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Customer Service Center Software

Constant in today's business environment is profound and consistent change. Yet many executives often overlook a critical component to successfully manage their organizations through change: their employees, particularly the customer service agents who often make or break critical customer relationships. If executives can guide their agents to quickly and successfully adapt to change, the entire organization becomes more flexible and able to answer the demands of an increasingly competitive marketplace. To help organizations improve the performance of their customer service agents in times of change, Knowlagent, the exclusive provider of software solutions that build best performers fast in customer service centers, is launching "ON with Matt McConnell," an interactive, thought leadership web talk program.

Matt McConnell is co-founder of Knowlagent and author of "Customer Service at a Crossroads." Through his daily interactions with Blue Chip customers, plus extensive research with industry analysts, Matt has amassed a wealth of expertise that is focused on helping companies improve agent performance in ways that immediately impact customer satisfaction, loyalty and profitability.

Companies that recognize that customer service is strategic to their success are adopting Knowlagent's solution. The Knowlagent Agent Performance solution is designed specifically for the contact center to provide easy access to timely customer service data from multiple, disparate systems and to present the data in a view that is meaningful, actionable and customized by key stakeholder, including the agent. The solution creates laser focus at every level of the contact center--goal alignment between operations and learning organizations and a common measurement stick to fuel and certify performance improvement and transformational change.

Knowlagent launches the web talk forum in direct response to requests from customers and the market for an industry-specific venue to share best practices with the brightest minds in the call center business. The format, different from traditional webinars, is engaging and interactive. Much like a talk show, Matt will engage the audience throughout the session by taking questions live and provide an opportunity to talk directly to a panel of experts. Guest panelists for the initial series include senior operations executives from Continental Airlines, Uniprise (a business segment of United HealthGroup), Kaiser Permanente(R), Pizza Hut and Convergys Corporation.

"ON with Matt McConnell" will premiere Tuesday, March 30 at 2:00 p.m. EST with a 5-part, 10-week series titled "Three Keys to Conquering Change: People, People, People." The series is designed to help companies successfully manage and certify the adoption of change during strategic business transformation initiatives, such as customer relationship management (CRM) implementations, mergers and acquisitions, migrating from a service to a sales culture, reducing the cost of servicing customers and deepening customer relationships.

The "Three Keys to Conquering Change: People, People, People" web talk schedule is:

March 30: Managing Transformational Change: Success Demands an Investment in People, with Michael J. Tamer, President and CEO, Tamer Partners Corporation. Michael is a 20-year veteran of the contact center industry and author of "The Four-Minute Customer." Michael helps organizations revolutionize customer service by improving leadership, morale and customer loyalty. His honors include Call Center Magazine's Pioneer Award and induction into the Call Center Hall of Fame. Attendees will learn how forward-thinking organizations are developing customer loyalty by focusing on their people as a key component of change.

April 8: Right Agent, Right Job: Availability is Not a Skill in Today's Changing Market, with Renee Kuwahara, Senior Vice President, Operations Support for Convergys and Chuck Russell, Founder of JobFun.com. Understand how to eliminate hiring the wrong person and identify the positions that offer the least liabilities to the company in dealing with customers.

April 20: Successfully Building Agent Proficiency When Everything Around You is Constantly Changing, with Bill Brubaker, Vice President, Operations and Training for Uniprise, Martin Hand, Vice President, Reservations Operations and CTO for Continental Airlines, and Andre Harris, Director of Reservations Training and Quality Assurance for Continental Airlines. Executives discuss how to build and sustain agent proficiency to meet corporate goals in an ever-changing business environment.

May 6: How to Create Long-Lasting Agent Motivation in the Midst of Change, with Robb Munson, Vice President Member Services and Membership Administration, Kaiser Permanente. Hear from the insurance industry's leader on how they retain and motivate their best agents.

May 19: People Are Key to Change Management Success: How to Convince Others and Make it Happen, with Michael J. Tamer, President and CEO, Tamer Partners, Jerry Buss, Chief Operating Officer, Pizza Hut. Learn how leading corporations have reaped demonstrable benefits of focusing on their people, and ways to share that information with decision-makers throughout your organization.

"I have heard the market loud and clear," says McConnell, "and in response to their demand for leadership, I have created this forum dedicated to sharing best practices to improve agent performance. What makes this forum stand out is the opportunity for people to talk directly with the experts--to hear their stories and lessons learned. More importantly, to take away advice that can be applied immediately and proven to make a positive difference."

About Knowlagent

Knowlagent is recognized by industry analysts as the market and thought leader for improving agent performance. Uniquely focused on improving the performance of the people who are most responsible for shaping customer relationships - customer service agents - the Knowlagent Agent Performance solution leverages existing call center technologies to improve the performance of every agent, every day -providing the tools and services to understand, instruct and proactively deliver the skills and knowledge required for optimal customer service. Knowlagent has helped leaders in financial services, insurance, telecommunications and healthcare build and sustain best performers fast in a rapidly changing environment. As a result, our customers have achieved tangible business results fast: improved profitability, increased revenues and enhanced customer retention. For more information, call 888-566-9457 or visit www.knowlagent.com.