COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, March 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), now in its 25th year, today announced an addition to its growing roster of more than five dozen training courses: Mastering Contact Center Financials: Strategies for Planning, Measuring, and Reporting (http://www.icmi.com/ccfinancials).

Call centers traditionally have larger budgets that have a substantial impact to the business and require greater coordination of multiple departments, ICMI reports. Mastering Contact Center Financials breaks down these specifics and teaches the accounting and finance philosophies that help build a strong business case, promote the call center's significant contribution to the organization and earn support for expediters.

ICMI designed this course in response to call center industry executives, directors and managers who have highly specific fiscal responsibilities, said ICMI's Training Director, Linda Riggs. Call center budgets have far more intricacies than just focusing on cost performance or hitting your target numbers, including attaining goals in such key performance indicators as quality, efficiency and strategic impact. In an era of fiscal decline, this course will also serve to change the historically viewed image of the call center as a cost center to its rightful place as a profit center.

Taught by industry experts, this intensive two-day course will give those contact center professionals with a basic understanding of cost center operation the tools and insight to improve performance through planning, build a strong contact center budget, measure overall financial performance and report results back to the business. How to think and act like a CFO and successfully communicate such important metrics as cost per call, adjusting fixed costs and revenue per call, will also be covered.

Participants will gain practical, proven techniques for measuring such intangibles as the value of a training, quality and workforce management program ROI, and how to quantify the contact center's contribution to customer loyalty. Attendees will receive contact center budget templates, cost models, case studies and Excel tips to help them make sustainable, bottom-line financial impact.

The new Mastering Contact Center Financials: Strategies for Planning, Measuring, and Reporting course will be offered May 4 and 5 in Baltimore, MD; June 2 and 3 in Dallas, TX; July 20 and 21 in Chicago, IL; Aug. 3 and 4 in Seattle, WA; and Nov. 16 and 17 in Orlando, FL. For additional information, including a detailed course description and outline, visit http://www.icmi.com/ccfinancials.

About ICMI

The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) (http://www.icmi.com), celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2010, is the leading global provider of comprehensive resources for customer management professionals - from frontline agents to executives - who wish to improve contact center operations, empower contact center employees, and enhance customer loyalty. ICMI's experienced and dedicated team of industry insiders, analysts, and consultants are committed to providing uncompromised objectivity and results-oriented vision through the organization's respected lineup of professional services including: Training and Certification, Consulting, Events, and Informational Resources. Founded in 1985, ICMI continues to serve as one of the most established and respected organizations in the call center industry.

ICMI is a part of UBM Live which provides leading integrated media solutions and professional services across 20 different markets. Operating across the globe, its events, training, publications, award programs, and websites offer professionals in Interiors, Security, Venues, Customer Management, Safety Health and Facilities the ultimate experience in learning, networking, and business development.

For more information, visit http://www.icmi.com.

SOURCE: UBM Live/International Customer Management Institute (ICMI)

CONTACT: Marta Baker, ICMI, International Customer Management Institute,+1-719-785-5364, mbaker@icmi.com