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The way to win at call centers is to use it for experience and then leave. For me it was staying on the help desk long enough to get some experience and certs and then leave. For you, if sales is your thing, stay long enough to gets some sales experience so you can apply to jobs you want that require sales experience. Suffering needlessly sucks, but putting up with poo poo for a little while to help you get to a better place is ok.
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May 13, 2014 14:34
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I have the day off from working on phone systems so I thought I would write about them, and how they are used to make your life suck in a call center. Companies with large call centers have a private branch exchange (PBX) that is a phone switch that takes external calls and sends then to an agent. PBX's have many features to ensure the calls keep coming and you never get a break. You can be made an auto in agent. This means that you sit in your cube wearing a headset, and the calls come to you automatically, and once the call ends, you get another one. You do not push a button to answer the call, you just hear a beep and the caller is there. You may not have a button to release the call, which is why some agents have to stay on a call until the caller hangs up. When the call ends you can be put right back into the queue, or you can be set up to get a short amount of time (seconds) so you can write your notes before the next call. Agents are put in skills. A skill is a group of agents that work on a specific thing, like sales, or computer repair. You can have more than one skill. In fact, some agents work for call center outsourcers and take calls for multiple skills for multiple companies. Assuming you are an auto in agent, you get a beep to let you know a call is coming, then a 'whisper', which tells you the type of call coming in, then another beep and then the call is there. I have seen people with 20 + skills. There will always be calls for you, and Lord help you if you read the wrong script for the wrong skill. Calls can be observed and recorded. Your supervisor can listen in, and most likely a computer program is recording all calls. There is now software that can review the calls and flag key words and even customer temperament so that supervisors can review anything the software thinks is out of sorts. When you log in as an agent, your time is tracked. Usually your pay starts at this time. So even if you were in the building, waiting for a spot, or whatever, if you weren't logged in, you are not on the clock. To take breaks, you usually use an aux code to say why you are not available to take calls. Usually any use of these codes is flagged for supervisor review, lest you take your break at the wrong time, use the wrong code, or try to take your break when there are calls in queue. And there are always calls in queue. There is a lot more to it, including Computer Telephony Integration, the systems that measure every little think you do and match it to other databases to get things like sale rate across calls, and survey scores, but this is too long, and you really need to log back in. There are calls in queue.
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May 27, 2014 17:12
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I will not go into a telemarketer rant, but I just want to say, as a phone guy, the best way to deal with telemarketers is to say, "Hello? Hello? Anyone there? I am sorry I cannot hear you." And then hang up. Phone systems are finicky things, and the agent usually has a way to code a call as bad. If enough people did this, it would waste a lot of the telemarketing company's time and money. Plus the agent calling gets a call that is short, and can be coded such that the lack of a sale does not count against them.
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Jul 9, 2014 21:12
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:They have to do those things or they'll lose their job. If you're so concerned, you can tell them you want to be put on the do-not-call list, which they're legally obligated to honor. Or you could just not say anything and just hang up; that's one of the least rude things people do so NBD. Sigh, rant on. 1. If you take a job where your job is to be a jerk to people, what do you think people's response is going to be? I don't understand how you think it is okay for them to be pushy assholes, but it is wrong to throw their poo poo back at them. The fact that they earn money to do it makes it even worse. If I went around messing with people on the street, I would expect people to get in my face, and if I used the excuse, 'but I am getting paid to paid to mess with you', I would expect to get my rear end kicked. 2. They are calling me, using sales tactics (ie, lying and manipulation) to try to get me to spend too much money on things I don't need. They are using my time and my phone for their business. My phone, my rules, and my rules say that if you bug me at home, I tell you what a scumbag you are. 3. Admittedly, since I have been on the no call list for 10 years, the only calls I get any more are people who are complete scammers (Rachel from Cardholder services), so my sample is skewed.
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Jul 10, 2014 01:51
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Replying to a lot of folks here in general. 1. I am speaking specifically about telemarketers. People who get paid bother me at my home and try to sell me things. Incoming call centers are their own brand of hell, and I have worked enough telephone support to know exactly what the agent is going through. Plus they are there to help me and you get much further not abusing them. I am very pleasant. 2. I worked as a telemarketer for one and half weeks. Three days of training and one week of selling. The training was all about what lies you can tell, and how to overcome objections like "I can't afford it" and "I don't need it." I quit after one week of lying to people trying to get them to buy things they didn't need and couldn't afford. 3. The telemarketers are treating me like poo poo. Again, why is it ok for them to do so, but if I give it back, I am in the wrong? If they can't take it, they shouldn't dish it out. 4. I don't care if is their company's policy that they treat me like poo poo. If I can, I will call the company headquarters and complain about the calls, but you almost never get that information, and besides, it is usually an outsourced call center any way. The person on the phone is the representative of the company and is the face (Ear? Voice?)of it. So my displeasure is given to them. 5. The fact that they earn money treating me like poo poo is a problem. Too many things in the US are excused because they generate money. In this case people are saying that someone's right to make money is more important than my time. It's not, and I will dig in my heels. I am very tired of living in a society where people only look at others as a source of income. Whoever is calling me, I would love to talk them about their day, music, whatever, you know, like human beings do, but they are just treating me a a wallet that they have to pry open. You folks are asking me to show some empathy for the people calling me, and I would be happy to try to if you can convince me that they see me as something other than a sucker that they have to somehow con into a sale. 6. I am imagining that many would like this derail to stop. I am happy to do so, or discuss more if there is a better thread. I will read any replies, but will only reply if folks want to continue this conversation.
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Jul 11, 2014 02:58
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