In today’s episode - the fireworks are cracking! My guest Don Markland is an accomplished Sales Trainer - he ranks under the top 3 US online Sales Trainers. Forbes ranks him Number 1 Business Coach, he is an Author of a number of books and he calls himself The Sales Evangelist! As we record this podcast, the UK woke up to a quite difficult economic situation. Don shares with us how small and medium service delivery firms can ride out the storm that’s brewing! He also coaches me personally on my ...
Oct 06, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 117
On the 29 September 2016, I got very very angry! I realised that my cancerversary will always be 3 days before my wedding anniversary! Fast forward 7 years - I’m reflecting on the journey. As a cancer traveller, a wife, a mother (and Oma) as well as a business owner. I’m honoured to be sharing a very personal podcast with you today. Links: Course Waitlist: https://rutzconsulting.com/customer-service-course/ Marianne LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-rutz/ Rutz Consulting Website: ht...
Sep 29, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 116
We don’t speak about money and customer service! Nor do we focus on money and customer experience. Whether that’s a British or Swiss or even worldwide phenomenon is really by the by. My guest today talks, lives and breathes money and wealth! Christine is under no illusion - money is a sensitive topic - but she believes in her company, M1, and put the fun back into making money and creating wealth! Her focus lies with the drive to eliminate client pain points and making positive financial outcome...
Sep 21, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 115
My guest today is David Baer of Baer on Marketing! We all know how often marketing strategies and activities are out of sync with the actual customer experience post sales or service delivery! We discuss the importance of brand alignment across the entire customer journey. But also how and why email marketing is so important! Full disclosure - we at rutz consulting are not exactly a great example! David explains why “One size fits all” is not an effective marketing strategy for solopreneurs or s...
Sep 14, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 114
Welcome to Customer Service Delivery made Easy! Inside Customer Service Delivery made Easy you will gain clarity where your operation is doing really well! And where it does need some work! You will be clear on what your CS Job description needs to look like! You will have a check-list to ensure your CS role is clearly defined, your benefits are explained and your documentation such as right to work is complete and your new advisor knows how they fit into your team! You will know what it takes t...
Sep 08, 2022•25 min•Season 1Ep. 113
My guest today is Andrew Wrobel, Founding Partner of Emerging Europe, a London based growth hub for Eastern European countries! Andrew trained as a journalist, he specialises in location strategy and nation branding, foreign direct investment, technology and innovation, sourcing, technology and innovation, and cross-cultural communications. Andrew runs Emerging Europe’s research and consultancy teams and co-authors the organisation’s flagship annual reports: the Future of IT, the Investment Prom...
Aug 31, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 112
My guest today is Jeremy Snape, former England Cricketer scoring for England, winning man of the match for England - but now running his own Business called Sporting Edge. Jeremy works with the worlds top performance experts and business organisations, hosting leadership programmes targeted to improve the efficiency workspaces. Leaving the professional cricket scene, Jeremy retrained himself as a sports psychologist and he become of the most respected thought-leaders in the subject of winning mi...
Aug 24, 2022•36 min•Season 1Ep. 111
In this episode we take a look back over the past 2 years & the many highlights of the OPEX show. Observing & discussing various topics & re-visiting certain interviews & episodes that were popular with our listeners. Over the last 109 episodes we've had an extraordinary calibre of guests; sharing their knowledge, expertise & personal journeys. Myself & my team have gone through the most downloaded & streamed episodes to deliver you this very special show of OPEX's "B...
Aug 10, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 110
First Impression Training is a people development organisation, specialising within the call and contact centre environment, wholly focused on creating positive and lasting change in the way a company's people interact with their prospects, customers and each other to encourage the win-win! This is a BIG promise! In today’s interview Marie shares candidly how she became a victim of her own success when she was freelancing in the training industry. She had a choice - stay small and do as she alwa...
Aug 03, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 109
This interview with the amazing Eleanor brought me massively outside my comfort zone! I am very much a process driven leader, firmly believing in following due process moves the needle and gets stuff done. But what about our intuition? What about the heart? Do I give myself room to think “outside the box” - and maybe do something completely differently? As a Kolbe 8 Fact Finder - I should know that whatever I do I can rest assured that I have done my homework! Speaking with Eleanor today put a 3...
Jul 27, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 108
In this episode we look at the different types of Hybrid working models, a term that has become well known in not just in the CX sectors but across all industries. We examine the various factors to take in to account when searching what is right for your business & your people. It's an important topic that we all need to pay attention to. Today I’m taking you through 5 types of successful hybrid working models. Enjoy! Links: Hybrid Working Statistics: https://www.apollotechnical.com/hybrid-w...
Jul 20, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 107
Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could supercharge your customer experience by deploying a multilingual Chatbot or live chat across all service channels you have got in your business! Yes - it would but….. - Stop right there! Andy Wilkins and his team thought about this Chatbot and Chat technology long and hard. He calls this experience Democratizing access and services! Giving everyone the right to access a service at any given time! One of the challenges we face in AI is that those who have contr...
Jul 13, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 106
This interview couldn’t come any timelier! CEO’s are tired and exhausted after the Covid Pandemic, now they face the economic downturn, the increasing costs of serving their customers, shrinking budgets and the list goes on! What a CEO needs is resilience ! But ironically resilience needs building and it’s not enough if you, as the CEO, demonstrate this skill, your team (what we call the C-Suite) must be resilient too so that you can do the strategic thinking whilst the team executes the directi...
Jul 06, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 105
We are manoeuvring through difficult economic times! Geopolitical challenges we can’t impact directly are making our service delivery difficult. So many Ops leaders have been asking me - what can we do for our teams? How do we lead? How do we show up (Remember Episode 100?) Today I’m taking you through 9 Ways to be a better Team Leader! You can Download the slide deck to this episode using the link in the show notes! Links: Slide Deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QOq_OUSuxAKSAqNQJ6DZ...
Jun 29, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 104
I’m joined today by Founder and CEO of Hollywood Browzer Beauty - Amy Anzel! You might wonder what Dermaplaning, hair removal and exfoliation tools have got to do with operational excellence! Let me tell you - Hollywood Browzer’s Trust Pilot Rating in Summer 2021 was bad - just very bad, 1 star reviews consistently complaining about goods not received! Does this sound familiar? It's one of the most common complaints companies get when they have a distribution challenge. In today’s episode Amy sh...
Jun 22, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 103
Finances and financial viability of a business are hugely important and yet we seen to be reluctant to speak about the ins and outs of staying on top of your financial performance! Very often this starts with simply not knowing or not having clarity of your offering! Your service! Now that’s pretty fundamental! Paul shares with us what he sees in his accounting practice; what happens if your offering is unclear, your customers are not served and your finances go South! We also discuss how import...
Jun 15, 2022•41 min•Season 1Ep. 102
Imagine being told by your dad - “you go and help your mother”. Normal, no big deal! Well - it is if your mum is the CEO of a distruper BPO in Rumania. Alexandra fell into the contact centre industry…. 15 years on she is going strong! She learned to manage operational delivery and excellence through a number of roles in the Ops space starting off as an agent, progressing to Team leader, ops leader, call centre manager learning from the best! It wasn’t always plain sailing for Alexandra! Being Mu...
Jun 08, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 101
This is Episode 100 of the Operational Excellence Show - and I couldn’t be any prouder of myself and my guests for having it made thus far! I recorded this podcast just before my birthday - reflecting on yet another year on this earth and another year in business. What did I do to get this far? Actually, I don’t have a highly organized marketing machine for the podcast! In fact - if marketing the podcast on LI predominantly takes 5% of the success why we are still here - that’s a lot! No! The po...
Jun 01, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 100
I love data! I love Data Analytics - and if all of this comes in an App - Happy days! My guest today is the Founder and CEO of OpsAnalitica, Tommy Yionoulis! His big promise: You can measure everything, real time in a meaningful way! What’s on paper should be on Ops Analitica! We discuss how Tommy started his business, but also what his clients get when using the App! And no we are not encouraging you to use all the functionality from day 1! Quite the opposite! Start with measuring data that mov...
May 25, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 99
You have to practice for success - a strong statement from Interview Coach Carrie-Lynn Hotson! My guest today is on a mission to help people to be more confident in their next interview and land the role of their dreams! With the great resignation leading to an employee driven recruitment market post pandemic - getting the right job or (for employers) hire the right candidate is absolutely crucial. We discuss how Carrie-Lynn works with candidates, whether they are only starting out or indeed hav...
May 18, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 98
In today’s episode I’m taking you through our brand new course “Customer Service Delivery Made Easy” A dip into each one of the four modules: Recruitment, Onboarding and Training Moving Forward for Growth, Efficiency and Success The Voice of the Customer Quick win’s and Cost Savings You will have a good understanding of how we at Rutz Consulting assess each one of our clients, helping them to understand what they already have in their businesses and what is definitely lacking! Links: Course Wait...
May 11, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 97
My guest today is Ed Tyson - Chief Architect of Leadership SOPs! Of course - I hear you - what has leadership got to do with Standard Operating Procedures? Well - that’s what Ed talks to us about today! Ed has created a Leadership Development framework and methodology helping leaders structuring, operating and perfecting their communities of effort. Ed is also the author of “From Expert to Executive” - where he takes the reader into the environment and mindset of 6 fictional leaders! Book: https...
May 04, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 96
We all need breaks in our days - yet ever too often we find ourselves at the end of a busy day, packed with meetings and a ton of deliverables, we are exhausted and we realise - Gosh I didn’t even have lunch today! Caitlin and her partner Will recognised just that, got their heads together and created Interlude - the Desktop Application that allows you to take a meaningful break and a diary holding you accountable to take that break. Whether you love working out, doing yoga, cooking, writing - t...
Apr 20, 2022•36 min•Season 1Ep. 95
What if…. You could make every conversation valuable? What if….. Your advisors would automatically know what the next good step is for your customer? What if your coaching was really targeted so that your results immediately improve? Sounds like every Contact Centre Managers dream - right? My guest today knows all the analytical pains we have got - and in 2018 he decided to do something about it! Starting a tech company just before the pandemic hit and subsequently growing it to 35 FTE - that’s ...
Apr 13, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 94
In today’s service delivery world, we can’t even imagine what we would do without Artificial Intelligence - AI; Data we look at, Data we work with, Data we use to make our customers lives easier and our business lives more successful. In today’s podcast I’m discussing the Role of AI and Process Improvement with Prabhjot Singh, the CEO of Pyze! Prabhjot takes us behind the scenes of Pyze - the leading digital transformation analytics platform, maximizing process efficiency and application product...
Apr 06, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 93
The very day before the first lock-down was introduced in the UK, Ellen Wakelam, director of “in the Welsh Wind” signed a lease on a pub - to house her new business venture! In today’s Episode Ellen talks candidly how she and her husband decided to follow a dream, waking along the Welsh Coast - which then resulted in going into business together. Hit by the Pandemic and the subsequent impact on business, Ellen very quickly had to become creative! She explains the challenges they met, but also ho...
Mar 30, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 92
At Rutz Consulting we help our clients to optimise the out-put of their workforce, yet still offer plenty of training & coaching. And of course ensure that breaks, weekends, holidays are taken - in other words we offer a deep dive into Workforce Management, which often ends up in a Workforce Management and Planning Service - Done for you so to speak! Today I’m chatting with our very own Marc Thompson and Paul Dermott - WFM & Planning Experts par excellence! Customer Service Delivery Made...
Mar 24, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 91
Today - I’m taking you behind the scenes of Rutz Consulting! I dive into how I went from an employee to freelancer to CEO of my own consultancy business & the many challenges I faced & learned from along the way. Often I get asked…. How did you do it? In this episode I reveal some of the hurdles I came across from dealing with hiring the right staff, price structuring, marketing, stepping up, creating a delivery framework & so much more. With my 7 steps guide I reveal what I have lea...
Mar 16, 2022•19 min•Season 1Ep. 90
I’m joined by a very special guest this week: Gregorio Oglioni. Gregorio is CCXP Certified and has been in customer experience for a long long time! Gregorio is one of the very few experts, linking customer experience directly to your P&L! We are discussing this link in our interview today - something a lot of experts shy away from. It’s not that straightforward to calculate your financial investment into hard core dollars - or in Gregorio’s case Swiss Francs! We chat about CX in Switzerland...
Mar 09, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 89
I’m delighted to welcome back my dear friend Joy Bains. Remember, she was my very first guest in 2020 - Episode 7 which aired on 13th March 2020! Joy is, hands down, one of the best Project and Programme Managers I know. Why is that - you might ask? She always starts her assignments with…. Getting to know her stakeholders. In her line of work this would be the various workstream leads and the executive team she is delivering the programme for. In this episode, Joy shares her passion for multi-di...
Mar 02, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 88
