The Ins and Outs of Working in a Call Center

Call centers have become a common place of work for many Americans, after all for every medium to large company there has to be a group of people to handle customer compliments, complaints, tech support, and over all service coordinating. This job is not as easy as it is made out to be, employees of call centers do not just sit and chat on the phone for eight hours or more a day. Call center work can put a heavy strain on you both mentally and emotionally. In this article I'm going to go behind scenes of the call center world to explain how this jumble of madness manages to function and explain a few tried and true tips of the call center pros.

Hardware:
Call center hardware is usually pretty standard no matter which call center you go to. Typically this will be a headset, which is a lot like head phones only it has a microphone so that you can hear your customer as well as respond to them. A telephone, which is usually ran by voip (voice over internet protocol), this technology allows for easy monitoring and quality assurance of all incoming and outgoing calls as well statistical information about the representatives performance. Lastly a computer, usually a terminal much like the one you have at home, it houses the programs you can use to take information from the customer or deliver it to them.

Infrastructure:
The call center infrastructure is fairly simple and can best be described as a tree. At the center of the tree you have the main manager which represents the trunk. Each branch of the tree is governed by a team lead. The team lead oversees the customer service representatives or the leaves on each branch. Information is typically supplied through the manager to the team leads who then disperse it among the customer service representatives. Each team of customer service representatives (CSR) are a lot like a family, when a single CSR needs help a team lead is not always available to offer assistance with the call. This is when they have to use their resources at hand and use the wealth of knowledge that surrounds them. There is a fairly good chance that at least one of the other CSRs has dealt with the same issue that this call might be having and can give the needed information to resolve the issue in a timely manner.

Call types:
There are two main types of calls, incoming and outgoing. Incoming calls are when the customer calls into the center and outgoing are when the center contacts the customer. These two types can be divided into customer service, customer retention, and technical. The customer service calls cover a wide variety of interactions; this can be anything from account and service information to ordering new services. They also get the brunt of all customer compliments and complaints. Customer retention is the type that tries to keep a customer from canceling their current services. Reinforcing the product value and sometimes buying their loyalty with some discounted or free services usually does this. Technical calls usually have little to do with selling a product, but more supporting a product that the customer has already bought. This call type can deal with software, hardware, and any other anomaly that might pertain to the functionality of the product.

Call Flow:
The typical call has three parts, the greeting, interaction, and closure. The greeting usually consists of thanking them for calling your company, giving them your name, and asking what you can do for them. Interaction is the core contents of the call or the issue. Closure is very important; this is where you thank the customer for their time. After that the call can go one of two ways depending on how your personal CSR stats are scored. If your stats are graded by how many issues you have dealt with the call should be ended by asking if there is anything else you can do for the customer. If your stats are graded by the number of calls you do then each call should be ended with a confirmation that you have you given the info they needed and bid them a good day. It is a nearly automated response when you do this for them to thank you and disconnect instead of thinking of other issues that may be able to wait for another time. This type of closer usually applies more to the technical calls.

Customers:
Customers have no specific type, there is no telling if when you make or receive a call if they will be happy or sad, angry or good tempered. As different as all customers can be they all need your help with one thing, to receive or give information. There are many ways to accomplish this but most require techniques that CSRs usually only pick up from experience. One of the firsts is "Association" this is how the customer relates to you. When you first get in contact with a customer they view you as the voice of the company you work for. This can cause all sorts of issues with how you can interact with them, as long as they see you as the company the customer will be quick to anger, they will not hold back when frustrated, and are usually suspicious of everything that you might say. The easiest way to disassociate yourself from the company is your very own personality. Let some of yourself tell the customer that you too are a consumer with thoughts and opinions of your own. It also helps a lot to try and get the customer to remember your name, once they know your name you are almost always identified as individual and not the company.

Angry and upset customers are a norm for just about any call center. They can be very tricky to deal with because they are already on guard and often times they have already planned out their verbal battle with you. The process to deal with them is called "de-escalation" this is the art of acknowledging the customers concerns through the process of association then calming them to a point where they are willing to work with you to resolve the issue that has upset them. If a customer calls and right off they are screaming at you, it is best to just let them get it out of their system. Continue to listen to their rant and eventually they will tire themselves out to where they will be more complacent. Once they reach this state it is ok to respond with your sympathies to their issue and in most cases let them know you would feel the same way. This has already caught them off guard as they appear to be getting no resistance. It is very important to refrain from negative words like can't, cannot, won't, and will not whenever possible. Negative words seem like resistance that will put them back on their guard and make them difficult to deal with again. If the customer makes an unreasonable demand the best way to handle it is acknowledge you are unable to complete the request, but then follow directly with what you can do to help them. Once you have laid out the customers options they will usually express which one they would most like. Keep in mind that not all cases will end with the customer being completely satisfied but more often then not they will express their gratitude for your patience and understanding, this is where most complimentary calls to your supervisor come from. A lot of call centers give out rewards to their CSRs for receiving a directly compliment.

Going Home:
When the time comes to go home it can sometimes be difficult to leave work at work. During the day you have been insulted, threatened, and called every name in the book. Not only were these aimed at you, but also often times they don't spare your family either. Although you know to try and not take these comments personally they don't always roll off your back so easily, learning to relieve stress is crucial for a phone job. Without the release of stress these unhappy feelings can cause a state of restlessness, which can lead to work nightmares. There is nothing worse than coming home from work and going to sleep only to dream that you are back at work and not getting paid for it. If that happens you will fall asleep exhausted, wake up exhausted and the cycle will repeat until you eventually become physically ill. There are three main ways that seem to work the best when it comes to vanquishing stress. Exercising helps to take your mind away from work and relieve pent up frustration, about ten minutes with a punching bag works wonders. Hobbies are another way to unwind, doing something that you enjoy such as video games, reading, or arts and crafts help you feel like you are accomplishing something and not just working day to day. Last of all conventional relaxation, this includes things like a hot bath or a massage from a spouse. If you can manage to do all of these things you will be ready for your next day of work and see amazing results in your overall productivity.

This article is just a loose guide to how call centers work and how to succeed in them. Each call center can be vastly different, but many of the techniques can be adapted to fit most of them. If you work in a call center and would like to start using some of these tactics be sure to consult your direct supervisor and refer them to this article to avoid any possible conflicts.