3.5 Call centers-corporate business hubs

3.5 Call centers—corporate business hubs

Recent studies indicate that in many sectors of the economy call centers have become a major factor in customer retention, competitiveness, and ability to adapt to changing markets. These operations are the "front wall" of the organization—often the first contact point for a customer. Senior executives are becoming much more aware of the significant contributions an efficient, customer-oriented call center can make to corporate business objectives and are supporting initiatives to attract the best people possible to their call centers. As call centers play an ever-increasing role in regional, national, and international economies, governments at all levels are providing tax incentives for call centers to locate in their jurisdictions.

Call center managers—professional skills

Those who aspire to call center management positions will need to develop a definable skillset to achieve success. These skills include

• Communication—writing, speaking, and interpersonal communication with all levels of management

• Project management—the ability to manage several projects at the same time

• Training—understanding the importance of training and the various training methodologies available

• Leadership and management—the ability to develop trust in employees and manage call center activities

• Performance assessments—the ability to review and assess employee performance

• Quantitative analysis—the ability to analyze statistical reports

Call center managers who successfully meet these challenges have significant opportunities for advancement. As noted previously, call center management has become a recognized management position and has cross-industry applications and thus the same job mobility opportunities as other industry management positions.

Knowledge requirements

In addition to a skillset, there are some other attributes which might be called knowledge requirements. These are personal experience and background characteristics that might round out the abilities of a call center manager. The knowledge requirements include

• Customer service

• Forecasting

• Staffing and scheduling

• Caller behavior

• Random call arrival

• Queuing theory

• Systems and software

• Organizational behavior

• Ergonomics and workplace environment

• Industry vocabulary

Staying in tune with industry developments through attendance at conferences, call center associations, and generally participating and contributing to industry events is important for call center managers. Continual personal growth and development will also be of benefit to a career. Keeping abreast of evolving technologies and developing a network of other professionals and resources available to assist in resolving job-related problems are other activities that can help the manager along a career path.