I have been around a while and seen some stuff for sure. I have experienced some good bad, indifferent and some downright fabulous.
I am still hugely motivated to get up every day and be curious. I love tech and business and most of all dogs oh and people are ok too ;-)
Having been in sales most of my working life I have a real interest in the art and science and am a committed lifelong learner - constantly frustrating my kids with my stock phrase "every day is a school day"
Personally, I’m a husband to one, and father to five amazing children (three of them are no longer children, but independent adults) and my golden lab – Archie, who is always pleased to see me.
I was blessed with becoming a Granddad in February 2021 (a very proud and somewhat besotted one) and another grandson arrived in October 2022 to keep their parents busy and for me to spoil.
I am also a mad keen lover of the oval ball game and a lifelong supporter of Leicester Tigers. As an Englishman, that's therefore England at a national level and the British and Irish Lions.
If I can be of service in any way including any area of developing a channel sales and support business or ecosystem partnerships, and or sales coaching or development, you can find me at the link below, and contact me via the form also.
One of my favourite "quotes" is
Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body. But rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, with a beer in one hand, shouting "Whoo, what a ride!!"
Views here are 100% my own. https://grahambunting.bio.link/
The latest in my Punch Punch series of posts, where I attempt to describe what’s going on under the Covid crisis using my finely honed poetry skills, 😜 with a slant on prevailing Customer Experience for us all
Pinch punch it’s August 1st Lockdown is easing, being reversed
Businesses and offices are now resuming, Pubs and bars welcoming people consuming
We want to stay safe away from the virus The isolation however is starting to try us
Inspite of the crisis we’re currently enduring Technology projects are rapidly maturing.
Agents working hard to service their customers’ needs Customers queuing because no alternative feeds
Automation is desirable, else customers you’ll lose Give them digital channels and see what they choose
Access when they need it to check something out Agents are free when the complex ones shout
Human to human and voice is the best And intelligent automation for the rest
Almost half will leave you if you don’t improve This lack of choice and automation will force customers to move
So act right now and give us a call To serve customers better not the few, but them all.
This is my third and latest attempt at combining poetry with the #Covid_19 situation and our business engagement with #KoopidAI. I am kind of getting into the swing and hoping it tells a story (It works ok in my head). Here you go (with video link below also)
Pinch punch it’s the first of July
The days and weeks, they just fly by
The lockdown is easing, going back to work
Covid is still with us, but where does it lurk
Businesses are hurting, they’re battered and bruised
The new rules aren’t clear, I’m slightly confused
Pubs begin to reopen, just hear them cheer
We’ll soon be back there socialising with beer
The new normal is the central debate
Businesses are pivoting to keep the books straight
We continue to drive for an improved experience
Automating processes making customers delirious
Agents are freer for the more complex calls
Artificial intelligence catering where complexity is small
Getting Koopid up and running is surprisingly swift
The no code solution is simply a gift
From Monday to Tuesday is all the time we need
A clear map of workflow and we’re up to speed
Whatever your age and whatever your vintage
Digital and Mobile first is the greatest percentage
And there’s no need to rip and replace
Evolving new channels at your own pace
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr Venky Krishnaswamy recently, and here is the recording. Venky is a two times Thomas Edison award winner, and CEO and founder of Koopid.ai https://youtu.be/SCm4tVu3k8I
I was thinking about the new month on Friday and always have a race to be the first to say “pinch punch”, especially with my cousin, and I begin to start dreaming about this in context of the current Coronavirus crisis and here’s the result. I hope you like it.
There are it seems, hundreds of different job categories And I dare say that with all the subcategories an order of magnitude more.
The location at which your work is conducted does vary enormously upon the services you are providing, for example in the retail space with the exception of online services it’s very much a brick-and-mortar location and a face to face engagement, therefore, the work location is defined. However, for large swathes of other workers, the location is completely flexible, especially if all you require to carry out your work is a computing device, and telephone capability, plus of course an internet connection.
But it’s not always about what’s possible, because there are so many other factors to consider.
Working in a suitable environment covers a multitude of possibilities, such as having somewhere to sit (or stand) comfortably for several hours, somewhere to sensibly locate your computer, and of course you’ll need nearby power sockets. Decent lighting is also really helpful, as is natural daylight for many. Your location (home say) could be shared during the working day with others which could present challenges to the other or all parties. Some people struggle to work without having others around them, we are after all social creatures! So it’s far from straightforward for many.
Operationally, we know that the advent of cloud services has played a significant role in enabling remote working, but of course, there’s still hardware involved and hardware does occasionally fail, or when coupled with software, get its knickers in a twist and do weird things, causing you to be unable to fulfil your work commitments. Whilst software can usually be triaged and remotely brought back into service, hardware can prove a little more challenging. There are many moving parts to any business including its people, and dispersing the workforce does pose a whole bunch of new challenges, which are surmountable, but not always easily. If you’re able to travel relatively easily to an office location, then it’s an inconvenience to get problems resolved, but more remote workers could find this rather more disruptive.
Given that this is not an exhaustive look at the issues associated with managing a dispersed workforce, it does give us some ideas of the considerations when planning, especially when putting a business continuity plan in place.
So whilst many people have been remote office workers for some time, rolling out a blanket solution isn’t without considerable challenge.
I’m pretty certain that the current covid19 crisis has caught many businesses completely unprepared and realising that it’s not just a technology play.
If I can be of any assistance in your planning or implementation phases, please just shout
#COVIDー19 has caused mass disruption to every area of our society and we’re seeing major gatherings being understandably cancelled or with very poor attendance. We’re also seeing businesses taking decisions to stop their employees from traveling, even into the office. As a result, we’re all turning to alternative means to come together and unsurprisingly, vendors of said technologies are offering tactical solutions for those who are not well equipped. For many this will be little more than “business as usual”, but for significant numbers, this will be a massive change. The nature of the enforced change causes me to wonder if this will perhaps prove to be a very pivotal moment in history, when video calling and video conferencing, and collaboration realty comes of age…. Time will tell
Here’s a short video explainer for Koopid.ai – and we’re exhibiting at the Call and Contact Centre Expo at the Excel on March 18th and 19th, so please come and say hello and learn more. This could be what your customers have been waiting for.
Listen to Sales & Marketing – Aligned for success – Podcast #1 by Graham Bunting & Dave Pitts from Trust Business Partners on #SoundCloud Delivered in partnership with Nigel and Liz from SalesXchange
As a customer of many organisations ourselves, we’re all extremely well placed to understand what good, or great customer service looks and feels like. So why is it that so many, especially larger organisations find it so difficult to raise their game? I can’t bring myself to consider that they just don’t care… But I am prepared to consider that they have priorities a little messed up, and perhaps they have a culture and/or technology issue too. The critical point of engagement for many businesses now, is not face to face, as most communication is via a mobile device. This could be a phone call, a webchat, a social media chat (publicly or privately), WhatsApp etc.. The medium itself isn’t the issue I don’t believe, but the customer experience (cx) is critical. There are a few possibilities here, and some or all will apply. 1. Too much automation… Lacking human empathy especially where things aren’t completely black and white. This causes frustration for the customer resulting in a seriously poor customer experience. 2. Agents who are poorly trained lacking empathy and probably critically not suitably empowered or even motivated. 3. Poor (or lack of) tools and processes and lack of information for the agents to be able to effectively handle some calls or enquiries. 4. Integrated systems… Often businesses operate with disparate systems that do not inter-operate and therefore access to appropriate and often critical information becomes unnecessarily difficult. The agents at the coalface are therefore ill equipped to address many of the customer’s issues. This leads to friction and a feeling that the customer just isn’t important. Own goal! Bold business leadership is called for, and this demands that customers are placed at the centre of the business strategy, so that the customer experience (cx) is an exemplar. Who’s bold enough to do this I wonder? It needn’t be overwhelming for the business. In fact I’d suggest this will inspire the business and raise the game – happy to help if you’d like
Graham Bunting -The Partner Catalyst 
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