Operational Philosophies

One of the realities in business is that in addition to the “formal organization” (you know, the one you see on the organization chart & the one upon which a company’s policies, processes & procedures are built), there is the “informal network”. At times, l as well as in the minds of many, the “informal…

Change comes from the outside in, forcing us to react and manage crises. Transformation, on the other hand, whether it is business or personal, always comes from the inside out, and that gives us far more control while allowing us to actively shape the future. If you’re looking at customer feedback, customer satisfaction surveys, customer…

As a good leader (and I’d rather be a good leader than a great manager), you have to maintain the attitude than you’re responsible for your own success. As well as your team. And EACH of your people! (I’m NOT saying that you’re SOLELY responsible for all this stuff, but that’s the attitude that you…

One of the most valuable projects I’ve ever worked on was the Branch Auto Attendant application. Citi was always trying to find ways to maximize the profitability of our brick-and-mortar branches. Along this line, the back-office strove to assume responsibility (especially in CitiPhone) for as many functions as possible, thereby reducing the need to refer…

Seems I’ve always been at odds with my friends in Human Resources…for one reason or the other. (“Psssst…pssst…”) It’s recently come to my attention that I’ve been, er, not always seeing eye-to-eye with a LOT of different people, especially those in authority. I believe it began at Regina Pacis, the elementary school I attended (for…

In much the same manner in which I always drummed into my people’s head that their responsibility as a service representative is NOT to just answer customer questions.. and NOT to blindly & obediently fulfill their requests…and NOT to merely “follow orders”, but rather, TO add value…TO probe for the true, underlying need…TO resolve their…

“But, Mike, this is how we’ve always done it!” You cannot fathom just how much I hated hearing that phrase! It’s nothing more than a weak excuse for someone not being brave enough…smart enough…insightful enough…daring enough…to, at a minimum, open their ears & eyes & mind to the POSSIBILITY that there may be a better…

One of the biggest challenges in a call center, believe it or not, is when your shop is doing “too well”! Too well? Excuse me, but how could it even be possible to do “too well”??? Lemme explain… The whole premise behind “queuing theory” – – how quickly do you wanna answer your incoming calls…

Every organization in the world claims to be “customer centric”. “We love our customers!”, “We’re here to serve you!” & just about every other tag line you’ve ever heard. But it’s also important (mandatory?) that the manner in which the company measures its own performance is “customer centric” as well. 🤔 Years ago, back in NY…

After bringing down the Tax Shelter Center (Retirement Plan Services) from NY to the USCC in Oct 1993 & spending 15 months running Operations, I was asked by USCC President, John McEachern, to assume responsibility for the Control Desk. Seems it was the out-of-Control Desk. CitiPhone was continuously falling below standard on several SPIs/Service Performance…