How to Be the Best Call Center Manager
Caller satisfaction and satisfied employees may seem irreconcilable, but the best call center managers balance these goals with skill. Becoming a premium manager requires adequate training, the ability to solve problems quickly and the willingness to face tough challenges. If you're willing to work hard and communicate your desire to succeed with others, you'll make an excellent candidate for reaching the top of the management ladder. Measuring your progress against reliable managerial examples will help inspire you throughout your management career.
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Instructions
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Motivating Yourself
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Ask for a performance review from your boss. Listen to his ideas for excellence. Don't spend time arguing with your reviewer about your job performance. Take his observations to heart and begin immediately tackling weak areas in your management style.
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2
Read books on call center management, such as "Call Center Management on Fast Forward" by Brad Cleveland or "Bottom-Line Call Center Management" by David L. Butler. Ask your manager if he recommends any books, CDs or DVDs to improve your skills.
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3
Create immediate and long-term goals you'd like to achieve at your call center. Share these goals with your call team and explain your vision for improving the workplace.
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4
Listen to yourself as you speak to workers and customers. Avoid making negative statements that begin with, "You should never..." or "Why don't you ever..." Use positive language that doesn't demean your staff or clients.
Handling Customers
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5
Review recent call data to determine the number of calls answered regularly, as well as the duration of the calls. Purdue University’s “Operational Determinants of Caller Satisfaction in the Call Center” study suggests that for optimum customer satisfaction, managers should monitor queue time, abandonment rate and call block percentage.
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Provide employees with the opportunity to share and implement constructive ideas. Ask for input on current computer systems and order processing.
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Give incentives to employees that meet or exceed sales goals. Celebrate the achievers' successes with lots of recognition in the company newsletter and during meetings.
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8
Assess the office equipment and verify that everything is working properly. Employees don't like working with broken tools. Replace software and hardware to keep production high.
Helping Customers
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Make yourself available to handle tough clients. Remain personable while troubleshooting issues. Be helpful and lead clients through the process to get the desired results.
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Provide customers with a way to leave feedback concerning their call center experiences. This could be an email or voicemail monitored by management only. Deal with problems as they arise and give kudos when deserved.
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Represent the customer by taking large issues to senior management. If a problem continues to appear, it’s worth examining. Tell the customer the steps you've taken to improve his experience.
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Tips & Warnings
Enroll in a mentoring program or ask a manager you respect to coach you.
Be patient and work on you managerial skills, tackling one area at a time.
References
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