Call centres have changed dramatically since they first appeared in the 1980’s. Back then they were as big as footballers’ perms and pop stars’ shoulder pads. Hundreds of agents sat in long lines of noisy phone stalls, taking and making calls.
Now, however, we live in a digital age where phone calls, emails, text messages, web chats, social media posts and app-based mobile interactions combine to make up the modern, multi-channel contact centre.
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This is a state-of-the-art communications hub where a new generation of information handlers, customer service agents, financial advisors, and inbound and outbound sales staff make up the estimated one million people employed in the contact centre industry across the UK.
With talented agents working across so many channels it takes a first-class, multi-tasking professional to ensure everything runs smoothly.
That’s why the role of contact centre manager demands such a wide and varied skill set.
Top-rated talents include organisational expertise and the ability to analyse and forecast, as well as an aptitude for coaching new starts and mentoring career progressors – an amazingly satisfying part of the job.
So, if you want to become a team leader or contact centre manager, you need to be made of the right stuff.
Let’s start with the notion of multi-tasking.
As well as overseeing operations on the contact centre floor, sorting scripts and monitoring calls and email exchanges, you’ll also be responsible for helping to formulate business and sales strategies, drafting staff emails, completing annual appraisals and writing regular reports for senior managers and directors.
Of course, this shouldn’t mean your day is disorganised – with your mind flitting like a befuddled butterfly from one task to another and back again.
The secret to multitasking is that it isn’t actually doing many different things at one time – it’s creating a schedule that allows you to focus all of your attention on one thing, complete it and move on to the next task then the next . . .
Another major asset in management is the ability to motivate employees to want to go the extra mile. So what does it take to be a motivator and a leader who inspires?
Well, while customer satisfaction remains your number one focus, if you’re going to make it in management, you must incentivise success from those around you.
Whether it’s offering an afternoon off or a week away in Ibiza, prizes boost productivity. One important point: when sharing news of the prizewinners, display only the winning statistics – the idea is to encourage friendly competition and keep everyone focused, not name and shame the weakest links.
This is why team briefings are a great way to get everyone speaking on-message with each other. They get staff more involved with the company and its business goals, too, which will make your job easier.
When discussing the week’s mega successes and epic fails take on board what each team member says then work on helping them improve individually.
When it comes to new starts, team them up with like-minded people to help them bond, learn and adjust to their new environment more quickly.
Don’t forget the best leaders learn from their front line so talk to your staff whenever possible. Most software systems will be able to give you up-to-the-second data on call numbers, including how many are completed successfully and what percentage are lost. For real insight, however, it’s important to ask real people what works and where the system can be improved.
Improve the system and you improve your chances of enjoying a long-term, high-flying career.
By all means monitor calls, too, but not in a controlling way – give your team the confidence to be themselves and at their unembarrassed best, even when they know you’re listening in.
And never forget to spend time some of your own time on the phones, emails or web chats, too. This not only gives you credibility with your team it makes sure your own skills are up to speed.
It also allows you to stay focused on the customer and feel empathy for them, with a desire to make them feel good – which in turn makes you feel great!
As the famed writer Maya Angelou points out: “People will soon forget what you said. They will never forget how you made them feel.”
Allowing your staff to feel good and thrive can sometimes mean handing back the reins. You don’t get results by micro-managing – as a forward-thinking boss you know when you give someone a chance to set their own high goals they’ll do what’s needed to achieve them.
These goals must also be for the agents themselves. You’ve got them working to targets but what about their own career ambitions?
If there’s no way up, they could pack their bags, so make sure there are opportunities for them to advance. Remember: for company directors one measure of a great contact centre manager is staff retention.
There are many call and contact centre organisations on s1jobs who want you to drive their digital transformation. So, a desire to keep up with innovation, new tech and emerging computer software is a must.
As the sector embraces ever more complex interactions, you’ll need a continually evolving and upskilled range of talents: active listening, empathy, flexibility, mental agility, product and services knowledge and the ability to apply your own initiative.
If you’re up for this challenge and ready for more responsibility – and the financial rewards and job satisfaction this brings – take yourself to the top with the latest vacancies on s1jobs.