Building Team's Competencies and Not Just Training Them

One of the common mistakes that managers in call center do is develop the skills of their team and lessen performance issues. They always do training. Training is defaulted as solution to every problem with little thought given to whether it is right solution to the problem or the right fir for the current development need. 

Training is always only the beginning of the development process of the solution in the call center. It is not the development and sooner, management will rid themselves of the false expectations and attendant frustration they create when they rely too heavily on a training class to enhance competencies of cure performance despair.

When the clients approach the managers of requesting training for their group, they have to ask them if what they are hoping the training will fix. What are they trying to accomplish, their goals and their desired outcomes. What are the things needs to change and look different at the end of it. Get the client to think about future-state outcomes. Training is merely one of the components of the solution process. The point is, to be successful with the development you need to think in terms of outcomes rather than in terms of how much training you want to buy. 

Competency is a combination of skills, knowledge and abilities. But ability comes only when skills are consistently applied and developed in a real world setting. The demands of the job, emerging issues, upcoming deadlines, general stress, etc – and the graduate puts the new skills on the shelf and reverts back to the old familiar way of doing things. Once the crunch time is over, the initial “buzz” of the training has faded and is not strong enough to sustain further development. That is why training can be viewed only as the primary step towards the competency. It has to be followed by a systematic development program that includes a competency model which is the desired outcome, on-the-job training, performance observations and coaching and some form performance test that validates the skills, knowledge and abilities of the graduate against the competency model.

Development goals of the team should be performance and outcomes based, and why stand-alone “training” classes without a competency-based development process are largely ineffective.

Verification Survey in Call Center

A verification survey is a task that is usually provided by an answering service, a call center or an outbound telemarketing house. This can be handled by the call center and can be passed to the sales team or can be handled first by the company’s sales staff and handled off to the call center. In both equations, the call center is a key component of the verification survey. To provide verification survey usually is not an easy task for most companies because they are busy with call traffic and are short in time.

Several leads that are received by the company can be qualified through the use of call center verification survey. The call center agent contacts these potential sales, and qualifies through a series of scripted questions, as to the possibility of the prospect. If the lead has been qualified and the necessary criteria has been met, the caller will be warm transferred directly to sales team. This saves valuable time and allows the sales to concentrate only on the most optimum leads. 

The call center representative will rate the viability of the lead based on a predetermined scale if the prospect does not meet the established qualifications to be passed on a sales representative. The sales staff must prioritize and pursue potential business that is determined to be a warm lead after they pursue the hot leads.

Usually, after a sale is made, a business needs to use an outside party to verify that they in fact have agreed to a scale. Outside party are normally used when an individual or business is switching service providers. Because of a call center verification survey, a business avoids being accused of the practice of slamming. This is a practice of companies randomly changing service providers.

The use of outside verification survey and verification call centers is a big part of call center capabilities.

Controlling Call Center Stress

People are becoming more stressed nowadays regarding the war, weather alerts and fluctuating economy. They also tend to bring that stress to work and adding the stress to their everyday responsibilities. In call center, we’re going to need management’s attention because stress control is a leadership responsibility. 

In call center, you can’t get high level of productivity with high level of absenteeism. Here are some ways to overcome the stress in the call center:

Call center agents need to communicate with the boss to assure them that things will turn out okay. Spend time to understand your employees’ concerns. Ask for their observations on recent events. Find out what they think about upcoming changes.  Ask for their advice; they'll admire you for demonstrating your trust.  Simple remarks showing your confidence in workers can make a big difference.

Try to offer additional breaks to relieve mental and physical fatigue. Often, improved productivity will more than pay for the unstructured breaks that over-stressed agents will take on their own.  Find out what's needed to help employees get more rest at home.  Bring in experts to teach the importance of rest and relaxation.  Look at your overtime schedule; the extra work might be taking its toll in absenteeism, illness, accidents, and attitudes.

You have to influence your callcenter people eat by getting experts who will teach them the importance of proper nutrition. Make sure nutritious snacks are available alongside the junk food in vending machines. Provide healthy snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon when energy levels begin to fade. The investment can pay off in better performance.

Provide a scheduled break to get cleaned up before lunch or after a hard day can pay off in a big way. In some instances, some call centre employees do not have running water at home, even hot water or washing machines. Make these things available for your call center employees if possible. One-time arrangements can go a long way in helping stressed callcenter employees get their emotions under control and get their productivity up where it belongs.

Every call centre employee benefits from a chance to tell about what went on. Let them discuss things about their activities in routine meetings. Scheduling time to talk about what happened can relieve their stress. Team discussions after sales call can help stressed workers understand the results and focus on what needs to be done. In times of stress, some callcenter agents need to talk what happened to others around them. Call centermanagers can handle day-to-day conversations while experts are available to address major stressors. 

Help you call center employees to see that they can perform well, that management recognizes their efforts and that life goes on. Emphasize their small accomplishments. Find reasons to reward each person for their achievements.

It may happen that the call center employees return to their jobs after a short rest, a hot shower, a chat with their supervisor, and a warm meal. Most of the time, they can continue in their jobs if you pay attention to their basic needs.

Watch for high stress periods in your business cycle and schedule time to work on these six steps.  You'll improve productivity and the workplace environment by taking care of your call center employees. Your investment of time and money will be rewarded in better performance and lower costs.

Work with your human resource experts to assist those who are beyond your own ability.  Let the professionals take care of severe cases while you take care of your other employees and get the work done.

You have to identify those call center agents who are suffering from stress and you have to know things to help them. Evaluate your call center employees’ problems with an eye toward stress control. Take these tips and apply them to your staff to see an improvement in stress management.

Hot Seating and Desk Sharing in Call Center

Hot seating allows call centeragents to sit in any seat. It requires enabling technology, such as a common desktop and routing and quality monitoring software that support dynamic, software-driven assignment of skills and agent information to the endpoint. There is no study or research providing evidence that hot seating positively or negatively impacts agent morale or productivity. But on the other hand, most people can say that it can be positive for the agents. Call center agents can choose where they want to sit. It gives them a level of empowerment. And with hot seating, call center agents can have the chance to interact with different people, and can offer value in broadcasting knowledge among callcenter agents. While on the other side, without the right culture, hot seating will be counterproductive for the agents because it makes the agents feel like they don’t have their own space or they are not near the right resources to support them. Preferably, call centers with hot seating offer a variety of ways for the call center agents connect with and communicate with their team and teamleaders. It can also be essential to the call center by reducing facilities costs and simplifying seating configuration management. 

Because of 24/7 call center operating multiple and varied shifts, hot seating and desk sharing are a standard practice. In desk sharing, call center agents have their assigned seats but share the workspace with one or more people who work different shifts. This is much preferred by the agents and supervisors over hot seating. While desksharing is preferred, it does present some challenges. Here are few practical tips to implement this new policy to your call center staff:

• 1.      Once desk sharing has been established in your call center, let your staff know about it and communicate with them. Explain the reason why the policy has been changed and acknowledge that it’s going to impact how some people use their desk, but make sure to put things positively.
• 2.      Encourage call center agents to share their feed backs and try to obtain their buy-in. Let them discuss the new policy at a weekly update meeting.
• 3.      Be sure that when you assigning desk, you place agents at the workstations that are in close proximity to their supervisors.
• 4.      Set up mailboxes for each agent to ensure that all handouts are received if your environment relies heavily on paper-based procedure and communications. Assign a dedicated drawer with a lock for each agent who uses the workstation.
• 5.      Invite the staff to assist call center management in creating “desk sharing” best practices. Communicate and distribute desk sharing tips to all staff members.
• 6.      Call center agents also have different standards of personal hygiene or work habits. Make sure that cleaning supplies are readily available for use and require that agents take turns maintaining the workstation.
• 7.      Establish in advance the process for agents to discuss a desk mate mismatch and a procedure for assigning a new desk mate.

Some of the agents may not immediately adapt to an operating environment where changes are done because these agents may have been doing things a certain way for many years. Remember that while desk sharing is a common practice in many call centers, it is new for your staff. Management must be willing to delicately address issues that arise from the transition.

How To Select and Mentor Call Center Supervisors

The call center supervisor is the element in a call center that ensures results, keeps the call center agents happy and orchestrates performance. He is the middle of the sandwich squeezed between the call center agents who want more attention and the call center executives who desire more results. He is the one who motivates the team and enforces disciplines. Without a supervisor, a call center would fall apart.

Here are the tips on how call centre executives select and mentor supervisors so they will excel and how call center senior management can learn how to embrace and not forget its callcenter supervisors.

Call center executives should hire supervisors who believe in being proactive. Find supervisors who want to be proactive. That means they care about their job. With this attitude, they can also help your call center move to the next step.

Callcenter executives should create a system that supervisors can thrive in. Remember, the system always wins. The best supervisors in a weak system will lose to the system no matter how qualified the supervisor may be. With the great systems, weak supervisors can carry on to the great system for certain periods of time. The bottom line is to create a system that compels supervisors to become successful. Give supervisors tools. Poor system quality might be the reason why your call center turns over supervisors at the alarming rate and not because of their lack of skill.

Customer design a management training program based on your business. When you hire a supervisor, you have to put together a strategic management plan after the supervisor is hired so that the supervisor can continually strive for goals that will help your organization.

Call center executives must search for the supervisors’ creativity. The call center supervisor is a marketing genius and the disciplinarian. Call center supervision is a creative job. The supervisor can create and advertise a marketing program to his or her audience of call center agents via channels such as posters, flip charts, reader boards, the internet and email.

Call centre supervisors are the callcenter bread and butter. They may not get the limelight all the time, but they deserve behind the scenes credit. They are the one who lead the call center agents and help them improve their performance. They also are the communication medium that call center agents rely on. So you have to structure your call center supervisors. Teach them to motivate and lead. Provide the requisite system.

Tactics in Negotiating Sales

Selling is now one of the activities done in a call center. The sales negotiation process is somehow a difficult task because not all people whom we offer our products will purchase from us. What’s important in selling is seeing to it that everyone will be left satisfied rather than feeling as they’ve been swindled. So to achieve what you want to achieve best in selling, you have to be aware of the strategy for your negotiations. No matter what you are selling whom you are selling, you need a reliable negotiation strategy that enables both parties to succeed in the deal. Thinks of your strategy as one of the tools you can use to succeed.  http://www.what-is-call-center.com

Without a solid strategy, you may end up losing sales or not getting the best outcome for you and your company. Following are some of the effective strategies you can use to negotiate effectively.  

• Be prepared always. All effective negotiations start before you actually sit down at the bargaining table. You have to make a research and plan before you jump in. Take your time and ask yourself what they need from the deal and identify what you can and cannot compromise. You need to have more preparation for negotiating especially when you are negotiating for a yearlong service contract. Use preparation to gain a comprehensive view of the situation. If you are prepared and the alternatives are planned well, you can stay relaxed through the negotiation.  Keep in mind that the more you know about the deal in question, it’s easier for you to be able to arrange the best solution for everyone involved. http://www-call-center.com
• Set your objective negotiating standards. Objective negotiating standards are like setting of rules established before the negotiation process starts. Everyone has to do the negotiation with the same set of rules if you really want to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. In most cases, you can set your own rules. By setting guidelines prior to the negotiation, you ensure that everyone operates under the same standards and everything runs smoothly.
•  Work with the other party. Good negotiations means all parties have are left with the good feeling about the agreement and about each other. Everyone involved must do his best for mutually beneficial solutions. If you show the other party that you approach the situation with the goal of mutual satisfaction, they will also do the same. If they know that you want to play fair, they will play fair as well. But there are time that regardless of how you approach negotiations, the other parties still don’t agree with the concept of fair play and no matter what you do, these people are prepared for the battle and may bring out intimidation and manipulation. You can’t just crouch down to their level no matter how tempted you may be. Expect for an unfair counterpart but don’t abandon your own strategy for fair play. http://www.call-centers-in.com
• Finalize all the agreements. Always remember that the point of negotiation is to arrange the best deal for everyone, so you have to ask plenty of questions. Don’t let important details slip through. Always listen to the clients’ response and concerns. Address all their issues with care. When the terms are settled, make sure everyone’s perceptions match and recap all the important details. You can write a sales contract or agreement. Keep a copy of your records and give the other party a copy as well. Don’t sign off until both parties understand all the key points.
• Follow through. Do what you said you would do. Make sure the other people involved in the agreement follow through as well. 
• Negotiating conclusions. Negotiation is the process of give and take of everyone involved. When you follow a strategy, you can focus on finding solutions, rather than winning a position.  Preparation gives you a comprehensive view of the situation and standards serve as guidelines for compromise.  Remember to work with, not against, your counterpart.  Then, finalize all the details you've agreed upon.  Most importantly, once you've completed the negotiation process, keep your word, and follow through with the deal. As a salesperson, you naturally want your client to be satisfied, but you also need to benefit from your hard work.  When you use these strategies every time you negotiate a sale, both parties will come away pleased and you'll win more clients in the process.