I encourage my staff to build rapport with callers, rather than following a script.

Instead of just simply entering details into the computer we use the opportunity to make the call into a conversation.

For example a caller may look for a quote for travel insurance. We would normally ask “Where are you travelling to?”

Rather than simply plugging the details into the computer we encourage our agents to build rapport with caller and something like “I bet that it would be lovely at this time of year” or “I’ve heard that it’s a great place to go to”. The caller has a bit of a chance to build the conversation.

Talk times have not increased very much but our conversion rates have improved.

- Amy Rose, Call Centre Manager at CPLTD

Great people are at the heart of every good call centre, but effective processes are the real brains of the operation.

Having fantastic people is only half the battle; making sure they can satisfy every customer’s enquiry by having the right information at the right time and in the right place is the only way to achieve real customer service.

- Paul White, chief executive officer at the outsourcer Message Pad
Outsourcing telemarketing is not a quick fix solution.

Understand that telemarketing is an ongoing process which requires time and patience. Don’t expect massive returns in short spaces of time.
It may sound obvious, but here’s something that many contact centres often overlook when hiring new staff. A candidate may come across extremely well in a face-to-face briefing, but it is also vital to carry out a ‘telephone interview’ too.

- Dino Forte, director at Converso Contact Centres
You don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel.

Most problems have been experienced by other team leaders, call centre managers and trainers, and they will have tried to solve them in different ways with varying success. Tapping in to this knowledge will save you a lot of time and heartache.

There are lots of ways to get the answers. You need to read the trade magazines and, of course, Call Centre Helper. But also take every possible opportunity to meet people from other call centres and visit their sites.

This can be done through industry organisations such as the CCA, CCMA and PPF, but also just through chatting to people sitting near to you at conference sessions at Call Centre Expo. You can also use technology user groups or get your suppliers to make the necessary introductions. Finally, there are a surprising number of blogs and forums, such as Call Centre Voice, where operational questions can be posed and technical forums such as Tek-tips for the infuriating switch configurations.

- Paul Miller, contact centre director at Prolog Connect
Quality is key.

As soon as quality is gone, productivity diminishes and once-achievable goals become far from close.

Quality monitoring and score marking is imperative. Keep on top of it and you have an easy job, people perform and your customers remain happy. Let it slip and productivity will go down and you risk losing customers.

- Nathan Winstanley, floor manager at Clearanswer Call Centres
I have discovered that the word I use the most in a day is ‘hello’.

People do not take long enough to ponder the value and potential of this simple word, especially in the work environment. Some senior and middle management feel that they are above this word. They spend hours looking for motivational games when a simple ‘hello’ would kick-start the day and make the employee more receptive to suggestions.

Ignoring a colleague or not responding to their ‘hello’ is one of the most demotivational factors in their working day. The worry and fret that this causes - due to the fact they feel they may have done something wrong, or that they spend their day telling others about the rudeness they have received - does not contribute towards reducing absenteeism, attrition and creating motivation.

If you are one of those who work in a call centre environment and cannot say ‘hello’ is the word you use most in a day, please sit back and ask yourself why. ‘Hello’ instils value and motivation in to anyone’s day.

- Sherie Beazley, learning and development trainer at the outsourcer TSC
Other top tips from call centre professionals:

Accept the fact that no-one really wants to be a call centre agent. A mutual understanding that this is not their first choice career will produce agents that respect your choice as a manager to further yourself in this profession while acknowledging that, while they will always do their absolute best for you, they are not looking at this as a career. This will produce much better results than trying to force industry wide taught motivational skills down their throats.

- Dean Hurst, operations director at RSVP
When setting tasks, objectives or targets for staff or implementing change, always hold workshops and, wherever possible, work to get staff buy in to the process. If staff feel at the very least their voice has been heard then they are more inclined to accept the change rather than resist what they would normally see as Managers enforcing working practices upon them.

- Anna Leahey
Prioritise quality over quantity in generating leads, and ensure that efforts are not being wasted. A simple re-evaluation of procedures and the introduction of third party tracking will result in significant advances and better efficiency within the sales department, and fewer, if any, leads being lost in processes.

- Jamie Vaughan, md at V2 Communications
Understand the needs of the customer and match the benefits of your service to those needs rather than ‘feature spraying’ and hoping some of it has some relevance to the customer.

- Stephen Jacobs, general manager at DirectExcellence
“Although there is a widespread belief that by running outbound campaigns using answer machine detection (AMD) functionality you will improve overall productivity, ask yourself: what are the REAL results? Yes, on paper it may increase the number of potential conversations with existing or potential customers, but is it necessarily going to lead to a higher conversion or retention rate?

Our recent experience with contact centres that have decided to turn off AMD has actually shown an overall increase in new customers and brand loyalty. Why not trial it for yourselves, work with a few outbound campaigns without AMD and compare the difference? You may just find that you need to re-assess the metrics that are used for measuring success.

It’s no longer about the number of connects made, but how many calls leave the customer with a positive experience. Eliminating the exasperating delays caused by AMD could be the first step to focusing on the quality not the quantity of calls.”

Catherine Pearce, client services manager at Amcat