Newsletters

[slevy]

I was thinking of creating a newsletter for our department. Has anyone done that before? If so what kind of information have you put into the newsletter?

Thanks
SDL

[Tracey]

Hi there,
I write a newsletter for our csr's. Typical content falls into these categories:
- program specific information (reminding reps of script changes or program changes/additions)
- new product/item information (description and release dates)
- humour (sometimes it's a comic, sometimes it's a joke or a couple of brainteasers)
- a section about the reps highlighting a few individual achievements (perhaps touching on someone who handled a tough situation well or handled a large volume of calls)
- lifestyle tips (fits in with the nature of our organization. Focuses on one topic/newsletter ie. nutrition/exercise/stress)
I publish the newsletter every 2 months.
Hope that's helpful!

Tracey

[Jimmy Childs]

Agree with response above but suggest newsletter at least once a month. We put one out every 2 weeks. Would recommend including:

Attendance recognition
Customer praise recognition (each and every one whether a
comment to supervisor, letter or email)
At least one article by Quality Assurance
Safety or emergency procedure reminder
Promotions
Policy/procedural changes
Clip art with each entry
Crossword or other puzzle related to call center

[jenna]

The above is great advice. I did one for my previous company. Depending on how wide the audience.. just your group or the entire company.. we would do an employee profile each month.. many of our CSR's felt they rarely got to leave the center so they didn't get to know many other people who worked for the company so we would profile others in the company as well as our CSR's. Just a little get to know who works with you section. We left it up to the individual what got published but usually how long they'd been at the company, their role, interests, family stuff.. helped put a human face on folks...

[smack]

Ours is set up and addresses the following:

-Overall business theme article usually explaining concepts behind changes in the approach in improving customer satisfaction, quality, metric performance, Mission/Visions. etc.
-Quality tips
-Review of updated training material that has been released in the last week
-Expanded look at a process that we use, or full coverage of a hot topic
-Team by team performance comparison
-Updates on our client and activities within their organization
-Rep achievements from feedback from customers, clients, or peers
-HR updates
-Site event announcements

Once you get a format down, the letter goes smoothly.