SSPA News - July 2006

Q&A with John Ragsdale
eService | Phone Support | Customer Experience
by John Ragsdale, Vice President of Research, SSPA
Will self-service spell the end of assisted support? In this article, John Ragsdale tackles this issue and other vital questions posed by SSPA members in the recent SSPA State of the Industry webcast. Included are relevant questions and practical answers for several topics that are at the forefront of our industry. >MORE

Issue Sponsor
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SSPA Programs and Events
Services Leadership | Conference Nov 12-14, Call for Speakers

STAR Awards | Call for Nominations

Webcasts | Aligning People, Processes and Technologies; Remote Support; Offshore Challenges

New Research | Mid-term Future of Support, CSE Highlights

New and Returning Members | AMS Services, Pillar Data Systems, Intuit, Mercury, Sento, Verint Systems

Sponsored White Papers | "Managing a Remote Work Strategy", More...

White Paper of the Month

eGain White Paper - Break the Rules to Win in Customer Service & Support: 10 Contrarian Ways to Out-innovate the Competition
Companies that have won in the marketplace through customer service excellence have one thing in common – they have broken the rules of conventional wisdom to innovate in service!
Download 10 rule-breaking secrets to win through service.

Vote for SSPA Research Coverage 1. Can field service agents sell?
2. Successful Case Study in Field     Service Delivery
3. How to Drive Cost out of your Field     Service Delivery Operations
                                                 >VOTE NOW

Great Customer Connections: It's About Technique, Not Attitude
By Richard S. Gallagher,
Author & Consultant —
The secret to great customer connections – the kind that actually change your service and support performance metrics – don’t revolve around “attitude” or motivation, but lie in specific techniques… >MORE

The Art of Customer Service
By Guy Kawasaki, Columnist for Forbes.com and a Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures
In this article, Guy Kawasaki, author of eight books including The Art of the Start and Rules for Revolutionaries, describes his view of the art of customer service — a practical ten step guide to a subject that is near and dear to his heart.
>MORE

Why We Love EMC’s Total Customer Experience
Changing the Way We See Ourselves and Our Customers
By Shawn Santos, Senior Program Manager, SSPA
Drawing on the shared goals of engineering and customer service, EMC Corporation has aligned itself to deliver the “Total Customer Experience”. With only a couple of years since its inception, the results are already noticeable, and the good news is, it’s working.
>MORE

Improve Customer Experience:
Design-Deliver-Operate & Optimize
By Mack Coulibaly, Director, Technical Services, Customer Advocacy, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Customer experience is not just product experience. It encompasses all touch points including how well the product is designed (Design), the customer’s expectations of the product (Delivery), and the product’s ability to sustain operations with minimal disruption (Operate & Optimize). In this article, you will learn how Cisco is developing an integrated methodology to compute performance indicators that measure and improve the customer experience.
>MORE

We Are So Alike, Then Why Are We So Different?
Selling Services Through the Channel
By Jim Payne, President, S-Market Strategies
This article is the second in a series exclusive to SSPA News that will concentrate on the strategies and tactics needed to be successful in selling services through channels. The article introduces some of the key differences between the manufacturer and channel that need to be considered during strategy development.
>MORE

Maintaining a Cohesive Team across Borders
By Francoise Tourniaire, founder and principal of FT Works
In global organizations, distance, language, and culture differences make communications and teamwork more challenging. Whether you are based at headquarters or in a remote office, here are the 10 behaviors that will bridge oceans and unleash the power of the global organization.
>MORE