Please introduce yourself.
I am Georgette Weavill, and I am the vice president of client services for Five Star Call Centers. I live in Western South Dakota where I enjoy the beautiful Black Hills, hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, and trail riding.
What drew you to working at a contact center within the customer service industry? What has your career path been?
I started working at Gateway computers in customer service as an associate when I was 18 years old and in college. I found that the opportunity to learn, grow, and build a career in customer service was enjoyable and early on could see that possibilities were everywhere. I pursued numerous different positions and departments, including customer service, technical support, training, QA, project\program management, team management, and ultimately call center management.
In 2008, I accepted a position as a call center manager at an internet\cable provider, and in 2010, I was hired at Five Star Call Centers (formally Lawrence & Schiller TeleServices). Here, as a manager, then director, and now VP, I have enjoy the opportunity to work with clients across the country and lead a successful client services department with a team of account relationship managers driven to enhance client relationships.
There is so much that goes to building a positive customer experience! There is always more to learn and try, and the chance be creative and try new ideas is always promoted.
What has amazed you most about the changes in the contact center industry during your career?
Technology changes every day and never ceases to amaze me how far things have come from those days of 5 ¼” floppy disks to today’s AI technology that can listen for tone and sentiment and help us to identify opportunities to enhance customer experiences faster and on a larger scale than ever before! Additionally, I watch in awe as the things that happen in the world surrounding us have such a dramatic impact on customer tolerance and expectations, and how quickly the contact center industry adjusts and responds to those very changing needs.
What do you feel is the #1 factor it takes to be successful in a contact center career?
The willingness and ability to adapt to change, try new things, and put yourself out there. I used to have a small plaque that said, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could never fail?” Sometimes we get in our own heads and in our own way of being a solution. We must dig deep and have the confidence to allow ourselves to try, to possibly fail, to learn from it, and ultimately become part of the solution. I guess when you think about it, this is not just advise to be successful in a contact center career, but advice to be the best we can be, period.
What advice would you give to other women with the goal to become leaders in the industry?
I think over the years I have learned that becoming a leader requires hard work and determination, and the confidence to try. Don’t talk yourself out of the position before you ever get the interview. Believe in yourself. Success is a result of a consistent drive to achieve and grow and requires organization, preparation, and determination.
