Leadership - Brad Cleveland

“Press 1 for Frustration” Article

Apr 22, 2020 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Access Strategy, Customer Experience, Customer Relationships, Customer Service, Leadership

This article from Heather Kelly at The Washington Post is a great behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of reaching customer service when call volumes are high and wait times are long. I was honored to be a resource for the article—and I’m thankful for the heroic...

Real-time Management: Level 2 and Beyond

Apr 3, 2020 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Service, Leadership, Workforce Management

These extraordinary times have impacted our lives in unimaginable ways. They have also impacted customer service in ways we might have never thought possible. For those struggling to manage unexpected volumes of customer contacts, the following real-time management...

Building a Cohesive Virtual Team

Mar 11, 2020 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Service, Leadership, Organization and Culture

Information and communications technologies have created organizations that span geography and time. Multi-site environments, cross-functional teams, and extended-hour or 24/7 operations are common contact center examples. If you are a manager or director, you may...

Customer Access Strategy as Playbook

Feb 20, 2020 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Access Strategy, Customer Service, Leadership

Does a customer access strategy sound like something that would be nice to have? Actually, it’s vital. Just ask anyone who’s part of the University of California’s Retirement Administration Service Center (UC RASC). The University of California is the world’s leading...

Customer Service Strategy: Avoid Common Pitfalls

Feb 14, 2020 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Access Strategy, Customer Service, Leadership, LinkedIn Learning

Herb Kelleher, co-founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines, once said, “We have a strategic plan. It’s called doing things.” He makes a great point. Developing strategies shouldn’t be an overly academic or formal exercise, with the result...

Employee Engagement: A Key Metric in All Service Environments

Jan 9, 2020 | Call Center, Contact Center, Customer Service, Leadership, LinkedIn Learning, Organization and Culture, Research/Statistics

Employee engagement should be a key metric in all service environments. Research shows that employee engagement influences – even drives – customer satisfaction and loyalty. Retention, productivity, and quality are all strongly and positively correlated...