The Calling (formerly The Agile Contact Centre Podcast)

Ryan Klausner is the Head of Customer Experience at Who Gives A Crap. Who Gives A Crap is one of Australia’s leading toilet paper subscription services and operates as a profit-for-purpose social enterprise that donates a portion of the profits to improving sanitation for people around the world. In this episode, Ryan discusses how to turn a contact centre into a value centre, the role of AI and balancing technology with human empathy, and the importance of cultivating a good employee experience. He also shares the challenges of operating a contact centre through the pandemic and the lessons he learned from those experiences.   Resources and links: Who Gives A Crap website Ryan Klausner on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Cameron Geason is the General Manager of Retail Operations at Origin Energy. Origin Energy is one of Australia's largest energy providers and delivers electricity, gas, and LPG for more than 4 million customers nationwide. In this episode, Cameron reflects on his career and how contact centres have evolved throughout his career. He talks about how Origin has incorporated AI into their operation and how their unique contact centre configuration is better for employees and customers.   Resources and links: Origin Energy website Cameron Geason on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Simon Kriss is the Chief Innovation Officer at the Customer Experience Innovation Institute (CXII) and the author of ‘The AI Empowered Customer Experience’. The Customer Experience Innovation Institute aims to change how businesses engage with customers using innovative strategies, insights, and research. In this episode, Simon shares his insights into how AI can improve contact centre operations and customer engagement. He discusses the differences between traditional and generative AI, how AI has evolved in the CX space, and how businesses can begin incorporating AI in small but meaningful ways.   Resources and links: Purchase ‘The AI Empowered Customer Experience’ here Customer Experience Innovation Institute website Simon Kriss’s website Simon Kriss on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Marc Stickdorn is the CEO and Co-founder of Smaply. Smaply is a software design company specialising in journey mapping and management software used by businesses worldwide. In this episode, Marc explores what service design is and how to use it to improve customer and employee experiences using journey mapping. He emphasises the value of focusing on system design rather than KPIs and explains how Smaply 3.0 can improve the customer experience through more effective journey management.   Resources and links: Smaply website Marc Stickdorn’s website Marc Stickdorn on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Greg Curcio is the Director of Customer and Performance for Knox City Council. Knox is located in Melbourne’s southeast and is one of Victoria’s most populous municipalities with over 165,000 residents calling Knox home. In this episode, Greg shares his journey to Knox City Council and emphasises the importance of community engagement and maintaining the human element in the contact centre. He explains the unique challenges faced by contact centres for local government including the need for operators to manage everything from rates to who to call when you need a tree cut down.   Resources and links: Knox City Council website Greg Curcio on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Sharon Melamed is the Founder and Managing Director of Matchboard. Matchboard is a matchmaking service between companies and suppliers to take the hard work out of making business connections. In this episode, Sharon shares how a love of matchmaking in her personal life led her to found Matchboard. She also explains how living and working overseas in Japan and the U.S.A. influenced her approach to customer service and what lessons she’s brought home to Australia.   Resources and links: Matchboard website Sharon Melamed on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

At the time of this interview, Hefin Evans was the Head of Service for the Asia-Pacific region for Philips. Philips is a leading provider of healthcare technology and medical equipment to improve the health and well-being of communities globally. In this episode, Hefin shares his leadership journey and highlights the importance of balancing effective leadership, employee satisfaction, and customer happiness. He discusses how geographic and cultural differences impact the customer’s expectations for service in different regions and how Philips uses an engineer-led contact centre model combined with AI to deliver service.   Resources and links: Philips website Hefin Evans on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Jaquie Scammell is the CEO and Founder of Service Q and has written several books on CX. Service Q creates and delivers culture transformation programs for businesses that want to change how they engage with customers and clients. In this episode, Jaquie shares her career journey and how her understanding of service culture has developed over time. She discusses the contents of her latest book, ‘The Future of Service is 5D’ and the importance of mindsets, habits, and resilience in providing excellent customer services, particularly during challenging times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of all, Jaquie emphasises that the future of service lies with human connection and empathy.   Resources and links: Service Q website “The Future of Service is 5D” website Jaquie Scammell’s website Jaquie Scammell on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Adrian Swinscoe is a Customer Experience Advisor and the Author of “Punk CX”. For over 25 years, Adrian has worked with businesses to break the mould and take a more punk approach to the customer experience. In this episode, Adrian explains the Punk CX philosophy and what it means to embody the values of “investigation, agitation, and instigation”.    Resources and links: Punk CX website Adrian Swinscoe’s website Adrian Swinscoe on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

AI has been on the lips of every industry in recent years, with contact centres particularly embracing the technology for servicing customers. Can it improve the employee experience as well? Luke Jamieson is a Solutions Consultant with Upland Software and a thought leader in EX and CX. Throughout his career, he has focused on exploring growth and opportunity in the customer service industry and has committed himself to finding creative solutions to common problems.  In this episode, Luke digs into AI and the opportunity it presents to improve the employee experience by providing meaningful, impactful changes to their work life. He also gives a sneak preview of his upcoming book about creating sustainable employee engagement and how to use AI to ignite the creative “spark”.   Resources and links: Luke Jamieson website Luke Jamieson on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Emma Stapleton is the Head of Customer Support at MECCA Brands. As Australia's largest beauty retailer with a thriving online store and over a hundred physical stores across Australia and New Zealand, MECCA is committed to delivering the ultimate beauty experience. In this episode, Emma will discuss the importance of designing a good employee experience and how that influences the customer experience. She also sheds light on how MECCA is approaching CX differently and how she managed a team that grew from just ten employees to over a hundred in under two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.   Resources and links: MECCA website Emma Stapleton on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Tim Buzza, Director of Workplace Flexibility at Verint (formerly Attune Work Solutions), joins us to discuss the transformative power of self-scheduling systems for contact centre agents. Verint’s innovative approach is reshaping the work-life balance, offering a new level of autonomy and flexibility in the workplace. In this episode, Tim demystifies the concepts of autonomy and flexibility in the work environment, outlining their advantages for both employees and employers. He’ll also recount a compelling case study where enhanced flexibility led to a remarkable turnaround for a contact centre agent, showcasing the real-world impact of Verint's TimeFlex Bot.   Resources and links: Verint TimeFlex Bot (formerly Attune Work Solutions) website Tim Buzza on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Dina Levy is the Head of Customer Experience Channels at Zoom, and Phil is the Head of Go-To-Market for Zoom CX. Zoom started in 2011 as a video conferencing platform and has since grown into an all-in-one collaborative platform for businesses and people across the globe. In this episode, Dina and Phil explain how the latest technology from Zoom CX is changing the customer experience for businesses. They also highlight the trends they’re seeing across the industry and share their predictions for AI and tech in CX.   Resources and links: Zoom website Dina Levy on LinkedIn Phil Zammit on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Peter Iansek is the CEO and Co-founder of Operative Intelligence. Operative Intelligence is a customer insights tool that uses AI to meaningfully improve the customer experience by helping to identify what customers need when they call the contact centre. In this episode, Peter tells the story of how he went from working in contact centres to founding Operative Intelligence, and how they use AI to analyse customer speech and identify actionable changes for businesses. He also explains the concept of failure demand, how it impacts businesses, and how improving services to limit failure demand benefits everyone.   Resources and links: Operative Intelligence website Peter Iansek on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Daniele Iezzi is the former General Manager of Customer Services for David Jones and the Country Road Group. David Jones is one of the world’s longest continuously operating department stores and has operated for more than 185 years. Country Road Group contains several of Australia’s most popular clothing brands: Country Road, Mimco, Trenery, Politix, and Witchery. In this episode, Daniele shares his experience with contact centres, what makes retail contact centres different, why businesses need omnichannel and how to streamline it. With Covid-19 changing everything for retail brands and contact centres, Daniele also shares the suggestion he coincidentally made before everyone knew they needed it: working from home.   Resources and links: Daniele Iezzi on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Elisa Iurato is the Chief of Community, Retail & Supporter Experience for World Vision Australia. World Vision is a global charity committed to providing aid and resources to help children, families, and communities across the world overcome poverty. World Vision is currently involved in 347 projects in 40 countries. In this episode, Elisa explains her role with World Vision Australia, how their “supporter experience centre” is doing things differently, and she’ll share the heartwarming story of visiting with a lifelong World Vision supporter.   Resources and links: World Vision Australia website   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Jono Kirk is the Executive Director of Supporter Experience at Compassion Australia. Compassion Australia is a not-for-profit organisation committed to providing access to healthcare and education to children around the world to lift them out of poverty. In this episode, Jono breaks down the reality of running a contact centre for a not-for-profit. He also dives into the employee experience, why it matters so much, and how Compassion is improving the employee experience in their contact centres.   Resources and links: Compassion Australia website Jono Kirk on LinkedIn   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Today we have a quick announcement. We're changing the name of the show. From today, the podcast will be called 'The Calling: Your Guide to Leading Modern Contact Centres'. It's the same great content you've come to expect from us, but with a new name. And we already have a group of great episodes coming up. But you don't have to take our word for it, because we have two new episodes available in your feed right now. So … we'll catch you in the next episode of 'The Calling'!   Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn Arnold Ho on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Dan Hill-Smith is the Chief Operating Officer at TSA Group  TSA Group is one of Australia’s leading specialists in outsourcing and CX consultancy and services. Dan on LinkedIn   About us: Stories, tips and practices to help you build adaptive teams who are ready for any challenge. Please follow, rate and review. We appreciate all your support. Check us out here: https://www.theagilecontactcentre.com.au Please follow us on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

In this episode we talk to Russ Murphy, the Director of Regional Service Centres at Service NSW.  Russ was a member of the team that began the transformation journey at Service NSW back in 2013. He shares the trials and tribulations of his leadership career and the approach they took from the early days of the very first service centre pilot to centralising services into their contact centres. Service NSW makes it easier to access government services for people and businesses across NSW. Service NSW is a NSW Government executive agency that joined the Department of Customer Service on 1 July 2019. We deliver world-class one-stop-shop services for customers, businesses and our partner agencies About us: This podcast is brought to you by The Agile Contact Centre. Stories, tips and practices that will help you create memorable experiences for your people and customers. We do this because our mission is to reinvent to contact centre by building adaptive teams who are ready for any challenge. Please follow, rate and review. We appreciate all your support. Check us out here: https://www.theagilecontactcentre.com.au Please follow us on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.