Wake Up, Reps! You Are Sealing Your Own Fate!

Another controversial topic...

I have the greatest respect for representatives who handle customer interactions all day long. Really I do.  Imagine being tied to your desk, having to go to the powder room, knowing that there are 20 calls in queue.  Imagine all of your business interactions being recorded and you being "scored" on every aspect of that interaction.  Now imagine that a number of your colleagues called in sick and now you have to work through lunch. And now imagine that you are one of the lowest paid people in the company.  It's a hard job, especially if trained properly to use some pretty sophisticated call strategy skills to navigate through the interactions effectively - controlling the customer call to a successful conclusion.  It's a hard job both to be a representative and to manage a contact center.

There is a very dark side to the contact center and representatives should really understand their impact on the company's decision to outsource. 

This dark side is not known to the public at large.  It may not even be known to the CEO.  But anyone who has ever led a contact center knows it exists and has experienced it.  Or should I say, been the victim of it. There are tons of articles about how representatives are not supported, incenitvized, properly motivated or valued by the company.  And in many ways, this is true.  With the evolution of technology, we have been enabled to micro-manage our representatives, which just adds to their victim mentality.  No one likes to be micro-managed; it makes them feel like kindergartners, not professionals.  So, yes, I would like to see this change and my life's work is devoted to getting the representatives and the contact center organization to be perceived as a mission-critical valued added partner to the company.

I dare say that along with my devotion to changing the world perception of contact centers, I am frustratd beyond belief that in general, many representatives are actually perpetuating their own bad press!  They have become so difficult to manage, that when companies are considering outsourcing, the other straw that pushes the decision to outsource is the never-ending human resource issues that exist.  The fact is that managing a contact center is a labor-intensive job.  In a study conducted by The Radclyffe Group, LLC, 80% of the managers surveyed said that they spend 80% of their time dealing with petty personnel issues.  These issues include:

• Excessive Absenteeism
• Lateness
• Lack of Schedule Adherence
• Tattletaling
• Collegial Conflict
• Complaining
• Dealing with Anonymous Complaints to Human Resources

All of these issues distract from the business at hand, which is to deliver World Class Service to customers.  I have heard executives under a great deal of stress over these issues remark that it would be a lot less trouble to "just outsource."  So, in the final analysis if all things are equal, why not just outsource?  If I am looking at the cost of outsourcing which would enable me to eliminate headcount and benefits AND reduce the labor intensive costs to manage the personnel issues that arise - not to mention potential legal implications - I might think outsourcing is a good idea.

So to all of the representatives out there:  Next time you want to argue about the importance of coming to work on time, or your impact on schedule adherence or whether or not you should use the telephone skills on which you are monitored, remember that your employer has choices and pretty good ones.  The workforces in India and the Phillipines are just happy to have the opportunity to work in a professional job.  In general, they are highly educated and their cost of living is nominal compared to yours. 

My advice to you...

Be grateful for what you have and be careful what you wish for.  Start thinking about really adding value to the company and stop complaining.  Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Be professional and demonstrate that we deserve to keep jobs here, in America.

Comments

[Remington]

I have been reading your articles and you have a very keen understanding of the "call center culture"

I have worked for a few companies as a telesales & customer service representative. I have done some other work in-between, and due to some bad career moves (trying to sell cars, etc.) find myself working for a call center again, as a telesales rep, and am actually quite successful and making a very respectable $60K+/Year.

Weak management has a lot to do with why call centers have such high turnover, and a bad reputation as being "the factories of today."

Even though I am among the top three best producers in the entire inbound telesales call center, these so called supervisors are insecure about their ability to lead, and rightfully so. They feel that in order to maintain control they must jump at any opportunity to "coach."

It is because of their own insecurities that I am coached on what I did wrong during a monitored call, which didn't result in a sale. When this has occured I snapped back at the coach giving my reasons based on considerable (10years+ as sales person, and sales manager) experience interacting with customers. In essence, I "know when to fold them, know when to walk away when the dealings done."

Now tell me. Why would a coach feel the need to tell me how to sell when I am one of a very small (less then 5) handfull of $1M/Quarter reps when everbody else is selling between $300,000-$600,000/Quarter?

I will leave this company soon. I have been with them nearly two years, and I ENJOY my JOB talking to customers and am thrilled with my success. I know how unusual it is for a call center rep to enjoy his/her job. However, I have found that due to my perceived resistance to "coaching" (by reps promoted to coaching positions, who by the way, I outsold without fail,) I am monitored more and subject to strict diciplinary actions when I don't follow such things as "call script" to the letter, as I am not providing a "consistent and quality customer experience."

Why didn't I apply for the job opportunity as "telesales coach" or "telesales supervisor" if I am so successful?

Because I wasn't interested in the pay cut. That should tell you something right there.

All this while I hear over 10 times per day by customers that they really appreciate the level of service they have received by me.

I will have the satisfaction soon of taking my considerable knowledge, training, and company investment with me as I walk out the door one last time. There are probably 500 call centers in this metro area that I could work for tomorrow (if I choose this line of work again) who will be happy to have my knowledge and experience. I have my ranking spreadsheets and the numbers don't lie. I will be hired immediately.

I have applied for supervisory positions in a previous call center in which I excelled and was always given rave reviews by management. In those interviews I expressed how positive motivation and careful, structured and focused training (workshop training sessions on AHT, Problem Solving, Qualifying, and Close Techniques, for example) are important to the success of reps. I did not succeed, because all management wanted to know was how I would put the hammer down an threaten reps when their performance.

You see, training is hard work, and it's easier to just threaten people. After, the call center constantly has ads in monster for employment opportunities, and they have a large pool of applicants available waiting for a job.

Oh well, I can move on. I pity those reps that don't have the experience I have and feel they have no other options but to deal with the toxic call center while maintaining a perma-smile. Less they be perceived as having a "bad attitude."

It's interesting, the good people leave, the ones that stay are the ones who aren't good enough to work anywhere else. Gee, I wonder why customer service isn't what it used to be. Gee, I wonder why companies are looking to outsource overseas.

What do I know? I'm just a stupid P.O.S. rep. I'll shut up now and get back on the phone. The supervisor is comming.

-Rem

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