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Michelle Babb

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Practice Director, WFO and Analytics, Ponvia

120 points

Call/Contact Center Management and Technology Consultant with experience in all aspects of call/contact center including workforce management and optimization (WFO), self-service (IVR and Web), advanced call and contact routing (ACD), performance analytics and reporting, and the selecting, designing, implementation, and management of technology solutions that solve business problems.

Michelle Babb is now following Angel Tuccy and 1 other person

April 21, 2011

Michelle Babb and 15 other people answered this question

April 6, 2011

Why is it so difficult for companies to provide an amazing customer experience?

While I agree that some companies don't care, I also see many organizations that don't understand the importance of the business units that interacts the most with their customers. Many organizations incorrectly think that contact centers and front line personnel are simply cost centers and ... more

Customer Service

Customer Experience

Michelle Babb is now following

Feb. 9, 2011

Michelle Babb is now following

Feb. 9, 2011

Michelle Babb is now following

Feb. 9, 2011

Michelle Babb is now following

Feb. 9, 2011

Michelle Babb and 2 other people answered this question

Jan. 27, 2011

What is the status of the cloud in the contact center? Is it taking off like other areas of the org?

I agree and disagree with Chris. While I do agree that many contact centers are very traditional (for good reason!) in adopting new technologies, I do see that the cloud will continue to be a driver in contact center technologies over the next five years. ... more

Customer Service

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Michelle Babb and 2 other people answered this question

Jan. 27, 2011

What is the value of coaching in the contact center?

Proper coaching on the right factors is the single most important activity that must occur in EVERY contact center. Unfortunately, in a world where supervisors are stretched to shove more activities into an already full schedule, coaching is often the one item that quickly falls ... more

Customer Service

General Management

Information Technology

Michelle Babb answered this question

Jan. 27, 2011

What is the future of the IVR?

While techniques in IVR development continue to evolve, I really don't see major technical advances coming out any time soon. Instead, I see that there will be continued focus on social media channels.
However, I do see the continued evolution of the IVR (along with ... more

Customer Service

Information Technology

Contact Center Technologies

Michelle Babb and 23 other people answered this question

Jan. 27, 2011

What electronic devices (phone, laptop, etc...) do you travel with?

My usual travel device inventory:
1) Laptop 1 and associated charger
2) Laptop 2 and associated charger
3) iPhone and Charger
4) Kindle and Charger (great for catching up on my white paper and technical document reading - plus a little stress relief with the ... more

Information Technology

Electronic Device

Michelle Babb and 3 other people answered this question

Dec. 21, 2010

Contact Center Best Practices: What are your tips for improving performance in your contact center?

While I agree that the right hiring practices and measures are significant, the number one thing that every contact center management should focus on is coaching and training your supervisors on how to coach.
1) Do your supervisors spend at least one hour per month ... more

Customer Service

General Management

Michelle Babb recommends this answer by Erik Goldoff

Dec. 3, 2010

Protocol for stranger requesting "Invitation to connect on LinkedIn?"

Probably 90% of the invitations I get from 'unknowns' are just that, but 10% or so people have been referred to me by others that do know me.
Normal protocol says there should be a message with the invitation to connect, stating how they know ... more

Networking Strategies Professional Networking

Michelle Babb and 1 other person answered this question

Nov. 17, 2010

What are the benefits of enlisting a customer database?

There are huge values in using a customer database in your contact center. Many organizations have fragmented views of their customer. While this is caused for many reasons (acquisitions, organizational silos, etc.), the end result is a customer who thinks your organization does not know ... more

Customer Service

Information Technology

Contact Center Technologies

Michelle Babb and 11 other people answered this question

Nov. 17, 2010

IVRs - love them or hate them?

As a IVR user and designer, I love well designed IVRs and detest poorly designed ones.
A well designed IVR is customer friendly, complements your brand with a well designed persona, is easy for callers to quickly get what they need then get out, but ... more

Customer Service

Information Technology

Contact Center Productivity

Michelle Babb and 3 other people answered this question

Nov. 17, 2010

Is call center location a factor when choosing an outsourced call center?

Location is absolutely a factor - not only for the points that William and Niek identify in the impact to the customer relationship and experience but also is a factor for very pratical technical and disaster recovery reasons.
For example, an outsourcer that is located ... more

Customer Service

Information Technology

Contact Center Solutions

Michelle Babb and 15 other people answered this question

Nov. 12, 2010

How should we approach customer service in the current economy?

Niek makes some really great points.
The real key to success in today's economy is stick to the basics of workforce optimization.
1) Schedule your agents and enforce and measure agent adherence in order to maximize training and coaching time so that your agents can ... more

Customer Service

Consumer Behavior

Customer Loyalty

Customer Service Best Practices

Michelle Babb and 2 other people answered this question

Nov. 12, 2010

What tools help you monitor call quality in your call center?

The biggest and most reliable tool in your tool box for quality should be a voice recording solution. It is very difficult and time consuming to conduct quality monitoring through service observes...and even harder to coach when the agent can only go on your Quality ... more

Customer Service

Information Technology

Michelle Babb and 7 other people answered this question

Nov. 9, 2010

What is the best approach to informing customers they will now pay a fee for a service that was free

While a grace period is the best way to change your fee structure, you should also consider the type and intent of the charges.
For example, many companies now charge callers a convenience fee for payments - depending on the channel used. Web payments are ... more

Michelle Babb recommends this answer by Kathleen Pabst Robshaw

Oct. 4, 2010

Ways to improve staff retention in a customer call center?

Many will give you technology answers but my experience is hands on people answers ...Empower them to make decisions and create solutions for their callers. More pats on the back than criticism. Ask what motivates them and what they need to feel good about the ... more

Customer Service

Call Center Recruiting

Contact Centers

Michelle Babb and 3 other people answered this question

Sept. 28, 2010

How do you measure the level of service your contact center provides?

Your contact center service metrics should consist of the following core metrics. These metrics are applicable to both inbound and outbound environments and sales and service organizations.
Intraday/Daily Metrics
Service Level/Response Time - Did your organization meet your metric targets of handling or resolving x% ... more

Customer Service

Contact Centers

Customer Satisfaction Metrics

Michelle Babb and 7 other people answered this question

Sept. 28, 2010

What tools have helped you improve the productivity of your call center agents?

While David makes great points about how hiring, training, and retaining the right agents influence your overall productivity, there are also several basic things that can be completed by many centers to increase agent productivity.
While there is a plethora of software solutions on the ... more

Customer Service

Call Center Agents

Contact Centers

Michelle Babb and 2 other people answered this question

Sept. 27, 2010

How do you motivate your customer service professionals to go above and beyond?

In my experience, the best motivator is an incentive program for agents that are recognized as going above and beyond. Incentives do not always equate to dollars paid to a agent (although money always helps!), but can be something as simple as recognition for that ... more

Customer Service

Customer Service Professionals

Customer Service Reps

Michelle Babb and 4 other people answered this question

Sept. 17, 2010

What are some examples of business intelligence applications?

Business intelligence is an interesting space, and there are several out of the box and customizable solutions available. In the contact center world, most technology solutions come with out of the box reporting solutions, but require BI tools like Informatica and Data Warehousing products to ... more

Information Technology

Michelle Babb and 1 other person answered this question

Sept. 16, 2010

Which call center software has the best reporting features?

One of the most important considerations is not only what can the reporting solution offer in terms of pre-defined reports, but also the ease of use for users to create their reports but allow for control of the calculations. Another key consideration is the ease ... more

Customer Service

Call Center Software

Contact Centers

Michelle Babb recommends this answer by JIM HALL

Aug. 31, 2010

Which Operational Consulting company would you hire for your Contact Center?

One last point that has shown itself in this market. Freshout of college with a degree and lower price does not always make the best choice. There are experienced level people out there that are now in the market place after being removed from long ... more

Customer Service

Michelle Babb recommends this answer by Jeroen Zijlema

Aug. 30, 2010

Are workforce management metrics (adherence/conformance) for the contact center too old school?

Most customer service managers will tell you..”I don't need metrics to run the show ! .”I have done audits in contact centers and help desks and 90% of the location managers fall off their chair when showing the results on how they really perform.
The art ... more

Customer Service

Call Center Performance Management

Michelle Babb published a brief

Aug. 23, 2010

Optimizing Your Contact Center Through Agent Adherence

Customer Service

Human Resources

Call Center Management

Following 7 Topics

Contact Center Technologies

Contact Centers

Customer Service

Information Technology

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