On a daily basis, the vast majority of households up and down the country will receive at least one nuisance telephone call. Regardless of whether they are trying to sell you something, access your computer, or steal bank account details, most of us will put the receiver down within a couple of seconds.
However, authentic call centres that genuinely want to be of assistance can't help but get a bad reputation, even if their intentions are honest and upstanding. This makes things incredibly difficult for call centre representatives as well as the organisations reliant on this sales and marketing technique.
Employees must carry on regardless in spite of having the phone constantly slammed down on them, which is usually accompanied by an irate rant from the disgruntled caller. Businesses must also keep motivation and spirit levels high in order to achieve call centre prosperity.
But in the face of these ongoing obstacles and continual challenges, call centres aren't actually as bad as you think. For employees, there are several reasons why would choose to work in a call centre environment, whereas businesses can reap various rewards from choosing to pursue this practice.
In call centres where employees are picking up the phone to answer questions and solve problems, the sense of self-satisfaction is immense. In several cases, these members of staff are providing an essential service and making a difference to the lives of customers on a daily basis.
Although this often requires a lot of training on a specific subject, it is usually well worthwhile, as every call centre representative will tell you, nothing can beat the thoroughly rewarding experience of making someone's day.
Then again, call centre staff tasked with selling can regularly bask in the achievement of closing a big deal. If you want a career that provides immediate gratification and impressive remuneration, it is difficult to look past telemarketing.
Once more, sales staff are bound to receive lots of training on how to encourage and persuade prospects to take action. Also, in this kind of working environment, promotions are never too far away either.
With every other member of staff in exactly the same boat, you can rest assured that camaraderie with colleagues will never be far away in a call centre. Seeing as you need to possess a certain kind of personality to work in a call centre, chances are you will make likeminded friends easily too.
To keep spirits high, call centres often have fancy dress days or themed events to keep staff engaged and interested. It is difficult to feel alienated or alone in this kind of environment, which has become a prevalent problem in certain global organisations.
But alongside the laughs and hilarity, you are also guaranteed to receive lots of support too. After a particularly bad call, you can turn to your next-door neighbour for some much needed comfort or advice.
There will also be your supervisors and managers on hand to provide experience and guidance whenever it is required. Chances are they were once in your position and can offer up examples of how they dealt with certain situations.
When a customer calls your company with a question that needs answering or a problem that needs solving, they will want a professional and proficient person to be on the end of the phone.
However, businesses that do not make use of call centres may struggle to provide this expected level of confidence and competency. In addition to losing out on potential revenue, the caller may pass on their bad experience to friends and family members, causing even more damage to the organisation's reputation.
But with a team of expert and adept call centre staff answering customer correspondence, you business will be able to provide added value and greater expertise to each and every interaction.
Along with keeping hold of existing clientele and building up a loyal following, this commitment to customer service will also do wonders for the company's name. After all, word of mouth is arguably the most powerful form of publicity there is and something you can only achieve through positive customer experiences.
Although a lot can be said for having courteous yet capable call centre staff on hand to deal with customer questions and complaints, every business still needs to generate enough profit to survive and thrive.
Thankfully, this is a distinct possibility if you train additional members of call centre staff to close more deals and increase bottom-line conversions. The art of selling on the phone can be a difficult one to master, but through the correct coaching and guidance, it is well within the reach of any organisation.
Together with comprehensive sales technique training, there is also an abundance of other ways to improve performance in a call centre. This includes incentivising staff to reach monthly targets and rotating responsibilities to avoid frustration or impartiality from setting in.
Create a call centre environment that is all about achieving goals, and overall workplace productivity is bound to increase. Once again, this comes back to staff being part of a collaborative environment, which encourages individuals to keep on performing but also offers support when the going gets tough.
So, when you take into account the fact that call centres can be incredibly fun yet supportive places where camaraderie with colleagues and lofty careers goals are well within anyone's reach, they become a much more lucrative option for employees.
At the same time, businesses can benefit from better reputations and increased profits if call centre staff are on hand to provide added value, greater expertise, and more bottom-line conversions.