Question: What kind of questions do you think we should be asking at exit interviews to find out why staff leave our call centre? Our attrition rate is just under 30%, and while I know other call centres have higher churn than that, I think it’s important to understand where we’re going wrong.

What I don’t want is to ask the kind of questions that will encourage leavers to answer with bog-standard answers - like: “I really enjoyed my time here, but I wanted a new challenge”. Can you therefore recommend a line of questioning that will get straight answers without intimidating people at the same time? (Read more…)

Question: I know this might not be the kind of thing you hear too often, but I really enjoy working in my job as a team leader and want to make a career for myself in call centres. (Read more…)

Question: I’ve recently been promoted in my company and, as part of my new role, have been asked to come up with some low-cost ‘quick wins’ to improve our customer experience.

My boss has asked me to produce two or three simple ideas that can be implemented within a month or so, but I’m struggling. Can you recommend any easy-to-implement tips? Or would I be better off spending my time trying to formulate a more long-term strategy around customer experience? (Read more…)

Question: I work as a manager for an outbound call centre. My career has progressed through different industries, but I have always been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to manage a broad spectrum of people and their associated personality types. I am a fairly progressive manager and subscribe to a holistic management style as advocated by coaches like Tony Robbins, John Maxwell, Jim Meisenheimer and the like. Here is the thorn in my side - being an over-authoritative, inflexible ’slave driver’ continually yields better sales results than a motivating, caring, dynamic approach does. I am growing more disillusioned by the day. The ‘nice’ approach yields better attrition rates and creates a far more pleasant environment, but poorer sales figures. Are all the management gurus talking rubbish? (Read more…)

Question: I have recently moved into senior management and have been tasked with finding an outsourcer to undertake some of the overflow work we’re expecting from an imminent radio and newspaper advertising campaign. Because it’s only likely to be a short-term contract, I’m worried that the company I select might not be as focused on customer service as we are. How can I make sure they are as committed to our customers as we are? (Read more…)

Question: We want to introduce some innovative incentive schemes in to our outbound call centre - something a little different to awarding High Street Gift Vouchers or 50 in cash to staff with the highest number of sales in any given month. Can you recommend any ideas? (Read more…)

Question:I have just set up a virtual call centre and am keen to invest in Voice over IP (VoIP) technology. There are so many systems out there and I’m worried about being given a whole bunch of sales pitches if I talk to the vendors. Does anyone have any ideas on how I best sift through the array of products currently available and arrive at a single piece of kit? I’m working to a budget so price is obviously important. However, I also want to make sure I get the best combination of technologies for my money. (Read more…)

Question: Can you recommend any games I can use in the call centre that will motivate my agents? Ideally, I’m looking for something where the outcomes can be used as part of our rewards scheme. (Read more…)

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