The Calling (formerly The Agile Contact Centre Podcast) - podcast cover

The Calling (formerly The Agile Contact Centre Podcast)

Callo Consultingwww.calloconsulting.com.au

The Calling is your guide to leading modern contact centres. On the show, we share innovative strategies, expert insights, and success stories from industry leaders across the world. You'll learn everything you need to turn your contact centre into a strategic value centre, where interactions become memorable experiences.

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Episodes

Balancing technology with empathy in the contact centre

Ryan Klausner is the Head of Customer Experience at Who Gives A Crap. Who Gives A Crap is one of Australia’s leading toilet paper subscription services and operates as a profit-for-purpose social enterprise that donates a portion of the profits to improving sanitation for people around the world. In this episode, Ryan discusses how to turn a contact centre into a value centre, the role of AI and balancing technology with human empathy, and the importance of cultivating a good employee experience...

Aug 26, 202450 minSeason 2Ep. 17

Balancing AI and human connection in the contact centre

Cameron Geason is the General Manager of Retail Operations at Origin Energy. Origin Energy is one of Australia's largest energy providers and delivers electricity, gas, and LPG for more than 4 million customers nationwide. In this episode, Cameron reflects on his career and how contact centres have evolved throughout his career. He talks about how Origin has incorporated AI into their operation and how their unique contact centre configuration is better for employees and customers. Resources and...

Aug 12, 202445 minSeason 2Ep. 16

AI is the future of CX

Simon Kriss is the Chief Innovation Officer at the Customer Experience Innovation Institute (CXII) and the author of ‘The AI Empowered Customer Experience’. The Customer Experience Innovation Institute aims to change how businesses engage with customers using innovative strategies, insights, and research. In this episode, Simon shares his insights into how AI can improve contact centre operations and customer engagement. He discusses the differences between traditional and generative AI, how AI ...

Jul 29, 202438 minSeason 2Ep. 15

Better service design is better for business

Marc Stickdorn is the CEO and Co-founder of Smaply. Smaply is a software design company specialising in journey mapping and management software used by businesses worldwide. In this episode, Marc explores what service design is and how to use it to improve customer and employee experiences using journey mapping. He emphasises the value of focusing on system design rather than KPIs and explains how Smaply 3.0 can improve the customer experience through more effective journey management. Resources...

Jul 15, 202445 minSeason 2Ep. 14

Serving the community starts with listening to them

Greg Curcio is the Director of Customer and Performance for Knox City Council. Knox is located in Melbourne’s southeast and is one of Victoria’s most populous municipalities with over 165,000 residents calling Knox home. In this episode, Greg shares his journey to Knox City Council and emphasises the importance of community engagement and maintaining the human element in the contact centre. He explains the unique challenges faced by contact centres for local government including the need for ope...

Jul 01, 202423 minSeason 2Ep. 13

How incorporating international attitudes can improve Australian service culture

Sharon Melamed is the Founder and Managing Director of Matchboard. Matchboard is a matchmaking service between companies and suppliers to take the hard work out of making business connections. In this episode, Sharon shares how a love of matchmaking in her personal life led her to found Matchboard. She also explains how living and working overseas in Japan and the U.S.A. influenced her approach to customer service and what lessons she’s brought home to Australia. Resources and links: Matchboard ...

Jun 17, 202437 minSeason 2Ep. 12

AI integration means more space for experts in the contact centre

At the time of this interview, Hefin Evans was the Head of Service for the Asia-Pacific region for Philips. Philips is a leading provider of healthcare technology and medical equipment to improve the health and well-being of communities globally. In this episode, Hefin shares his leadership journey and highlights the importance of balancing effective leadership, employee satisfaction, and customer happiness. He discusses how geographic and cultural differences impact the customer’s expectations ...

Jun 04, 202438 minSeason 2Ep. 11

Humans, not machines, are the future of customer service

Jaquie Scammell is the CEO and Founder of Service Q and has written several books on CX. Service Q creates and delivers culture transformation programs for businesses that want to change how they engage with customers and clients. In this episode, Jaquie shares her career journey and how her understanding of service culture has developed over time. She discusses the contents of her latest book, ‘The Future of Service is 5D’ and the importance of mindsets, habits, and resilience in providing exce...

May 20, 202447 minSeason 2Ep. 10

Innovation means breaking the rules

Adrian Swinscoe is a Customer Experience Advisor and the Author of “Punk CX”. For over 25 years, Adrian has worked with businesses to break the mould and take a more punk approach to the customer experience. In this episode, Adrian explains the Punk CX philosophy and what it means to embody the values of “investigation, agitation, and instigation”. Resources and links: Punk CX website Adrian Swinscoe’s website Adrian Swinscoe on LinkedIn Connect: Callo Consulting website Sean McGinn on LinkedIn ...

May 06, 202443 minSeason 2Ep. 9

How delegating mundane tasks to AI leads to more engaged employees

AI has been on the lips of every industry in recent years, with contact centres particularly embracing the technology for servicing customers. Can it improve the employee experience as well? Luke Jamieson is a Solutions Consultant with Upland Software and a thought leader in EX and CX. Throughout his career, he has focused on exploring growth and opportunity in the customer service industry and has committed himself to finding creative solutions to common problems. In this episode, Luke digs int...

Apr 22, 202432 minSeason 2Ep. 8

Great CX is more than skin deep

Emma Stapleton is the Head of Customer Support at MECCA Brands. As Australia's largest beauty retailer with a thriving online store and over a hundred physical stores across Australia and New Zealand, MECCA is committed to delivering the ultimate beauty experience. In this episode, Emma will discuss the importance of designing a good employee experience and how that influences the customer experience. She also sheds light on how MECCA is approaching CX differently and how she managed a team that...

Apr 10, 202443 minSeason 2Ep. 7

The shift to self-scheduled work

Tim Buzza, Director of Workplace Flexibility at Verint (formerly Attune Work Solutions), joins us to discuss the transformative power of self-scheduling systems for contact centre agents. Verint’s innovative approach is reshaping the work-life balance, offering a new level of autonomy and flexibility in the workplace. In this episode, Tim demystifies the concepts of autonomy and flexibility in the work environment, outlining their advantages for both employees and employers. He’ll also recount a...

Mar 25, 202443 minSeason 2Ep. 6

How Zoom CX is reshaping the service experience

Dina Levy is the Head of Customer Experience Channels at Zoom, and Phil is the Head of Go-To-Market for Zoom CX. Zoom started in 2011 as a video conferencing platform and has since grown into an all-in-one collaborative platform for businesses and people across the globe. In this episode, Dina and Phil explain how the latest technology from Zoom CX is changing the customer experience for businesses. They also highlight the trends they’re seeing across the industry and share their predictions for...

Mar 11, 202431 minSeason 2Ep. 5

Failure demand: Leverage your contact centre insights to drive better commercial and employee outcomes

Peter Iansek is the CEO and Co-founder of Operative Intelligence. Operative Intelligence is a customer insights tool that uses AI to meaningfully improve the customer experience by helping to identify what customers need when they call the contact centre. In this episode, Peter tells the story of how he went from working in contact centres to founding Operative Intelligence, and how they use AI to analyse customer speech and identify actionable changes for businesses. He also explains the concep...

Feb 26, 202429 minSeason 2Ep. 4

The omnipresence of omnichannel

Daniele Iezzi is the former General Manager of Customer Services for David Jones and the Country Road Group. David Jones is one of the world’s longest continuously operating department stores and has operated for more than 185 years. Country Road Group contains several of Australia’s most popular clothing brands: Country Road, Mimco, Trenery, Politix, and Witchery. In this episode, Daniele shares his experience with contact centres, what makes retail contact centres different, why businesses nee...

Feb 12, 202437 minSeason 2Ep. 3

Charity begins at home: World Vision Australia’s approach to customer support

Elisa Iurato is the Chief of Community, Retail & Supporter Experience for World Vision Australia. World Vision is a global charity committed to providing aid and resources to help children, families, and communities across the world overcome poverty. World Vision is currently involved in 347 projects in 40 countries. In this episode, Elisa explains her role with World Vision Australia, how their “supporter experience centre” is doing things differently, and she’ll share the heartwarming stor...

Jan 29, 202429 minSeason 2Ep. 2

Helping employees to help the world

Jono Kirk is the Executive Director of Supporter Experience at Compassion Australia. Compassion Australia is a not-for-profit organisation committed to providing access to healthcare and education to children around the world to lift them out of poverty. In this episode, Jono breaks down the reality of running a contact centre for a not-for-profit. He also dives into the employee experience, why it matters so much, and how Compassion is improving the employee experience in their contact centres....

Jan 29, 202431 minSeason 2Ep. 1

Introducing 'The Calling'

Today we have a quick announcement. We're changing the name of the show. From today, the podcast will be called 'The Calling: Your Guide to Leading Modern Contact Centres'. It's the same great content you've come to expect from us, but with a new name. And we already have a group of great episodes coming up. But you don't have to take our word for it, because we have two new episodes available in your feed right now. So … we'll catch you in the next episode of 'The Calling'! Connect: Callo Consu...

Jan 29, 20241 min

44 | Dan Hill-Smith | Human-centred leadership

Dan Hill-Smith is the Chief Operating Officer at TSA Group TSA Group is one of Australia’s leading specialists in outsourcing and CX consultancy and services. Dan on LinkedIn About us: Stories, tips and practices to help you build adaptive teams who are ready for any challenge. Please follow, rate and review. We appreciate all your support. Check us out here: https://www.theagilecontactcentre.com.au Please follow us on LinkedIn This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Vis...

Mar 20, 202337 minSeason 1Ep. 44

43 | Russ Murphy | Transforming Service NSW

In this episode we talk to Russ Murphy, the Director of Regional Service Centres at Service NSW. Russ was a member of the team that began the transformation journey at Service NSW back in 2013. He shares the trials and tribulations of his leadership career and the approach they took from the early days of the very first service centre pilot to centralising services into their contact centres. Service NSW makes it easier to access government services for people and businesses across NSW. Service ...

Jan 30, 202342 minSeason 1Ep. 43

42 | Scott Doyle | Brave Leadership

Scott Doyle has been on quite a leadership journey over the last 3 years. This episode follows how Scott and the NRMA team have taken the disruption of Covid and used the constraints as an opportunity to take them to an even higher level of purpose driven leadership. And by listening to the needs of their people and customers they have created a new and even more successful operating model, with fully remote teams. Scott is the Senior Sales Manager, Contact Centres at The NRMA. The NRMA is an Au...

Nov 03, 202251 minSeason 1Ep. 42

41 | Brad Shaw | Leading without rules

In this episode we talk to Brad Shaw, entrepreneur, CEO and Leader, who has had a significant influence on the careers of many, many leaders as a coach and mentor. Brad reflects on the traits that he believes creates the most successful leaders in a complex, ambiguous world. Brad is the CEO at Livepro, a knowledge management company that provides solutions specifically tailored for the unique needs of customer service teams. So of course we get into the wonderful world of knowledge as well. Chec...

Jun 28, 202257 minSeason 1Ep. 41

40 | James Witcombe | Recruiting in 2022 and beyond

James is a stalwart within the Aussie contact centre market, he has seen a lot of change in his 15 years in the industry and shares with us his path to Director at SMAART Recruitment , his favourite tunes and a deep dive in the current recruitment market, how to think about the employee experience in your attraction strategy, and the key trends he sees over the next 5 years. James authors the SMAART Best Practice Report which is Australia's premier benchmarking and insights report for contact ce...

May 02, 20221 hr 19 minSeason 1Ep. 40

39 | Julie-Anne Hazlett | Workforce Optimisation & Endurance Cycling

This time around we chat to Julie-Anne Hazlett , Manager, WFO Strategy at Call Design who is an inspiration, modest in her achievements, along with her teammates, the InternationElles, she played a significant role in campaigning for a Women’s Tour de France. The last time the Tour de France held a women's multi-day stage race was in 1988 but it returns again this July!JA talks to us about what motivates her to ride ridiculously long distances on a bike and how to overcome the inevitable set bac...

Apr 25, 202254 minSeason 1Ep. 39

38 | Luke Jamieson | Unlocking the power of intrinsic motivation

Luke Jamieson is a true free thinker who is building great experiences for employees, he personifies the mantra, do right by your people and they'll do right by the customer. In this episode we learn about Luke's very diverse career backgrounds from baking to droving cattle! he talks to us about his journey to building world class EX-CX cultures and how he found a beautiful intersection between technology and social science, to bring game play to work. Luke is a multi-award winning leader, recog...

Apr 12, 202251 minSeason 1Ep. 38

37 | Severance with Hannah Gee

Introducing Hannah Gee. Among a myriad of other talents, Hannah is a partner over at our big sister, Neu21. This week we have been inspired and disturbed all at once by the new Apple TV+ series, Severance. To find out what the fuss is about check out the opening sequence to Severance before you listen to the episode! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIp2J3zk1ho What does this alternate future of work mean, and who would take the option of severance, if offered? We also geek out on opening sequenc...

Mar 04, 202224 minSeason 1Ep. 37

36 | The employee experience era | Part 2 - Architecting the experience

In part 2 in our mini-series on the employee experience we talk about the journey of a contact centre employee and how to think about the architecture. We dive into expectations and experience, how Disney manage this and how knowing about the way we construct memories of experiences can help us build better ones. Peak end rule - https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.co...

Feb 24, 202244 minSeason 1Ep. 36

35 | The employee experience era | Part 1 - How did we get here?

We continue to see the impacts of the pandemic play out in weird and wonderful ways across contact centres. So far we have seen cloud technology become the norm, greater flexibility that comes from WFH and now an ultra competitive labour market, a.k.a the war on talent and the great resignation, which all points to the humble contact centre employee becoming the centre of attention. And it's about time! And what will this mean for digital servicing and the types of roles that exist in the future...

Feb 22, 202250 minSeason 1Ep. 35

34 | We are back and working from home

In this Ep we talk about growth mindset, Arnie gets handy and nearly loses an eye and then decides to take up BJJ (Brazilian Ju Jitsu) while Sean is learning to play the drums.....and we talk about working from home. About us: This podcast is brought to you by The Agile Contact Centre. Stories, tips and practices that will help you deliver outstanding experiences to customers as well as your people. We do this because our mission is to reinvent the contact centre world. Subscribe anywhere you ge...

Jan 31, 202257 minSeason 1Ep. 34

33 | Mooseheads on the Table | Karin Tenelius & Lisa Gill

Karin Tenelius and Lisa Gill are authors of Mooseheads on the Table, a book about self-managing organisations from Sweden. You can find them here: https://www.tuffleadershiptraining.com/ Karin on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/karin-tenelius-06b2365/ Lisa on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-gill-she-her-23815a4/ Leadermorphosis podcast https://leadermorphosis.co/ Lisa on Twitter https://twitter.com/disruptandlearn?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor About us: Th...

Sep 27, 20211 hrSeason 1Ep. 33
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