Define what Success Looks Like - Then Measure It!

It started with a movie on the plane to New York. It was just another week away from my young family to spend with clients and co-workers. Just another step on the road to success ¾ making money, but sacrificing, always sacrificing. Just another cross-country, redeye flight – business as usual. But this time was different. Rather than work my way across country, I decided I’d actually watch the movie this flight.

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Total Contact Ownership

Building a culture of ownership and accountability can be achieved by implementing methodologies that support the TCO concept. A culture that promotes exceptional customer care, instills ownership in its Help Desk professionals, and promotes process compliance, will contribute to the achievement of the ultimate goal - satisfied customers.

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Call Reduction Strategies That Work

I could tell by the caller-id that the person on the other end of my ringing phone was my toughest customer — the Chief Financial Officer of the largest business unit serviced by my Customer Support Center. He was tough in that he demanded a lot. He always wanted more, wanted it faster, wanted it cheaper, etc. It was budget season, so I knew instinctively what he was probably calling about. I answered the phone cheerfully, as usual, and asked what I could do for him today. His response was quick and to the point: "I want your Support Center expense line item on my monthly IT invoice to go away. I'm scheduling a meeting with you for next Tuesday, and I want you to explain to me how you are going to make that happen. See you then."

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Senior Management Visibility is a Contact Sport

"My message is simple: As a support leader, you must set a course forpositive change and impact by engaging senior management in your function. Senior management is the most powerful, influential force you have to champion your support organization; and no single group has a greater ability to make you obsolete."

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Victicrat Or Rock Star - The Choice Is Yours

Just another day… another 1,000 calls, another technology rollout, another global outage, another upset customer, another missed SLA, another senior executive challenging the value of the support organization. Amid these pressures, do you survive or thrive? Are you a Victicrat or a Rock Star?

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How Do You Define Success?

What does success look like? How will you know when you get there? Who wins what, how, and why? Too many questions? Perhaps. But they are meant to make you think not about tactics, but about success metrics. Let me answer them with a lesson I learned years ago.

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“You Tawkin’ to Me?” The Art and Science of Communication

Every interaction of every day — no matter whether it’s with a customer, peer, or senior management — is both a communication event and a communication opportunity. Why? Because communication is both an art and a science, and learning to converse effectively and persuasively is a life skill that we all need to improve upon every chance we get.

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Being the CEO of You!

Being the CEO of You is about taking personal accountability for one’s career. Today’s competitive business environment demands that not only must companies continuously improve themselves, but also the people who run them. Leave it to Mark Twain to explain the unfairness of it all: “You can be on the right track and still get run over by the train.”

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Building the Business Plan for Replacing Your Enterprise Service Tool

Current Situation: Declining IT budgets and uncertain economic times has caused IT decision-makers to have great hesitancy when considering the purchase of an enterprise service solution. In addition, CIO's are reluctant to, further invest in an already deployed enterprise application or spend time or money in searching for a replacement. In a recent study with IT executives, the majority stated that they do not view the future investing in new applications favorably. The reality is that if you have an enterprise service application that no longer meets your needs, is not flexible enough to adapt to your changing business, or is being discontinued by the vendor - not replacing it may actually end up costing you more in the long run.

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How to Survive Budget Cuts and Still Function Effectively

Economic cycles bring alternating waves of funding and budget cuts, creating an atmosphere of ecstasy and tragedy. In this atmosphere, IT managers must be prepared to defend the value of their organization to the business, or they risk disabling cuts. How can IT managers and the Help Desk prepare themselves for budget battles? What tactics can they employ to survive and still function effectively?

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