How to Manage a Call Centre
Previously, call centers have been viewed as a cheap alternative for customer problem resolution, but they have quickly transformed to effective service delivery channels. Substantial literature has been written on the subject of customer service, but the management of call centre has been almost overlooked (Bennington et al, 2000, p.163).
Team and culture are significant in a call centre. The culture determines values and beliefs in an organization (Sharp, 2003, p.67). Team culture in a call centre sets a specific way of accomplishing tasks. It has been noted that establishing a team culture enables the workers to run affairs smoothly in the stressful and competing environment of a call centre. Team cultures are founded on workflows. The management of call centre should take time to understand problems faced by the workers, and together with the workers find a systematic way of addressing these problems. Over time, the management will discover workflows that suit the needs of that particular call centre. In ensuring motivation among the workers, managers should reward and recognize workers who promote the team culture.
Conflicts lead to the most stressful situations in the workplace. A call centre is no exception for conflicts since it consists of multiple workers who have a set of different beliefs, attitudes, and principles (Zaibak, 2014). Conflicts take different forms in a workplace; it might be between co-workers, an employee with a complaint or between the worker and the management. Conflicts in a call centre should be managed early because it saves time, money, and avoids stress. In the dealing with conflict, the manager should take time to listen to both parties, provide a positive attitude, ask aggrieved parties to propose a solution, and avoid office politics.
Call Centre’s should adopt strategies that ensure their growth. A call centre should always view the system from the customer’s perspective, design their work to meet the market needs, encourage workflow through the systems, guarantee all engagements are value adding, and integrate decision making into the work (Lang, 2013).
Key performance indicators are measurements which help an organization measure their performance in achieving their strategic targets. The issues dealt with in a call centre are the ultimate performance indicator. In ensuring workers increase the number of issues they handle, call centre should establish systems that allow workers to answer a wide range of queries accurately and quickly (Schelmetic, 2014). The answering capability should be flexible and responsive. In regard to reducing the time taken in dealing with a call, an organization should incorporate the data taken at the call centre to its products and services (Anton, 2000, p.126). Additionally, call scripts should be designed in such a way they guide an employee in introductory remarks rather than directing the whole conversation.
Customer satisfaction in a call centre is achieved when problems are solved quickly and in a timely manner. The organization should ensure that it employs workers who are interested in providing a great customer experience and not call takers only (Bennington et al, 2000, p.169). A rewarding program for employees who are customer focused will highly motivate employees in providing this experience.
A process efficient call centre adopts a system that is easy to deal with for employees. Internal processes can be made easier through improving internal communication, which includes horizontal and vertical communication (Anton, 2000, p. 128). Employees should be involved in decision making processes and in solving problems.
In a call centre there is no specific formula in regard to management, but a certain culture that ensures efficient service delivery is introduced.
Reference List
Anton, J. 2000. The past, present and future of customer access centers. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 11(2), 120-130.
Bennington, L., Cummane, J., & Conn, P. 2000. Customer satisfaction and call centers: an Australian study. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 11(2), 162- 173.
Lang, P., 2013. What's Next for the Contact Center?. [online] CRM Magazine. Available at: <http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/Web-Exclusives/Viewpoints/Whats-Next- for-the-Contact-Center-87837.aspx> [Accessed 19 Apr. 2014].
Sharp, D., 2003. Call Center operation. 1st ed. Amsterdam: Digital Press.
Schelmetic, T., 2014. Top Trends for the Contact Center in 2014. [online] Tmcnet.com. Available at: <http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/call-center- management/articles/361659-top-trends-the-contact-center-2014.htm> [Accessed 19 Apr. 2014].
Zaibak, O., 2013. Top 10 Call Center Trends for 2014 | VoiceTrust Blog. [online] VoiceTrust. Available at: <http://www.voicetrust.com/blog/top-10-call-center-trends- 2014/> [Accessed 19 Apr. 2014].
