I’m supervisor of a call center in telephone company and recently I’m feeling that some of my employees (Read more…)

Question: We run an outbound call centre that contacts prospective customers to switch their spend from their current providers to our company. At present the sales advisors are paid a salary on or just above the marketplace value, with a commission structure that pays from first sale. This then has the benefit for all staff that they are paid a commission whether they deliver target or not. (Read more…)

Question:  I am a call centre customer and the world’s worst phone rager.   Most of the time my anger is justified but I just don’t know how to stay calm on the phone.  Whilst you advise call centre operators how to deal with “difficult people” like myself - (away from the phone I am described as very laid back)  I would like advice from my perspective. Do you have any ideas please ? (Read more…)

Question: I recently took over a bureau with 20 agents and a key client with high service levels agreements (SLAs).

The directors keep winning more and more business, resulting in the degradation of these key KPIs and I am getting the blame. I only have a small team and we have been at full stretch.

Help - I need advice on how to tackle them. (Read more…)

Question: Does anyone know if there any legal requirements about how long you must hold a recorded call for? Do you have any guidelines as to how long you hold your own recordings?

Read on to find out the answer…… (Read more…)

Question: I’m an advisor working in a contact centre, and I’m getting increasingly concerned about the poor level of staff/manager interaction that exists in my firm as it goes through a considerable revamp. (Read more…)

Question: How does one deal with an agent whose personality has changed dramatically over the past two months?

One of my team has been suffering a great deal of stress recently at home, and it’s having a marked effect on her work - particularly on the way she deals with customers. (Read more…)

Question: Do duvet days work?

We’re having a problem with absence in our contact centre. It’s not long-term sickness that’s the issue - rather people who call in sick for the day an hour or half an hour before their shift is due to start. (Read more…)

Question: What kind of questions should I ask when interviewing potential agents for an inbound sales call centre environment? Bearing in mind that I’m trying to find people who are sales oriented, should I focus on their sales technique or also try to ascertain their general customer service skills? Is there any way of bringing these two together in a simple set of open-ended questions? And what kind of responses should I look for from ideal candidates? (Read more…)

Question: I am a call centre operator answering repetitive direct inquiries calls. I sometimes lose my concentration and find it hard to stay focused! I would appreciate it greatly if you could please give me some advice or some techniques that could remedy my problem. (Read more…)