Call Center Recruiting And New Hire Training

Revised and Updated with New Material! Finding and retaining qualified agents is an endless challenge for call centers. An effective recruiting strategy, combined with a motivating, supportive training program that keeps new-hires charged about their potential with the company, will pay off in lower hiring costs and higher staff retention. Call Center Recruiting and New-Hire Training offers call center managers valuable insights and ideas on: ? Developing retention-oriented recruiting strategies ? How to select the most qualified candidates ? Developing new-hires into successful agents ? Recruiting and training call center supervisors ? Alternative labor pools Each chapter is filled with innovative practices, strategies and best practices from call centers that have successfully put a stop to the revolving door of agent attrition.

The highest hurdle that stands before most call center managers today is the shortage of qualified agents. To help you prepare for booming call center growth and the demands of the emerging multichannel environment, Call Center Recruiting and New Hire Training compiles the best articles, ideas and tools from the monthly newsletter Call Center Management Review to give you the foundation for a forward-thinking approach to agent recruitment and new-hire training.The increase in call center openings, low employment and intense rivalry for multiskilled agents will add up (if it doesn't already) to a management nightmare unless you have an effective recruitment and new-hire training program in place. Selected for their educational value, practicality and timeless recruiting and new-hire principles, these articles provide innovative practices, programs and strategies to get the right people with the right aptitudes and abilities in place before training commences... and then cultivate those new hires into high-performance agents equipped and ready for the challenges ahead.

What's your strategy to remain competitive? Trainers realize that recruiting the right people with the right skills and providing them with great training is key to creating a great business. With the arrival of measurement and return-on-investment calculations for these key business activities comes the realization from business professionals that performance management does make a difference in profits, sales, and customer satisfaction. With a company's need to recruit and keep the best talent, performance management is its best strategy for remaining competitive in the global marketplace in which employees have more choices than ever before. Performance management is used to improve both personal and organizational skills. Recruiting and Retaining Call Center Employees illustrates the various ways employees can reach their potential and thereby contribute to the bottom line, made all the more profitable by creating stronger and more stable companies that can offer higher wages and excellent benefit packages. Combining theory with practical advice on training, recruiting, and evaluating programs, this book provides the trainer with practical models and guides. Plus, cases on process and technology provide a full range of solutions in creating a call center that is well ahead of the competition. ASTD is proud to present the 22nd book in the IN ACTION series: 11 cases that provide numerous examples of performance management programs in diverse applications. One basic premise remains constant in all of the applications: People matter most, and, when they adopt a relationship-based leadership style, the workplace becomes successful. Performance management involves all willing participants creating a learning environment together.

Call centers are the first touch in the customer pipe-line. Help these people reach their potential and ensure that they contribute to your bottom-line by improving the training, recruiting, and evaluating your call center employee programs. Use the included case studies to see best practices and manage the ROI of your call center programs.

Need to know how to buy a phone switch for your call center? How to measure the productivity of agents? How to choose from two cities that both want your center? No problem. The Call Center Handbook is a complete guide to starting, running, and im

'Bottom-Line Call Center Management breaks new ground by addressing key skills and techniques in assessing and implementing effective management practices to maximize the human and capital resources at the call center manager's disposal. Drawing on the author's unique data sets and years of research experience in the industry, 'Bottom-Line Call Center Management' helps call center managers evaluate their current status, implement cost-effective changes, and measure results of their changes to ensure a culture of accountability within the call center at all levels increasing the bottom line. The processes include an evaluation of current customer service representatives, defining, delimiting and assessing the labor shed of the center, and exploring the customer service representative's unique skills and leveraging those skills into a unique and dynamic work environment. Likewise, the process also determines the learning skills and competencies necessary to meet and exceed the basic requirements for all call centers. Furthermore, each step has a pre, in-process, and post evaluation to ensure projects are progressing according to plan. Lastly, all evaluations are measured against the bottom line through a return on investment (ROI) model. The framework for this book uses the culture of call centers, defined and lived through the customer service representatives, as the lens to view all processes, measurements, accountability and return on investment. This framework is critical since there has been much emphasis on technology-as-a-solution which treats the employees as a hindrance instead of the enablers of positive change. Likewise, customer service representatives eventually act as strong determinants of success with the call center and thus the bottom line.

A complete resource for providing learning, training, and development within contact centers. This handbook offers call center managers and trainers information with which to benchmark training and identifies best practice in learning and development.

"I once heard it said that running a call center is not rocket science. While you may not need the skills and education of an aerospace engineer, successful call center management does require certain skills and insight."-RANDY RUBINGH Call Center Rocket Science gives practical, hands on advice for today's customer service professionals. Here you will find real world advice on a wide variety of topics essential to effective call center management including: Recruiting and Hiring: How to find great agents, what to look for in a candidate, how to weed out applicants that may not be a good fit, closing the best candidates. Training: How to develop an effective new hire training course that prepares reps to take successfully take calls starting their first day on the floor. Effective Role playing strategies to increase effectiveness of training. Management: Creating a world class culture to motivate and retain your staff. How to look at and understand call center statistics. Call Center Operations: How to handle the day to day activity of a call center, and manage the business without constantly fighting fires. Outsourcing: For outsourcers- tips on how to make your client satisfied and give you more business. For those who outsource there are tips on how to get below the surface to truly understanding the level of service being provided by your service provider. Overall 110 tips that most centers can implement right away and receive immediate benefit of improved operations, and higher levels of employee and customer satisfaction.

Give your front-line call center staff the training they need With How to Be a Great Call Center Representative, call-center staff will learn what technology-based customer service is all about, including the history, terminology, legislation, and technology options. This book is designed to supplement and enhance the industry-specific policies and procedures plus local, state, and federal guidelines to which a call center staff must adhere. Filled with exercises and self-assessments, the course presents specific, practical strategies for improving listening skills, building trust with customers, problem solving, and decision-making--all within the context of a busy call center. How to Be a Great Call Center Representative provides all the tools needed to be confident in handling customers and building a foundation for future growth and advancement. Readers will learn how to: Identify the roles and responsibilities of a call center staff Prepare yourself to deliver quality service Learn to communicate successfully Identify current legislation, terminology, and technology affecting call center staff Develop skills for building trust Enhance telephone verbal skills and vocal quality Build problem solving and decision-making skills Learn to handle difficult customer situations Improve your time-management and multitasking skills Identify ways to control your stress level Learn to recover from mistakes-yours and your customer's. This is an ebook version of the AMA Self-Study course. If you want to take the course for credit you need to either purchase a hard copy of the course through amaselfstudy.org or purchase an online version of the course through www.flexstudy.com.