News..................................................................................................
 Former Forrester VP to Head SSPA Research John Ragsdale, former vice president and director of the Enterprise Applications research group for Forrester, has joined the SSPA as vice president of research. For the SSPA membership, John will execute a 12-month rolling roadmap of research and analysis which will be delivered to membership in white papers, webcasts, SSPA News, and other publications. John will interface with SSPA members to share insights and gather
information on their challenges, current practices and plans for the
future. Learn more
24x7 Shift Management: How Does Your Organization Measure Up? What is the geography of your support centers? How are the support centers staffed? Find out what the B2B landscape looks like in relation to this issue by taking a few minutes to complete this brief survey. Your input is anonymous, and results will be emailed to survey respondents on June 23rd. Take the Survey Now
Important SSPA Research Available Free to Members: Learn More
 Top Talent for Service and Support: a detailed look at what factors attract, motivate, and get talented people to stay with your organization.
Consumer Support Demand Series: information on consumer demand for extended warranties, consumer self service, and accelerating acceptance of offshore support.
Enterprise Support Demand Series: focused on support and maintenance pressure, moving towards total web delivery, and reducing the total cost of support and maintenance (TCSM).
Click here to visit the downloads page now
Outsourcing......................................................................................
Challenges and Opportunities for the Offshore Call Center Outsourcing Industry By Bill Rose, Founder and Executive Director, SSPA —
 In the last five years there has been a new industry developing that will have a great impact on the future of the technology service and support industry in the United States. What's all the fuss about? In this article, offshore call center outsourcing will be explored—from the challenges of managing global operations, to the future of the industry. Full article
Outsourced Services: Rethinking Offering and Pricing Strategies By Mark Burton, Co-Founder and VP of Consulting, Holden Advisors —
 The market for outsourced services - everything from short-term staffing to complete IT outsourcing programs - is in a state of upheaval. With strong, low-cost competitors and increasingly sophisticated customers who play off one vendor against another, there is enormous pressure on service providers to rethink every element of their cost positions and bid response processes. Knowing how best to respond starts with a clear understanding of what clients need in performance and relationships from their outsourcers. Full article
Certification....................................................................................
 Audio Interview: The Impact of Proving Superior Service and Support—Insights from HP With HP's Brent Potts & Bob Weis —
HP was the first company to achieve certification under SSPA's new J.D. Power and Associates Certification program. Listen to Brent Potts and Bob Weis describe the process and nature of the program, as well as the internal and external impacts of certification. Go to Interview
Services Sales & Marketing ...............................................................
Selling Services Through the Channel is "Simple"
By Jim Payne, President, S-Market Strategies —
 This article is the first in a series exclusive to the SSPA News that will concentrate on the strategies and tactics needed to be successful in selling services through channels. The articles will feature brief exerts from a book on channel marketing by Jim Payne that is scheduled to be available in the fourth quarter of 2006. Full article
People .............................................................................................
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, based on known principles of behavioral psychology, that dramatically change the way that customers react to you. These skills can help you deliver bad news, defuse a customer’s anger, or take control of a runaway conversation, while still keeping the caller on your side. Full article
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If you have comments or suggestions we would like to hear from
you. Please email the editor at
sspanews@thesspa.com
Interested in Submitting an Article for the SSPA News? Do you have knowledge, ideas, or experiences to share with your peers? If so, the SSPA would like to invite you to submit an article that will help foster the advancement of the services and support industry. Please click here for more details, or email Shawn Santos directly.
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The SSPA News Gets a Face-Lift! The primary focus of the SSPA News will continue to be delivering valuable SSPA research and industry expertise to the SSPA community. The new format—scheduled for launch next month—will enable us to do this even better. Research and best practices will be more robust and segmented by topic area, the SSPA Program Update will be combined with the News, and we are creating more interactive touch points to help readers guide and choose the information they are receiving. Stay tuned!
“Optimize the Customer Experience! How Novell Extends CRM with Search, KM and Self-Service” Novell wanted to continuously improve the efficiency of its customer support organization while improving the self-service experience for hundreds of thousands of customers. To achieve their goals, Novell deployed Service Resolution Management (SRM) applications from KNOVA. Built on an intelligent search and KM platform, SRM applications automate the costly service resolution process. Learn more about Novell’s strategy and best practices. View this free on-demand Web seminar now.
Give customers the freedom to choose the service they want, how and when they want it—with KANA's multi-channel solutions. Hundreds of companies use our solutions for Email, Chat, Web Self-Service and Call Centers to improve service, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge. And real-time customer information lets you deliver consistent service to every customer, across every channel, every time. It's a multi-channel world, and KANA is the one solution you need.
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