Articles by Tripp Babbitt

After years of Six Sigma and Lean, I was stumped.  All the effort to improve contact centers never seemed to materialize.  I had already spent thousands learning to kaizen and analyze data.  What could possibly be missing?  The answer is everything. I came across a different measure that shed light on the error of my ways – a “aha” moment if you will. ...Full Article »

My AT&T package (phone, internet, wireless and TV) has been underperforming for the past few months.  They replaced the modem, which apparently they do quite often as the UPS store in my area indicated they got 6 – 10 a day through their store.  Solved part of my problem – phone works – but didn’t fix the frozen TV or the internet problems. I was saved by a...Full Article »

For a little over three years, information technology companies serving the service industry have been advocating call back technology.  Before you rush out and spend unnecessary capital, consider what you are actually getting – something to add costs to your already poor work design. So, let’s take a look at what traditional thinkers say about call back technology. From call...Full Article »

I was talking with a colleague regarding past experiences with clients and he came up with a beautiful explanation for sales with some companies he had worked with in the past.  The “sales prevention” team was the label given.  Both a humorous and sad label. Organizations are desperate for revenue in these economic times and push methods reign to “get the...Full Article »

The customer service business can be scary.  Customers saddle service companies with demands that are sometimes hard to satisfy.  However, it is service organizations that are inflicting pain, torture and suffering in a masochistic way. My recent trip to Disney allowed me to use a discount card called Tables in Wonderland.  Each time I used the card, I noticed it took a long time...Full Article »

I make my way down to Disney World for the Food and Wine Festival every year, and this year, I was joined by family and friends.  If I felt Disney did everything wrong from a customer service standpoint, I would not vacation there so often. Their IVR system, however, continues to aggravate me. I first wrote about my frustration with the Disney Resort reservation line in an earlier...Full Article »

Too many decisions about the design of service are based in costs.  The simple fact is to focus on costs increases them . . . always.  Nothing represents this better than web self-service, a strategy to reduce costs and what some customer service “professionals” say improves service. This is not to say that web self-service shouldn’t exist, but the fact remains that...Full Article »

Human resource and technology consulting firms sell services to improve agent performance. Tech consultants look for ways to monitor an agent, while HR experts offer ways to motivate agents through performance appraisal, rewards and incentives. All these efforts to maximize performance and get the most out of an agent are woefully misguided. When presenting the concept of systems thinking to...Full Article »

Call me­ a whiner and I will wear that badge publicly any chance I get. I travel a lot; 70,000 airline miles and 70-plus nights in hotels over four months. This has presented me with the opportunity to have seen the best and worse of airlines, hotels, rental cars, restaurants and wireless service. I don’t let poor service slide by as my professional purpose is to improve service....Full Article »

T he real battle for quality doesn’t lie in processes; it lies in thinking. The recent rift in the state of Wisconsin and other places caused in part by increasing government costs leads one to ask: “Who is responsible? Is it management or labor?” Gov. Scott Walker’s actions in Wisconsin highlight the need for new thinking about the design and management of work. However,...Full Article »

The new JD Power report is out and they have a list of the top 40 customer service “winners.”  Your service organization can too become just like them by buying the guide to the best practices of these organizations for a mere $495.  This offer appears to be a nice “short cut” to improved service.  However, it is not what you need. Best practice...Full Article »