Devoted to the call center industry, the agents on the phones, and their managers

I don’t understand why a building would even allow their office space to be leased by many call centers and not even plan or consider elevator traffic.  If I were to do this, I’m sure to tell my architect to think whether three elevators are enough to handle the volume of people wanting to go up (or down) to their office.

From all the sites we have, there is one that always suffers from tardiness and over breaks.  This is now the oldest excuse in the book, but considered as valid because it is true.  Managers are late for their next conference call or meeting because of the same reason.  Agents go down to eat their lunch but only have 30 minutes and they get all stressed and are rushing all the time because they know it’s going to take them half of their break time just to go to the restaurant for fast food.  Talk about affecting someone else’s health by eating processed food all the time.

If you are looking for your next location, do check with the building administration and ask whether they can handle the volume and traffic of call center personnel.  Perhaps it is also good to show your operating hours to them.  Best of all, test and time it.

Call simulations or doing mock calls are often done during recruitment and training. It is an effective way of helping agents get more comfortable and ready for a live call.  This is why the environment for them to do the simulation is important.  You would all agree that this is the case, but reality doesn’t show proof of that.

Several contact centers always prioritize the operations floor, as this is tied to revenue.  One thing missing is an area where they can do mock calls.  In the absence of such, they are then done in complete view of other employees or other trainees.

This is not recommended because you raise their anxiety level and they feel more nervous than ever.  If this is for assessment purposes or even for practice, you will not be able to see their true abilities when handling a call.  Eventually, they will fail.

Make sure there is a small room that simulates a cubicle when they are on the production floor.  Place it in an area where they feel comfortable and away from distractions.  Also, don’t make the next one wait for their turn outside the door.

It is important for a team of call center agents to get together as a group and celebrate their success or just to know more about the newest member.  Funds are always budgeted for team buildings and the call center or operations manager is in charge of allocating this on a timely manner.

A common practice is to spend the money monthly but some do it on a quarterly basis.  Even as far as every six months.  But, what would be a good timeframe to recommend?

By doing a monthly gathering is great especially when the agents are bombarded with stressful calls and if there are times when they have to work long hours and do overtime.  But by doing it monthly, the allocated budget is then smaller for the group.  You can only spend for dinner or a night out on a weekend.

If you do it quarterly, agents prefer this because you do more activities as a team.  During summer, you can book an overnight stay (even the whole weekend) at a nice hotel or travel to the beach.  The longer you spend time with them; you can then learn more that will help you motivate your agents in the long term.

“But I am not a business suit kind of guy!”  Have you heard this before?  There are several rules on how agents and supervisors should dress in call centers.  Most would think that jeans and a shirt are good since you expect a fun environment, different from other brick and mortar companies.

There are other centers that require agents to do the “business attire” or sometimes called “Monday attire” every day.  Some would have a policy based on the position you are holding.  So, agents ok with jeans but supervisors up have to dress otherwise.

Such a simple rule, yet too many complain about it.  My thoughts?

I’ve always believed that employees join a company and are committed to stay based on its culture.  So, the dress code policy should be based on that.  If that is the basis, then it will be a topic of the past amongst your workforce.

There are different ways of saving on labor expense for call centers.  One way is to cross skill an agent.  There are three ways of doing it.

Different Line of Business
Some agents are trained initially for the customer care department.  After they become proficient or at least if performance has indicated they can move on to the next level, they are then trained on a few other processes like collections or even sales.

Different Accounts or Clients
For outsourcers, the agents are cross skilled to be able to handle different companies.  This might be confusing and the agents have to be alert at all times.  I’ve seen agents (and have experienced first hand) make a mistake when they do their opening spiel, saying the wrong company.

Different Function
Some are trained to handle inbound and outbound calls.  Others are also trained to handle voice calls and email, including chat at times.  Their productivity is then divided and scheduled based on the expected call volume or possible spikes.

A word of caution though…make sure you plan it and consider the possible consequences (e.g. CSAT or quality) tied to this strategy.

Hiring standards and policies differ per location when age is put into the picture.  In the US, this is a case of age discrimination.  For other countries, a company has the prerogative to choose the candidate’s age for the position.  Normally this isn’t stated in black and white in a job description.

One thing that is common in a center is to analyze performance gaps, stack rank agents and one variable being included is the age group. By accident, a study showed that hiring the younger generation in an account that offers their product or service to the same market has more success in meeting their metrics than those of the older age group.

Another study showed that CSAT scores are far better for those in the 30 above age range than those in the younger bracket. It seems those in the older generation are more patient; and the problem solving and decision making skills are better.

Will this change how our agents are hired? Probably not. It's too risky, not only for legal reasons but there isn't a lot of proof that age does matter.  It is something to ponder on and perhaps a brave manager would do a pilot run and check if it is statistically worth the risk. 

Tied to increase in attrition and constant demand to fill the seats, expenses increase and the purchase of call center headsets is common and basic tool for the job.  But, it isn’t cheap.

Some companies have different policies set for the usage of headsets.  Some companies would issue each agent their own.  Others would assign the headset as one comes into the center to start their shift and they have to surrender it after they log off.  Some would put a timeframe on its usage, say after a year or even six months, the headset can’t be issued to anyone else but if used only a few months and when the agent leaves, then it can be given to someone else.

If you were to have the headset be shared to a lot of people, I would recommend for the headset’s ear foams be changed after use.  This is to avoid any hygiene issues.  One wouldn’t mind to lend it to their close friend, but a stranger would just be awkward.

I say, if you succeed in keeping your employees, then purchasing for each agent shouldn’t even be an issue.

You would be disappointed and angry if you didn't get your correct salary. That's why we initially work right? You have to put food on the table every day! Payroll is so basic that if you don't make it right, you not only have people banging on your doors asking for their money but also a legal suit.

It's not a surprise to have Bundy clocks, attendance is consolidated manually in an Excel sheet and payroll is computed the same. With this though, you expect human error to occur. If more money is available to get a sophisticated system to increase inefficiency, especially if the company grows to hundreds or even thousands, then it is logical to get it.

Nevertheless, implementing anything new has some kind of learning curve. When payroll personnel relies on it too much, even without the seal of approval it's in working order, then you only expect trouble.

Make sure you have a tight payroll system. Do the old fashioned way if you're not sure your system is accurate . Put a check and balance system in place. Set policies when hours are being entered into the system and overtime pay is needed to be computed. Deadlines should be set for manual tracking.

You wouldn't want a “walk out” or a “massive log-off” to happen.

I remember when I was training our IT group on PCI compliance, a question came up. We were discussing the Visitors policy and the set policies were discussed. One had asked if he could bring his son in the center, since he didn't have anyone to baby sit.

My answer referring to the policies was no. An alternative though was to ask the call center manager or site director to approve it.

I wonder how many companies out there allow this. It is a bit heartless to not allow it, as it is not the employee's fault that he had to work but unfortunately due to current circumstances, he also had to take care of his family.

The hard truth here is that the risk is greater if the center allows it. The option of getting someone to cover his shift would have been more appropriate. Alternatively, maybe centers should have a day care center within its site.

It may seem that operating a call center is the same as having a production line in a manufacturing plant, but it isn't. If you are still swayed to that concept, then you need to do more research and think twice even mentioning it to those in the industry.

Countless times, the agents were treated like machines, to expect them to work from 9 to 5 without any complaints. They are expected to be on the phones more than the usual shift if call volume increases. It is also always expected that they do excellent service every single time, despite the situation or environment.

Agents, their supervisors nor the managers or any level of management are not machines. They live and breathe daily, eat, sleep and have different unique personalities. They can be motivated and can also be demoralized. Their persosnal lives matter, and they need to be listened to. They also have brains that work to do the job. That's why they suggest and speak up so they can be treated right.

If anyone says otherwise, tell me. I'll knock some sense into him.