subject: Outbound Call Center Training [print this page] The need and importance of outbound call center training can hardly be understated. Answering services are at an advantage that way because they are dealing with customers and callers who are interested in talking to the agent. The case is the inverse when it comes to outbound telemarketing services. Here the agent has to interact with potential customers who are more likely to be disinterested in the products or services. It becomes the agents job to talk to them in a professional but persuasive way. Convincing the person on the other end of the phone to at least hear them out is the main challenge for the agents in this case.
That is where outbound call center training steps in. The agents who handle outbound BPO calls are advised to keep their calm at all points. There will be those provocative statements glaring down the phone. There will be those receivers who dont have anything to do with the product or service. There will be those who hate the very voice of a telemarketing agent! Agents are warned that these challenges would make up the bulk of their work. Their training agenda consists of several aspects of marketing that you would not find in the course sheets of offline marketing.
Among others, anger management plays a very major role in outbound call center training. Agents are told that there will be provocations and even humiliating remarks coming from the receivers of their calls. The BPO agents work is to turn all of that negativity and push for sales as well. Samantha Gray, a training expert with a reputed business outsourcing center says, We monitor all the calls that the agents make. If we find that the agent has raised his or her voice during a call, we warn them. If the problem persists with the same agent, we terminate them. The cold logic is that call center agents have to hold their nerves because any failure on their part to do so would harm the clients business.
To get rid of the stress in the work environment, outbound call center training sometimes involve yoga and other breathing techniques to soothe the frayed nerves. Samantha says, Deep breathing works really well to channel all the agitation and frustration out of your system into positive energy. BPO agents derive a lot of benefit from these training exercises because these are part of their survival strategies. They know that they can never afford to head for a burn-out because of the steep work pressure. Longevity is the key for any professional and is more so for the call center agent.
As a client who is looking to hire a business outsourcing firm or a wide-eyed youngster looking to join the BPO world, you need to know the training methods. This is because only when you know what the agents are trained for can you fully appreciate and understand their mind and the rush of activity within. Its only then that you can truly value what it takes for your project to get delivered on time. And what goes behind those cracking lead generation lists that the BPO firm hands over to your in-house sales team.
