A Merry Christmas to all!
December 17, 2009
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read our blogs this year. We will be back in the New Year with more discussion topics. A special thanks to the people who commented on any of the articles published. Call centres and telemarketing agencies are vibrant places where many a subject gets discussed so we look forward to discussing more of these topics in the New Year!
So a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year for 2010.
Call centre’s – No longer a stepping stone career.
December 15, 2009
Call centre work used to be a popular choice for students doing the job to either support themselves during the academic year or during the summer holidays or indeed both. Nowadays more and more people are looking to call centre’s and telemarketing agencies for long term careers.
The reasons given for this are varied. Some see this kind of work as being a clear career path. They know what they have to do to advance upwards on the ladder and this appeals to them. Another reason given for wanting to work in contact centres is that nowadays a lot of them offer flexible hours and adopt a policy of work life balance.
Whatever the reason it seems call centre and telemarketing work is the job to be in.
Employee retention – How to keep your staff
December 10, 2009
Employee retention in call centre’s and telemarketing agencies has always been a talking point. Training people up can be a costly and time consuming business. There are many suggestions on how to keep you well trained and competent staff here is a few:
1.Flexible Shifts. Giving new staff some control of the hours they want to work seems to be a popular suggestion for staff longevity.
2.Keep the job varied. This gives staff the chance to experience different challenges in their working day. Employees like to feel they are valued and giving them different jobs to do they become more committed to the organisation.
3.Employ the right people in the first place!
Call Scripts versus Call Structures?
December 9, 2009
Can the person on the other end of the phone tell if you are reading from a script?
The answer to this is no if it is done in the right way. Old style scripting does show in the voice of the person especially if they are asking standard questions and have been doing so all day. “Questions like can I speak to the head of the household?” give the game away straight away.
Rather than call scripts more and more call centre’s and telemarketing agencies are using call structures. These are more of a conversation framework than a script. These work well as no two conversations are exactly the same in the real world.
Call scripts versus call structures – In my book a call structures win hands down.
Call Centre Music on hold.
December 7, 2009
Does your call centre or telemarketing agency play music for people who are waiting on hold? Research shows that people are more likely to stay on the line if music is played. Around about 50% of people who would stay on the line said they would like to listen to chilled out relaxing music with 43% preferring to listen to some more upbeat.
This still does not deter from the fact that the other 50% would rather not stay on the line or would prefer to have their calls dealt with.
The key point here is all places of business have busy periods and it is just not possible to be able to answer every call straight away. The overall impression is music works. Carry on spinning the tracks!