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eBook

“No Holds Barred” EditionYour Guide to Zombie Annihilation in the Contact Center

Night of the Living Prepared

HistoryKnow your enemy: zombie origins and evolutionCustomer service put down its roots in an ancient era, and zombies were right there with them. Trace their tracks up through the first modern contact centers and all the way up to today’s intelligent omnichannel customer support.

WeaponsA good strategy includes the right weaponryWhile some zombies can be taken out with nearly any blunt object, others require modern technology and precision builds. Our collection of Voice of Customer–powered, Customer Experience–centric blades, clubs, firearms, and covert equipment are built for massacring customer support & contact center zombies.

TacticsYou’ll need more than phones to win this fightYou’ll need courage, knowledge, skill, resources, and nerves of stainless steel. Whatever you may lack now, we’re here to supply. Learn the unique markings and behaviors of each contact center zombie, so you can identify it by sight, smell, and sound—and approach it with the proper precautions.

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Inside This GuideThis guide covers three key areas of preparation for surgically—or not so surgically—terminating all traces of contact center zombies in your place of business: (1) History provides the main storyline and the vital context for (2) tactical training specific to each zombie type, followed by a section dedicated to (3) our arsenal of advanced weapons built to give you the upper hand in combat.

[email protected] • 1-800-530-4251 • Copyright © 2015 InMoment, Inc.

Ancient Zombies:

Gallobhas and Ukdungles in the Early MarketplaceThe earliest zombies of customer support pre-date modern contact centers by thousands of years, and yet they still exist in large numbers today, feasting on the loyalty, trust, and goodwill they kill. Of these ancient zombies, there are two distinct types, which are believed to be the progenitors of all other zombies commonly found in today’s contact centers.


The Unskilled Zombie: The Gallobha

The first of these ancient customer support zombies is the Unskilled Zombie, or “Gallobha.” Tale of this zombie has traveled across many centuries and diverse trades. It is easily identified by its sightless eyes, crusted over with a thick film of brain matter. For this reason, these zombies are also aptly referred to as “Blind Brutes.”

The science behind their blindness also holds a sliver of redemptive hope for the Gallobha breed. The ancient strain of zombie virus affecting them attacks the brain through the eyes and generally limits its takeover to the cranial region. This means the host body is often not fully infected, making the Unskilled Zombie curable. But, just as with killing it, curing it must be done with extreme care.

The Gallobha’s origins can be traced back to Scotland, to the Galloway Forest region, known for its intensely dark night sky. In 1547, members of the Farquharson Clan recorded the first known sighting of a Gallobha, after the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh.

Thar an fraochmhá in aice leis an phortach móna nuair a bhí a chaitear ar ár fir tar éis titim ag an saol seo chugainn, chonaic muid méadú corp, le Gore ag titim as a shúile, agus stumble blindly mar cheann fós beo.

Over the heath near the peat bog where our fallen men were consumed by the next life, we saw a corpse rise, with gore falling from his eyes, and stumble blindly as one still alive.

Common NameGallobha

Other NamesBlind Brute

Zombie TypeAncient

IdentificationBrain-encrusted eyesLittle to no bodily deterioration

DietIndiscriminate eaters, will consume just about any positive customer support outcome

WeaknessRegular one-on-one trainingClearly defined expectationsAgent accountability

WeaponryCoach™ ReportSpeech-to-Text


This is likely the only zombie you’ll meet that you should try curing before killing. If you can get close enough to scrape off the crust around its eyes, you’ll be able to tell if there’s hope left. If the eyes are dark, then death is the next step. If they still have color, get it under the knife to extract the ocular virus (if you’re feeling brave).

The weaknesses of the Unskilled Zombie include clearly defined expectations, accountable agents, and regular one-on-one training. Use our Coach™ Report to empower trainers and supervisors to train agents using real-time insights about the elements of their performance that matter to customers. Speech-to-Text and Voice Recording allow agents to improve performance by hearing the actual voices of their customers.

CURING & CULLINGThe Unskilled Zombie


The second of the ancient customer support zombies is the Unresolved Zombie, or “Ukdungle.” The earliest accounts of this somnambulist report their breed being driven from a bazaar in Delhi, India, where they terrorized merchants who couldn’t clearly understand complaints from dissatisfied buyers and could only make guesswork attempts at resolving the issues with their crops and handiwork. These Ukdungles were cursed by godmen “to attack in sight and survive in flight” and banished to their namesake Himalayan village—Ukdungle—where they became a mountain-hardened creature.

Unlike the Gallobha, the only way to “resolve” an Ukdungle is to kill it. After centuries of a cursed existence at extreme elevation, the strain of zombie virus ensured its survival by burrowing deep into the center of the brain and stimulating membrane growth to form a protective outer layer to shield it from the harsh

Himalayan elements. While ensuring the zombie’s survival, this concentration in the brain left the extremities to freeze and petrify in the elements.

Centuries in the mountains resulted in a zombie identifiable by its enlarged brain and skeletal body structure. Another telling mark of these zombies—almost certainly an effect of the godmen’s curse—is their unique survival mechanism of vanishing from sight when struck in the brain (unless the blow is precise and fatal). This curious curse has led to their other common alias: “Disapparators.”

Common NameUkdungle

Other NamesDisapparator

Zombie TypeAncient

IdentificationEnlarged brainSkeletal, mummified figure

DietLoyalty & consumer confidenceFuture profits

WeaknessClosed-loop feedbackResolving problems well, not just quicklyOrganizational agility based on customer feedback

WeaponryIncident Management

The Unresolved Zombie: The Ukdungle

central virus burrowsensory viral layer

outbound infection channels

thick protective membrane


You’d be wise to listen to Master Yoda, because when it comes to killing this zombie you “do or do not—there is no try.” Failed attempts at a kill shot could put an unpleasant target on your back. Because the zombie virus is so well entrenched in their enlarged brains, an expertly placed harpoon is about the only safe bet.

Their weaknesses include straightforward communication and a well-trained ear. Your harpoon should come in the form of an easily accessible closed-loop system, like Incident Management. Real-time alerts help you address customer concerns before they become problems, and email templates allow you to respond individually to each customer.

HARPOONINGThe Unresolved Zombie


Modern Zombies:

Turncroaks Take ManhattanLong before the call center was born, the art of customer support was taking root in ancient marketplaces. Any questions or concerns about a bartered good could only be resolved back at the transactional source, if at all. Even up through the 1800s, in the late modern age of international trade and city-centered commerce, physical travel and face-to-face conversation were still the only means of reaching customer support (that also includes the practice among high-ranking nobles of sending ambassadors to act in their behalf).

It wasn’t until the the very tail end of the 1800s that the idea of a contact center began taking shape, thanks to the advent of the telephone and switchboard. The first phone-based branch exchanges were organized shortly thereafter, and, intentionally or not, they initially succeeded in diminishing their local populations of customer support zombies, which had gained a formidable foothold in global centers of commerce, such as New York and London.

As 19th century thought revolved more and more around free enterprise and capitalism, the zombie virus was exposed to increasingly technical market terrain and newly refined phone-based attacks. In response to these new conditions, mutation accelerated for the first time in millennia to form a new zombie breed with specialized adaptations.


In the wake of the 1960s—the introduction of the touchtone phone, the 1-800 number, and the first true (albeit primitive) call center support departments—the 1970s produced a depraved creature called the Churn Zombie, or “Turncroak.” Thanks to the departmentalization and nascent staffing & training procedures of contact centers (and often ironic attempts at efficiency), new weaknesses entered the circle of customer support, allowing Turncroaks to enter almost completely unnoticed. They immediately began picking off transactions, wreaking havoc, and turning both customers and phone agents into zombies pitted against the business they once saw as an ally.

The first Turncroak specimens are thought to be former contact center agents who, in a dramatic show of disenchantment and disengagement from humanity, willingly submitted to the bite of the Gallobha. Strangely, the zombie virus did not affect these “victims” in its normal fashion; rather than breaching the brain primarily through the ocular orifice, it infested the mouth first, spreading through the digestive system in search of a new route to the brain through the spine.

While there are numerous theories as to why exactly this happened (most having to do with underdevelopment in the eyes of the first victims, caused by years of disengagement, avoiding eye contact, and looking downward), there is little doubt about how this mutation physically manifests itself, eating away the stomach and bowels, exposing the spine and other visceral organs.

Because of their willing submission to zombiehood, Turncroaks were initially thought to be eager predators. Over time, however, history has shown a more subdued reality. Given the right technique, Turncroaks can easily be warded off and kept at bay. And, of course, it must be mentioned that the maxim “prevention is the best cure” is especially true for these zombies.

Common NameTurncroak

Other NamesMill Monster

Zombie TypeModern

IdentificationBeady eyesBowed head

DietStaffing & training budgetFuture profits

WeaknessHiring the right people up frontUnderstanding the customer lifecycleBenefits and costs of short-term acquisition and churn

WeaponryCX Analyst ToolExecutive DashboardsEmployee EngagementCoach™ Report

The Churn Zombie: The Turncroak


No mass warfare here. Whether spawned from customers or agents, Churn Zombies are best taken down one at a time. That doesn’t rule out a good mass strategy, though. Since your only real chance is drawing them out in the open, you’ll need to start by eliminating their favorite hiding place: data silos.

A combination of our CX Analyst Tool and Executive Dashboards will do this job and more (summoning some predictive analytics to help): Integrating data from multiple sources, this top equipment sheds light on the benefits and costs of short-term acquisition and churn, while spreading holistic strategy around your customers’ life cycle and future behaviors.

Meanwhile, with prevention being the best remedy for Turncroak problems, you’ll need an Employee Engagement program for creating a work environment where agents feel valued. This empowers employees to see how their experience and viewpoint drive positive change within the organization. Providing personalized training and action plans via the Coach™ Report or the mobile-optimized Focus application are other great tools for getting in close for the victory.

ENGAGING IN HAND-TO-HAND COMBATThe Churn Zombie

FIGHT!


Intelligent Zombies:

Slagheaps and Lizard Tails Form Their Unholy AllianceYour contact center as you see it today deals daily with zombie attacks. The undead responsible for these attacks on your performance are more numerous now than ever, with the current number of officially recognized customer support zombies up to five. The three we’ve covered so far were the only ones on record until the early ’90s. And then the Internet happened.

The subsequent introduction of VoIP technologies, email, chat, and countless other tools, caused rapid change in the contact center. Where these centers were once run as cost centers with single-channel (transaction-heavy) workflows, limited call routing strategies, and a highly manual environment—they are now on the path to becoming profit & intelligence centers spurred by multichannel workflows, self-help options, and a rich technical environment.

In this time of flux, a pair of zombies followed in the misshapen footsteps of the Churn Zombie to become the next customer support zombies evolving alongside major advances in communications technology. Exponentially more so than their predecessors, these zombies require a cutting-edge arsenal to take them out. While a good strategy is still vital, it alone is not enough to counter these intelligent zombies.


It is now widely believed that Slagheaps existed well before 1990, but, thanks to their low numbers and rather docile nature, they were largely unnoticed or ignored until then. Even in the early days of their documented existence, they were thought to be merely an entrenched inconvenience or necessary evil. It’s hard to blame the first customer support zombie hunters for abandoning efforts to abolish the Slagheap, as the first attempts to destroy them were both arduous and perplexingly unfruitful. The congealed, gelatinous form of these boneless zombies proved capable of absorbing anything short of a tedious deconstruction at a molecular level.

In the ’90s, these grotesque zombies emerged from the shadows in large numbers and broke their long-held silence. Indeed, even being such a visually unique creature, Slagheaps are still more

commonly identified by the sound of their persistent rasping whispers—a trait unique to them and their remarkable manifestation of the zombie virus.

Upon their 1993 discovery (or rediscovery) and examination, Slagheaps were found to have retained some intelligence and slight brain activity. Emerging research on these heaps has revealed that, upon infection with the zombie virus, the immune system of the host triggers a remarkable response, drawing marrow out of the bones and into the brain to protect a small portion of human sentience. This actually preserves a portion of the host’s intelligence, personality, humanity, and even goodwill. It is this living tie to their humanity that explains their fairly docile demeanor.

Within the brain of a Slagheap rages an eternal war. Far from being lucid in their sentience, these zombies are caught between two conflicting urges: one to survive by feeding their viral bloodthirst, the other to end their own tortured existence by exposing their weakness. As they drag through contact centers in their cursed state, in a rasping whisper almost completely indecipherable to the human ear, these zombies plead for death by divulging the necessary information for a quick death at your hands. This information is different for each individual Slagheap, unique to the humanity it clings to. The key to mercifully killing a Slagheap is deciphering the scrambled message that is their cry.

Common NameSlagheap

Other NamesWind Whisperer

Zombie TypeIntelligent

IdentificationEerie rasping whisperDeflated invertebrate form

DietWork hoursCustomer relationship

WeaknessLanguage processing & automated decryption

WeaponrySpeech-to-TextText Analytics

The Unstructured Zombie: The Slagheap


As an “intelligent” zombie (the bar on intelligence is set pretty low for zombies), these creatures can’t be offed without some stellar decryption equipment. They prey on your fear of unstructured data and its inherent complexities to keep you from truly understanding your customers’ experiences.

Without good Speech-to-Text and Text Analytics, your customers’ valuable insights—like the Slagheap’s cryptic message—will stay locked away, leaving you at the mercy of the unknown. With InMoment, you can fight these fears with tuned analytics models that automate and simplify the process of understanding customer stories.

DECONSTRUCTINGThe Unstructured Zombie


The advent of the Internet opened up many new channels for customer contact: email, chat, forums, social media, and so on. While these channels have allowed contact centers to weaken certain zombie populations, most centers now find themselves facing newer, smarter zombie foes. As more and different types of data are collected at an accelerated pace, one zombie is showing up to the post-Y2K party:

The Omni-Zombie, or “Lizard Tail” is the second of the intelligent zombies and actually arose from early attempts to eradicate their boneless predecessors.

Some of the first automated tracking and decoding technologies deployed on the Unstructured Zombie reacted violently with the zombie virus, so that when the zombie hunter running the technology was bitten, not only was the marrow from her bones drawn out in defense, the immune defense was so intense her

brain also partially liquified and pooled into the bone cavities, spreading viral neurons through the reanimated zombie corpse, where it hardened and produced semi-sentience in the undead limbs.

This semi-sentience throughout the Omni-Zombie makes it quite the persistent and destructive enemy. If any of its limbs are severed from the body, they continue to attack and otherwise harangue your contact center. They were given the nickname “Lizard Tails” after they were witnessed leaving a still-moving leg, arm, or even finger behind much like the autotomy seen in lizards. Aside from this detached limb animation effect, Lizard Tails are hard to identify superficially. Some things to look for are an extreme lack of hand-eye coordination and missing appendages.

Defeating the Lizard Tail is currently beyond the abilities of any human—at least directly. It is believed they each have a unique weakness, much like the Slagheap; however, they do not reveal it, nor have they shown an ability to do so. To date, only fellow Lizard Tails appear to understand each other’s weaknesses. We know this because, if caged together, they will kill and cannibalize each other. This makes advanced zombie trapping techniques your only friend until a more direct offense can be discovered.

Common NameLizard Tail

Other NamesSilo Scat

Zombie TypeIntelligent

IdentificationExtreme lack of coordinationFrequently missing limbs

DietProcess improvementCustomer experience

WeaknessCentralized dataOmnichannel services

WeaponryEngagement Methods

The Omni-Zombie: The Lizard Tail


A near indestructible zombie, the Omni-Zombie has only one known weakness: itself. Your only hope of ridding your contact center of these unholy creatures is to set a trap of sufficient size and strength to contain them.

In today’s contact center, that means turning to a silo-proof solution like InMoment’s engagement methods to provide a view into the holistic customer journey, not just individual transactions. Regardless of source or format—phone messages, chat transcripts, social conversations, emails, agent notes— InMoment can help you keep the Omni-Zombie where it belongs: away from your business.

CONTAININGThe Omni-Zombie


InMoment Anti-Zombie Weapons Checklist

Incident ManagementThis weapon creates a powerful closed-loop system for uniting and empowering supervisors and agents to stop Unresolved Zombies in their tracks.

Speech-to-TextWhether you’re troubleshooting an Unskilled or an Unstructure Zombie, Speech-to-Text gathers the audible intel at volume and transcribes it for instant anti-apocalypse analysis.

Text AnalyticsThe only weapon smart enough to decipher an Unstructured Zombie’s rasping whisper is InMoment’s Text Analytics. With advanced natural language processing and industry-tuned phrase recognition, our text analytics can penetrate the mind of nearly any zombie—and set up the fatal blow.

Coach™ Report and Focus™These customer experience reports, thanks to their detailed and instructive design, are deadly multi-tools that have proven instrumental in disabling and destroying your early-era customer support terrors: the Unskilled and the Churn Zombie.


InMoment Anti-Zombie Weapons Checklist

Employee EngagementAn automated feedback & engagement program for agents and even supervisors generates more than tactical insights. It creates an environment where performance trumps seniority, training takes on real meaning, and Agent Churn Zombies run for their lives undead states.

CX Analyst Tool and Executive DashboardsThese powerful tools aggregate data from virtually any source to surface in-depth insights and stunning visualizations in the form of predictive analytics. This deadly combination puts Customer Churn Zombies right where you want them: at the business end of your fists.

Engagement MethodsThe zombie trapper’s best friend, our irresistible variety of engagement methods makes the perfect front-end bait for a secure cloud of centralized customer experience data— designed to contain Omni-Zombies and let them bring about their own extinction.


CONGRATULATIONS,YOU ZOMBIE-HUNTING FOOL!

You’re now mentally prepared for action. Zombies gonna wish they’d never been born reanimated.


InMoment™ is a cloud-based customer experience (CX) optimization platform that helps brands leverage customer stories to inform better business decisions and create more meaningful relationships with their customers. Through its Experience Hub™, InMoment provides Voice of Customer (VoC), Social Reviews & Advocacy, and Employee Engagement solutions, as well as strategic guidance, support, and services to more than 350 brands in 95 countries. The company is the leading VoC vendor for the food services, retail, and contact center industries, with expertise in B2B, financial services, lodging, and numerous others. For more information, visit www.inmoment.com.

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night of the living prepared - wordpress.com€¦ · zombies were right there with them. trace...

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