Customer Management IQ  

This exclusive podcast panel will feature a handful of the distinguished advisory board members from Customer Management IQ. We will address what customers really want in a downturn economy. We are joined by Emily Yellin, critically acclaimed journalist for the New York Times and author of the groundbreaking book "Your Call is (Not That) Important to Us." We will also be joined by Mark Ballard, co-founder and CEO of Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties. Ballard is a word of mouth marketing brand champion who has appeared on shows like the Food Network’s "Throwdown with Bobby Flay." The panel will also feature David Cliche, VP of Global Interactive Marketing for AON Corporation and Harsh Zadoo, Senior Manager of Call Center Operations for Dell.

Senator Vitter, keynote speaker at the ATA National Convention, addresses Customer Management IQ listeners. Senator Vitter will discuss issues impacting the American Teleservices Association and its community. He will talk about collaborative efforts between business and government and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Senator Vitter will also talk about role of small business and entrepreneurship in New Orleans—the fastest growing city of 2009. In this podcast interview you will also hear about Senator Vitter's position on TARP, his predictions for regulation in the teleservices community as well as his goals for New Orleans in the next year.

Kristina Evey wants you to wake up to your customer’s call. In the current economy we can no longer afford to be sloppy with our customers. Evey feels providing customer experience is a lost art. She sees part of the problem as the lack of top-down focus on the customer. She believes we are still at square one. Defining who you are and how you would like to be seen by customers is crucial to your brand. Leadership should establish this kind of culture. When the leadership takes an initiative to empower their staff and walk the talk it trickles down to the customer. Evey wants leaders to get into a new customer service excellence mindset. In reality most leaders are not there yet. Evey wants her clients to lead by example and set the tone for the culture. At the very minimum, customer service representatives need to be sensitive to the customer’s needs. This includes a return to small gestures including something as small as an apology. Most customer representatives don’t remember to apologize when necessary. Think apologies are obvious? Well most companies don’t encourage this. Evey advises that when you apologize you are actively building and strengthening your customer relationships. An apology, according to Evey, will make a world of difference to your customers. Validating the customer and figuring out how you can help them will differentiate your brand. Surprisingly, research shows that a cash payout is less effective than an apology. Who knew the natural reaction when an apology is offered is to forgive. In this podcast Evey talks about creating memorable customer experiences and why a little goes a long way for the customer and will keep them coming back.

In this podcast you will hear the golden rules of developing your webcare team to assist with customer-to-customer and employee-to-customer interaction. Vermaat, the Customer Care Operations Director at UPC, a provider of bundled cable television, internet adn telephone services to countries like the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Vermaat will be speaking at the Customer Experience Exchange on Friday October 30th at the Sheraton Airport Hotel, Brussels, Belgium.

Interview with one of the world's top business social networking thought leaders and practitioners, she created the first business application on Facebook and leads salesfore.com's partnership with facebook. Shih systematically identifies your best opportiies to use social networks to source new business opportunities, target marketing messages, find the best employees, and engage cusotmers as true partners throughout the innovation cycle.

Andrew Knight does much more than write the Case-Mate blog. Case-Mate which is a leading manufacturer of cases, holsters, skins, covers and accessories for Apple iPhone, BlackBerry, iPod, MacBook, cares about its customers and is navigating the social web to let them know. Online surveys, email, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube all represent new ways for customers to express what they think and how they feel about your brand. In this increasingly digital age, new media is becoming mainstream, creating new challenges and opportunities for brands to communicate with their customers. Knight discusses how he is leveraging new media to listen and interact with customers and how he considers the customer experience a competitive advantage on the same level as the Case-Mate products.