The Call Center Myth

Ok let's review... No one is going to do the work for you. There I've said it and we clearly understand each other right? Well, maybe not. Some people love to be in sales but they hate to sell. Gee, wonder why that is. Wonder if they would like to jump out of an airplane without a parachute? Or is it they are too lazy to learn how to properly pack their parachute and therefore they trust someone else to pack it for them? I don't know about you but I prefer to make sure things are being done correctly. Because it could make for a hard landing!

The reason people say they hate to sell is because they don't really understand how to do it. And they are too lazy to take the time to discover how it's properly done. Sales is not about hype, smoke, mirrors, or empty promises. Sales is about posturing and knowledge and marketing effectively.

Some are falling for what is being sold through hype has the "Call Center". The call center business model claims it will do all the work for you. They claim they will close all the sales for you. They claim they will then give you the sales commission. And they also claim you don't have to do anything. Are these call centers smart? They are smart enough to talk you out of your money if you fall for it and buy in to their hype.

No one is going to do all the work for you and then send you money. It just isn't going to happen. And the sooner you realize this the better off you will be. When you think about it, what is the difference between someone at a call center claiming to close your sales and you closing them yourself? It's simple. When you discover how to close your own sales you know you are geting paid.

Call centers use a code number system where you must place ads containing a code number or extension etc. It's been proven that people only write down phone numbers from ads and never the code number. The code number is how the call center says they give you credit for the sale. Ok, well what happens when the caller does not have the code number to give the call center? Does the call center turn them away and lose a new sale? If you think the answer to the question is yes you are buying in to the call center hype!

Here's a red flag. Call center sales reps are also signed up in the very same programs they claim to be closing sales for you in. Does this seem fair to you? It didn't to me either. And that's why I called some of the call centers up and pretended to be someone who had seen an ad but didn't write down the code number from the ad. At no time did the sales rep ever try and tell me they could not accept my sale. So this begs the questions... who got credit for that sale?

Here's another red flag. How do you actually track the people who call in to the call center? How do you really know what is happening with your leads? How do you know when they are being followed up with and how? The answer is you don't know. And this is a huge problem.

The call center owners don't want you to understand what really goes on. They want to keep you dummed down. They do not want you to smarten up because they know if you do, you will quickly realize you don't need them.

Sales is not nearly as tough as most assume. In fact once you have a proven system in place and you are working smarter instead of harder, sales can be a lot of fun. It's all about taking it one step at a time and discovering the proper sales technique.

Britt Phillips is a self-made millionaire and one of the all time top income earners in the history of the Coastal Vacations business opportunity. Britt has been teaching students on his success team for eleven years. Britt devotes the time, energy, and effort into his team and works with them to ensure their success. Britt reveals the hidden facts about the Coastal Vacations Call Center. To contact Britt Phillips call him direct at 804-897-2274.

How Your Agents "Sound" Affects the Success of Your Call Center

Does that sound harsh? Yes, it does but in today?s world of increasing telephone communications, it is the truth. With the predominance of Call Centers taking over varied functions that influence many areas of the population on a day-to-day basis, the need for Vocal Empowerment in the Call Center is critical to both corporate profitability and individual employee success. The ?sound of your agents? has a direct result on the degree of satisfaction that customers rate your company. Often customers equate poor vocal skills with intelligence, interest in problem-solving, and complete understanding of the situation of the caller.

Unfortunately, not just call center agents, but many of us live a vocal lie. Our voices - what we say and how we say it - does make the difference of whether we get the job, the next promotion, or even making it through the interview.

In the Call Center industry, managers grapple with performance measurements when metrics on some agents exceed minimum standards due to the need for repeated information and customer frustration with comprehension. Agent recruiters are always ?listening? for clarity and good vocal skills in the next training class that is being assembled. Corporations continue to search geographic locations where dialect is minimal and the potential pool of employees is plentiful. I have seen that with proper short-term training and long-term coaching, call center agents can achieve proper vocal excellence.

Most people think that how they speak as an adult is part of their personality and not a physical skill set that they can change. That is not true. Through vocal coaching, the agent?s vocal ease and ability to be clearly understood without physical strain can be achieved. We learn our sound, our speech, and our vocal image from our environment. Fortunately, we can change that as easily as we first learned to speak. Improper vocal skills learned and uncorrected as a child trying to communicate with those in our world can be reversed.

Call Center Managers and Supervisors must invest in the vocal skills of all agents ? whether they have discernible problems or not. Enhanced self-confidence and greater ability to concisely deliver the corporate message is an investment that will pay dividends for the agent, manager, and corporation.

There is no shame in needing this extra skill set to be learned and practiced. Many of the ?basics? of education have been overlooked in the last several decades of progressive education. The skills of reading and comprehension are often discussed, but the lack of proper vocal training in pre-school and throughout elementary grades has all but disappeared from the curriculum. There are many training courses, schools and programs that address the needs of remedial reading and comprehension, math, etc., but there are only a handful of experienced vocal coaches that are training outside of the performing arts industry.

Most Call Centers budget for the latest in technology, and many purveyors of software for scheduling, scripting, up-selling, and process training for agents, but without the ability to properly speak and to be successful in vocally deliver the message, the desired results may not be attainable without utilizing the skills of a professional vocal trainer.

The ability to be able to speak with the proper vocal skills for 6-8 hour shifts does not entirely rest on the agents? vocal skills or lack thereof. Part of poor vocal performance is related to physical posture, work-space ergonomics, and facility environment. With a brief evaluation of the call center facility, and by utilizing some fairly easy recommendations, in conjunction with formalized Vocal Training, can vastly improve the performance of the agents, but also will translate into greater employee satisfaction.

The ability to stave off high employee turn-over is an additional benefit of proper vocal training. By addressing the physical comfort and vocal performance, employees are more likely to stay within their current job.

The essence of Vocal Empowerment is made up of 5 Elements of Effective Voice: Interest, Clarity, Authority, Language, and Listening. When these skills are mastered and become second nature in daily speech, confidence and success follow.

Interest - Interest is an intellectual skill requiring that you orchestrate the rhythms of your sound.

Clarity - Clarity is a physical skill requiring the use of an active, exercised mouth.

Authority - Authority is an emotional skill that expresses your credibility about what you are speaking. Requiring self-confidence and cleanly executed emotional and physical choices.

Language - Language is the process of being able to respond to others with words and phrases which demonstrate interest, are clearly understood, and are informative, knowledgeable and helpful in evoking a sense of authority.

Listening - Listening is an act of respect and openness to others.

I am more convinced than ever with the global community that we all participate in, the need for clear and concise communications is vital to our continued ability to work together in an atmosphere of respect and trust.

When considering introducing Vocal Empowerment training, insist that training class uses interactive, job-centered exercises and techniques that meet every call center agent?s special performance needs in order to produce individuals who speak and move clearly with interest and authority. Demand that the vocal coaches and trainers have completed professional voice training and are able to illustrate before and after samples of their work and results. Request professional references. You are asking your agents to undertake a physical, emotional and challenging course. The trainers must be able to have a complete understanding of physical and vocal interdependence and be empathetic to the agents while still being able to effect a tremendous personal change to varying degrees for your staff members.

The success of your call center, the job satisfaction of your agent staff, and your company?s customer image are dependent on the ability to attain vocal empowerment for your employees.

Katherine M. Hart is President and Founder of Hartfelt Communications, a professional training and communications imaging company. Over the past 25 years, Ms. Hart has trained over 25,000 Call Center Agents, Corporate Executives, Politicians, Actors, Community Leaders. She has developed several programs including ICALL and the Communications Connection - a corporate communications training program to work with developing strong internal communications protocols that translate to greater customer satisfaction. For many other presentation, training, and vocal empowerment programs, please visit http://www.hartfeltcommunications.com Sign up for a monthly ezine-newletter "From the Hart" with vocal tips and communications essentials. To contact Katherine Hart for a recommendation from her network of professional voice-over artists to implement professional voice imaging in your company, please contact her at: khart@hartfelcommunications.com or call 312-786-1868

The Benefits Of A Call Center For A Home Business

Home business often means wearing many hats throughout the day for business owners. They need to be the marketing and sales representatives, the website designers, the writers, the administrators, and telephone operators and more. But many of these hats can be tossed aside with the help of a call center.

With a good call center, the support team there will:

1. Have plenty of product knowledge, a friendly, professional business manner for handling incoming calls and will be able to close your sales for you.

2. Be able to collect the money from your customers and send it to you via priority mail or other means, saving you steps in invoicing and call center payment.

3. Follow up with your prospects regularly over time, to introduce them to more benefits about your products and remind them to think about buying ? and close more sales for you. This will save you plenty of time for other things like placing ads, online and offline.

4. Invite you to log in to their secure website to monitor and track your progress along with any sales associate?s notes and follow-up plans for your prospects.

5. Invite you to get involved in the process, if you would like to as well, adding your own personal touch.

6. Be staffed with the highest quality of phone talent using no "high pressure" closing tactics. This means you will not need to fear personal rejection and phone slams, etc.

7. Will continue this business process for you with a long-term commitment to your business and your customers and prospects.

8. Will offer you cutting edge marketing and training systems and advertising tools. And they will keep up with the times, advancing their systems as the Internet grows and changes, too, adapting your online presence so that it?s most effective.

So set aside time to check out a call center for your business operations and find out how many hats you can toss in the air. By getting plenty of sales help, follow up services, administrative, accounting and other help, you?ll have much more time to create ad campaigns and enjoy your income from all your team?s hard work.

Sample Call Center

For a prime example of a working call center in action, dial in to the Coastal Vacations Call Center, a priority company in the travel industry, at: (800) 378-1169 and mention ID# is 5802DO. You?ll be amazed at their support services and friendly manner.

Visit Dawn OrBeck at http://coastalvacations-blog.com for more info and at dawn@CoastalVacations-Blog.com or call: 810-895-4408. She also invites you to call their Sales Center to learn more today at: 800-378-1169 and mention ID# 5802DO for more info.

Web-Enabled Call Center Services

The call center service is a thriving business today and it is evolving. It has become a necessity in both, developed and developing countries. A web enabled call center is one that is based on a web page, on the World Wide Web. The page provides a button, which can be clicked on to access the calls. This is only available on the Internet or Intranet.

The web enabled call center services are only accessible on the net. The major purpose of these call centers is to help in the easy accessibility of people, anywhere in the world. This facilitates the various business undertakings to reach their clientele in any part of the world. These people need to meet their business needs. The concept of outsourcing is very common and at present, a lot of businesses are outsourced. People need to maintain a uniform way of conducting their business.

Through the web-enabled service, people can remain in contact with their customers and continue with their business, unperturbed, on account of the distances between them. People prefer the Intranet, since only people of a specific group can have access to one such facility. The customer can avail of video- conferences and outsource their problems or convey messages. In the intranet, the people of the group in business can view the information or queries of other people, within the group.

The web enabled call center services help people in different parts of the world to access and enhance their business as well as valuable customers. This also helps in targeting brand messages, potential acquisition of new call centers and it gives high returns for a relatively low investment. It provides enhanced employee performance, maximized customer satisfaction and reduces cost. It also helps to maintain customer satisfaction, maintain standards and increase profitability.

Call Center Services provides detailed information on Call Center Services, Online Call Center Outsourcing Support Services, Inbound Call Center Services, Outbound Call Center Services and more. Call Center Services is affiliated with Contact Center Consultants.

Business Phone Systems For Call Centers

Make use of advanced business phones for your business needs and feel the difference. Advanced phone systems like CTI are ideal for call centers and other companies that depend heavily on phones for business. This article discusses some of the latest features of business phones for call centers.

Call Center Business Phones: Features

Business phones for call centers have many features to choose from. You can opt for call forwarding, integrated software, smart messaging, and call recoding and other features. Listed here are some important features of business phones for call centers.

1) Call Forwarding

Call forwarding helps employees by redirecting calls to the concerned employee, wherever he or she may be.

2) Computer Telephony

This feature allows you to integrate computer systems with the telephone network. Incoming and outbound calls can be handled better through this integrated technology. If you want to install CT systems, you need to buy them separate from telephone systems. You also need to select the software you require.

3) Auto Attendant

This feature creates automatic messages to answer phone calls. The callers are redirected to the appropriate slot or employee through a series of questions and menu options. Auto attendant can handle multiple calls simultaneously.

4) Dialing Preview

Managers can view the information related to the call, and decide whether to make the call or not, before making the call.

5) Progressive Dialing

The call manager can view call information while the call is in progress.

6) Predictive Dialing

An Automated system dials the numbers and passes on the information only after it gets a positive response.

7) Smart Message Dialing

This dialing is used for placing calls, and for playing prerecorded messages to callers.

8) Call Monitoring

Call center managers and supervisors can record and monitor the calls that have been made, while administrators can listen in and teach correct methods of pronunciation to employees.

9) Automated Dialing

Calls can be made without manually dialing the number, saving time.

CTI applications are a boon for call centers, since they cut down on time spent on repetitive manual dialing and use intelligent menu prompts to get callers to the right place, instead of having an employee attend to all their calls. While low cost phone systems need a separate CT system to be installed, high-end phones have embedded CT compatible technology.

With business telephone systems for call center available in many price ranges and designs, you can choose one that suits your business the best. If you need help in selecting and installing a good business telephone system in your call center, you can consult a business advisor.

Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

Business Owners all across the country are joining "The Community of Small Business Owners? to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences.

A New Way of Life in the Call Center: From Service to Sales

We?ve just received another training request to ?support a culture shift,? transitioning inbound customer service representatives to proactive, outbound sales professionals. The stated business goal is to deepen client relationships with a large number of targeted clients that may not get enough attention from outside sales people. We?ve also found that many of our clients are in various stages of transforming their Call Centers from cost to revenue centers by adding cross sales goals to existing service goals.

These changes represent a new way of life in the Call Center. We know that it can be difficult for many Call Center employees to successfully make the transition from skills needed to handle routine customer requests, questions, and problems to proactive sales skills, the ability to quickly identify customer needs and offer differentiated product solutions. While some are adjusting to their new responsibilities, it?s been an unwelcome and frustrating change for many, with some employees unable to meet challenging sales goals.

The problem involves several factors, including recruitment, management, compensation and training, but the biggest pitfall we see is that many service reps have negative impressions of selling and are fearful of it because they don?t know how to do it. We hear comments such as:

?I enjoy helping people who call in, but I wasn?t hired to sell.?

?We?re just pushing products on the customers.?

They haven?t taught us enough about the products to sell them.?

And then there?s the friend of mine who remarked: ?So you teach people to how to be annoying and sell people things they don?t need or want.?

Few people, Call Center service reps and customers alike, are thrilled with the sales experience. In fact, because of negative reactions to the sales process, one of our clients has replaced the word ?sales? with ?solution? as a way to instill the impression in service reps that sales should be needs-based, not ?pushy? and manipulative. On the customer side, I?ve heard customers try to pre-empt the sales process by immediately stating to the service rep: ?Now don?t try to sell me anything today!?

We know that when you provide the right sales strategies and skills to increase confidence and comfort with selling, service reps will more likely embrace sales as a way of life in the Call Center. Whether being expected to cross-sell during a service call or make outbound calls to targeted prospects or clients, the right product and sales training can dramatically reduce negativity and frustrations in making a successful transition to selling.

We suggest the following five key sales strategies:

1. Check Confidence. How people feel about selling affects their desire to do it and ultimately their success. Lack of confidence is the most common contributor to problems with motivation and the ability to close business. A sales person?s voice presence including tone, inflection, volume, pace and energy often reveal his or her mindset and confidence level. Customers are tuned into voice presence more than any other element so it is worth a self-assessment.

2. Do Client Preparation. Reviewing available client information and records helps to build confidence and rapport. Clients expect us to have a client-centered context for a recommendation or call purpose; without a context they will most likely view the call as ?pushy? or as an intrusion, not needs-based. Transition statements help link a product or service idea to the customer?s immediate situation and should include a brief link to information available or something the customer said.

3. Do Sales Preparation. Like face-to-face-sales people, telephone salespeople are more likely to achieve their sales goals if they establish specific achievable objectives and back-up objectives for the call. ?Winging it? is not a sales objective or strategy. While it is critical to maintain a focus on the client, having a clear sales objective and action step be it closing, referring, or sending information, helps create sales momentum. Preparation also involves the process of ensuring the sales dialogue is client-centered. Many sales people spend too much time preparing for what they want to say to a client versus preparing a strategy for achieving client dialogue and uncovering their needs and priorities. We recommend preparing questions around the central theme, ?What do I want to learn from the client??

4. Learn the Client?s Point of View. Clients have a point of view. Uncovering and selling to the client?s point of view is incredibly persuasive. Now keep in mind that a client?s point of view is often stated as an objection or implied in a question. That?s a good sign! Because objections provide an opportunity to ask deeper questions and listen, they can be the dialogue path to building relationships and increasing the salesperson?s ability to be persuasive.

5. Build Trust. Don?t assume that trust exists because you are speaking with an existing client. Trust is earned during every contact through your ability to demonstrate your needs-based intent. The unintended consequence of a goal-oriented sales focus is that too often it makes customers feel manipulated and used, resulting in shallow relationships and long-term distrust.

Catherine is co-owner and President of The Bluestar Group LLC (http://www.thebluestargroup.biz), a skill-intensive consulting and training company specializing in maximizing sales performance by developing effective sales strategies, tactics and highly refined skills. Catherine can be reached at cflynn@thebluestargroup.biz

Delhi Offers Best BPO and Call Center Jobs

Delhi is World's BPO capital!! Having a call center in Delhi & NCR is the norm for several global companies today. In order to meet the growing international demand for cost-effective, customer-oriented call centers, many organizations worldwide are outsourcing these services by setting up call centers here.

But what makes call center jobs in Delhi such an attractive option for fresh job seekers? Is it more like a part time jobs in Delhi option to earn an extra buck? At call centers the opportunity to make money can be very lucrative as the salary offered with just a graduation degree is way ahead expectation. More to this list is free pick and drop cab, a free meal, attractive offices and a lot of entertainment at times!! The fact is BPO industry has in offer great opportunities for both fresh and experienced university graduates.

The top BPO's in Delhi & NCR actively increasing manpower are; EXL, it is a leading end-to-end BPO in Noida near Delhi and headquartered in New York. Xansa, the international business process and IT Services Company is Europe's leading providers of telecommunications services centered at Noida. NIIT SmartServe is a subsidiary of NIIT Technologies, a global IT solutions company located at Gurgoan near Delhi. iEnergizer is one of the most progressive International Call Centers in Asia Pacific region, located in Noida near New Delhi. Integreon provides high-value, complex BPO solutions (also known as Knowledge Process Outsourcing, KPO or judgment-based BPO), specializing in document, content and knowledge services located in Delhi & NCR. TeleTech India's expertise in managing integrated customer solutions and Bharti's proven success in designing world-class service organizations in India. E-Meditek Solutions Ltd. is a responsible customer focused health benefit administrator. A leading US-based provider of contact center and technology support services; vCustomer maintains state-of-the-art processing centers across two locations in India at Delhi and Pune. HCL Technologies BPO is a subsidiary of IT giant, HCL Technologies. It provides services in both customer care (voice & web) and back office processing, centered at Noida.

The services at these call centers include Operations, Customer Service, Telecalling, Backend, technical support, transactional processes etc. The basic educational qualification required to find a job in call center is graduation, which can support you to net a job in Operations/ Customer care/ Telecalling/ Backend. Technical knowledge is essential for technical/ semi technical support.

A professionally-managed BPO unit can give a strong career boost and can be equally disastrous for building a career if the choice of employer is incorrect. Delhi & NCR offer the best BPO jobs in India to those who want to seriously make career in the industry.

S.C. Mishra, a well-known Career Counselor, is an expert on various Career Subjects. He has authored a book on "Jobs in Delhi - now an easy task".

Philippine Call Centers Attracting Global Interest

A survey recently conducted by Columbia University indicated that after India, the Philippines have been the ?second largest recipient of outsourcing, capturing almost 30 percent of the market.? While another study done by an independent group in 2004 stated that the Philippines ranked sixth in the offshore location attractiveness index and the fourth choice location in Asia after India, China and Malaysia.

All these indicators suggest that the call center industry is the fastest-growing business in the Philippines accounting for thousands of new employment generated which, in turn, considerably helping the economy and thus being named as one of the sunshine industries in the country. In fact, call centers in the country are not concentrated only in the business and financial districts but are also present in the provinces. And because of the high demand for manpower, representatives from Cyber City Teleservices Ltd, the largest call center in the country, is looking to as far as Zamboanga City to recruit call center agents to fill up the many available positions the company offers. Although it should be noted that these foreign companies are resulting to outsourcing mainly to cut costs and boost shareholder returns.

There are currently more than 50 call centers in the country and judging from the worldwide trend of outsourcing, many more are projected to set up operations here in the near future. The Philippines can very well capitalize on this opportunity because of the Filipinos? English-proficiency advantage against its Asian neighbors.

Outsourcing in General

Outsourcing is the execution of an entire business function by a third party service provider. It involves the transfer of a significant amount of management control to a supplier and it always involves a considerable degree of two-way information exchange, coordination and trust. Plainly, outsourcing is the most popular practice of local and foreign companies who want to reduce costs while still providing excellent customer service. It must be noted that outsourcing is different from offshore outsourcing and offshoring. Outsourcing potentially enables businesses to reduce costs and concentrate on core competencies while transferring noncore business processes, thereby providing more effective goods and services elsewhere.

Business functions that are usually outsourced include information technology, human resources, facilities and real estate management and accounting. Several companies also outsource customer support and call center functions, manufacturing and engineering.

Outsourcing has been around for decades. In recent years, it has been estimated to be a $6 trillion global industry. But with the growth of this industry, critics have raised several issues, among them the loss of confidentiality, poor quality of service and most significantly, the loss of employment for those people whose job falls under the outsourcing category. This is because overhead costs of customer service are less where outsourcing has been used.

In current years, outsourcing has sparked debates from those in favor and to those opposed. Critics point to poor quality of service and technical support, and more importantly, they argue that outsourcing threatens the livelihood of domestic workers. Advocates, on the other hand, counter that companies who utilize outsourcing use the savings for investment and larger domestic payrolls. Evidently, outsourcing has its pros and cons, and ultimately it is up to the companies to consider which is best suited for their companies.

Global Sky is a US owned and operated call center based in the Philippines offering US Quality at Offshore Rates. Find out more about Philippines call centers and call center outsourcing. Also check out our call center services.

Linchpin Technologies Of Call Center

New technologies are leading the way in the evolution of the contact center. By the revolution in communication and information technology have led to a boom in call centers across the world. Call centers use different technologies to join with a customer. As focal points of communications, contact centers were the first to integrate voice and data technologies, deploying interactive voice response (IVR) systems that linked caller information with database records to accelerate response and improve customer service.

Today's challenge is providing personalized service that can handle both voice and multi-media contacts (fax, email, voice mail, Web interaction). Enterprises are also incorporating a new array of contact center services such as video, wireless access, and compatibility with personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other smart devices.

There are so many versions of software and upgraded technology in the market to fulfill the requirement of call center. Different major technologies are:

Email Management: Email is the most commonly used medium for customer contact.

IVR: In telephony, interactive voice response, or IVR, is a computerized system that allows a person, typically a telephone caller, to select an option from a voice menu and otherwise interface with a computer system. Generally the system plays pre-recorded voice prompts to which the person presses a number on a telephone keypad to select the option chosen, or speaks simple answers such as "yes", "no", or numbers in answer to the voice prompts.

Guided speech IVR: The Guided Speech IVR approach for call centers is a hybrid model that integrates live call center agents with all the advancements of speech in a new real-time approach for callers. This new approach creates a "safety-net", as the new role for the agent as a guide who assists the automation invisibly helps the caller using human intelligence and transcription to ensure the correct computerized service is provided.

CTI: Computer telephony integration is technology that allows interactions on a telephone and a computer to be integrated or co-coordinated. As contact channels have expanded from voice to include email, web, and fax, the definition of CTI has expanded to include the integration of all customer contact channels (voice, email, web, fax, etc.) with computer systems.

ACD: In telephony, an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is a device that distributes incoming calls to a specific group of terminals that agents use. It is often part of a computer telephony integration system. Predictive Dialer: Predictive dialer systems are commonly used by telemarketing organizations involved in B2C (business to consumer) calling as it allows their sales representatives to have much more customer contact time.

Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM covers methods and technologies used by companies to manage their relationships with clients. Information stored on existing customers (and potential customers) is analyzed and used to this end.

WFM: Workforce Management encompasses all the responsibilities for maintaining a productive and happy workforce. Sometimes referred to as HRMS systems, or even the larger ERP systems.

TPV: Third party verification is a process of getting an independent third party company to confirm that the customer is actually requesting a change or ordering a new service or product. By putting the customer on the phone (usually via transfer or 3-way call) TPV provider asks a customer for his identity, that he is an authorized decision maker and to confirm his order.

Virtual queue: Virtual queuing is a concept that is used in inbound call centers. Call centers utilize an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) to distribute incoming calls to specific resources (agents) in the center. ACDs are capable of holding queued calls in First In, First Out order until agents become available.

Voicemail: It is a centralized system of managing telephone messages for a large group of people. In its simplest form it mimics the functions of an answering machine, uses a standard telephone handset for the user interface, and uses a centralized, computerized system rather than equipment at the individual telephone.

Voice Recognition: VR is the task of recognizing people from their voices. Such systems extract features from speech, model them and use them to recognize the person from his/her voice.

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VoIP, IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network.

Speech Analytics: Speech Analytics is a process of analyzing recorded human speech in order to collect information about what was said. In contact center environments, Speech Analytics is used to mine recorded phone conversations between agents and their customers. By carefully ?listening? to hundreds or even thousands of calls, Speech Analytics automatically identifies important business intelligence that helps managers reduce contact center costs, increase customer retention and satisfaction, and improve agent performance.

Call Centers India is a Washington state corporation headquartered in Seattle which has India?s one and only end to end CISCO based IP network. Cisco Predictive, Preview, Outbound, 24/7 Dialer, Cisco call Manager as PBX, Cisco Unity Voice Mail, Cisco IVR.

Technologies are: --

1. India?s one-and-only, end-to-end CISCO based IP network. Cisco Platform:

2. Cisco Call Manager as PBX

3. Cisco Unity Voice Mail

4. Cisco IVR,Cisco Predictive, Preview , Outbound ,24/7 Dialer

5. Ability to call and receive calls from over 30 Countries

6. PCs: Compaq

7. Phones: CISCO IP 7940 series

8. Headsets: Plantronics

http://www.vcarecallcenter.com/

Who's Picking Who? A Closer Look At The Call Center Recruitment Process

Selecting the right employees is as important to the call center industry as casting the right performers in a theatrical production!

A good cast can make or break even a challenging script and the same applies to building a call center.

In spite of this fact, it is surprising how often the staffing of call centers lack any systematic method for accomplishing this very important function.

As consultants, we witnessed how often employees were selected for strange reasons. Nepotism can abound and employee referrals or friends who were given a ?bye? in the selection process, were hired because of someone they knew.

Frequently, existing screening methods were pushed aside when staffing needs were critically short ? and warm bodies became the only real requirement to fill call center seats as quickly as possible. In many cases, it seemed even the interviewee seized the day taking control of the hiring process and selecting the employer rather then the other way around. Hence ? the question ?Who?s Picking Who??

In the absence of any formal selection process, interviews turn into friendly conversations that can lead wherever the most assertive person wants to take it.

We?ve all seen this play out on stage where the wrong actors are in search of the right play or in the field of sports where individual athletes are miscast and consequently, team performance suffers.

In the call center world the wrong people rarely perform well as a team even if the work that they are doing is part of a winning project.

The following case study illustrates some of the lessons we learned from our consulting experience and how we used our experience to shape a selection process that evolved at our call center company over a 10 year period.

Evolution of the Call Center Industry Recruitment Process:

Separating the best from the rest

At our call center company in the 80?s, telemarketing campaigns were usually conducted with less than a half dozen trained representatives. Consequently the recruitment needs were very manageable.

Recruitment consisted of local advertising insertions and interviews were handled by staff that wore many hats including supervising and training.

As the company grew in response to growing market demands our recruitment and selection methods evolved to meet those needs.

Even from the start our selection process consisted of a phone interview scored by the interviewer and including some brief exercises to gauge the sales ability of the candidate. Often these exercises would be as simple as asking the candidate to describe a movie they saw recently in a way that would persuade someone to see it.

The interview would be graded and only those candidate?s that scored above an acceptable number would be invited to come in for a personal interview.

During the in person interview, candidates would be assessed as follows:

1. Attendance (believe it or not many candidates would not even show up for the first interview ? some of which would call back surprised to find that we eliminated them for standing us up)

2. Impression ? many people would like wise find it difficult to be on time for the interview or to wear appropriate attire

3. Job Fit ? Upon learning that the job required continually talking to people over the phone candidates would opt out of or be opted out by their impression of the job

These industry accepted basics were always applied to our process along with a few other similar screening methods, however, as the company grew we added a few of our own unique wrinkles for selecting the best.

Among the most important of these was employee testing systems to gauge various qualities and characteristics. Among these were integrity testing from companies like REID in which testing was used to assess the honesty and integrity of candidates. These were usually pen/paper instruments that took less than 10 minutes and could also be scored by computer quickly. The key answers we sought from the test are suggested by the old TV game show called ?Who Do You Trust??

The test was relatively quick, inexpensive, and proved to be relatively successful at predicting the behavior of the candidate.

We also employed more elaborate testing processes for staff/management positions like those from CALIPER where the test time ran up to several hours and costs several hundred dollars per candidate.

Since the number of applicants for those positions were smaller, we felt justified in taking the additional time and money to get it right.

The results of the Caliper process were even more impressive especially as it related to predicting negative behavior i.e. If the test concluded that the candidate was not a good fit for the job usually we found a high correlation to below standard performance of the candidate.

In addition we also employed a Myers Briggs personality profile to determine suitability for different project requirements and we began to see strong correlations in matching the workers profile with appropriate projects.

Finally, after the test results were back we made sure that references validated the strengths of the candidate as well as put to rest any concerns that arose around their weaknesses.

All of these initiatives enabled us to screen out candidates and select in the better characteristics of the general population. More importantly, the extra precaution we took for the staff/management selection enabled the company to build a very competent group of supervisory staff/management with relatively low turnover that stood apart from our competition.

Summary

Whatever stage of development you are going through in your call center operation it is critical to take steps to make sure it is YOU doing the casting of your performers, and not the other way around. It?s imperative to make certain that your selection processes are consistently applied in order to build the best team with out discrimination.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you embark on casting your team of performers:

1. Develop and use an interview guide with scripted questions to test each applicant

2. Measure each applicants interview and keep a record or database of these scores

3. Create a profile of what qualities and characteristics you want for the job you are seeking to fill

4. Implement employee testing to gauge these characteristics for each candidate

5. Validate your interview observations and test results with thorough reference checking

If you create and consistently employ a process with measurable steps such as those outlined, you?ll be amazed at the results! As your call center grows, your entire team will perform in harmony like a well cast production.

Ray Hansell has been involved in the Teleservices and Direct Marketing Industry for over 25 years. He was the CEO of RMH Teleservices, an international call center operation that he co-founded with his partner MarySue Lucci in the mid 1980?s and took public in 1996. During this same period, he also performed consulting services for dozens of Fortune 500 companies regarding their in house call center operations.

Currently, he is the cofounder of MaraStar Communications, http://www.marastar.com, a direct marketing software company founded in 2000. MaraStar produces animated training and communications products that are used in training and motivating employees particularly in the call center industry.

How To Start A Call Center Home Business

The trend nowadays is for people to work at home, even in their pajamas. Some people start work even before they have breakfast. But these are the lucky few, who were able to find their ideal home business.

It is not easy to start a home business but cashing in on the latest trends like medical transcription and home based call center can be financially rewarding. Majority of those who have ventured in home based call centers are working mothers who want more time at home with their children while earning their keep.

A business at home is not only practical for work at home mothers but also for those who want to earn more, those who want a more flexible schedule or want to get rid of bosses huffing at their backs every working day.

If you dream of having your own business right in the comforts of your own home then nothing suits you more than having your own home based call center business.

A home based call center business requires good English-speaking skills and basic computer knowledge. Most home based call center agents have their own computer and internet connection. Most call center functions are outsourced because of the relatively cheap labor in other countries.

While calls are generally directed to clients in other countries, there should be no worry about rising telephone bills because most home call centers equip their callers with voice over internet protocol systems which treats most long distance calls as local calls.

You have to attend trainings or formal call center lessons though before you can start on your home based call center business. There are plenty of institutions offering call center training and some even offer online call center training. You just have to invest in training yourself and you can already make money right in your home.

There are plenty of opportunities for home call centers since most developed countries are already outsourcing their call center requirements. You only need to do some research as to which companies are accepting home based call centers, apply with them and then make the necessary arrangement for your calls and payment scheme.

If you want a home based business that is financially rewarding with a meager capital then go for a home call center business. It may seem complicated at first but you will get the hang of it in a few months of doing calls. In a home based call center business, you are paid monthly but you also get commissions for sales.

Gaetane has thoroughly researched the Internet to locate the best High Income Business Opportunities that will enable you to start making money from your own home. http://4instant-online-business.com http://affiliates.4instant-online-business.com http://4instant-online-business.com/pips.html

What To Look For In Your Telemarketing Call Center

As telemarketing is becoming a larger business it is becoming more important to find a good telemarketing call center for your business. By looking for a good, reliable company that can help you out you will be able to have a telemarketing call center that works well for you and your business. It is important because with a good telemarketing call center you can get more business for your group and be more successful in the long run as a result.

The first thing to consider when looking for a telemarketing call center is the price that the center is offering you. When looking for a telemarketing call center that you can afford it is best to consult with the center for a logical, direct price quote that you can easily understand and will not be confusing. This includes quotes per minute or quotes based on the number of representatives that will be employed. Also, see if there are any travel expenses that will be required for the employees, and remember that overhead charges will be required for various expenses like training and setup.

Experience is another part to consider when looking for a telemarketing call center. A more experienced telemarketing call center would normally have other reputable clients that it is working with, or it may feature a good general reputation according to other groups that use a certain telemarketing call center. When you find a telemarketing call center of interest you should check to see how reputable that telemarketing call center is, and it is also a good idea to talk with companies that use that telemarketing call center for information on how well it works and if the company is satisfied with that telemarketing call center.

The employees, or sales representatives, of a telemarketing call center are highly important. You should talk with the telemarketing call center you are interested in working with for information regarding how well the center hires its employees and what expectations it has. This includes looking at how the telemarketing call center?s payment structure works and what the requirements are for someone to be hired by that group. When you know this you will get a good idea of how well the telemarketing call center takes care of its employees, which will give you a good idea of how motivated the employees are. Also, be sure to ask how long an average employee will stay with the telemarketing call center for, as it is important to work with a group that is committed to the employees and what opportunities the telemarketing call center may have for them.

In summary, by checking the price, the experience and the reputability of the employees at a telemarketing call center you can find more information as to what telemarketing call center is best for you business. When you find the right telemarketing call center you can be more successful in your work and make your business grow with more customers.

Jane Wyvern is an established freelance writer. You can find more of her writing at telemarketingtoday.com, sos-payday-loan.com and workathomehunter.com.

Work at Home, a Call Center Option

Faced with falling customer satisfaction rates and rising costs, companies in recent years have been searching for solutions. For some years, companies experimented with off-shore outsourcing, building call center sites in locations such as India, the Philippines, and Malaysia, where cheap land and labor, along with a large English-speaking population were available. However, a new alternative is visible on the horizon, which may be even more promising than outsourcing. This is the home-based agent model.

The home-based agent model is one version of a virtual call center, in which agents take or place calls from their own homes. Equipped with a browser, a PC, and a telephone, agents are ready to work. While challenges with this model exist, benefits are attractive, and an increasing number of businesses are piloting programs that use home-based agents. This article considers the major advantages and challenges involved in shifting toward this model.

Home-based agents can represent great savings for a company, if proper planning precedes the shift. Traditionally, the single largest expense in any call-handling model is agent labor. A recent report from Forrester Research Inc. reports that home-based agents accept between 5-15% lower rates of pay in exchange for the convenience of working from their own home. This trade-off is advantageous for both parties, since agents save on costs related to commute, wardrobe, and other work-related expenses. In addition, it is easier for home-based agents to accommodate split shifts. In the traditional model, agents must be scheduled for 3-4 hours at a time. This isn't the case with home-based agents. Companies can schedule home-based agents during peak hours only, saving the cost of operation during lower production periods of the day. Businesses using home-based agents also save on the costs of running a large facility full-time.

Even more promising are some early reports showing that high-quality agents perform even better when working from home! Businesses using home-based agents are not restricted by a geographical area, and can therefore recruit from a larger pool of candidates. This means they can be more selective when it comes to the quality of their workforce. This factor has no doubt contributed to the low employee turnover rate reported with home-based agents. By hiring carefully-screened, proven agents and monitoring regularly for quality and performance, businesses avoid the challenges that arise from the lack of regular meetings and physical presence.

Switching to a home-based agent model does involve some risk. Strong policies for the handling of information become necessary because of the increased exposure to external breeches. Another potential disadvantage for using home-based agents is that problems with products and services may take longer to identify, whereas a flood of incoming calls to one center can command instant attention.

Yet another difficulty encountered by companies adopting the home-based agent model is in technical support and training. If agents are dispersed over a wide area it becomes hard to provide training. More subtle tips, hints, and examples usually shared by employees in the break room are impossible for home-based agents to access. Therefore, employers should provide a way to exchange communication and provide training to their home-based employees.

Probably the factor holding back most companies from adopting a full-fledged home-based agent model is their investment in an existing traditional call center infrastructure. While new companies may consider this a viable alternative, traditional companies may do well to initiate smaller pilot programs, starting with five home-based agents and growing as their operations expand.

Rob Daniels comments on Call Centers at Call Center Depot http://www.call-center-depot.com and develops content for Call Center Tools http://www.call-center-tools.com

Call Center Headsets from Chameleon Now Available Online at Wholesale Prices

The call center industry has shown tremendous growth over the past decade, with expectations this will continue until at least 2010. Telephone Magic Inc. is a leading supplier of call center headsets and they are pleased to announce the addition of the Chameleon line of call center headsets to their product line. The strategic partnering with Chameleon has allowed Telephone Magic Inc. to introduce a technically superior line of headsets to call centers at wholesale prices.

"The best thing about Chameleon headsets and amplifiers is they can fit in virtually any call center environment" says Jeff Jackson, President of Telephone Magic. Jackson continues "Most call centers have invested heavily in Plantronics or GN Netcom equipment, but with Chameleon, we can offer them better products at better prices without any equipment compatibility issues. This is a win-win situation for us and our customers."

Chameleon headsets work with virtually any model of business telephone. The ability to adapt to various equipment environments is only one of Chameleon's strengths. Chameleon headsets are designed specifically for the demanding call center environment and include features that are costly extras on other headsets. One example of this is the use of enhanced noise cancellation microphones as standard equipment on all Chameleon headsets. Call centers are very noisy places and a headset that picks up too much background noise makes it difficult for the caller to understand or the agent to hear the conversation. By helping to reduce noise levels and improve the clarity of conversations, Chameleon headsets make it possible for call centers to increase their call throughput significantly, reducing caller frustration and improving productivity and profits.

Call center headsets from Chameleon come in three configurations - a Monaural, over the head option, a binaural over the head option and a third, convertible headset that changes from a headband to an over-the-ear style. All feature enhanced noise cancellation microphones and a 2-year warranty that covers any equipment failures with the exception of purposeful or negligent damage. The headset can also be paired with the Chameleon 3007 universal headset amplifier that works with the majority of business phones as well as other headsets from major manufacturers. Extra features like an industry-leading locking quick-release mechanism and gold-plated connectors make the Chameleon one of the best technical and economical choices for busy call centers. For more information about Chameleon headsets and call center accessories, visit http://www.telephonemagic.com/call-center-headsets/default.htm.

Telephone Magic Inc. is a supplier of business and hospitality phone systems and telephones. They carry phone equipment from major suppliers such as Nortel, Avaya / Lucent, Chameleon, Plantronics, GN Netcom and more, all at wholesale prices. Chameleon is a leading manufacturer of call center headsets and accessories. For further information on products carried or the company, visit their industry-leading telecommunications equipment website at http://www.telephonemagic.com or call 905-356-9199.

Jeff Jackson is President of Telephone Magic Inc.

Conference Calling Centers

Conference calling refers to more than two people communicating at the same time through a common phone call. At times, it may not be possible for you to personally attend a meeting. In circumstances like this, a conference-calling center could be your only hope. Conference calling centers help you attend live meetings online. They are more commonly known as real-time meetings and are possible with the help of an Internet browser. Conference calling centers provide interactive, multimedia services, online data and also have facilities for video conferencing.

Businesses are growing every day. At the same time, different types of businesses may need different types of conference calling facilities to keep connected with their customers and counterparts. To meet the growing demand, many companies function as conference calling centers. They assist in connecting different departments of an organization and offer tailor-made packages to suit the needs of clients.

Conference calling centers always keep up with the latest technology and generate extensive network functionality for their clients. They help connect you to the right person .To assist their clients overcome functional breakdowns, back up systems and self-diagnostic tools are set up to monitor the functions of their systems. These services are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

If you want to contact a conference-calling center, you just have to surf the Internet. There are many conference-calling centers available online. There are many advantages using a conference calling centers. They offer to solve the communication issues of industries with an economical approach. Conference calling centers allow businesses to keep contacts all over the world.

Conferences provides detailed information on Conferences, Advantage Conferences, Parent Teacher Conferences, Medical Conferences and more. Conferences is affiliated with Trade Show Exhibit Booths.

Online Call Center Outsourcing

If you business has large customer base then you definitely work hard to provide efficient customer service to keep them happy. Many small and large multi-national companies such as banks, insurance or electronic companies, who enjoy the large customer base, need prompt and efficient customer service to handle customers? inquiries and grievances. Customer service reflects organizational behavior and its strengths and weaknesses. Inquiries from customers should be given priority and must be attended courteously. Failure to do so may cast shadow on the market reputation of the company.

Having less time at the disposal, many multi-national companies now resort to outsourcing customer service jobs. This not only reduces their labor cost but also help in saving tremendous amount of time, which they can utilize in their core competencies. Many voice and data based customer service jobs are now being outsourced to India and other Asian countries due to abundance of cheap well-educated workforce. They are even ready to work in shifts to help U.S. and western companies. Hence, Call Centers are ultimate answer for the wide customer based companies for all their customer service problems.

Outsourcing companies invest heavily in its infrastructure and staff. Their staff are well-educated and experienced and know how to handle overseas projects. Their infrastructure is world class and ready to meet the requirements of their clients? needs. Many voice based call centers are now using automatic answering machines, which are doing most of the job for answering the overseas clients? inquiries. These machines are technically so advanced that you can program it with the most frequently asked questions. Even if caller does not find answer to question, then call will be automatically directed to operator who will assist in getting right person. Sometimes calls may also be linked to a corporate data network. You will also get assistance from the online executives who are ready to help you whenever you call them.

Call centers not only attend the calls but they also help in solving problems satisfactorily. Even difficult matters such as high-tech matters are discussed and solved on phone and by exchange of emails. In any case, your calls are not answered properly, then it will be answered by senior employee in a detail email. Now voice and data network are being interlinked, thanks to network technologies, which help providing data information to clients without hassles. On the other hand, contribution of internet has added tremendously. Call Centers employees can now have a chat with clients, exchange files do video chatting and so on.

Please visit at Outsourcing to know more about kpo business.

Scott Naxton is a freelance journalist having experience of many years writing articles and news releases on businesses like outsourcing, internet marketing, health and insurance. He is also associated with KPO and Knowledge Process Outsourcing

Call Center Software and Telemarketing Issues

Just how important is having a top-notch call center with the right software, technology and agents in place to the overall effectiveness of your company?

Imagine this scenario.

A customer has a pressing question pertaining to your business that needs to be answered immediately.

Thus, they call your business and are routed to your call center.

Now that customer is placed on hold, or in queue, for twenty minutes.

And when they finally do get to talk with one of your call center representatives, they find him or her to be ineffective. The call center rep can provide no answers to any questions, and the customer is left with a less-than-glowing opinion of your company at the moment.

This less-than-ideal scenario reveals the importance of having properly managed and highly trained Customer Relationship Management (CRM) professionals in place.

Oftentimes, the call center is the liaison between the customer and a company?s management. In other words, the call center is the place for customers and representatives to interact. Customers pose questions, and your agents provide quick answers and other valuable information. A customer enters the call uncertain of something and leaves with absolute clarity.

As this relationship clearly shows, your call center agents maintain a highly critical role in the happiness and retention of customers. With that said, it is equally or even more important for your company?s management to place a high emphasis on developing and maintaining a smooth, efficient and productive call center.

From providing your agents with the proper training to meet customer needs to equipping them with the latest technology to improve their capabilities, maintaining a call center requires a lot of homework.

With so many CRM vendors online these days, many executives have been left overwhelmed when trying to find the most productive and cost-efficient ways to improve their contact centers.

Visiting a top CRM resource like CRMXchange is a great way to avoid such confusion and to ultimately stay on top of the latest developments in the industry when aiming to equip your call center agents with the necessary tools to succeed.

From hosting a directory of top CRM vendors to providing a great collection of helpful and insightful resources, including white papers, expert columns and even Webcasts, CRMXchange offers all the information you need to know to get your call center off the ground and running or to keep it on a continual course of improvement.http://www.crmxchange.com/

Telemarketing Call Centers

Among other things, telemarketing call centers specialize in appointment setting, telesales and market research programs. Generally, progressive technologies are used in telemarketing call centers. Telemarketing call centers are highly dependable for business organizations that aim at outstanding performance. Offshore centers are ideal for inbound telemarketing call centers, whereas onshore centers are best for outbound telemarketing call centers.

The fully automated, state-of-the-art call center equipments and custom software at telemarketing call centers enable them to field thousands of calls daily with a high degree of professionalism. Telemarketing call centers with ample experience, well-mannered service and advanced technical capabilities never fail to attract customers.

These call centers are keen on using technical skills and effective expertise during inbound/outbound call processes. Telemarketing call centers help to reduce costs and increase revenues. These call centers are a leading provider of offshore business centers and business process outsourcing services.

Research shows that the turnover of telemarketers is higher than that of any other career. Many businesses establishments do not have the resources to develop their own telemarketing call centers. So they outsource this process to professional telemarketing companies. This requires less financial backing compared to creating a call centre by themselves. By outsourcing, the training process can be bypassed and you get an experienced and efficient telemarketing team immediately. These professional telemarketing companies can provide low cost services.

Telemarketing call centers are generally set up in large rooms, with workstations that include several computers, telephone sets hooked into a large telecom switch and one or more supervisor stations. Most telemarketing call centers can stand by themselves, or be linked with other centers.

Call Centers provides detailed information on Call Centers, Inbound Call Centers, Outsourcing Call Centers, Conference Call Centers and more. Call Centers is affiliated with Call Center CRM Solutions.

How To Hire Better Call Center Agents - Every Time!

Reduce Turnover Raise Productivity Lower Absenteeism

A typical Call Center employs 3 Different Types of Call Center Agents:

1. Top Performing Agents - Grade A Agents with the Right Stuff that pushes them to Succeed, and the seemingly Natural Compatibility with the Duties of the Position. You probably have a few in your Call Center Operation now and wish that you could duplicate them.

2. Adequate Agents - Grade B Agents who Perform their Duties Adequately Enough to get by but No Better.

3. Marginal Agents - Grade C Agents who have a High Level of Absenteeism, Low Productivity, Poor Performance & Poor Customer Satisfaction Ratings and who have a Negative Impact on Agent Team Morale.

We ask for a lot from todays Call Center Agent: Handle More Customers & Calls, Order Taking, Cross-Selling/UpSelling, Being Proficient with Computer & Support Systems, Being Non-Confrontational & Good-Humored, Work Well in a Team Environment, etc., etc.

As a Call Center Hiring Manager, your Challenge is Twofold:

1st How Do You Find a Sufficient Quantity of Quality Applicants for your Call Center Agent Positions

Many North American Labor Markets have reached the Saturation Point for Call Center Agent Applicants in the Local Labor Pool. In fact, 64% of all North American Call Centers now find it a Major Struggle or Somewhat of a Challenge to Find Quality Applicants for Call Center Agent Positions. And 37% of Call Center Employers are now Reporting Severe Competition for Call Center Agents by Other Employers.

2nd How Do You Weed Out the Job Candidates Who Will Burn Out Fast Because They Aren't Suited For The Work, and Identify the People With the Skills, Motivation, and Work Ethic to be Your Top Call Center Agents

While Almost Everyone can Use a Telephone, Not Everyone is Cut Out to Work Successfully as a Call Center Agent.

Hiring the Wrong Call Center Agent is the Root Cause of Turnover and Absenteeism, and is a Significant Drain on your Bottom Line, on Customer Satisfaction, and on your overall Call Center Agent Team Morale.

Today, the Average Annual Turnover Rate of Full-Time Call Center Agents is over 30%. The Turnover Rate for Part-Time Call Center Agents is Worse (84% - with 15 Month Avg. Job Tenure). And, the Average Cost to Recruit/Hire/Train a Replacement Call Center Agent ranges from US$2,600 US$15,000 (depending on the type of Agent Position).

Every Failed Hire Causes You to Throw Precious Budget Dollars Down the Drain Retraining Recruits for the Same Position. Not to Mention the Lost Sales & Service Opportunities, Poor Customer Satisfaction Ratings, Lowered Productivity and Higher Absences associated with a Poor Job Fit.

There are a Series of Best Practices Steps you can take to address these Two Issues in order to Recruit More Top Performing Call Center Agents:

STEP 1: Create an Agent Success Profile What are the Core Competencies, Personality Traits, Skill Set(s) and Demographics of your Optimal Performing Agents

Who are your Top Performing Agents

You should be Profiling your Top Performing Agents for their Gender, Diversity, Economics and Education.

Across all Call Center Industry Segments (except OutBound TeleSales and Technical Support/Help Desk), over 75% of all Top Performing Agents are Female and 66% of them are Working Mothers. Only 5% have College Degrees, and 30% of them participated in Welfare-to-Work, Unemployment Insurance or Public Assistance within 6 months prior to their Hiring.

Is there Specific Must Have Skills/Knowledge that your Top Performing Agents need

How do your Top Performing Agents Profile in Terms of Typing Speed/Accuracy, Computer Literacy, Specific Industry Knowledge/Experience, etc.

What are the Key Personality Traits of your Top Performing Agents

Are you looking for an InBound Agent (A Persuasive Communicator Motivated by Security, Work Environment, Coworkers / Team, Service and Recognition).

Are you looking for an Inside Sales Agent (A Persuasive & Persistent Communicator who is Service Oriented, yet Motivated by Sales Opportunity).

Or are you looking for an OutBound Sales Agent (An Assertive & Persistent Closer who is Motivated by Income and Conquering Challenges and who Initiates Customer Interactions).

STEP 2: Create a Recruiting Strategy Create a Recruiting Communications Plan that Identifies & Targets the Job Seekers that Meet your Agent Success Profile Criteria.

Your Recruiting Communications Plan should include:

Personal Referrals

Print Advertisements

Elementary & High Schools (Part-Time Job Opportunities for Working Mothers of Students).

Colleges, Universities, & Technical Training Programs (Part-Time Job Opportunities for Students).

Minority Organizations (Native Americans/First Nations, Gay/Lesbian, New Immigrant Support)

Online Job Postings

Virtual Communities

Job Fairs

Outplacement Programs (Transferable Skills: i.e. Laid-Off Customer Service/Sales Staff).

Unemployment Offices

Welfare-to-Work Programs

STEP 3: Deploy an In-Depth Telephone Screening Process All of your Recruiting Advertising should use as the Call-to-Action a 24x7 Automated "Employment Information Line"/Phone Screen which is then followed by a Structured Telephone Interview.

A 24x7 Automated "Employment Information Line"/Phone Screen Can Be As Simple As An Extension on your Current Voice Mail System:

Hello and Thanks for Calling youve reached the 24 Hr. Employment Information Line for the ABCXYZ Company.

At ABCXYZ Company you will have the Opportunity to Have Fun Make Good Money and provide a Service that Our Customers Really Appreciate.

Youll Earn a Guaranteed Base Wage of $__/Hr Bonuses Get Training and All the Support youll need to Succeed.

Were Conveniently located Downtown with Easy Public Transit Access and theres Plenty of Parking nearby.

To Succeed Youll need to be Confident Professional and have an Excellent Telephone Communication Style.

To Take The Next Step in Our Hiring Process at the Sound of the Tone Please Tell Us Your Name and Please Spell Your Last Name.

Also Please Give Us Your Telephone Number and the Best Time to Call You Back.

And finally Please Read Back to Us the Ad you are Responding to and Remember this is a Telephone Audition So give it Your Best Shot!

Here Comes the Beep So Give Us Your Name Your Telephone Number and Read Back the Ad.

Good Luck in your Job Hunt

Thanks for Calling.

A 24x7 Automated "Employment Information Line"/Phone Screen can also be as Sophisticated as an Interactive IVR System:

This Position requires you to Read Speak and understand English. Are you able to do so

Press 1 for YES Press 2 for NO

This Position will require you to work Non-Traditional Hours including Evenings Weekends and Holidays. Do you wish to continue this Process

Press 1 for YES Press 2 for NO

This Position is Fast-Paced Structured and Requires that you have the Ability to Multi-Task. For the Majority of your Shift you will Remain at your Workstation while Assisting Callers and Customers by Telephone. Your Performance will be Monitored and Measured to Ensure the Highest Levels of Customer Service. Do you wish to continue this Process

Press 1 for YES Press 2 for NO

You will Save Time and Money using a 24 Hr. "Employment Information Line"/"/Phone Screen by:

Reaching More Applicants Faster.
Recruiting Top Candidates Before Your Competition.
Building a Bigger Applicant Pool.
Ensuring that Applicants have a Clear Understanding of Important Job Requirements.
Assessing Applicants Ability to Follow Basic Instructions.
Conducting Voice Auditions to assess an Applicants Telephone Personality.
Reducing time spent with Unqualified Candidates.
Maximizing Applicant Buy-In and Participation in your Hiring Process.
Part of a Legally Defensible Hiring Process.

The Job Candidates who pass through your 24 Hr. "Employment Information Line"/"/Phone Screen should then be promptly followed up with using a Structured Telephone Interview.

A Structured Telephone Interview is:

Used to Further Sell The Job Opportunity.

Used as 2nd Screen of Candidates for Must Have Skills & Attributes (Start Date, Shift Availability, Wage Rate, Typing Speed, Specific Product Knowledge, Sales Ability, Security Clearances, etc.)

Used to Further Evaluate a Candidates Telephone Personality.

Where Appropriate, Used to Schedule a Candidate Visit at your Office for Going Forward with Hiring Process.

Delivered consistently, a Structured Telephone Interview is part of a Legally Defensible Hiring Process as all Candidates are asked for the same information in a uniform and consistent fashion.

STEP 4: Deploying Pre-Employment Assessment Testing to Confirm Personality Traits/Job Fit and Skill Set(s).

Candidates for Call Center Agent Positions need to have a Unique Constellation of Traits - and Specific Amounts of those Traits - in order to Successfully Complete the Job Requirements.

A Call Center Agents Success Depends Much More Upon Personality/Job Fit Factors than Product Knowledge, Past Experience or Skill Set.

Merely knowing how to react in a Customer Service Situation is Far Different from Actually Engaging in the Necessary Appropriate Behavior Consistently - and for the Long-Term.

This is what Call Center Agent Personality/Job Fit Testing Measures.

SPAS Service Personnel Appraisal System - is CD-Rom based Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software, which is Easy to Deploy, Very Cost-Effective and Highly Predictive of an Individual's Suitability for a particular Call Center Agent Position.

SPAS Weeds Out Job Candidates Who Burn Out Fast Because They Aren't Suited For The Work, and Identifies The People With The Skills, Motivation, and Work Ethic to be Top Call Center Agents.

There are Specific Versions of the SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Testing Software Validated to Test for Call Center Agent Positions such as:

InBound Customer Service
OutBound Telephone Sales (B2B) Business-to-Business
OutBound Telephone Sales (B2C) Business-to-Consumer
Inside Sales Agent
Tier 1 Technical Support/Help Desk Agent
Central Station Monitoring Operator
Telephone Collections
Telephone Answering Service Operator
Reservations/Guest Service Agent
Government Information & Referral Operator
Tele-Counselor
Mystery Shopper

Whatever Call Center Agent Personality Testing Instrument you Deploy make sure it is Validated for the Specific Call Center Agent Position you are looking to fill and Use it Consistently at the Same Point in your Hiring Process and with All Candidates.

You should also perform a Skills Test on your Job Candidates. Skills Tests are designed to Identify a Candidates Skill Level in Specific Areas such as Keyboarding, Software Literacy, Spelling, Telephone Etiquette, Listening, etc.

STEP 5: Using a Structured Face-to-Face Interview based on Core Competencies, Personality Traits and Skill Set(s).

This Style of Interview has Great Value in Call Centers because it allows you to Identify Candidates Past Behaviors and Use Them as Good Indicators of Future Performance and Behavior.

Before you conduct a Structured Face-to-Face Interview, you need to go back to your Original Success Profile and Core Requirements Document. Identify the Most Appropriate Core Competencies for the Position and Build your Questions around these Competencies.

They should be Very Specific Questions Designed to Determine How Candidates Behaved and Thought during Certain Situations.

Structured Interview Questions could include:

Tell Me About a Time When You Went Far Beyond What Could Normally Be Expected In Order To Satisfy a Customer

The Target Behavior you are looking to uncover is Customer Focus. Can this Candidate Demonstrate that they can go Above & Beyond The Call of Duty to ensure that Customer Requests are Handled Effectively and with a Customer Service Orientation

STEP 6: Having Your Candidates Experience a Job Preview Depicting Day-to-Day Activities, Responsibilities and the Environment of the Call Center.

The Goal of a Call Center Job Preview is a Final Attempt to Sell the Candidate In or Out of the Job.

You need to Paint a Realistic Picture of the Company, Call Center Environment, Hours, Flexibility, Management Style, Performance Expectations, etc.

This can be done as easily as having Candidates Sit in the Call Center for a Period of Time to Form Their Own Opinion before Accepting or Declining the Job Offer (**Check Your Local Labor Laws to See If Candidate Time Spent in a Call Center Preview by Sitting In The Call Center Qualifies as Paid Time.)

There are also Software-Based Call Center Simulators that are available to give a Candidate the Ability to Accurately Experience Call Center Work such as Referencing and Cross-Referencing Data and Dealing with a Variety of Callers and Customer Service Scenarios. (**Used as part of a Pre-Employment Process, Software-Based Call Center Simulators are Not Subject to Local Labor Law Interpretation as Paid Time.)

During the Call Center Job Preview Time, the Candidate should also be Encouraged to Speak Off the Record with Supervisors/Team Leaders and Potential Coworkers.

Done correctly, this Step will Help You Attract People who Genuinely Want to Work in your Call Center.

STEP 7: Reference Verification - (also Security Clearances / Drug Testing if required).

These Best Practices Hiring Steps are Easy to Deploy, Very Cost-Effective and Highly Predictive of an Individual's Suitability for your Call Center Agent Positions. They will allow you to Recruit, Select and Hire New Call Center Agents who fit your Employment Needs Better and Stay On The Job Longer - leading to a Call Center Agent Workgroup that has More Experience and is More Productive.

Your Individual Call Center Agent Productivity Will Go Up - Along With Your Customer Satisfaction Ratings - and Your Turnover Costs Will Go Down.

I would be Happy to Prove to you in Advance and at No Charge that these Best Practices Hiring Steps Will Work for your Call Center Team as well.

Please Don't Hesitate to Call/eMail me, or to Find Out More Click Here =>http://www.telesoftsystems.ca/64201.html

Regards.

David Filwood
Principal Consultant TeleSoft Systems
604-986-4116
david_filwood@telesoftsystems.ca www.telesoftsystems.ca

David Filwood is the Principal Consultant with TeleSoft Systems http://www.telesoftsystems.ca, a Call Center Improvement Consultancy based in Vancouver, BC.

David has 20 Plus Years of Call Center Management Consulting Experience for Small-to-Medium Sized Government, Non-Profit and Diversified Business Call Centers.

David has been featured in Profit Magazine, TeleProfessional, Connections, Call Center Times, InQueue and The CBC as a Call Center Subject Matter Expert.

David has also been a Featured Speaker at Call Center Industry Conferences such as The Association of Teleservices International (ATSI), The Help Desk Institute (HDI), The Canadian Call Management Association (CAM-X), The Canadian Security Association (CANASA), and The Southern California Nortel Users Association (INNMUG).

David Filwood also sits on the Advisory Board of The National Association of Call Centers (NACC).

How To Hire Better Call Center Agents Every Time!
2006 TeleSoft Systems http://www.telesoftsystems.ca

Call Center Sales Training

Sales communication is the key to call center sales, carried out largely through oral and written communication. The sales manager lets his sales people know what they are expected to achieve, how they are performing, how they can improve and perform better. The manager also keeps them informed of what is happening in the company- to the products, production, distribution, promotion and profitability. In turn, a salesperson keeps the sales manager informed of what is happening in the market, and how the sales and the marketing programs of the firm are progressing. Communication in the sales field is far more complex than in other fields because supervision by the boss is limited.

Sales communication helps resolve sales conflicts. In actual practice, several types of conflicts may arise in a sales organization concerning roles and conflicts between salesmen and dealers and between one salesman and another. All conflicts become less pronounced with good sales communication. To ensure good sales communication, the sales executive must have an insight into problems and be able to grasp the real meaning of what is said and done. Effective sales communication should involve a good mixture of face-to-face communication with the sale force as well as written sales reports.

Sales reports are a particularly useful tool in call center sales training. They are very essential for sales monitoring, evaluation and control. That is why reporting becomes an important part of a salesperson's job and utilization of sales reports becomes an important part of the sales executive's job. A variety of reports are often called for from salespeople. Together they should provide a total picture of sales made, stock levels with warehouses and dealers, promotional effectiveness, customer behavior trends and other market intelligence.

Sales Training provides detailed information on Sales Training, Sales Training Programs, Sales Management Training, Real Estate Sales Training and more. Sales Training is affiliated with Sales Force Automation Solutions.