Forward features 2011/12

The following editorial features will be appearing on callcentre.co.uk over the coming months. We are looking for industry commentators to help with these articles, so please get in touch if you feel you could contribute. Also, see below how you could more closely partner with us on these features.

January 2012
Coping with 'snow days'
The colder weather often brings UK plc to a grinding halt – how can you make sure your business still answers the phone?

What can contact centres do to make calling a company more personal to the customer?
The Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service programme has once again highlighted that companies are struggling to make customers feel cared for. And with this element more likely than any other to drive loyalty, what can companies do to offer a personal service to more customers?

February 2012
Unifying communications: how to make multi-media work together
New technology means customers have an unprecedented number of ways to contact a company - what media are vital for a business to support? And how can they work together to offer a single view for both company and customer?

March 2012
How to reduce customer effort
The latest thinking tells us that making it easier for customers to do business with you is better than trying to make them feel warm and fuzzy about it. So how can you reduce customer effort? And will it really make your business more successful?

April 2012
Seven of the best low cost incentives
Call Centre Focus picks the latest and greatest ways of rewarding staff – that won't break the bank.

May 2012
Big vs small: what are the challenges faced by different sizes of contact centre?
Running an operation with 1,000 agents is a very different proposition to managing a 50 seat call centre - what are the challenges for each? And what can they learn from each other?

June 2012
The changing shape of outsourcing: what should a business expect from their outsourcing partner?
Consolidation in the market, as well as the current economic climate means the outsourcing landscape is very different to even five years ago. If you are looking for an outsource partner, what should you expect and how should you frame the agreement?

July 2012
Investing in coaches
Coaches are vital to any contact centre operation, but are often undervalued. What skills do you need to teach them and how can you ensure an excellent coaching programme is in place at all times?

August 2012
What new skills are required by today's contact centre agent?
Far from just being a warm body at the end of the phone, today's customer service professional is required to think on their feet, solve problems quickly and effectively, think about opportunities for sales during a call - all while making the customer feel valued. How do you find such people and what skills do you train them in?

If you would like to contribute to any of the above, please email Claudia Hathway (claudia.hathway@ubm.com) with contact details and a brief description of how you could help.

Would you like to work with Call Centre Focus on one of the above? For a relatively low cost, you can partner with us on one of these articles and receive a whole host of additional benefits:
• Opportunity to contribute to the article
• Link from the article to your website
• Homepage MPU
• Exclusive leaderboard and skyscraper on the article page
• Exclusive 468 x 60 banner on the newsletter
• Company directory listing

If you are interested in partnering with the team, please email Kevin Pearce or call him on 020 79218518.