ScribeFire

I have been using a great FireFox extension called ScribeFire to do many of my blogging. It is a great utility to have for any blogger. It allows me to write to my blog directly from any web site. It is fast and saves plenty of time. I don't have to log into my blog to add an entry. The link is below if you want to kick the tires and give it a try.

ScribeFire :: Firefox Add-ons

Mike Wish

Powered by ScribeFire.

what I learned

I was thinking recently of some of the things I learned the last ten years as a Customer Service and Technical Support Director. Their are so many lessons learned that I can think of. You know the one item that you just can't replace is experience. I can't tell you how many times that in order to make a business or support decision I had to simply go with my gut. Their were situations when I could NOT extract the numbers from the CRM or other data to back up a hypothesis. I would confer with fellow colleagues for input when it was an option and then research industry standards. When some or none of these options were available it was really reaching back to my past experience and going with my gut or instincts. I would often have a running joke with one of my managers that my Spidey senses are tingling. I couldn't get the information I wanted from the numbers, but I just had this feeling in my gut that something was not right. It would usually happen before a big problem occurred.

As I stated my experience has taught me so much over the last ten years. Here are the three principles I will always carry with me.

1. Empathize - Empathy is one of the most critical skills a customer service, technical support, call center agent can have. Empathy is very different then sympathy. To empathize with another is to put yourself in the individuals shoes. An example is I understand Mr. Doe this problem is causing you not to be able to finish your project.
2. Knowledge - The next item is the product or technical knowledge you posses. You are not going to add value to the customer unless you can help them. The customer is looking for quick answers and if the knowledge is lacking it will only cause more frustration. The last thing a customer wants to hear is that you have to pass them to another rep because you don't know the answer to a question
3. Professionalism - To me professionalism is taking ownership of the customers problem. Communicating to the customer they are in good hands with you and you will resolve the problem. This makes the customer feel you are their advocate and you are fighting for the customers needs. Some people may call this account management. I prefer to label this as great professional service. No one calls a call center to let them know everything is great with the products they are using. If they are to call it is a good feeling to know the other person on the end of the telephone, IM, email will be able to assist them with the problem or issue of the day.
   

Simpsons and other stuff

In honor of the Simpsons movie coming out this weekend here is 101 Simpson quotes.
101 Greatest Simpsons QuotesThe Homer quotes are my favorite.

Homer: Oh, so they have Internet on computers now!

I really hope you don't think I am going to blog about serious topics going on in the world right now. And currently the only thing I am concerned about with the DJ sale is when should I cash out my stock? I am unemployed and enjoying spending time with the kiddies. Its a Wiggles World and we are all just eating our fruit salad and trying to get by!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Play it again Sam

Who says lightening doesn't strike twice? In less then six months I was laid off again by Dow Jones. The first lay off was January 9th. The second one was last week July 9th. As I said when it happen the first time in January working at Dow Jones has been a great experience. I made plenty of life long friends. My second go around at Dow allowed me to meet new people and make even more friends. Although I only worked with the Dow Jones Customer Service Team a short time I was lucky enough to work with some great hard working people.

I am now back on the job market. If you know anyone who needs an experienced Customer Service/Call Center/Technical Support Director let me know. Here is my resume.

Maybe its time to start my professional poker career!

Remember to make good decisions.

Mike Wish

I bought my name

In a bold move I have purchased the domain name for http://michaelwishnick.com. You can also use this link to get to my blog. Maybe in the future the site will become more and not just a blog.

In any case stay out of the heat and drink plenty of water.

Wish

Sorry you call us to much

Sprint is dropping the customers that call Customer Service to much. So they are basically saying sorry we don't want your business go to AT&T. I wonder who is person who thought of this idea? Do they still have a job. Check out the letter below.

One Way Contract: Sprint Drops You Because You Call Customer Service Too Much - Consumerist

Powered by ScribeFire.

Code Monkey

I love this song Code Monkey. I heard it a few months ago and thought it was great. Check out the video that was just made for the song. It is real good. Here are the lyrics and the site. It is from an artist named Jonathan Coulton.