Outbound call centers play an important role for the organization that they are supporting. In essence, they are the voice of the organization. They are often the only human interaction between the company and the customer and therefore, their performance helps to create the customer’s perception of the company. It is because of this tendency that it is imperative that outbound call centers focus on excellence.

In order to achieve this excellence, proper management of the call center is essential. By focusing on proper management of agents, the call center can enhance performance. Call scripting can improve effectiveness, predictive dialing can drive productivity, and quality of service can be enhanced through voice recording and silent monitoring.

Effective management of call center agents does not necessarily imply micromanagement. It is instead a focus on measuring performance, evaluating training and coaching and implementing processes that maximize these activities to drive optimal performance.

Call scripting is an important tool to effectively manage the activities of the call center agent and increase the performance of an outbound call center. By guiding their agents' conversations with the called parties, call centers can ensure consistent company branding and/or messaging while reducing agent ramp-up times, promoting improved efficiency and increased sales revenues.

Predictive dialing has long been a valuable tool within the call center industry. As agents are the top cost associated with call center operations, their time is valuable. Predictive dialing solutions allow agents to focus on completing the tasks of the customer interaction, not dialing and waiting for an answer on the other end of the line.

Recording and monitoring are important activities within the call center, whether it is outbound or inbound. An environment where these processes are absent is one that breeds inconsistency, lack of proper measurement and eventually failure. Call centers cannot operate effectively without proper measurement tools in place. Agent performance cannot be accurately measured without recording processes in place.

Silent monitoring is an extremely effective tool as it allows agents to start calling much sooner in the training process, while enabling managers to monitor and assist on calls in real-time. Agents learn how to perform effectively while also serving customers.

 

Outbound call centers are under increasing pressure to prove their worth to the organization by reducing costs and improving customer deliverables, while also driving sales. The proper balance of all three cannot be achieved without proper management of call center agents. By utilizing the tools discussed here, call center managers will be much better able to not only manage, but also drive performance.

 

 

 

 

Article comments powered by Disqus