The Verghis Group is moving to Raleigh!

We are hosting our inaugural event in the Raleigh/RTP, North Carolina area! We are offering our Knowledge Centered Support (KCS V5) Foundations workshop, March 6-8 in Raleigh/RTP, presented by experts from The Verghis Group. We will be presenting the foundations of KCS, with several Verghis Group twists, particularly “un-mad” measures and internal communications strategies that will accelerate your success!

Take a long, hard look your organization’s existing approach to support. How much do you suppose this outdated model is costing? Not just in terms of morale, but the company’s bottom line? Chances are, it’s thousands – maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Would your bosses be pleased if you could trim your budget by even a fraction of that amount?

Want to learn more about how KCS can transform the lifeless pool of support information into useful knowledge, action and excellence? In a cost effect and proven way?

This workshop is specially designed for support/service center directors and managers, Knowledge Management program managers, and other professionals responsible for implementing Knowledge Management strategies.

More info and registration here

For a while now, we have believed that making customers wait online can cause bad things to happen. Some interesting new research from two professors at Harvard Business School has shown that this may not always be the case.

It seems that if customers have to wait, and are shown why they are waiting (for example showing them what was being searched), they give higher ratings than if the results are instantly available. (Note: The information returned has to be ‘good’.)

Read the whole article at: http://bit.ly/slowservice

There’s hope for those of you with slow websites (albeit with good information)… Bring this article to your web team or IT team and talk to them about ‘labor illusion’.

Update: Workshop is sold out, contact me if you want to be on the waiting list.

VP of Research at TSIA, John Ragsdale blogged about my upcoming workshop.

Here is some of what he said… “One of the top attended TSIA Member webcasts last year was a September event with my long time friend Phil Verghis, founder of the Verghis Group.”

…

“Phil is a thought leader around all aspects of support, including knowledge management and KCS. This is a great opportunity to learn about the evolving world of metrics and support best practices from one of the best in the business.”

http://jragsdale.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/measures-metrics-and-madness-boston-workshop-march-18-2011/

Check it out – there are a few seats still available…

New date: March 18, 2011. Location – Waltham (Boston), MA. 20 seats, registrations will absolutely close when I reach that number. Early bird discount available…

http://verghisgroup.eventbee.com/event?eid=713785315

Heading to London to do a keynote on ‘Impact of Culture on Support (and translation)’.

Interestingly enough the translation industry has headed to a race to the bottom in terms of pricing wars. I’ll sneak in some observations on moving to a trusted adviser rather than an expert for hire.

This talk is based on some of the research I did for IBM, and is available (for free) here.

Oracle and SAP start another round in a big court case…
This could have lead to others undercutting the promise of ‘we know our stuff best’

http://yhoo.it/aGqy80

A classic case of the wrong behaviors that result when management puts goals on activities….
New York Times article: Secret Tape Has Police Pressing Ticket Quotas

Take a look at your own organization — is it that different? Bring in your own metrics and let’s see on October 27th, the world premier of my new workshop: Measures, Metrics and Madness: the new world of Guiding, not Grading. (Only 7 seats left.)

http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/news/2240020842/Five-mistakes-to-avoid-when-implementing-self-service-CRM

I’ve just been informed that anyone who registers for the webcast Measures, Metrics and Madness: The New World of ‘Guiding, not Grading’ will get the slides and audio sent to them.

Join us to hear from TSIA’s VP of technology research, John Ragsdale, as he interviews Phil Verghis, founder of The Verghis Group. Phil is not only a brilliant strategist and innovator, but also a long-time TSIA community member and a founding member of TSIA’s Expert Alliance Partner program.

Register now for this informative webcast.

What happens when a software company re-invents itself as a subscription-based service business?

That question is becoming increasingly urgent as the “software as a service” (SaaS) model gains momentum. And on September 22, the First Wednesday Roundtable will take you behind the scenes for a candid look at a company that made this transition–and survived. Our guide will be Renee Bochman, VP of Professional Services and Support at Axeda corporation.

http://events.linkedin.com/Surviving-SaaS-migration/pub/369402