Contact center executive leadership

I transform contact centers so customers win, people thrive and the business achieves breakthrough financial performance.

I’m Chris Burchard. I build the leadership and operating systems that make exceptional results possible—aligning talent, workforce, technology, data, coaching and disciplined execution across complex sales and service organizations.

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Chris Burchard
$115M
annual sales ownership
30,000+
daily customer interactions
900+
employees and partners
6
locations led at scale

Leadership in practice

Build the system. Equip the leaders. Move the outcome.

The pattern is consistent: clarify the economics, redesign the work, strengthen leadership capability and create a cadence that sustains performance.

01
Guitar Center · Featured case

Reset the economics—and build an AI-enabled operating system.

With $115M in annual sales and a $15M operating budget, I connected margin discipline, workforce optimization, incentive design, sales execution, leadership coaching, executive KPI governance and a production AI toolset into one management system.

  • EBITDA moved from -7.1% to 10%.
  • Sales per hour increased 61%; conversion increased 90%.
  • Annualized turnover moved from 134% to 30% or below in less than six months.
AI-enabled operating system

Use every conversation to make the next one better.

I led the selection, implementation, integration, training and adoption—not simply the technology purchase.

Conversation intelligence

Analyze customer interactions using AI to surface recurring friction, contact drivers and behaviors associated with sales.

AI quality + coaching

Give managers consistent evidence, useful conversations and focused behaviors for more specific coaching.

AI Agent Assist

Bring real-time guidance closer to representatives during live customer conversations.

Enterprise ChatGPT + custom GPTs

Democratize AI solution-building so the operators closest to the work can create practical, enterprise-level tools for coaching, product knowledge and training.

02
Empower

Turn frontline insight into enterprise capacity.

Across 30,000+ daily interactions, I mobilized experienced specialists to find root causes, redesign workflows and rebuild roughly 3,700 knowledge resources—reducing avoidable demand while making answers easier for customers and employees.

  • Service-request volume decreased 40%.
  • First-contact resolution increased 38%.
  • Customer satisfaction improved 30% through training, coaching and quality redesign.
03
Physician’s Weekly

Build a measurable growth engine from the campaign up.

I modernized outbound operations across approximately 37 annual campaigns, combining Five9, CRM integration, automated lead flow, campaign-level waterfall analytics, coaching and performance management.

  • Added 9,540 active physician-office and clinic locations in 2023.
  • Delivered 91% year-over-year network growth.
  • Increased outbound call production 45%.
Sitel

Scale a major client without losing operating discipline.

Expanded a banking relationship from $21M to $50M in annual revenue across three locations and approximately 1,000 employees, including a new 560-seat center.

IndyMac

Turn service infrastructure into a growth channel.

Built lead-management and contact-to-conversion analytics that tripled successful lead penetration and increased annual revenue 206%.

Gateway

Lead at scale—and build capability that lasts.

Led 500+ employees and more than $1B in annual sales while creating a retention organization generating approximately $50M annually.

AI & technology build journey

From vendor selection to an AI-enabled operating system.

From May 2024 through May 2026, I sequenced platform selection, frontline adoption, custom GPT development, CRM integration, agent assist, analytics and experimentation—moving from isolated tools to an operating capability.

May–July 2024

Select the platform

  • May

    Transformation leadership begins.

  • June

    AI vendor evaluation.

  • July

    Conversation-intelligence and coaching contract signed.

November 2024–June 2025

Deploy and democratize

  • November

    Conversation intelligence and coaching deployed.

  • March

    ChatGPT Enterprise extended across the contact center.

  • May

    Gear Finder GPT launched.

  • June

    Pitch Practice GPT launched.

August–November 2025

Embed AI in the workflow

  • August

    Amazon Connect workforce management deployed.

  • September

    Sales Tone Script Advisor GPT launched.

  • October

    AI-generated summaries embedded in CRM.

  • November

    AI Analyst introduced.

February–May 2026

Scale and experiment

  • February

    AI Agent Assist finalized; CRM Next Best Action workflow optimized.

  • March

    AI-integrated CRM workspace, Coaching Assistant GPT and conversation-analytics reporting deployed.

  • April

    AI Agent Assist deployed; daily AI Analyst digests and agentic-agent proof of concept launched.

  • May

    AI root-cause analysis prototype completed.

Swipe or scroll to follow the journey →

Proof, not adjectives.

The complete monthly series shows how financial, commercial and productivity performance changed over time.

Monthly EBITDARecovery to 10.1%
12%2%-8%Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26
Monthly source data · dashed line shows tenure trend · final point highlighted
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12%2%-8%Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26

Profitability recovered from the January 2025 low and finished the series at its high.

Monthly conversion5.6% to 10.8%
18%11%4%Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26
Monthly source data · dashed line shows tenure trend · final point highlighted
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18%11%4%Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26

The full series shows the sustained step-up—and the monthly variability behind it.

Monthly sales per hour$258 to $389
$500$325$150Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26
Monthly source data · dashed line shows tenure trend · final point highlighted
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$500$325$150Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26

Monthly productivity strengthened materially across the second half of the series.

Monthly attach rate5.4% to 9.1%
12%8%4%Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26
Monthly source data · dashed line shows tenure trend · final point highlighted
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12%8%4%Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26

Attach rate strengthened across the later periods, with a series high above 10%.

Monthly utilization43.9% to 50.2%
68%48%28%Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26
Monthly source data · dashed line shows tenure trend · final point highlighted
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68%48%28%Prior periodChris joins · May 2024Feb 24Jan 25Jan 26May 26

Utilization recovered from the 2024 trough and moved to a higher operating range.

Annualized employee turnoverWithin six months

Performance visibility

Build performance measurement systems for every audience.

I proactively build performance views around what associates, business partners and executives need to see—delivering the right measures, cadence and context before someone has to ask.

Frontline employees + managers

Daily performance scorecard

Daily

A target-to-actual view across service, quality and productivity, delivered automatically to make coaching and ownership more immediate.

Employee performance
Service experienceTargetTodayMTDYTD
Total quality score4.0——5.00
Agent survey score4.65.005.004.53
First-call resolution76%—85.30%87.14%
Escalation rate<2%0.00%0.49%0.69%
ProductivityTargetTodayMTDYTD
Schedule adherence92%95.08%90.73%91.74%
Availability96%96.86%94.28%95.11%
Average handle time7:005:516:246:55
Answered per day30302528
Operational signalsTargetTodayMTDYTD
Transfer rate10%6.67%15.76%17.37%
Call logging85%73.33%73.40%72.57%
Assist-call rate3%0.00%3.45%4.13%
Relationship + client service leaders

Weekly partner performance brief

Weekly

A recurring segment-level view of volume, service, speed, experience and demand mix—giving client-facing leaders ready answers about contact-center performance and SLA measures.

Participant services contact center · business segment
TimeframeCalls offeredAbandon rateHandle timeSpeed to answerService levelExperience
QTD75,9801.4%7:310:2485%4.47
MTD75,9801.4%7:310:2485%4.47
Last week25,0211.0%7:160:2181%4.48
Calls offered
24,01026,94925,021
Three weekly periods
Average speed of answer
0:470:080:21
Three weekly periods
Demand mixDistributionsInvestmentsWebsiteLoansContributionsOther
CEO + sales leadership + business partners

Monthly recruiting executive dashboard

Monthly

A one-page operating review linking campaign mix, production, decline reasons, network scale, wins, challenges and next-month priorities.

February2024
New active locations1,067Monthly record
Production21,401Calls
Campaign mix9Active projects
Network scale47,887Total active locations
February recap

48% more calls and 63% more active locations than February 2023.

Next-month view

Priorities, challenges, opportunities and production goals in one shared executive view.

Operational data→Automated delivery→Shared context→Faster action

In their words

Leadership, seen from the other side.

Brief excerpts from people who experienced my leadership firsthand—as partners, peers or members of my teams. Each card includes the complete recommendation for deeper context.

How people describe my leadership

Clear on the outcome. Invested in the people delivering it.

View recommendations on LinkedIn
  • AccessiblePresent, available and close enough to the work to understand what leaders and employees need.
  • TransparentClear about priorities, tradeoffs, performance and the reasoning behind decisions.
  • StrategicConnects the people system and operating model to customer and business outcomes.
  • CollaborativeInvites challenge, listens across levels and builds alignment across functions.
  • Development-focusedCreates stretch opportunities, provides direct feedback and invests in leaders' growth.
  • Action-orientedSets clear measures, gives leaders room to lead and pairs accountability with coaching and support to deliver results.
Guitar Center

He is one of the most strategic and effective leaders I have had the opportunity to work with throughout my career.

Cassie DeanDirector of Sales · Direct report
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I had the privilege of working under Chris during a period of tremendous growth and success within our contact center organization. He is one of the most strategic and effective leaders I have had the opportunity to work with throughout my career. What set him apart was his ability to build and develop high performing leadership teams. He had a remarkable talent for recognizing the strengths of individuals and positioning leaders in roles where they could thrive and make the greatest impact. This created an environment where people were empowered to succeed while driving exceptional business results. Under his leadership, our organization experienced significant growth and operational success. He consistently identified opportunities for improvement, removed obstacles that could slow progress, and ensured teams had the support needed to execute effectively. His strategic vision was always balanced with a practical approach to achieving results. One of the leadership qualities I admired most was his approach during leadership discussions and group meetings. Rather than immediately directing outcomes, he allowed his team the space to think critically, collaborate, and make decisions. He listened carefully, observed thoughtfully, and stepped in only when needed. When he did, he had an exceptional ability to help us organize our thinking, gain clarity, and move forward with confidence. Beyond the results he delivered, he had a profound impact on my own leadership development. I learned invaluable lessons from observing how he led people, navigated challenges, and built alignment across teams. His influence continues to shape how I approach leadership today. I would recommend him without hesitation to any organization seeking a strategic, people focused executive who knows how to develop talent, drive growth, and create lasting success.

Guitar Center

Chris gave me the room to take ownership of complex cross-functional initiatives while also providing direct, constructive feedback.

Todd KadasDirector, Contact Center Systems & Analytics · Direct report
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I had the opportunity to work with Chris at Guitar Center during a period of meaningful transformation across the Contact Center. Chris brought a clear focus on modernizing operations through better use of data, Salesforce, AI-enabled tools, workforce discipline, and performance management. What I appreciated most about working with Chris was his ability to connect operational execution to broader business outcomes. He challenged the team to think beyond activity and focus on measurable impact, whether through improved reporting, lead generation, customer engagement, or process modernization. As my leader, Chris gave me the room to take ownership of complex cross-functional initiatives while also providing direct, constructive feedback that helped me grow beyond technical execution and think more strategically. He has a strong ability to identify opportunities, push teams toward better operating models, and create momentum around practical innovation. Chris is a high-energy, results-oriented contact center leader with deep experience in sales, service, workforce optimization, and customer operations. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have worked with him and would recommend him to organizations looking for a leader who can drive operational transformation and build more data-driven, performance-focused teams.

Guitar Center

Chris genuinely cares about people and their growth. He invests in developing talent, creates opportunities for advancement, and leads with both accountability and empathy.

Andrew KeechSr. Manager of Contact Center Sales · Direct report
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I had the opportunity to work with Chris during his time as Vice President of Contact Centers at Guitar Center, and I greatly appreciated his leadership and support. Chris brings a rare combination of strong business acumen and genuine care for people. He has a deep understanding of financial performance, operational strategy, and what it takes to drive results, while never losing sight of the individuals responsible for achieving them. One of the qualities I respected most was his openness to feedback. Chris actively listened to perspectives from every level of the organization and was willing to adapt, pivot, and embrace new ideas when they would improve outcomes. He created an environment where team members felt comfortable sharing insights and challenging assumptions. Chris is also a forward-thinking leader who embraces innovation. He has consistently sought opportunities to leverage new technologies, including AI-driven tools, to improve both business performance and the employee experience. At the same time, he maintained a strong understanding of the challenges faced by frontline teams and worked to ensure they had the support and resources needed to succeed. Most importantly, Chris genuinely cares about people and their growth. He invests in developing talent, creates opportunities for advancement, and leads with both accountability and empathy. I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Chris and learned from his leadership.

Guitar Center

He worked to build an environment of success, positivity, collaboration, innovation, and thoughtfulness.

Andrea MeisenheimerLearning and Development Manager · Cross-functional partner
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I had the opportunity to work with Chris to build and grow the Contact Center at The Guitar Center and my experience with him was nothing but positive. He worked to build an environment of success, positivity, collaboration, innovation, and thoughtfulness. He has an innate ability to bring a group of people together with differing opinions and personalities and using his clearheaded guidance, can find the path forward. Chris was a great partner to training (my role) and was open to ideas and enabling new training opportunities for his agents and managers in the Contact Center. Any company would benefit from Chris's leadership!

Guitar Center

Chris is the kind of leader who raises the standard: for performance, for communication, for culture, and for the customer.

Alex Fernandez, MSSenior Director of CRM · Cross-functional peer
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I had the pleasure of working closely with Chris Burchard at Guitar Center, where he led Contact Center operations and I led CRM. We were both part of the digital and contact center leadership team, and I consistently found Chris to be an exceptional partner: professional, collaborative, thoughtful, and highly focused on doing the right thing for both employees and customers. What stands out most about Chris is the way he connects operational excellence with culture. He is a clear communicator who keeps teams aligned, positive, and focused, but he also understands that great customer experiences start with great employee experiences. When I visited our Kansas City contact center, the culture Chris had built was immediately apparent. The environment felt collaborative, scrappy, entrepreneurial, and genuinely people-centered. As the senior leader in that facility, Chris deserves significant credit for creating that kind of operating culture. Chris also brings results. During his time at Guitar Center, he materially elevated the quality of our phone sales and customer support operations through strong training, disciplined management, and smart technology adoption. He was especially effective at leveraging AI-powered platforms to improve representative performance, coaching, and customer engagement in practical, business-relevant ways. Chris is the kind of leader who raises the standard: for performance, for communication, for culture, and for the customer. I would highly recommend him to any organization looking for a senior customer operations or contact center leader who can modernize operations, build strong teams, and deliver measurable business impact.

Guitar Center

Chris doesn't just manage operations; he actively champions modern tools and integrations that empower front-line teams.

Ankit KumarDirector, Marketing Technology, CRM & Integration · Cross-functional partner
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Chris is an exceptional business leader who truly understands how to drive operational excellence in the contact center space. I worked closely with him on major platform initiatives, and I was consistently impressed by his ability to translate complex business requirements into clear, actionable strategies. He possesses a deep understanding of contact center metrics, agent workflows, and customer experience design. Chris doesn't just manage operations; he actively champions modern tools and integrations that empower front-line teams. He is a collaborative, forward-thinking leader, and any organization looking to scale its customer operations would be lucky to have him.

Guitar Center · Musician's Friend

Under his leadership, I personally experienced significant growth and achieved levels of success in my role that would have seemed unattainable before the structure, systems, training, and initiatives he introduced.

Dylan LewmanGear Advisor · Team member
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I had the privilege of working under Chris's leadership in the contact center, and his impact on both the business and the people he leads is exceptional. Chris is an innovative and forward-thinking leader with a unique ability to identify talent, develop people, and leverage emerging technologies, particularly AI, to improve workflows, performance, and overall business results. Under his leadership, I personally experienced significant growth and achieved levels of success in my role that would have seemed unattainable before the structure, systems, training, and initiatives he introduced. What sets Chris apart is his ability to communicate a clear vision and translate complex strategies into actionable steps that employees at every level can understand and embrace. He consistently empowers individuals to grow while creating an environment where innovation and performance thrive. Chris has an exceptional eye for talent and an even greater ability to develop it. His leadership style inspires confidence, accountability, and continuous improvement. He is always thinking several steps ahead, positioning both his teams and the company for future success in ways that many don't yet see. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have worked under Chris's leadership. His contributions will continue to be felt for years to come at the CC, and any organization would be fortunate to have him leading their people, strategy, and growth initiatives.

Empower + Gateway

I have always known Chris to be a strong people-oriented leader who challenges his team to over-achieve.

Tom LysingerVice President, Customer Service, Tech Support & Service Delivery · Longtime colleague
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I have had the pleasure of working with Chris twice in my career: for the last 5+ years at Empower Retirement and earlier in our careers at Gateway Computers. I have always known Chris to be a strong people-oriented leader who challenges his team to over-achieve. He focuses much of his energy on coaching his team to drive their continual development and leads to new and creative solutions to business problems. Chris is an outstanding partner with both internal and external stakeholders and has strong communication skills at all levels. Chris would be a strong leadership asset to any organization.

Empower

He created a high-performing team by leveraging the passion and unique talents of his leaders.

Joseph MierasVice President · Direct report
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I had the pleasure of working for Chris during his tenure at Empower. One of his greatest strengths is his willingness to develop those around him. He creates an environment centered on growing leaders utilizing stretch assignments, providing thoughtful and constructive feedback, allowing his team to learn through experimentation and encouraging innovation to solve complex problems facing the organization. He created a high-performing team by leveraging the passion and unique talents of his leaders and placing them in the optimal position to have a positive impact on the business. Chris cultivated relationships with his clients, business partners and employees through consistent, transparent dialogue. He was instrumental in creating a global footprint for the contact center which was vital to deliver on our service level commitments to our clients. His strategic thinking, his commitment to DE&I and his execution skills make Chris a valuable leader.

Empower + J.P. Morgan

He is a leader that truly cares about the well-being of his co-workers and team members by taking the time to listen and guide.

Allisa Bell, EdDManaging Director, Head of Training & Leadership Skills · Partner and mentee
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I have had the esteemed pleasure of working alongside Chris for the past 11 years during our tenure at Empower and JP Morgan. During my earlier time with the organization, he provided me with coaching and mentoring that allowed me to fast track my career and discover my love for developing others. He is a leader that truly cares about the well-being of his co-workers and team members by taking the time to listen and guide. This included meeting with every new hire class each week to help build a culture of connections directly from the beginning. For him, there is no “I” but only “we”, as he is a true believer that you can only be successful if everyone on the team succeeds and is involved. I continued to have the opportunity to partner with him on many growth strategies for his department that included on-boarding, acquisition integrations, resource management, and quality improvements. Chris is a true thought leader that pursues improvement strategies based on root cause analysis and is not afraid to ask the difficult questions in order to develop operational strategies that align to key initiatives and objectives. Chris’s strategic decision-making skills allowed him and his team to capitalize on the mandatory work-from-home period to increase diversity within his department and eliminate previously siloed teams. The cross-collaboration led to the ability to handle the increased scale and scope of the organization. Chris has always been an advocate for his team and his clients to pursue initiatives that are innovative and focused on doing what is right. He is a true asset to any organization.

Empower

Chris’ special talents are working with leaders and uncovering what is needed to bring out their fullest potentials.

Andrew MusialSenior Retirement Account Manager II · Direct report
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I have had the opportunity to have Chris Burchard as my direct manager for the previous 3 years. During this time Chris took an active approach in investing time and guidance into me as I progressed in my position as a Director of a call center. Chris was responsible for 600+ associates and the overall strategy on the tools and support that we needed to be able to provide world class service to every caller. He held daily check-in calls with his leadership team and weekly roundtables with his entire management team. He genuinely cares about the wellbeing of his staff and listens to the feedback all of his associates as he works diligently in creating policies that balance both the needs of the business and the care of his staff. I feel that Chris’ special talents are working with leaders and uncovering what is needed to bring out their fullest potentials. I have learned a tremendous amount of what it takes to be a leader while working under Chris. He leads by example and takes the time that is needed to ensure the success of the organization and the people. I would recommend Chris for any leadership position and I hope to work with him again in the future.

Empower

Chris is a visionary transformative leader who takes ownership in driving results with focus on Customer and agent experience.

Krishna MullangiVice President of Technology · Cross-functional partner
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Chris is a visionary transformative leader who takes ownership in driving results with focus on Customer and agent experience. His collaborative leadership style enabled him to establish partnership across the organization to deliver exceeding results for clients and customers. His creative thinking to challenging problems is commendable. With his expertise, he turned around the challenging call center operations meeting/exceeding goals in a short period of time.

People & coaching

Creating a culture of coaching and personal growth for all team members.

I pair clear expectations with preparation, practice, evidence and follow-through—so coaching becomes an operating rhythm rather than an occasional conversation.

01

Clarity before intensity

Make the outcome, tradeoffs and ownership unmistakable before asking the team to move faster.

02

Accountability with support

Hold a high standard while giving leaders and employees the coaching, tools and obstacle removal to meet it.

03

Leader leverage

Build capability and repeatable management rhythms that continue producing without executive heroics.

A repeatable coaching rhythm

The 1:1 sets direction. Practice and evidence show the progress.

Each weekly cycle narrows the focus, creates deliberate practice and connects follow-up to observable behavior.

  1. 1 weekly 1:1Thirty protected minutes to connect, review evidence, coach and agree on action.
  2. 2–3 focus criteriaA narrow set of behaviors that matter most now.
  3. 2 micro-sessionsShort practice, call review and reinforcement tied to the action plan.
  4. 5 reviewed scorecardsEvidence of whether the coached behavior moved.

Leadership capabilities

Strategy that reaches the frontline.

  • 01Contact center transformation
  • 02Inside sales & sales operations
  • 03Enterprise service delivery
  • 04AI strategy, adoption & enablement
  • 05Workforce planning & optimization
  • 06Performance management & coaching
  • 07P&L, EBITDA & revenue growth
  • 08Executive KPI governance
  • 09BPO & partner leadership
  • 10Cross-functional execution

AI-enabled root-cause analysis

From customer signal to enterprise action.

A practical model for turning contact-center interactions into structured evidence, validated decisions and measurable action.

  1. 01

    Signals

    Bring calls, chats, emails and surveys together as a shared input.

  2. 02

    Friction

    Use AI to identify customer-visible friction and map it to a taxonomy.

  3. 03

    Evidence

    Make patterns reviewable through frequency, severity and confidence.

  4. 04

    Action path

    Have leaders validate root cause, assign owners and prioritize fixes.

  5. 05

    Remeasure

    Track execution and test whether the customer friction actually declines.

How I think about the next contact center.

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AI & adoption

AI changes the management system—not just the channel mix.

The value arrives when use cases, workflow, coaching, governance and adoption measures move together.

Frontline intelligence

The contact center is an enterprise sensor.

Conversation data and specialist insight can expose recurring friction far upstream of the interaction itself.

Performance

Customer, people and financial measures belong in one view.

Strong performance systems make tradeoffs visible and give leaders a practical rhythm for acting on them.