A Letter from James Abbott, president of Abbott Associates, Inc., about change and staying ahead of the curve

Dear Call Center Executive:

Since I founded the company in 1982, we have witnessed many changes both at Abbott Associates and in the business world at large. But there has been one constant—our commitment to helping businesses adapt and rapidly improve in a climate of constant change. I am proud of what we have achieved as a company, and I know that our principles will allow us to remain successful in the coming years.

Back before the days of DOS and Windows, we pioneered PC training. As computers became a part of our everyday life, we shifted our focus to statistics and analysis training. When we started teaching these classes in 1987, Six Sigma hadn't been invented yet! Then in 1989 we introduced Statistical Process Control for the service industry. At the time, most people still thought SPC was just a manufacturing tool. And in 1992 we were still leading the pack by offering Quality Management classes and coaching, years ahead of the widespread TQM revolution. 

Which brings us to 1993, when we took metrics in a new direction. Call centers were still a developing business segment when we saw that the key to running them effectively lay in using metrics to make proactive decisions. As call centers bloomed across the country, we refined new and better management tools through the application of management science. This scientific base clarifies what things are happening in the call center, and why. Now it is almost 2006, and our professional team is still pioneering new and better management tools for effective call center operations.

In the past, our greatest rewards have been when we can help a business shave costs so that jobs can be saved, or when a manager that has worked with us is promoted for his contributions to the company. We would like to see successes like this at your company. Please give me a call or send me an email, and we’ll talk about what Abbott Associates can do for you.

Best regards,  James C. Abbott

Night Time in South Carolina