"It's easy to cut back on investment in your people during lean times. It's also suicidal over the long run. Don't do it."

"Communicate the value effect of service on the brand and revenue to senior officers in both direct line reporting and to the areas of marketing and sales."

"While data is king, people skills cannot be overlooked in teleservices in either an outbound or inbound setting. In sales terms, "You do not have because you do not ask.""

"Coaching, coaching, coaching. This is what will enable your centre to outperform all others"

"Combine the art and science for great customer service"

"Your focus must be on the customer. At Epicor, we pride ourselves on working closely with the customer to build a successful foundation for their future growth and profitability. Epicor never forgets that it’s the company’s responsibility to help assist customers in maximizing the value of their Epicor solution because we know that our company’s success is directly tied to the success of our customers."

"Your agents are your most valuable asset."

"Sell your department."

"Make your first line managers the focus of success."

"Focus on the human capital... if you already have the technology."

"Manage your contact centre using metrics."

"My tip would start with Employee Engagement! All the call center tools available are only as good as the people that you hire and engage. Make sure all members of management have everyday access to all employees (face to face is preferable). This could be a small gesture such as a greeting; weekly 1:1 meetings and monthly awards and team meetings. I truly believe if you take care of your people - they will take care of your business."

"Flexibility – Your organization must be willing to change and change quickly to meet the evolving needs of your customers."

"Everything starts with Employee Engagement. I speak of our NPS as our key metric however that would not be possible without motivated, inspired, engaged employees. If you have staff that are energized and believe in what they do and feel a part of the bigger picture you will in turn have a successful Sales & Service organization."

"Cherish your customers."

"Patience! Listen to your agents, have compassion and give them a second chance to make a strong comeback. We all have an off-day every now and again."

"Don’t be afraid to challenge your team to greatness."

"That tip would be to make sure that the contact center environment promotes excellence, continuous improvement and challenges CSRs to always be at their best. This includes instilling the understanding of customer expectations at the CSR level and obviously praising performance when the CSR is consistent or goes the extra mile for the customer."