Though this might work years ago when agents came from Ivy League schools, this is going to be more difficult now.  With the constant demand of more agents to answer the phones, gone are the days when one hires someone who is “pushier” or is familiar with the US culture.  The truth is most agents being hired now consist of those having hard core “hospitable” personalities. Changing how these agents think and act to serve an American customer will need more than 2 weeks of culture training.

Yet another through crossed my mind.  Though I agree one has to understand the client’s culture and learn how to adapt to the customers on the phone, great customer service or sales is technically being true to one’s self.  The technicality of knowing American facts can be helpful but it is within a person’s ability to be empowered to the right thing is what makes someone successful.

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What is it in for you?  If you answer all the questions and your topic is included in the series, then you are entitled to a FREE seat in the seminar of your choice.  One session will take about 1-2 hours.

So who can join? Anyone in the world.  Since this is going to be done online and we will be inviting speakers to talk about their experience and you get to ask them your questions live, anyone can take advantage of it.  Here are the questions:

1. If you were to attend the seminar, what topics would you be interested in?

2. How much are you willing to pay for each session (1-2 hours each)?

3. What is your preferred schedule for the sessions?

4. What is the most convenient way for you to pay for the sessions?

5. How long have you been in the call center industry?

6. Why would you spend time to attend a call center seminar?

Don’t forget to include the following as well.

• Email

• Role in the industry (agent, team leader, OPS manager, trainer, QA, etc)

Feel free to let your colleagues and friends in the industry know about this opportunity.

It is obvious to say that it is dependent on your current situation.  But, let me give you some suggestions to make sure you feel you’ve used that break wisely.

Eat and Drink
Running out of energy and taking phone calls with a dry throat is a horrible feeling.  You can’t think straight.  You make mistakes often and it screws up your handling time.  So grab a bite at the cafeteria and refill your mug (spill proof please).

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The most common form of the training bond is having an employee sign an agreement stating that if they leave the company before “x” amount of time then they have to pay a nominated amount.  This is usually equivalent to the training costs that the company has invested.  A new one now is to hold a portion of one’s salary for a certain period; usually the time they want the employee to stay to recoup the costs.

This is only an advantage to the company and not the employee.  But then again, management would say, “Why complain? The fact they signed the papers, it meant they agreed to it.”  A valid point but doesn’t satisfy employees which eventually can hurt future referrals.

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As I’ve mentioned in my other post, technologies are out there to help someone be more proficient in English.  This is just one among many that are trying to bridge the communication skills gap, to make outsourcing more successful and viable.  As interesting as this seem to be, I will still rely on human interaction when it needs to evaluate comprehension and the thought process behind learning a new language.

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Initially I’m thinking of highlighting one every month but depending on the turn out, I might be able to do this every week!  If you are interested in posting, here are some things you need to know:

• Email me at callcenterscript at gmail dot com and send your topic of choice.

• Include a brief description of yourself and how you are involved in the industry.  Don’t forget your blog link so it can be included in the introduction.

• Send your article and keep it brief.

That’s it!  All I need to do now is schedule on when it will be posted.  I’ll email you back the link as soon as it is live.  If you’re not sure what to write about, I suggest you go through the categories in this blog and start from there.

Speech analytics software has been around only recently and this development deployed in centers has its advantages other than security compliance.  For outsourced companies, including this in their wide array of customer solutions will get more clients in the door, especially those dealing in financial transactions.  It would also be easier to deploy sample recordings in training sessions or send to prospective clients when showcasing agent capabilities.  No need to worry about finding software to manually “bleep” customer’s account or credit number.

With all the news out there it’s hard to decipher what’s important and what’s not. Nowhere is this more confusing than in the world of technology. As a call center manager you are faced with daily technology news updates, vendors calling to sell their latest products, agents complaining they need more automation and management looking over your shoulder to be sure expenses are managed while efficiency and productivity aren’t compromised.

Here are the Top 5 Tech Developments you should pay attention to:

#1: Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) - optimize contact center efficiency and personalize the customer experience by adding intelligent call routing, screen pop, call monitoring and click-to-call functionality to your contact center solution.

#2: VoIP - Internet telephony enabled by Voice over IP (VoIP) technology can lower corporate phone bills by as much as 40% and centralize your contact center operations for increased agility, streamlined management and more efficient use of staff.

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With his experience, he knows that language training isn't enough to make a person “call center ready”. I agree 100%. 

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It just makes sense that they start at the home front and provide alternative solutions for their North American clients.  I’d like to see them expand further by providing this to their outsourced sites as well.  We’ve received a lot of job seekers who prefer to work at home in India and the Philippines.  The company clearly has sites on those locations.

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The only major change would be to remove the subcategories and place them as topics within the main category.  Some readers told me it was a bit difficult to surf the list when the drop down was activated.  They would accidentally click one of the sub-categories (though it was also beneficial as they were directed to a page they didn’t think was there and found something new to read) and sometimes it frustrated those that were in a hurry.

There were other suggestions from different people and this is just a start.  Thanks to those who emailed and offered their recommended topics.  There is indeed more to come and expect it soon!

I’ve been researching a lot for the past few months so that I can start on my long awaited book.  Yes, you heard it right here.  A book is coming.

My editor is excited and I am too.  It’s a project that I’ve been putting off for so long that I had to just make a decision to push through with it…and I did a few months ago.

What is it about?  Well, if I told you now then we will spoil the surprise!  Hey, I’m not saying that it will be a bestseller, but at least it’s something that I’m hoping call center professionals (on all levels) will appreciate.

From all the sites we have, there is one that always suffers from tardiness and over breaks.  This is now the oldest excuse in the book, but considered as valid because it is true.  Managers are late for their next conference call or meeting because of the same reason.  Agents go down to eat their lunch but only have 30 minutes and they get all stressed and are rushing all the time because they know it’s going to take them half of their break time just to go to the restaurant for fast food.  Talk about affecting someone else’s health by eating processed food all the time.

If you are looking for your next location, do check with the building administration and ask whether they can handle the volume and traffic of call center personnel.  Perhaps it is also good to show your operating hours to them.  Best of all, test and time it.

Several contact centers always prioritize the operations floor, as this is tied to revenue.  One thing missing is an area where they can do mock calls.  In the absence of such, they are then done in complete view of other employees or other trainees.

This is not recommended because you raise their anxiety level and they feel more nervous than ever.  If this is for assessment purposes or even for practice, you will not be able to see their true abilities when handling a call.  Eventually, they will fail.

Make sure there is a small room that simulates a cubicle when they are on the production floor.  Place it in an area where they feel comfortable and away from distractions.  Also, don’t make the next one wait for their turn outside the door.

A common practice is to spend the money monthly but some do it on a quarterly basis.  Even as far as every six months.  But, what would be a good timeframe to recommend?

By doing a monthly gathering is great especially when the agents are bombarded with stressful calls and if there are times when they have to work long hours and do overtime.  But by doing it monthly, the allocated budget is then smaller for the group.  You can only spend for dinner or a night out on a weekend.

If you do it quarterly, agents prefer this because you do more activities as a team.  During summer, you can book an overnight stay (even the whole weekend) at a nice hotel or travel to the beach.  The longer you spend time with them; you can then learn more that will help you motivate your agents in the long term.