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Winning the Battle of Expectations vs. Reality in today's service desk

Winning the Battle of Expectations vs. Reality in Today's Service Desk

Speakers: Pete McGarahan, McGarahan and Associates
Stephen Fenter, Director, Best Practices, SupportSoft

Let’s face it. Today’s business environment is more dynamic and complex than ever, and a company’s success depends on the support the Service Desk provides.

However, despite its importance in the organization, the Service Desk is battling the age old war of expectations vs. reality. The company’s expectations frequently exceed what the Service Desk can deliver, given the resources it has been allocated. Many contact centers are told to cut costs, yet are expected to deliver exceptional customer service. Those responsible for the service desk know there are no “miracles” to make this story end happily.

This webinar, conducted by SupportIndustry.com and presented by industry experts Pete McGarahan and Stephen Fenter, Director, Best Practices, SupportSoft, provides you with an insider’s view of what is happening in the Service Desk today. Attendees will learn how implementing best practices and taking advantage of the latest support technologies can increase productivity and improve the performance of the Service Desk.

This was excellent! Thank you very much.
From Brian Smith – webinar attendee!

Please click on this link for the recorded version of the webinar:
Escaping Ground Hog Day - The Webinar

spin banner

Presenter: Pete McGarahan, Founder & President, McGarahan & Associates

Host: Rich Hand, Executive Director of Membership, HDI

It is the beginning of a new year, or is it? In recognition of “Ground Hog Day” Pete McGarahan will discuss the most common things we, as support professionals, continue to do, day, after day, after day.

Are you living “Ground Hog Day” at your organization? Are you facing the same incidents...the same problems... every day? Do you have a plan to change?

Pete!

Join Pete on this one of a kind webinar focused on why you need to make 2008 a New Year at your organization! As Pete says in this inspiring article, “Take the time to do it right. Take the time to do it differently based upon what you have learned from prior days and experiences. Don’t wake-up to yesterday ever again. Take the time to change and rid yourself of Groundhog Day He_ _!".

Learn More about our presenter and read his article on “
Escaping Ground Hog Day

To access the presentation, please click on ->
Escaping Ground Hog Day - The Presentation!”



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Change or Irrelevance: Career Changing Technologies
07/14/2011
 
Rapid, breathtaking technology advances are forcing radical changes not only in how IT organizations function, but also in terms of their culture, leadership, and even careers. Combined with business, social and global trends, as well as technology investing (spending), IT organizations must accelerate their organizational change plans in order to survive and thrive. They must assess and plan for complete transformation - strategy, structure, people, processes, and tools.

Are we preparing our IT professionals to plan for and make these changes? Are we helping them position themselves and their organizations for success in this dynamically evolving world?

This Cutter Consortium article assess and addresses the impacting wave of the rapidly changing IT and business trends on traditional IT careers, positions, and skill sets.

This wake-up call is best described by a quote from four-star US General (Ret.) Eric Shineski: "If you don't like change, you'll like irrelevance even less."



The “Business” Service Leadership Agenda
07/14/2011

BSMReview.com
Next Practices in Business Service Management

The “Business” Service Leadership Agenda  by Peter J. McGarahan

The Defining Moment of Truth

Why do some companies consistently exceed their business customers’ expectations and others fail to meet their customer’s basic demands and needs? Why do smaller, flexible companies seem to care more about the business impact of customer service than larger credit card, banking and cable organizations? Does the exuberant profits and size of these larger companies (“Too Big To Fail”) create a situation where customer service is no longer a competitive differentiator nor a strategic imperative?
MSN Money’s fifth annual Customer Service Survey was recently published revealing the top ten companies earning a place in their Customer Service Hall of Shame and Hall of Fame. The “business” service differentiation comes down to knowledgeable and friendly staff, available and responsive staff, trust, transparency, genuine care and understanding of their customer. Simple you say, obviously not!



The Service Leadership Agenda
11/21/2011

The Service Leadership Agenda
 
The Defining Moment of Truth

Why do some companies consistently exceed their customers’ expectations and others fail to meet their customer’s basic demands and needs? Why do smaller, flexible companies seem to care more about customer service than larger credit card, banking and cable organizations? Does the exuberant profits and size of these larger companies (“Too Big To Fail”) create a situation where customer service is no longer a competitive differentiator nor a strategic imperative?



Learn How to Create a Highly Efficient and Effective Support Organization
04/21/2011

SupportIndustry.com Webinar:
Best Practice Strategies for Creating a Highly Efficient
and Effective Support Organization

In case you missed it, SupportIndustry.com recently conducted a webinar on Best Practice Strategies for Creating a Highly Efficient and Effective Support Organization, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive by attendees. In response to this, we are offering the on-demand version to you to watch at your convenience. More information about the event is below!



Professionalism in the Contact Center
04/21/2011

What is professionalism anyway & why does it matter?

Dana Pigford, founder of Professionalism Matters, Inc, defines professionalism as "being responsible and accountable and treating people the way you would like to be treated."1 Service and support consultants, Pete McGarahan and Ric Mims, in an excellent article, "The Essence of Professionalism,"2 suggest that professionalism is composed of such values as courtesy, respect in dealing with clients and, "Do they take pride in their appearance, their work ethic, and the quality of the work they do?"3 In addition, they observe that "In simpler days, professionalism had everything to do with customer service, relationship building, and creating the foundation for effective, persuasive communication across all levels of the organization."4 They also suggest that a good definition of professionalism "...isn’t your appearance and your aptitude, its attitude: knowing what to do, and doing it with passion and purpose."5


A CRM Approach to Business Service Management?
04/21/2011

A CRM Approach to Business Service Management?
by Peter J. McGarahan

I have been designing, delivering and supporting IT services for most of my 27 years as an IT professional. Time and time again I’ve encountered IT organizations that didn’t keep the customer or their business top of mind when designing and delivering services. Instead, they delivered “cool” technologies or strategies that met IT’s expectation and requirements, but didn’t directly benefit the business customers.



Are You Missing The Point About Customer Care?
12/04/2010

Are You Missing The Point About Customer Care?
By Peter J. McGarahan
Inbound Magazine - Issue 01:2010
Design customer centric services that improve service deliver.



Reducing Support Costs!
06/01/2010

Reducing Support Costs with a "Shift-Left" Strategy: An Interview with Pete McGarahan
By Cinda Daly

"Arise, ye service leader! The time is now!" proclaims Pete McGarahan, an industry thought leader and respected consultant for twenty-five years. It's not a new concept that service leaders need to run their support organization like a business. Achieving that point, however, is challenging. With continuing pressures to drive down support costs, service leaders need to optimize the business model: determine what's really important, then dive deep into the detail of structure, process, people, and tools.
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