Call Center Training in the US

Attend in-person call center training or via the Web.

There is a variety of call center training offered by vendors across the United States for agents, supervisors and call center executives. Training subjects include customer service, sales, operations, technology, leadership, call monitoring, hiring, training, measurements and benchmarking. Most training vendors offer standard or customized classes, delivered in person or virtually via Web or e-learning technology.

COPC Inc.

One of the most well-known call center training organizations is the Customer Operations Performance Center Inc. (COPC Inc.), based in Austin, Texas. COPC Inc. is known for its COPC® Family of Standards, described on its website as "one of the most prestigious and rigorous measurement systems in the call center industry." Its two-week public training courses are "global best practices for customer service providers (CSP)." They also offer dedicated, on-site training programs, customized for an organization's unique needs. Since 1996, COPC has provided services to more than 1,000 organizations in 50 countries.

Call Center Learning Institute

The Call Center Learning Institute, based in Belgrade, Montana, offers more than 30 courses for agents and managers, and has served more than 5,000 companies worldwide. Agent training topics include how to deal with difficult customers and e-mail composition skills. It segments call center manager training into two categories: operations management and people management. Class topics include leadership and strategy, voice response unit scripting, coaching call quality and effective team building. The Call Center Learning Institute also offers "train the trainer" workshops.

Call Center Training Solutions

Call Center Training Solutions, based in Plantation, Florida, specializes in call center sales and floor management training. It offers four courses, titled "Inbound telephone mastery," "Outbound telephone mastery," "Call center floor management" and "Superior service." Per its website, what differentiates its training from the competition is its focus on "call dialogue" and equipping call center agents with techniques to quickly build rapport and influence a sale, within the brief inbound call time frame. Call Center Training Solutions provides on-site instruction and customizes the training content based on individual business needs. Businesses may also purchase site licenses, which allow them to pay for the program once, then use the content forever within their organization.

ICMI

The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has provided call center training to more than 100,000 call center professionals worldwide. It segments training into four tracks: people, strategy, operations and technology. Students can choose from classroom, virtual classroom and e-learning delivery. Its featured courses are "Essential skills and knowledge for effective contact center management," "Monitoring and coaching for improved contact center performance," "Essential principles of people management," "The workforce management boot camp" and "Contact center metrics: measuring and reporting."

RCCSP

The Resource Center for Customer Service Professionals (RCCSP), located in Western Springs, Illinois, describes itself as "one-stop shopping for call center, help desk, support center, ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library), telecom and customer service management training courses." Instead of using its own employees, RCCSP created an alliance of call center training providers from across the United States. It offers off-site, monthly courses, covering popular call center topics, in major cities across the United States.

References

• COPC: Training
• Call Center Learning Institute: Courses for Call Center Managers
• Call Center Training Solutions: Courses
• International Customer Management Institute: Training
• The Resource Center: Call Center Training and Certification Courses by Location