 OUR TAKE -
Will We Remember?
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| Lasting Impressions:
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
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Don Marquis
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Recently, I received a "shout out" from Carl Nelson who runs ToonBlogs - a web site of contact center comic strips. He also runs a blog with some more serious comments. Recently, he reference this column and I thought I would share some of his comments:
"One of the best bloggers on customer service is Gary Lemke, publisher of CRM Advocate. He provides keen insights to put customer service into clear perspective. This week, Gary talks about his recent experience of asking for quotes by service providers and getting prompt (better than usual) returned phone calls to secure his business. Gary's experience was confirmed to me by a B2B component manufacturer who told me after surprisingly strong sales in January, his February results are softer. Why? He discovered that many of his B2B customers had moved orders more quickly (providing better service to their customer) to secure sales. Before the economic downturn the customer service practiced by some industries put people on hold."
He goes on to write: "Given new economic realities, Gary predicts this year that customer service as measured by customer satisfaction may see a measurable rise. The real test, he warns, will occur when business conditions improve: Will they slide back to "business as usual" or maintain the better levels of customer service? Will we remember the simple lesson that the current economic conditions are trying to teach us? "
That's my take. What's your take?
Gary Lemke, Publisher
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| Stock Ticker |
| Astea | 2.16 |  | 0.22 |
| Interactive | 9.19 | | 0.51 |
| eLoyalty | 4.48 | | 0.23 |
| APAC | 1.95 | | 0.09 |
| NetSuite | 8.96 | | 0.3 |
| SupportSoft | 1.98 | | 0.02 |
| Teletech | 8.48 | | 0.08 |
| LivePerson | 2.03 | | 0.01 |
| Salesforce | 26.05 | | 0.12 |
| RightNow | 8.04 | | 0 |
| Selectica | 0.39 | | 0 |
| Sykes | 15.3 |  | -0.02 |
| Tekelc | 12.61 | | -0.05 |
| ATG | 2.22 | | -0.01 |
| HP | 31.24 | | -0.15 |
| SPSS | 26.6 | | -0.15 |
| Amdocs | 17.81 | | -0.17 |
| Vignette | 6.96 | | -0.08 |
| CDC | 0.82 | | -0.01 |
| Pegasystems | 14.9 | | -0.19 |
| NICE | 20.54 | | -0.3 |
| SAP | 33.54 | | -0.51 |
| Oracle | 16.56 | | -0.27 |
| ClickSoftware | 2.85 | | -0.06 |
| Convergys | 6.58 | | -0.15 |
| NCR | 9.02 | | -0.34 |
| Unica | 4.32 | | -0.18 |
| Epicor | 2.59 | | -0.12 |
| Chordiant | 2.34 | | -0.16 |
| ICT | 4.86 | | -0.38 |
| Rainmaker | 0.67 | | -0.28 |
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As of 3:59 p.m. on 2/20/09 |
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 NEW IN CRM
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The home-based agent model is continuing to develop as an established trend in the contact center market. According to a poll conducted in 2007, 46 percent of respondents said they were already using at-home agents. Of those that weren't, over half said they planned to implement a home-based agent model within one year. The reasons for home-based agents are many, here are a few: 1. Improved retention. Many companies have reported a sharp increase in retention rates, above 80 percent or more with their at-home agents.(Contact Professional
)
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