Call Center systems are increasingly being implemented as part of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Market requirements related to acquiring and retaining customers force the use of effective IT tools that support the work of many people. Creating databases and sufficiently fast ways to use them forms the basis for the effective operation of an enterprise.
A Call Center is not just a modern IT application, but a system whose effectiveness depends primarily on the proper training and commitment of people. Without these factors, it will remain a useless tool.
Employers do not always take into account the fact that it is the employees hired in the Call Center, commonly known as consultants, who determine the acquisition and retention of a customer. They constitute the first group of company representatives that the customer encounters. The way the conversation is conducted determines the final result related to the level of customer satisfaction. Proper training of a consultant employed in a Call Center is a costly and long-term process. The employee must not only learn the general way of operating the system but also be able to efficiently and effectively search for the necessary information in the appropriate database in order to provide the correct answer to the customer. Databases are usually inconsistent and lack built-in tools for quick information retrieval. The consultant is mainly left to their own knowledge or is forced to rely on the kind support of colleagues. The situation is similar when, for some reason, the IT system is not working efficiently.
A company deciding to implement a Call Center usually already has various databases. Not all of them can be easily integrated, or the integration turns out to be too expensive to implement. The consultant is expected to have the ability to efficiently use various types of databases and find information in them, which is not always presented in an easy-to-interpret way. They can only obtain the characteristics of the data from so-called “oral transmissions,” i.e., explanations from a polite colleague at work, because a description of the type of information built into the application most often does not exist.
Sometimes, the consultant has the opportunity to use conversation scripts prepared based on the most frequent customer questions. However, it is known that every case differs in details, and one must properly interpret a given problem so as not to mislead the customer. Sometimes the consultant is forced to ask for help from specialists in a specific department.
Every enterprise requires consultants to apply so-called up-selling in contacts with customers. Therefore, they are obliged to constantly expand their knowledge about new products or services made available by the company. Of course, they are expected to have a fluent knowledge of both products and services already on the market and those newly introduced, as well as to perform a comparative analysis of them. They are required to be ready to provide correct answers seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, because the Call Center provides round-the-clock and all-week customer service. During their eight hours of work, the consultant talks to customers practically the entire time. They only have a half-hour break for a meal. Sometimes they conduct up to one hundred and fifty conversations during their shift. They must always be polite and understanding. Their conversations are monitored by supervisors, so they cannot afford any shortcomings. They must make every effort to ensure that the customer receives an adequate, accurate, and factual answer to their question. Unfortunately, customers are people who often allow themselves to use insults or threaten the consultant with job loss.
Even though the customer has the opportunity to use information available in company services on websites, they still prefer to talk to a consultant. They ask for advice, suggestions regarding the choice of a specific class of services or goods, and sometimes they are just waiting for confirmation of the correctness of their choice. They demand honest and competent answers from the consultant. If these are inconsistent with their initial decision, they immediately accuse the consultant of incompetence.
Consultants are most often students hired as temporary workers. Often, after work, they hurriedly head to classes at the university or vice versa: after lectures, exercises, or exams, they come to work. Despite the undoubted fatigue, they make an effort so that everyone who calls the Call Center receives comprehensive information. After all, it depends on the customer whether the consultant will be able to continue working, because supervision unconditionally always sides with the customer.
A Call Center consultant is a relatively new type of job position. Few people, apart from those who are directly involved with this system, realize how difficult and responsible this work is. Perhaps it is worth emphasizing that if we happen to use Call Center services, let us remember that people work there, just like us.