What To Do Before The Move?

So the move to Minneapolis is now 100% official. The mover is booked to come February 22nd to pick up everything here in Chicago, and deliver it to our new apartment in St. Anthony, MN on the February 25th. Though I am kind of sad to leave my sweet home Chicago, I am also excited at the chance to get a fresh start in a new city.

But, before I am looking for ideas on those must do things here in Chicago. So please comment with your ideas and I will create a list of them and post updates as Steph and I accomplish them.

I am looking for everything from the best places to eat, to tourist stuff that you always forget about when you live here. During February Steph and I will work on accomplishing as many as possible before we leave. So start commenting everyone and let Steph and I know what you think we should do before we leave!!!!

What companies keep their customer call centers overseas?

So I was posed the question, "What companies keep their customer call centers overseas?" on Quora yesterday. You will find my response to this question below. Today I was reading my response again and thought how interesting it would be to hear other business owners take on off-shoring/near-shoring vs. on-shoring. It is a debate that is talked about all the time, but instead take the stance as a businessperson who is faced with this hard decision. Here are the 2 questions I am looking for you to answer.

How do I quantify keeping my call center services onshore?

How do I quantify taking my call center services offshore or near-shore?

When I get everyone’s response I will follow up the post with a summary of what I received. I am so excited to see the responses.

My Response to The Question on Quora:

http://www.quora.com/What-companies-keep-their-customer-call-centers-overseas

The list of companies who are overseas or nearshore is pretty vast. Typically you will find that the companies who go offshore are consumer based organizations as they typically have the highest volume of calls to support. Also customer service and technical support is looked as a loss center, and most organizations look to limit loss as much as possible.

Now over the last 3 - 4 years this mentality has be gone to change with the birth of companies like Zappos who view their Customer Service call center as they're only means of advertisement and customer attraction. This unique view has made many companies begin to re-evaluate their current support solutions and in many cases come back to US based operations.

Personally I feel that offshore centers do serve a valid purpose for specific vertical markets segments that require HUGE volume support with little to no direct line communication. (i.e. - Web Chat & Email Support) But, when the support requires phone support or the chance for follow up communication from those emails or web chats, then onshore support is the way to go no matter the additional costs.

Really at the end of the day it all depends on the organizations business model and view of their customer service and technical support solution. If they take the traditional view of it as a cost center, then offshore it goes. But, if they take a new age view of their CS and Tech support being a means for customer attraction and repeat business, then there is a good chance it will be supported in the local country of it's consumers.

To Your Success & Prosperity,


Michael C. McMillan | Director of Sales
The Connection® Contact Center Services
11351 Rupp Drive, Burnsville, MN 55337
Main Line: (952) 948-5488
Direct: (952) 948-5476
Fax: (952) 948-5498
Email: mike.mcmillan@the-connection.com
Website: http://www.the-connection.com

What Is Your Standard Work Day?

Okay so I will admit it, I am one of those people who listen in on others conversations when I am out. I mean why not? If they are out in public I figure it is open season for my ears. LOL!

So today I overheard a girl telling her boyfriend how upset she was that her boss asked her to work a couple extra hours to finish a project. She continued on explaining what she was doing, and then I heard something that almost made me comment.

So before I quote let me set the scene for you. Starbucks 7am’ish in Chicago an early 20’s maybe late teen couple sit in the big leather chairs with the coffee and macs talking about the girls work woes. As she explains to her boyfriend about the sales presentation work she is doing she says, “can you believe that my boss made me work a 11 hour work day to finish that stupid presentation!” “I told him right there that this was crazy and that I would never do it again!” “I mean who would ever work that many hours in a day?” “8 hours is what I am scheduled for, and that is what I work no matter what!”

I have not been able to shake what that girl said all morning and just had to share it with others. In addition, I was curious to see how many others think as this girl does about 8 hours, is 8 hours?

For me my workday never really ends. I will jump up in the middle of the night if my cell were to ring, just incase it is a client or prospect that needs me. I mean I even had my cell (on vibrate) in my tux coat at my wedding ceremony and more than likely would not have hesitated to answer it. On average I would say I work a 10 – 12 hour workday, and many times even put in quite a few hours on the weekends. For me it is not because I believe my boss requires me to do this, it is because I want to be the best I can be at what I do. I just cannot for the life of me understand why a person in a sales support role would feel like this girl does!!

I am a firm believer in the old motto that the way you work defines you as a man/woman. Over the last few years I worry about the youth and even my generation forgetting this motto. This motto is why we have the Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Sr. Richard Branson’s in the world. If my generation and the ones following do not begin to understand this soon, I fear for the future of this great nation that we are about to lead.

They need to understand the government is not our parents! They are not responsible to see that you are clothed and sheltered. They are here simply to provide you the freedom and protection for you to do what you want to do to make an honest buck and spend it like you want. THAT’S IT!

We just all have to know and embrace that the world is not fair, nor should it be. If you want to make money, you need to work HARD for it. Like everyone’s grandfather said, “all that is guaranteed in life is death and taxes.”

So get out there, stop complaining, and get to work! That is all it will take to get our nation back on track.

On Your Mark... Get Set... Go!

Triathlete, a title that most people believe is to far out of reach. For me it was a title I as committed to earning, and most importantly keep. Today after about a 1.5 month hiatus from my training I met with my Tri-Coach, Craig Strong with Precision Multisport to go over what it was going to take to get me back on track for my June 4th meeting with the Kona, HI Half Ironman. It was a great meeting; one that I know will be a turning point of my triathlon journey.

Craig was honest and to the point that I have a ton of work ahead of me and that I need to get started NOW! Craig explained how my focus must be on swimming, running, and then biking. He let me know that he was confident in my biking abilities and that I would need to upkeep those abilities and yes work on increasing my overall speed, but that my swim and run needed the most work. He did reassure me that there is enough time still, but that I cannot break from schedule again.

We also began to review time goals for each individual component of the Half Ironman. He explained to me that having the goal of completing the distance is great, but that I also need to begin to pay attention to time. The reason for this, he explained, was that as I complete these distances I would need new goals to keep me going. Time is what my goals will ultimately turn to once the distance goals are accomplished. So to prepare me for that shift he said it is best to start teaching me to set time goals early. So today we set some very modest time goals for my first ever Half Ironman…

• 1.2 Mile Swim: 45 Minutes
• T1: 3 Minutes
• 56 Mile Bike: 3 Hours
• T2: 4 Minutes
• 13.1 Mile Run: 3 Hours
• 70.3 Finnish Time Goal: 06:52:00

Again these are very initial and just a place to start. Craig explained that as we get closer these numbers would be adjusted to fit what is realistic. The main goal is to make certain that I make the cut off times and finish strong.

Looking over the numbers I am excited by them. For the first time I really have solid numbers to help measure my progress toward my goal. Well now all that is left is some hard work and solid effort! Lets get to it!

Catching Up On My Journey

It has been some time since my last post so I thought in this post I would do a quick recap of 2010 then dive into the present.

My life personally and professionally has changed so much in 2010 it is almost mind blowing. From finishing my first ever run race (The Shamrock Shuffle), to leaving behind my friends and family at ACA/AppleTree to pave my new path at The Connection. Boy what a year can do!!!

I entered 2010 with 1 very large goal in mind, complete the Chicago Triathlon. As I started 2010 I had the love and support of my friends, family, and an amazing personal trainer named Pete. Pete and I spent countless hours together working out and come Aug. 2010 it all paid off with not only a finish of the Triathlon and many other races along the way, but also the loss of 80+ pounds.

Cross the finish line was one of the highest moments of my life. I cannot explain in words the feeling to work so hard at something like that, and accomplish it. It was the best feeling I have ever felt, so good in fact I decided I was not done racing for the year.

During my training 1 sport stood out as my all time favorite, The Bike! I think it may have been the fact that I could push my self faster and further in the sport than running and swimming combined. But, what ever it was, I was 100% addicted! So after the Triathlon I set my sights on a goal that some spend a year plus preparing for, a Century Bike Ride.

For those of you not familiar, a century ride is a 100-mile ride that you do in 1 day. I had joined a training group like I did for the triathlon, to help me get ready for this, while I was training for the Triathlon. Chicago Endurance Sports (CES), lead by coach Mike Norman not only taught me everything I need to know about accomplishing both of these goals successfully and most importantly, safely.

So me being I could not just do 1 Century ride, I decided to take on 2. LOL! I choose the MS Bike for the Cure Double Century and The Apple Cider Century (ACC). Just so you know these may be 2 of the hardest centuries in the mid-west as they both are in extremely hilly parts of the area. So the MS ride ended with me finishing my first ever century on day one, and skipping day 2 for being in 2 much paid, but I did finish. 2 weeks later was the ACC. Looking back at my MS ride I knew I could do so much better. So I was on my bike almost every day leading up to the ACC.

The day of the ACC was perfect. It was a little chilly, but that is to be expected in October. As I got on my bike that day my whole body felt great. I knew this century was what I was going to be most proud of. Around 8.5 hours later it was! After the ACC I was done for the season. But, I had set my sights on a new goal for 2011 and was ready to start getting ready for it.

HALF IRONMAN or HIM as most Triathletes refer to it as, had gotten in my crosshairs for 2011. But, I knew to accomplish this goal I could not do it on my own, I needed help. So After some hard research I found, Craig Strong, with Precision Multisport just before the ACC. After meeting and speaking with Craig I knew he was the man who was going to be able to get me to the finish line on my first HIM, 10 months later and help me post a strong finish at the ACC. The first month of training included the ACC, and it went amazingly well. But, then as I was hitting my grove things begun to change in my professional life that started to rock my boat.

Those who know me well can tell you that my professional life is my bedrock. It is what I allow to define me as a person. So when things began to shift my whole world was rocked at its core. My training fell off; my focus was not there, everything was well off. What was going on was that I had made the decision to take the next logical step in my career path, which meant me leaving ACA/AppleTree, whom I had worked for my entire life. This decision was by far the hardest thing I had ever decided to do. It made all the physical stuff looks like child's play in my mind, but it had to be done. So in late November I pulled the trigger and took and offer made by The Connect Contact Centers in Burnsville, MN.

The position was perfect, Director of Sales with the 9th largest contact center in the United States. I was now working on the deals that I knew I could sell, but could never support previously, but now could with ease. Professionally it was the new challenge I needed to continue on prospering in sales. But, with this new position also came the realization that I was about to uproot my family from the city we love.

The owner and CEO, Fred, was amazing and allowed me to work from home for as long as I needed. But, made it very clear that it would benefit the organization and me to move up to Burnsville, MN. After many discussions my wife agreed and begun to make arrangements to make this happen. During this time though my professional life was going great, my training was not. I had placed all my focus on getting this done right; I left nothing for my training for almost 2 months.

This brings us to today, Sunday, December 19th, 2010. I woke up this morning and started writing this blog, as I knew I needed to share this story. In the last 12 months I have had so many of my social media followers reach out to me in 1 way or another and ask for my help and encouragement. For me that was the icing on the cake for my journey. Then yesterday as I was watching the Ironman World Championship I received a Facebook email in response to a post I had made that morning that said, "It is 6:30am and I am awake. What to do, What to do?" The response from Mike Norman with CES was simple, "Run." The response from my friend and mentor Jack Daly again very simple, "Ditto." I spent the rest of the evening thinking about that and realized, "Mike, it really is that easy, RUN!"

So this morning I wanted to write this post to 1 catch people up on me, 2 to show my readers who are on their journey it is okay to fall if you get your self back up, and 3 getting your self back up is not hard it just takes 1 step. So starting today I have begun to layout my training plan till I meet up with Craig Strong to make certain I am ready for Kona HIM on June 4th!

See you at the finish line in Kona!!!

Mike McMillan - Triathlete!

GLTSA Fall 2010

Social Networking Presentation