Claim OwnershipFirst Contact: Stories of the Call Center
Subscribed: 35Played: 191
Subscribe
© NobelBiz Studios 2019 All rights reserved.
Description
Because no one pictures themselves working at a call center, First Contact: Stories of the Call Center is a monthly podcast about how tech leaders and entrepreneurs found their way into the call center industry. Host Christian Montes poses questions about their life, their struggles and successes, and most importantly- how and why did they end up with a headset on.
66 Episodes
Reverse
How do you build a contact center where people want to stay?
In this episode of First Contact: Stories of the Call Center, we sit down with Sam Falletta, CEO of Incept, who shares how he built a people-first company culture that reduces turnover and drives performance.
From rewriting rigid attendance policies to embedding mental health support into operations, Sam takes us deep into the realities of leading with empathy while delivering results. We also unpack the evolution of leadership, the hidden cost of disengagement, and why automation without a human core is a missed opportunity.
Customer Experience (CX) isn't just about service—it's a revenue engine. In this episode, Christian Montes sits down with Camila Ferreira, Founder & CEO of Rise UP, to explore how businesses can transform CX from a cost center into a powerful growth driver. With over 20 years of global experience, Camila shares her journey from finance to CX leadership, the importance of data-driven strategies, and how companies can align their customer experience initiatives with revenue goals.
Listen in to discover how to elevate CX, secure a seat at the boardroom table, and build a strategy that drives loyalty, profitability, and sustainable growth.
🎧 Tune in now and start revolutionizing your CX approach!
In the rapidly evolving world of contact centers, the convergence of knowledge management and artificial intelligence stands at the forefront of transformation. This latest episode welcomes Micah Peterson, a seasoned professional with over 15 years in the knowledge management sector. As a Knowledge-Centered Services (KCS) certified expert, Peterson has not only revolutionized organizational knowledge strategies but has also crafted patented software to empower businesses globally.
Tune in to garner insights from an industry trailblazer and discover how real-time guidance is reshaping the contact center landscape.
Welcome to the newest episode of First Contact: Stories of the Call Center!
In this episode, we're joined by none other than Dan Greenwell, the CEO of Customer Dynamics. With over three decades of business experience in executive roles, Dan has a wealth of insights and knowledge to share. His company, Customer Dynamics, is a leading force in creating innovative, cost-effective, and user-friendly contact center solutions.
Customer service is one of our favorite topics to tackle in this show, but having Bob Furniss over for this special episode was truly something. For almost 40 years in the industry, Bob Furniss is known as the renowned customer service and experience expert, and his mission will always be driving customer success by designing effective service and support strategies for his clients. This is episode 6, Season 3 from First Contact: Stories of the Call Center, join us on this journey of service mentality, AI, digital front doors and a lesson on living!
It was a joy to have Colin Taylor, the CX expert, on our show for an awe-inspiring and upbeat discussion on customer journey, employee satisfaction, self-service and much more! Leading The Taylor Reach Group to success in call center and management consulting for almost 20 years, Taylor is the CEO & CCO (Chief Chaos Officer) and one of Canada’s leading contact/call center pioneers, leaders and influencers. a joy indeed
Jon Arnold is a widely followed analyst and thought leader with a strong presence in the media and a focus on communication technologies, unified communications, AI, contact centers and more! We recently talked to Jon about a mindset shift and newfound expectations in adopting new tools and technologies, megatrends, and his favorite piano songs! This is Season 3, Episode 4 of First Contact: Stories of the Call Center!
Today we’re joined by a veteran of the contact center industry, a training expert, CEO, author, and podcaster himself - you might know him as the Contact Center Coach - Michael Tamer. Michael started in the entry levels of the call center, gained more than 40 years of experience in the industry and is a visionary who was at the forefront of contact center quality monitoring software development. He worked his way up to becoming one of the most influential voices of the contact center space, teaching the benefits of quality to organizations all over the world, including the United States Senate.
Richard Blank, outsourcing industry leader and the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, joins our podcast for an exciting new episode. Christian and Richard discuss what makes a successful phone call, strong corporate culture and leadership, owning engagement through retro gaming, to name a few themes.
Tune in on a new story, one of many twists and turns, while Richard is taking us along his fascinating journey of building and leading one of the largest BPOs of Central America.
Well, well, well, if it’s not the first episode from season three of the First Contact: Stories of a Call Center podcast! We have the pleasure of kicking off this new journey with one of the most widely-known individuals in the ARM landscape. Harry Strausser III is a well-respected voice of the collection industry and a certified ACA instructor, educator, and speaker. Join us in this talk on self-service and the future of collections, bringing in new perspectives, the importance of training, and many more topics!
Whew, what a wild ride it's been for our show this year. This month, we're ending on a high as you've come to expect. We've got Michael Ferree here to chat with Christian about a topic that's been eluding our show for a surprising amount of time considering we're all about contact centers. Of course, we're talking about Lead Generation. Michael is an industry connoisseur, leading two major events in the contact center space - Lead Generation World and Contact.io. Beyond this, his expertise and connections in the lead gen space make him THE person to talk to regarding this much-debated and controversial topic. So let's hear what he has to say - this is First Contact, Stories of the Call Center, episode 10 of Season 2 with Michael Ferree.
A frank discussion between two seasoned salespeople? A hard look at the concept of persuasion and how to use it for sales? A genuine connection about providing people value through the act of selling? Episode 9 of First Contact, Stories of the Call Center is all of those things and more! Join Christian as he delves deep into the core of sales in a brilliant discussion with Jason Cutter, podcaster extraordinaire and founder of Cutter Consultancy Group, a sales advisory firm that supercharges sales success for companies around the globe. Learn more about the ins and outs of sales and what it is, and also what it's not! This is First Contact, Stories of the Call Center, episode 9 of season 2 with Jason Cutter.
Workforce management is not typically a topic we cover on our show, but this month we've got Daryl Gonos here with us to make that right. He's the Founder & CEO of Community, a modern workforce management solution specifically tailored to omnichannel call centers, currently in use by some of the biggest names in the space. With over 40 years of experience, Daryl talks to Christian about all the shifts in workforce mentalities that happened throughout his career, as well as what agents expect from their managers and senior staff today, moving beyond the pandemic. This is First Contact, Stories of the Call Center, episode 8 of season 2, with Daryl Gonos.
This month on First Contact: Stories of the Call Center - Christian is joined by a topmost expert in the field of call center benchmarking, training and certification - Bruce Belfiore. Bruce prides himself in being a man of many experiences, having dual nationality - US and Italian, having been both COO and CFO of different companies, and having hosted the CallTalk Podcast for over 12 years - there's no shortage of business and life lessons in his background. In Episode 7 of Season 2 of our show, he talks about all the main pillars of his business, Benchmark Portal, and how they were shaken up in the past year. Join us, won't you? You might even get a special offer from Bruce.
As the youngest guest we've had on the podcast so far, Marc Bernstein comes into the discussion with Christian with appropriately fresh and exciting ideas. He's the CEO of Balto, a company that's basically synonymous with bleeding edge tech. Launched 3 years ago, they now present themselves to the contact center world as the no. 1 real time guidance for contact centers. In this episode, he explains to us what his team is bringing new to the table, why and how they've already shifted the entire space, and how they plan to evolve beyond that. This is First Contact, Stories of the Call Center, season 2 episode 6 with Marc Bernstein.
This month on First Contact, we're talking to a prodigy of call center migration, with many successful operations under his belt and a wealth of fascinating cross-industry experiences. Frank Wassenbergh is the CCaaS Practice Leader and Managing Partner of Cloudlinx, a CCaaS Advisory group dedicated to securing effective and well-though-out migrations for their clients. In this recording, Christian & Frank hit it off speaking about the intricacies of contact center systems, their shared sales experiences, and more. This is First Contact, Stories of the Call Center, season 2 episode 5 with Frank Wassenbergh.
How has the contact center world weathered the covid storm from a tech standpoint? For insights on this topic, this month we're joined by Fred Stacey - an expert in contact centers, CCaaS, consultancy, and contact center outsourcing. As the Co-Founder and General Manager of Cloud Call Center Search, a company that specializes in guiding clients to select the best call center solutions for their needs., Fred has a unique perspective on the entire world of all centers. He joins us now to talk about how it all started, and how it went throughout his 25 years of experience in the biz. This is First Contact: Stories of the Call Center, season 2 episode 4 with Fred Stacey.
This episode we had an absolutely brilliant talk with the most influential person in CX over the past 10 years or more: none other than Colin Shaw. We talked to Colin about his many achievements: from his many books to being named in the top 150 LinkedIn influencers, to his company Beyond Philosophy being named Leading Consultancy by Financial Times 3 years in a row. Christian was on fire this episode and the discussion covered extensive topics such as AI, The Aha Moment, and customer memories (Colin's favorite topic). Listen to Colin Shaw's fascinating story about a milkman to hear how it relates to CX. This is First Contact, Season 2 Episode 4 with Colin Shaw.
One type of entrepreneur we've never featured on or show, but which is very common within the contact center space, is the serial entrepreneur. Gary Pudles, CEO of AnswerNet, has spent a lifetime taking businesses from the rocky contact center path towards the streamlined road to success. Gary's been around the block a few times and many regard him as the topmost authority within the acquisition space. With a fascinating story about his most troubling & complex mergers, Gary explains to Christian what it means to integrate culture within an organization and do it successfully! This is Episode 2 of Season 2 of First Contact, Stories of the Call Center.
Welcome to Season 2! As for our first season, we begin with Steve Bederman, CEO of NobelBiz and Executive Producer of the show you're listening to. He joins Christian Montes to talk about the first season, what his expectations were and how they were surpassed. He also has a few surprises for fans of his writing - so be sure to listen closely for hints about his future endeavors. Above all, the discussion flows around the pandemic and how it affected everything - Steve is hopeful that the bridge we are building together at NobelBiz will get us to where we need to go in the end. And so you should be too! Join us for exciting new horizons with Episode 1 of Season 2 of First Contact, Stories of the Call Center.
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States