My Call Center Software - 7 Call Center Management Pitfalls To Watch Out For -

7 Call Center Management Pitfalls To Watch Out For

by Janine Fritzgerald     Managing a call center is no easy job. It demands that you always stay updated with the latest trend in the industry. With its growing popularity, call center comes with set of metrics to gauge it's effectivity and profitability. Unfortunately, some call centers fold up due to management-related failures. Their untimely exit from the business landscape can be attributed to the following call center pitfalls: <ol><li>NOT GIVING THE NECESSARY TRAINING TO CALL CENTER PERSONNEL Call center agents and staff deal with all types of customers in real time. Too often, issues arise. If the agents receive no proper training to deal with these issues, customers turn away and will no longer call. This could prove unproductive. No calls means lost revenues for the call center. </li><li>BROWBEATING In its day-to-day operation, call centers often gets complaints from irate customers. Maybe the customers perceived billing errors, or a misplaced credits, or any other hosts of alleged errors. Call center agents tend to “throw the books” at the customer, so to speak. This leads to arguments. When call center agents will always try their best to win these arguments in a bossy and commanding attitude, customers will be offended and will no longer call. </li><li>UNAVAILABILITY In some cases, a customer would wish to speak to a call center supervisor. But the call center agent who receives the call will somehow dodge the customer's request and settle the dispute at his level. Managers or supervisors have a standing order not to engage on a phone conversation on a mere customer's requests. This creates an impasse'. In the end, the frustrated customer will no longer call. </li><li> CLINGING TO COMPANY RULES Company-mandated rules should serve as flexible guidelines. Meaning, it could be bended to fit the customer's need. Business experts call this sound call center management. Let's find an apt illustration for this one. A customer contacts a call center barely a minute before closing time. “ Can I still make an order for some toy balloons for my son's birthday party? We need them in an hour.” The call center agent looks at his watch. “ I'm sorry, ma'am. It's already closing time. We only entertain orders during office hours. It's company policy.” The customer tries to explain her predicament, only to be rebuffed again and again with “ company policy.” </li><li>PASSING THE BUCK Have you ever experienced calling a call center, then being hold on for a few minutes, only to be forwarded to different sets of people? It's very irritating. And this turns off customers. As a manager, you should make arrangements so that the call center agent can answer any queries and make quick decisions without passing the calls to other people. </li><li>NOT PAYING ATTENTION In their eagerness to get and resolve more calls on a short span of time, call center agents tend to hurry with each customer's call. Oftentimes, these agents do not pay attention to what the customers are saying. Take this real life example. A call center received this call. “ Can you please furnish me my account transaction on March 30?” The agent clicked through his computer and rattled off the numbers. “ Is that March 30 transactions? It does not match my bill here.” Of course, it did not match. The agent was looking at May 13 transactions. Had he paid close attention, he should have distinctly heard May 30th and not May 13th. </li><li>RUDE REPLY Call center customers rate this one high in their complaints against call center agents. It seems that some agents treat customers rudely. This is a terrible no-no in call center management. These agents snicker, shout, and raise their voice while talking on the phone with customers. This impolite attitude effectively drives customers away from using the call center again. ( Janine Fritzgerald is a call center administrator now for 5 years. She began as a call center agent and then worked her way up to the company's corporate hierarchy. She is a Psychology graduate with Business Administration as secondary course. She lectures on call center management. She is also prolific writer. Her first book, “ The Real Deal on Call Centers” is a sell out. Janine lives in Connecticut with her husband and two kids.)</li></ol><a href="http://www.onlywire.com/submit?u=http://www.mycallcentersoftware.com/7_call_center_management_pitfalls_to_watch_out_for.html;t=call%20center%20management;tags=call%20center%20management" target="_blank" title="Add this Article to Onlywire"><img src="http://www.onlywire.com/i/onlywire.ico" alt="" />Add to Onlywire!</a>

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