Vivienne Reise
Associate Director, Contact Center Services

Q.  What impresses you about TMP Direct's outbound call staff?

A.  A lot of our outbound work is business to business.  Executives' "gatekeepers" are better trained today at blocking access to their bosses.  Fortunately, our staff is very good at getting through the gatekeepers so we reach the people we need to reach.

Q.  What makes them so good at getting through the gatekeepers?

A.  It's experience.  It's years of getting through gatekeepers and developing an instinct about what to say and what tone of voice to use.  You can't be too aggressive and you can't be too meek.  There's a balance that you can only gain with experience.

Q.  TMP Direct generally gets very good outbound results.  Why is that?

A.  We spend time upfront before the first call is made, working out exactly what will be done and exactly what information the client is looking for.  We establish expectations.  After the first week of calling, you can usually tell whether you're hitting a home run.  Regardless, next we go through a process with clients called a "soft data" call.  At this time we suggest script changes, suggest different questions, and talk about questions where we haven't gotten good answers.  This type of fine-tuning makes for successful programs.

Q.  What do you do in your spare time?

A.  I'm big in The Red Hat Society.  I'm also a passionate bird watcher and I'm taking a Raptor rescue course.  This year I was part of the Cornell Feeder Watch program, where you watch your feeders at a set time every day between October and April and let them know which birds are coming to your feeder.

Q.  If you had to plan your last meal, what would it be?

A.  Surf & Turf with blue cheese dressing.  Since it's my last meal, I won't have to worry about the cholesterol!

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