Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Call centre

Sense of belonging?

We are struggling to convince our agents that what they do is meaningful to the company? How can we connect the day-to-day agent experience with a sense of belonging to the organisation?

Deepshija

I believe that more centres could connect with agents if they would take the time to educate them on the big picture, such as the centre's impact on organisational success (both monetary and in terms of customer intelligence), the agent's impact on centre wide success, the importance of the customer and how the service delivered by agents impacts customer loyalty.

Call monitoring!

You have talked about quality monitoring systems in your previous column? What should these systems do, ideally?

Victor kurien

Quality monitoring makes interactions between customers and agents more transparent. Content, communication skills and adherence to protocols can be reviewed and evaluated.

Lack of skills become obvious and may be efficiently addressed. Contact centres should be prepared to carefully re-think their value system to really benefit from QM. Only organisations that understand and diligently pursue their quality goals will be able to see results.

Empowering agents

I am a HR manager with a BPO. We have a system of open feedback and suggestions from agents. We started this after hearing about this practice from some other companies. So far the response has not been very good. How can we improve the participation?

Ruchika Jain

Some of the best consultants may be your own agents. It may take some time as this is a new system that you have introduced. As well as providing you with advice, you also empower your staff, making them feel better about working at your call centre.

The more agents feel valued as employees, and the more empowered they feel about their immediate environment, the more likely they'll be willing to stay and recommend your organisation to others. You can be more intense in your communication about this initiative with them.

Options in BPOs

I have completed my Bachelors degree in Mathematics and would like to be a part of the BPO industry however I do not want to work for a call centre. What are the other available options?

Siddhartha

There are several options to consider within the BPO sector. Call centres are just one of them. You can look at Finance & accounting outsourcing, legal process outsourcing, Knowledge based services and market research outsourcing etc. Identify what your key skills and interests are and apply for appropriate positions

Key skills

What are the things required to get a job as a call centre associate?

Rudra. S

I have answered this question in some of my previous columns. Here is a summary of skills that you should possess:

Customer service skills and experience, including an ability to adopt a customer's changing needs.

Technical skills, including proficiency with computers and keyboarding skills. Strong verbal communication skills, including good voice quality, diction and articulation.

(If you have any questions, write in to - sunder.ramachandran@gmail.com

SUNDER RAMCHANDRAN

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail