As a BPO country, Pakistan is one of the fastest growing technology market in the world. Companies from the world are increasingly interested in outsourcing their development and contact centers to Pakistan. Only in Lahore, there are roughly hundred to thousands of software houses and call centers.
Let’s talk about call centers and general skills to work in call centers.
Working in a call center might look like an easy job. You might think that it’s nothing more than answering phone calls and telling people things from the given script.
There are different roles in call centers. There are customer service reps (CSRs), technical service reps (TSRs), team leads, project managers, human resources personnel and IT department. So what it takes to work in a call center?
- Ability to work in a fast-paces environment
A call center is everything about speed and agility. If you are working in an inbound call center (where you receive the calls, as opposed to outbound where you dial the calls), the true efficiency is taking calls quickly. There are standard KPIs. Deadlines. Quality check-ins and so much more. Depending upon the traffic volume, a customer services rep might have to take up to 200 calls per day. But, that varies from project to project.
Call centers measure their efficiency, costs and profits by calculating Call wait times. So, it’s important that call agents are proactive and have the ability to juggle the balls very quickly between hands.
- Accuracy and attention to detail
Customers call because they need assistance. So, it’s critical that support agents are able to quickly respond to the inquiries and solve the problems that customers might be facing.
There are thousand ways to skin a cat. There are hundred ways to talk about a problem. You, as a support agent, need to know all of them.
Active listening and critical thinking are two of the skills that are lifeline for any support agent. If listening skills are poor, chances are you might not understand the issues properly. And customers hate when they are put up with a person who doesn’t even understand them. You might have to collect customers’ basic info and put into CRMs and forward to the concerned departments.
Without accuracy and attention to detail, there is no survival in the industry. Now you can see why!
- Rapid Adaptability. Openness to learn new skills
Products and services change constantly. New features are released in newer versions. Products design change. Buying or refund policies change too. So, as a support agent, you need to be updated all the times. The last thing a customer wants to hear from you is ‘I don’t know’.
Ability to learn new things quickly is another skills required to stay in the business. You might have to learn new software and computer programs. You might have to build strong conceptual basis of call center processes and so on.
- Peoples’ person
As told earlier, a single agent might have to take up to 200 calls a day. 200 calls from different people with same/different problems.
As a support agent, it is important that they show empathy and support to the customers. Mind it, customers can speak with you in different moods. Some of them might come quite hard on you. You need to take the sweat out of the support and have to be polite all the times.
There might be the times when customers need more than what you are allowed to. Ability to handle tough situations, tough questions and tough people, that’s important.
- Flexibility
9 – 5 job is a dream job for support agents. But not all of them really get into the slot. In a call center, openness to different shifts is important. When you decide to apply for a job at a call center, be sure that you are able to work in shifts.
Working in a call center can be a rewarding job. Often, opportunities come where you have to move up as a leader and manage your team. But that all starts from working efficiently. Never give up. And good luck will eventually follow you.