Challenges to Recruiting and Hiring the Right Call Centre Agents

If you struggle with finding and hiring the right call centre agents for your company, you may understand the challenges that encompass this industry. Whether you are a retail or service-oriented business, it can be difficult to find high-quality agents or to keep them for the long term.

The Fear of Monotony

One of the common perceptions from people outside the customer service or call centre industry is that representatives or agents do the same task over and over. People hesitate to apply for fear of boredom and monotony in their daily routines.

The way many outside call centres in Calgary and other places deal with this challenge is by automating certain tasks and freeing up their agents’ time to work on more complex tasks. For instance, they may use software programs that make it easy to input notes from calls so the agent can focus on resolving the issue rather than just recording it. These changes allow the agent to use their skills in a manner which is more beneficial to the company.

No Way to Stand Out

While many companies use software to track and record data from representatives, some of the smaller companies don’t go that in-depth. For those agents, they feel there’s no way to stand out from everyone else. They don’t think their contributions will be noticed or mistakes caught. They may not be motivated to work harder or go the extra mile for the customer.

Customer service representative leave for companies that recognize their efforts. While turnover is high in the industry in general, it is often even more noticeable in smaller companies as agents leave for organizations that will promote them and reward them.

Lack of Training

Many companies hire agents with the most basic training to deal with customers and general issues. They may even be given a script with what they are allowed to say and no option to use their own judgement in individual cases. This creates dissatisfaction for the agents, which encourages them to look elsewhere for customer service jobs.

Companies that want to reduce turnover will create training opportunities periodically. They may allow the agents to brush up on their skills or learn new skills. These companies will also provide the agents the resources they need to handle difficult situations. They may even rely on the agents to make decisions without direct supervision for every issue.

Hiring or Outsourcing

These challenges can seem insurmountable, especially for the smaller company with few agents. For them, the solution may be to hire an outside call centre in Calgary with trained staff. They won’t have to worry about the details but trust the company to provide qualified agents who are trained to handle various situations.

Even larger companies may choose to outsource as opposed to keeping up with changing technology and ongoing training for in-house staff. Whether you hire customer service agents or outsource to an outside company, you want to ensure you have professional staff handling customer calls and representing your business.

Ashley Meszaros is the Owner/President of We An-Ser Communications in Calgary. We An-Ser Communications provides award winning call center services in Calgary, dispatching, medical answering services, man down services, lone worker support, wireless panic services and more. They service the North American market.

Ashley Meszaros is the Owner/President of We An-Ser Communications in Calgary. http://www.wean-ser.com/calgary-call-centre-services/