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Larry Streeter

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VP Customer Support, Constant Contact

100 points

Sept. 26, 2011

Larry Streeter and 19 other people answered this question at this roundtable

The Biggest Sin in Selling: Discounting! [9/22 @ 1 pm]

What if you are selling a commoditized product, what is the best way to differentiate your offerring?

I agree with Scott and Chip on this one. Delivering an awe-inspiring customer experience will differentiate even a commodotized product from the competitors. That delivery of KnowHow and coaching with a personal touch through your service organization will help deflect the minor differneces in price ... more

Sept. 8, 2011

Larry Streeter and 1 other person answered this question

What "success metrics" do you recommend for managing the Customer Experience?

As we already track the standard Customer Satisfaction and Net Promoter statistics on our customer base, we're now working on the development of a Customer Engagement Index to help us better understand the current level of engagement a customer has with our products and services ... more

Customer Service

Customer Experience

Aug. 31, 2011

Larry Streeter and 5 other people answered this question

Is it deceiving to use the title "Customer Experience Specialist" for quota-carrying sales people?

Thanks Jim, I appreciate your thoughts! BTW, love the Red Sox picture on your blog!

Customer Service

Customer Experience Management

Aug. 31, 2011

Larry Streeter is now following Jim Watson and 1 other person

July 15, 2011

Larry Streeter and 4 other people answered this question

How does chat support help customer satisfaction?

Agree with Rachel and the impact chat suppport can have on the overall customer experience. One thing we do is to promote our phone and chat channels as differnet ways to get different information.
For example, we promote the live chat channel as a quick way ... more

Customer Service

Information Technology

July 1, 2011

Larry Streeter and 11 other people answered this question

How can a company establish a customer service culture?

Jim's response is spot on! In addition to defining every job around the customer there is another critical step.
Performance metrics also need to be aligned with the expectations around delivering a world-class customer experience. In our center, we've abandoned the traditional metrics around talk times ... more

Customer Service

Company Culture

Customer Experience Management

Customer Loyalty

April 27, 2011

Larry Streeter and 3 other people answered this question

What are the steps for developing a 'Voice of the Customer' program?

Caty,
Great question! The key to our success with VOC programs was focusing on three things:
1) Buy in from your customers that their opionions matter and feedback, both the good and bad, will be heard and acted upon when possible. To instill that confidence in your ... more

Customer Service

Customer Experience Management

Service Programs

April 15, 2011

Norman Roth selected a best answer for

What Are The Key Steps To Client Retention?

How do you create exit barriers to prevent competitors from eroding your client base?

Customer Service

Customer Retention

April 15, 2011

Larry Streeter and 12 other people answered this question

How are you spending your tax refund...business or personal use?

Refund?
Refund?

April 7, 2011

Larry Streeter and 4 other people answered this question

what is an average time to answer calls at a call center

I totally agree with Scott and would take it a step further.
ASA goals should also take into consideration the customer's needs for your service. this can be totally driven by the key drivers as defined by the industry. For example....
I started my career working for ... more

Customer Service

Call Center Response Time

Contact Centers

March 29, 2011

Larry Streeter and 3 other people answered this question

What tactics can be employed to try to reduce employee turnover in contact centers?

The most effective way to reduce employee turnover is by making a solid commitment to their development.
With our company, it begins by asking the interview candidate to tell us what he/she really wants to do with their career. Often times potential employees are looking at ... more

Customer Service

Contact Centers

Employee Turnover

March 16, 2011

Larry Streeter and 7 other people answered this question

What non-monetary incentives does your company offer?

The most effective non-monetary incentive we offer our call center employees is in the area of career development.
We are realistic in our expectations that no child at age 11 tells their Mom and Dad "When I grow up, I want to be a Call Center ... more

Human Resources

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation & Rewards

Feb. 28, 2011

Larry Streeter and 12 other people answered this question

What is the optimal response time for an email to customer service?

It goes without saying that an immediate automated response to a customer's email is a good thing!
Our goal is a 4-hour response time. Given our historical arrival patterns, we staff our email team to achieve an average of 2.5 hours for a response to ... more

Customer Service

Customer Support

Responding to Emails

Feb. 24, 2011

Larry Streeter and 14 other people answered this question

Do you think Twitter should/will remove the 140 character limitation on tweets

Don't go changing!
The 140-character limit is the essence of Twitter. Change that and you change the whole dynamic of how the tool is meant to be used. more

Feb. 3, 2011

Larry Streeter and 5 other people answered this question

What do you do when someone writes negative comments about your company on social media?

Much of it depends on the context but:
We address it head on. If the statement is false, we attempt to educate the author. If they are pointing out a flaw with our product or practices, we attempt to learn from it.
We are as ... more

Customer Service

Reactive Social Media

Jan. 29, 2011

Larry Streeter and 4 other people answered this question

How much time do you devote to coaching your agents at your contact center?

Coaching our employees begins the day they finish their on boarding. Our staff recurve coaching through our internal quality program where 4 calls and/or chats are monitored and scored per month then reviewed with the rep. This is a great opportunity to provide near real-time ... more

Customer Service

General Management

Human Resources

Jan. 29, 2011

Larry Streeter and 3 other people answered this question

What kind of workforce management system do you use in your contact center?

We use the IEX Workforce Management system wih our multi-site Nortel telephony platform. IEX has great features, but we have had ( and at times still have) challenges with this configuration, especially in the areas of real-time reporting. more

Customer Service

Contact Center Performance Management

Contact Centers

Jan. 25, 2011

Larry Streeter and 7 other people answered this question

If you took over a company with a reputation for poor service, what would be your first change?

I agree with Brian Phelps. Understanding what's wrong from the customer's perspective is important but the real challenge is to change the company culture first!
Starting with the CEO, everyone needs to be on board with the philosophy that the service experience is paramount in ... more

Customer Service

Angry Customers

Contact Centers

Dec. 30, 2010

Larry Streeter and 6 other people answered this question

Customer Service Trends: What are the top trends to watch for in 2011?

Reducing customer churn will continue to gain momentum as a key strategy for continual growth. Companies successful in this area will look upstream at their products, service, and processes that cause churn rather than focusing on activities designed to “save” failed relationships.
“Macro” definitions of ... more

Customer Service

Customer Experience

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Contact Center Technologies

Customer Experience Management

Customer Service

Information Technology

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