Running a customer service centre is hard It is a constant battle, trying to minimise cost and maximise customer service. But we all know the game, we get employed to play it: Squeeze your head count down as far as you dare Ride the variations in customer demand Manage the backlog Set up a turnaround […]
The Worst Thing That Can Happen in a Call Centre
How bad can a day in a service centre get? Let’s be honest, nobody is going to die, not unless they are spectacularly unlucky and trip over a trailing cable What does a bad day look like? A bad day looks like this: Your colleagues in Marketing or IT or Pricing do something stupid to […]
Surge Planning: I Hate the Snow
It was cold this morning Freezing It is going to snow, maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon Snow is a mixed blessing, great for sledging but for some of us, it’s a work disaster Pipes freeze People fall Cars won’t start Boilers fail If you happen to be in the game of mending pipes […]
Save Yourself Rich
All operations are too expensive, no matter how good they are there is always an obligation to reduce cost further, and when the cost has been taken out there will always be pressure to remove more. There are 5 key problems that are common to operations of all types: 1. There are numerous opinions about […]
Running out of Doctors
The British Medical Association claims to have uncovered department of health data that shows that there was a shortfall of 3,000 junior doctors at the end of 2008. Two factors are being blamed for this, changes to immigration legislation that prevents people from outside the EU coming to train as doctors and also the European […]