Training for call Center!!

[sons123]

Hello!! I am working with a call center and i have been given a chance to be a trainer. Now my first assignment entails that I train new recruits. I have a basic idea how to go about it i.e. basic overview of the company, software used and the basic general training on the kind of questions that are to be asked. But is that all or should I include something more. the training is to be given throughout the week . I am a novice in this and i request everyone to help me out in this!!

[anil]

Hi,
Congrats ! Don't know your past experience but here are some tips

1)If you have worked as a CCR , then you need to include some of your experiences ( Good and Bad Calls) and how to handle such situations . If you haven't , get hold of some old hands and get their experiences documented for your training

2) If you are in a specialised Industry , then the Reps should be told about the industry before they call. A more informed reps gets better results !

Anil

[Sandy]

Hi

Congrats on your training position. As a consultant in training and development, may I recommend that you look over your call observation checklist (for call monitoring ) before considering a training plan. If the skill is important enough to measure, then that is the skill that must be demonstrated by example and developed.

For example, if it is important to measure whether a Rep is 'using a proper greeting when answering a call', then be sure to demonstrate what a proper greeting is.

Another example is, if a Rep must 'ask permission to transfer a call' to another area, then be sure to demonstrate an example of what that sounds like.

Feel free to email me if you need more advice. Good Luck!

Sandycarone@aol.com

[Katherine]

Call Center positions are often entry level, and it is important to include training regarding professionalism, utilizing resources and asking for help/gaining empowerment. Effectively handling customer calls requires much more than a working knowledge of software and commonly asked questions.

Best wishes for success in your new position.

Katherine

[jww922]

Congratualtions on your new job!

Training can be pretty nerve racking if you let. I would make sure to go over all policies and procedures thoroughly, make them aware of what they can and can't do and mention what the consequences would be. I have found that letting them know up front is better than having them get into trouble and then finding there is a write up involved or other disciplinary actions.

Letting them listen into actual calls is a very good way to aclimate them and afterwards hold a critique, this always raises some good questions that you might not have covered. Training simply cannot cover all aspects of a call so this isn't a reflection on your abilities and I guarantee that they will be better CCR's.

Depending on your situation and how your training is structured, you might consider a period of "nesting" where your class stays together in one area of the call floor to take live calls. They can be Supervised by yourself or someone intimately familiar with your training methods. This helps to aclimate them not only to taking calls but to the call floor environment.

Good luck!

[Seymour]

Congratulations on your promotion.

You didn't mention whether your call center does programs of calls that are inbound, outbound or both. Training programs may vary considerably depending on the type of center you'll be managing.

Inbound centers are usually more focused on answering questions, placing orders, and generally, handling problems, or gathering research information of/for an existing client or customer base.

On the other hand, outbbound personnel are more likely to need to develop 'selling skills.' These individuals need to have thicker skins, be able to handle rejection, and have a reasonable understanding of the sales process. They need to know how to handle objecitons, and how to "close."

Combination inbound and outbound centers may need to have individual reps who can handle both functions.

Of course, the new hires will need to be acquainted with company policies, the softwar and hardware, etc. For company policy, an 'employee handbook' can be of considerable use. Don't just give the new hires the handbook and be done with it. Go over the book in training sessions.

Also, be sure you pay your new hires enough! I was once at a seminar at which a 'call center consultant' said:

"Everyone wants to recruit and retain intelligent, beautiful, articlulate, educated reps for their call centers. Then, they want to pay them $9.00 per hour."

The reality is that you can't hire and retain 'intelligent, beautiful, articulate, educated people' without investing an appropriate amount of money on them.

Finally, you don't mention where your call center is located; North America, Asia, Euorpe, India? Depending on location, compensation packages will vary.

Good luck, and have fun!

[Jimmy Childs]

Give new employees the tour showing them where everything is including emergency procedures, exits, breakroom etc. Give each employee an agent manual (you will have to write one if you don't have one).
Agent manual should contain all of your policies and procedures, Do's and Don'ts list, software use, hard copy or other resource material use, phone use etc. This manual will have to be amended, updated and corrected continiously. You also need to provide them with a Customer Service manual. Write one if you don't have one. Get each of them to read and sign a copy of your attendance policy, dress policy, confidentiality policy, computer use policy etc. and store in their file. We had our IR people set up a training database on a small server for them to train on. New employees have a series of computer exercises which they all have to practice and get signed off on at the completion of each exercise. We demonstrate for them on a laptop hooked up to an Infocus projector for them to see how each step and operation is done. Give them each a copy of your agent script and IVR menu if one is used in your call center. Have them evaluate your training. Focus your training on those aspects of problems which occur most often in your call center. That is, work with Quality Assurance to focus your training on what your center is weakest on.
New agents, after completion of their classroom training and computer exercises will begin keyboarding for a trained agent who helps and mentors them. They progress to speaking with customers while their trained agent does the keyboarding until they can take on both tasks simultaneously under the eye of their mentor. Quality assurance or call center supervisors test each trainee at the end of this period to determine if they are ready to take on their tasks without constant assistance. This empowers QA or supervisors who have to live with these employees after training. Trainers should not be testers.
Good luck. Share some of these ideas with your supervisor and see if they aren't impressed with your organizational skills. This new position you are taking on is a fun and rewarding one. Teaching customer service skills must be an integral part of this process. Your skills will improve with each group.

[rheebles]

Hi there,

I am currently a trainer in a large call centre which comprises of approximately 190 consultants. I came into the position with basically no manuals or session plans and have had to create my own. I worked closely with the HR department and also the Supervisors on the floor to ascertain the limits and boundaries of what I realistically could get done in the Training time allocated to me and have been updating my sessions ever since. This will be an on-going job (updating session plans), as will creating reference/clue cards etc. I found that I have had to document everything I train as well as the results (with the recruits signature). I find it extremely important to document everything you receive from the recruits, down to attitude whilst in Training as this will provide you with back-up later if any "incidents" occur. You will need to have an "experts" help in creating the sessions so that nothing is missed in training, otherwise at the end of the day, the poor results will come back to you to justify "why". If you have any further detailed questions, please do not hesitate to send me a personal email. Cheers and Good Luck!

[josephafreddy]

Hey there Sonal

I have been posted as a trainer too I am having Similar issues as I have to gather al data and assimilate into a comphrensive course for my guys. I would appreciate if we could discuss this more

Regards
Joe

[ConsultMe]

I am interested in developing classroom information for managers and supervisors that deal with the management of a client representative. Our call center has been fortunate, to this point, of operating without a client onsite. That will soon change. I am looking for any information that can be shared with our leadership that would make this transition smoother and most productive. Can you help?

ConsultMe

[Ian Alexander]

congrats..


Have two new hires sit @ the front of the room. Have 1 pretend to be the CSR and the other, the caller. Have them do a mock call, then open it to discussion afterward so the class can discuss how certain situations might have been handled differently etc.

[CenterLead]

I believe it is important to train new agents in customer service skills, how to handle irate customers and exceed the customers expectations (within allowable limits of procedures). You can train people on the technical stuff as much as you want, such as learning the software but it is equally important to give them customer service skills. Not everyone has them naturally.

The next suggestion I have is to have a day or afternoon where the new agents sit in on calls (shadow/buddyjack) with already seasoned agents. They can see the realworld situations that occur and can ask questions of the agent that may not have come up in class. This helps ease the nerves of new ones also if they are allowed to see how it is done before they are thrown on the phones.

Hope that helps a bit! Congrats on the promotion!

[tarunpuri]

hi sonal,

to introduce myself, i work with the call center consulting team of HCL Infosystems Ltd., where in we provide end to end consulting to clinets who have signed up with us to setup International Call Center's in India.

Now firstlly CONGRATS for your new job profile, well i have been training agents, supervisors, shift managers, head ops etc. in a lot of call centers in our model.

hence i feel that i could be of help to you, so here is my email add. do get in touch with me, tpuri@rediffmail.com and taruncallcenter@rediffmail.com , i am based in delhi, but i do travel a lot, am currently in bombay, so the best way top contact me is on the mail.

wish you luck

tarun

[khashid]

I am kinda in same situation and I got chance to train after being an agent for a long time.

Is there a way I can get some teaching resources..if you can provide me or i can download from somewhere.

Thanks in advance

[ghorrocks]

There is a lot of great information on skill training one important factor when tasked with training new hires is to understand the adult learning style.

1. How do people learn

Once you understand this concept you get into a variety of behviors and expectations. You are responsible for the learning curve!

How fast and what will the bell curve look like if you are not qualified?

Can your business afford not to put you into a facilitation school!

Often mistakes in call centers is to take an SME and point them into a training position without proper training. If you want to be successful do you research and take some classes!!

If you need more information visit www.contactcentercampus.com