A Publication of the Service & Support Professionals Association
April 2007
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IN THIS ISSUE
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SSPA PERSPECTIVE  |
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Handing Over the Reins Crucial Questions for SSPA’s New Executive Director By Bill Rose & Steve Smith, SSPA SSPA Founder & Executive Director Emeritus Bill Rose interviews the Association’s new Executive Director Steve Smith on Steve’s new role, the state of the industry, and the future direction of the SSPA. In this exclusive interview, Steve lays out his vision for technology services and support, practical steps that services leadership should be embracing today, and why he thinks he’s the right person to lead the SSPA. |
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| FEATURED ARTICLES |
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Best Practices to Increase Effectiveness of Voice Self-Service By John Ragsdale, VP of Research, SSPA Voice self-service is hated by many customers, and frankly, who can blame them? In March, SSPA members selected “best practices for voice self-service” as their choice for SSPA News research. In this article, John Ragsdale shows how IVR and voice-self service technology can be deployed to better meet the needs of customers, encourage customer adoption, and ultimately become a more effective channel for support. |
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Paying for Knowledge Management By Francoise Tourniaire, Founder and Owner, FT Works Knowledge management will save the world and we should all embrace it, right? Well, there’s the small matter of getting a budget for it. The good news is that most knowledge management initiatives can show solid returns on investment. The bad news? Accurate, comprehensive ROI analyses for KM are few and far between. In this article, Francoise puts forth 6 practical steps that will help you support your case for KM. |
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The Agathas in Our Midst (Can Lead to Better Products) By Frederick C. Van Bennekom, Dr.B.A. Steven Spielberg's 2002 movie, Minority Report, presents a world in which the near-future visions of three “precognitives” allow the department of “precrime” to capture intended killers. In this article, Fred applies this creative Hollywood concept to our industry—specifically, to technology product designers and product managers tasked with future product planning. What is our industry’s organizational equivalent to Spielberg’s precognitive who can foresee technology product “crimes”? |
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Foundations for Achieving Self-Service Success By Allen Bonde, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Marketing eVergance Self-service success remains a moving target for many organizations, especially as new approaches to knowledge management and Web 2.0 models take hold. In this article, Allen demonstrates how a structured planning process and checklist which focuses on organizational, user, content and technology readiness can ensure a balanced approach that delivers the full value of online support. |
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Service, Selling and Style By Adam Halpern, President, Soft Sell What helps one customer service representative develop immediate rapport with customers, while other reps struggle? People prefer to do business with people they like. In this article, Adam illustrates the subtleties of how superior interactions will help you to be more effective in your day to day activities and position you well to capitalize on strong customer relationships. |
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