call Centers
CFOs to CIOs: Get Real
The Intelligent Self-Service Imperative for Call Centers
How Ritz-Carlton Stays at the Top
Moving Your Contact Center Forward
Wiki Tools are not All the Same
Managing the Relationship between the Call Center and R&D
Improve Call Center Agent Productivity and Customer Service
Google tries its own take on customer service

Need Has Never Been Greater for Entrepreneurial CIOs
The impact of an entrepreneurial CIO is greatest when the need for productivity leverage is greatest, as in the current economic environment, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner believes that the entrepreneurial CIO is the person who, working jointly with an entrepreneurial CEO or business unit executive, marshals the resources under the command of the IT organization, as well as creatively linking to resources outside of IT, to define and capture new and growing business opportunities. The primary focus of the entrepreneurial CIO is on new-business impact, and that impact is felt in three major ways by the business:

Velocity of change -- the ability to influence the velocity of change through the structure of the business, so that a change in strategy can be implemented at a rate that outperforms all other competitors, and, therefore, also draws revenue at an earlier time and at a rapid pace.

Strategic leverage and extension -- capabilities that extend strategy for the enterprise to new markets, new industries and new uses, and that lead to growth in revenue against entrenched and new competition.

Operational efficiencies -- efficiencies that improve operations to gain breakaway competitive advantage that further increase the rate of revenue and earnings growth. Gaining an improvement that is a factor of 10 or more is key to establishing true competitive advantage in the area of operational efficiencies.

IT Trend Survey Shows Focus on Agility, Speed to Market, and Cost Reduction
The Society for Information Management (SIM) has released the results from its 2009 IT Trend Survey. More than double the percentage of respondents said their budgets in 2009 would be less than in 2008 (twice as much as the previous year's survey), so the mantra is doing more with less. However, budgets look to be stabilizing in 2010, with 45% saying their budgets would be equal to 2009. The list of the top six applications and technology investments for 2009 provides the strategic insight IT executives need as they try to maximize efficiencies within their organization. The list includes:

1. Business intelligence

2. Server virtualization

3. ERP systems

4. Customer/corporate portals

5. Enterprise application integration/management (EAI/EAM)

6. Continuity planning/disaster recovery

2010 State of People Issues in Customer Support Survey

Customer support is often viewed through the lens of business processes, metrics, and automation - but today a majority of both customers and employees are still gained or lost as a result of people issues. This SupportIndustry.com survey will examine the state of people issues in customer support today. Five lucky participants will receive a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate.

Begin the survey!

Driving Customer Loyalty through Improved Service Performance

Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 11:00am PST/ 2:00pm EST
Customer satisfaction and loyalty are two highly desirable results in a support environment. But which performance factors deliver both? Join us for an interactive Webinar to hear Dave Brown, president of Support Center University explore the difference between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty and explain why both are critical for success. Learn which industry best practices are a must-have for your performance program.

Getting Your Worst Customers to Love You: True Tales from the Front Lines of Customer Support

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 11:00am PST / 2:00pm EST
Your "worst" customers can sometimes become your best supporters, *if* you and your team know how to handle those critical, moment-of-truth situations faced by every customer support operation. Join communications skills expert and bestselling author Rich Gallagher for a wide ranging, high-content discussion that will give you and your team confidence in handling any customer situation.

Rok Selects ClickSoftware for Optimized Mobile Workforce Management
Feb-07-2010
Telrex Releases CallRex Agent Evaluation Version 3.9
Feb-07-2010
Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 3% in 2010
Feb-07-2010
Study Finds Globalization and New Technologies Driving Companies to Seek New Business Models to Increase Efficiency, Competitiveness, Agility and Grow
Feb-07-2010
Repairing Broken Teams: Moving Beyond Manufactured Teambuilding
Feb-07-2010
Service Delivery -- the Value Proposition
Feb-07-2010