With a renewed target customer satisfaction in addition to attrition rates rising, there has never been an increasingly important time to hire the best agents.
Remaining calm under pressure
For me, the real key attributes in a new call center broker are the power to remain calm pressurized and confident, apparent communications skills.
Competency-based selecting
The candidates could well be comfortable talking regarding their previous experience in the interview situation but it’s also crucial to test the agent’s necessary competencies and skills within a life scenario, making the meeting process interactive and realistic towards the environment that they might be working throughout. At interview period, any previous experience the agent draws on also need to be backed in place with real-life examples of how they handled a challenge or problem – this assists to highlight any potential weaknesses in considering the role-play scenario.
The major skills to a call center must have:
- General speaking ability and telephone control
- Ability to stay calm under stress
- Ability to connect clearly and with assurance
- Ability to comply with an enquiry through on the initial call to any follow-up correspondence
- Attention to details
- Grammar and punctuation
Recruit in numbers
It is advised to always recruit in numbers whenever possible and never employ one agent at a time. Hire in smaller groups – around five is the best number – this allows the new agents to pass through the training process together where they may benefit from learning from one another.
This method, in addition, gives them a new bond with various other new joiners, so they feel more self-assured to ‘go live’ within the call center floor concurrently. It’s important to note that the training has to be fun, interactive and engaging for the agents – a group environment where they might ask ‘silly’ questions and feel at ease doing so successful.
Honesty is the best policy
At interview period be clear on what exactly will be expected from the agent in the role and turn into as open as possible about your corporation culture and policies – when they find anything out there further down the track that they feel uncomfortable having, then retaining the agent is going to be difficult and the actual recruitment process ought to start again.
Invest in the induction period
The average staff members’ turnover for call-centers is approximately 9 per dollar, but there are some ways in which staff retention might be improved. For instance, it should be made sure that time and income is invested with the training/induction stage to embed the agent into your company culture and ensure they may be fully prepared with regards to first live appearance within the call center flooring – the much less surprises they have at the start, the more they may very well stay committed towards the company. Around five days of training is recommended.
Don’t have the actual budget?
If you are out of budget to employ a recruitment advisor, then PR pastime with the local press might help drive applications via your door. In the current environment any reports about jobs getting created, rather when compared with lost, is a new welcome news history to local company journalists.