In any business, customer service is the driving factor. Well before the current recession hit, the ramifications of poor customer support were patently obvious — as many as 75 percent of customers have ceased to do business with a company from whom they’ve received poor service. In today’s tight economy, that number is likely to be even higher, as customers have much less tolerance for a lack of appropriate support.This means the call centers that provide this all-important customer support must be prepared to increase their performance levels to ensure satisfaction — word travels quickly these says, especially via the Internet, and no business can afford to have negative feedback on its quality of service.

This is precisely why The Resource Center for Customer Service Professionals (RCCSP) has developed a wide range of state-of-the-art customer contact center training courses, designed to enrich call center professionals knowledge base, enabling them to run more effective campaigns and, ultimately, grow their businesses, beating out their competition.

RCCSP’s most popular course is its Call Center Manager Training and Certification course, which covers all the major skills and knowledge required for call center managers to make the most of their resources. This includes the most fundamental tasks, like hiring, training, monitoring, and coaching, to advanced skills, like quality assurance, technology selection, cost management, strategy, and leadership.

Now, RCCSP has added Call Center Foundations to its curriculum. Call Center Foundations is designed to provide fundamental knowledge about call center operations, including different types of call centers, how the function, their design and infrastructure, their goals and objectives, how those objectives are met, and how centers are evaluated.

The new program was developed specifically to paint a high-level picture of the contact center, including its “component parts, job roles, and performance factors that make up today’s world-class call center.” Attendees will leave with an understanding of the call flow process, operational dynamics, the challenges that face call centers, how their center’s service affects customers, and how to guide their centers toward what they see as a successful future.

A high-level overview of the agenda for the two-day sessions explains why this course is a must-attend for both new and experienced call center managers, as well as sales professionals and consultants:

• Introduction and Self-Assessment
• Call Center Fundamentals
• The Call Center Structure
• How Call Center Performance is Evaluated
• Call Center Technology
• Call Processing: The Life Cycle of a Customer Contact
• How Call Handling is Tracked and Measured
• How Agent Utilization, Efficiency, and Effectiveness are Tracked and Measured
• Call Center Performance Factors: When Things Go Right and When Things Go Wrong

A more detailed course description and registration information, along with a listing of all the other valuable courses offered by RCCSP, is available on its Web site.

The course debuts in Chicago, May 11-12, with 13 additional sessions scheduled for 2009. The Call Center Foundation courses all are held back-to-back with Call Center Manager Training and Certification classes, providing an opportunity for managers to further grow their knowledge base and prepare themselves for running a first-class center.

In addition, for those individuals looking to complete certification in Call Center Engineering or acquiring a Six Sigma Black Belt designation, Call Center Foundations offers an ideal basic training opportunity leading into the more advanced courses.

The call center is part of the foundation on which businesses are built. As such, they have the ability to drive a business to new heights, but also to initiate its demise. Whether you are new to the call center industry or a veteran, it is your incumbent responsibility to ensure you have the knowledge and skills to accomplish the former. Attend a Call Center Foundations course to ensure you, and your center, live up to those expectations.