Whether you’re looking to hire an inbound call center rep or you are an inbound rep and are looking to better yourself professionally, knowing what the top qualities are extremely important. We will dive into some of the best qualities an inbound call center rep can have, and why those qualities matter.
It’s no secret that attrition rates in inbound call centers have some fairly high turnover rates. This comes at a great cost, since it’s very costly to recruit, hire and train new employees. Some studies show that turnover rates in inbound call centers can reach as high as 45%, which is pretty unbelievable.
When hiring a new employee, you can expect training to take up to 10 weeks to get them properly trained (depending on the complexity of your inbound call center). Not only does this take up a good chunk of time, it can also be very expensive. That being said, if you fail to properly train your employees, turnover rates will only continue to increase.
Retaining your top call center employees is vital to the health of your business, so look for some of these traits when hiring for an inbound call center:
Strong problem solving skills
It’s no secret – if you want to be successful at an inbound call center type environment, you will need to be a great problem solver. You never quite know what people are going to throw at you that day, so being able to think on your feet is imperative for succeeding.
Trustworthiness
When you’re working at an inbound call center, it very important to be transparent and trustworthy. If a manager give you a big project, they expect things to get done. Being the “go to person” is a great thing to be, especially in the eyes of management.
Ability to connect with customers
If you’re working at an inbound call center, chances are you have pretty good people skills. However, being able to truly connect with customers, and understand their time is just as valuable as yours, and they want a pleasant experience. Chances are, if they’re calling in, they are looking for some help, so why not put yourself in their shoes and truly provide them with a top tier experience?
Seeing the bigger picture
If you work at a larger inbound call center, sometimes you can feel like a very, very small piece of the puzzle. However, every positive experience you help provide is vitally important. Understanding that no matter how small you may think you are, you are a very important piece to your organization.
Goal setting
Setting goals and keeping your employees properly motivated and always striving to be better. When employees are properly motivated, they will see just how bright their future is. Providing incentives for employees who go above and beyond can be a great way to help your employees grow and understand their worth.
Determine just how qualified your agents are
Sure, it’s easy to read through a bunch of applications, but how can you really measure and determine if someone is qualified to work in your inbound call center? Having applicants simply complete different tests can weed out those who may not be as serious as others, and provide deeper insights at the same time, effectively “killing two birds with one stone”.
How to develop your reps abilities
Furthering your inbound reps abilities is an important factor in helping them grow professionally as well as personally. Here are a few suggestions on steps to take in order to help them better themselves:
- Have use cases and real life scenarios
- Have KPIs to help them visualize what success is
- Have an “open door policy”
- Better understand what their long term goals are
Developing these key skills is a great way to make sure your inbound call center employees around for the long haul, and keep costs low.
