Take five - Peter Gale

Each month, Call Centre Helper talks on your behalf to a range of individuals from the world’s contact centres to find out how they believe the industry has changed and what advice they have for those entering it for the first time. This issue, we’ve interviewed Peter Gale, UK manager at Data Base Factory UK (DBF UK)

How have call centres changed since you started working in the industry?

Perhaps most significant is that the stock of the agent has risen considerably. By this I mean that many more decisions in the call centre are taken with the agent in mind - from the ergonomics of the office, to the system (customer relationship management application), to the involvement with the client (as an outsourcer).

The outbound side of the industry has also changed considerably, particularly telesales, which now needs a lot more thought.

What do you think call centres will be like in ten years’ time? (related (keywords: five)

I do not think that they will change significantly in terms of their look and feel over this period. However, I expect that the focus will be on qualitative more than quantitative measures, which tend to be the key performance indicators (KPIs) that drive call centres today. I also don’t expect that there will any outbound cold calling.

What is the best aspect of your job?

Without doubt the best aspect is working with a great team of people. Every day is different, but the real sense of team spirit in a call centre is unlike any other industry I have been in. The immediacy of it is also fun and challenging.

Based on your own experience, what advice would you give to those entering the workplace for the first time?

Everything that you do should be customer centric. Don’t get too bogged down by the numbers of call centre reporting. If you are in a position of senior management, get on the phones yourself in order to get a real sense of what the issues are. And enjoy it. All too often call centres are driven by the KPIs, but there needs to be a sense of fun as well.

What book or professional course would you recommend to others?

I would recommend the “Client Guide to Outsourcing” that the DMA is about to publish. It covers all of the basic elements of what good call centres should do in terms of regulatory and legal requirements, but also goes to the next stage and discusses genuine best practice. We all must take this approach now to safeguard the future of our industry.