Call Centre Career Guide and Counseling

Question: How do i go about setting up a call centre? I have recently aquired a building which was previously used as a call centre. I would like to know how difficult it would be to setup a call centre. I would be able to get staff and all the lines are already installed. However, where would i go about getting clients? The offices are located in sheffield, uk.

Answer: Phone book

Question: How to outsource or start call centre service? I have space to cater to a call centre. How much it would cost for other things? and what points to consider to begin with?

Answer: Examine your motives: Why are you doing this? Is it for the right reason? Do you have practical expectations? Research the industry: Join call center associations; read industry literature; but be careful about advice you find on the Internet. Some Internet information about call centers is out-of-date and some is just plain wrong. Make sure that any Internet information is provided by a reputable person who is currently involved in the industry. Make a working business plan: Having a simple, yet effective business plan is essential in keeping you on track and focused. Your business plan should include objectives, a cost analysis, a profitability proforma (if you will be a profit center), equipment, telephone and Internet needs, planning for funding, obtaining the requisite licenses, permits, and insurances, and a time table. Evaluate and select equipment: This is a critical step. Call center equipment and software can be expensive. The features available on the equipment and software you buy will dictate the types of services you can offer and how efficient and effective you will be. Determine your launch date: This is the date that you will “go live� and begin processing calls. By then you will need your equipment installed, the phone lines in and working, your staff hired and trained, and most importantly work to do. Buy and install equipment: Once you buy the equipment and software, your vendor will install it and provide some training. They will also be able to tell you when you need to place your order with them to have the system installed and staff trained for your launch date. Order phone and Internet service: Many vendors can order your phone service for you. At the very least, they will tell you what to order. Most call center equipment requires special phone service, which all too many phone company reps do not fully understand, so don’t try to do order phone service (except for one standard business line) on your own. Hire and train staff: Hire and train more staff than you project you will need for your launch. Why? For two reasons. First, not all of the people you hire will be retained. Despite your best screening and hiring efforts, some will quit before they finish training, while others will quickly conclude that it is not the job for them, and still others will find a better job. The other reason is that when you go live there will undoubtedly be unanticipated problems, which extra staff can help resolve. Also, expect your staff to be tentative and a bit slow during those initial days of operation. Therefore, extra staff will be a blessing. Begin operation: Now that everything is in place, you can begin processing calls! At this point you will have successfully launched a call center, congratulations! The next goal is to grow it, fine-tune it, improve it, and expand it.

Question: How much is the salary for call centre jobs in holland nl? I am English and do not speak any Dutch. I have 6 years call centre/customer service experience. I'd like to know what is usually the basic salary for a call centre advisor in holland? Thanks

Answer: I think they start at the minumum wage for the country, this page has the official list for the Netherlands: http://home.szw.nl/index.cfm?menu_item_id=13737&hoofdmenu_item_id=13825&rubriek_item=391911&rubriek_id=391817&set_id=77&doctype_id=6&link_id=156519 The first colum has the monthly amount, before taxes, the second per week and the third per day. You can expect to pay roughly one third in taxes, so the average amount you take home will be about €900 per month, at age 23 and above. If you work less than a full week, you take home less. If you are younger than 23 years old you will get less. But if you have experience you might be able to negotiate higher wages.

Question: What is required in a call centre sales and service role? What is a call centre and what is required of you if you work at one. Thankyou for taking the time out to answer this:)

Answer: To be a pest and be persistent and annoy the by-crikeys out of every one !!!

Question: What is the minimum elegibility for call centre? I have finished my 12th std.Can I work in call centre.I also want to go for degree.Is it possible.

Answer: must speak really bad English with an Indian accent

Question: What is it like to work for Telstra at a call centre doing inbound sales? So i'm about to start work for Telstra in a call centre as an inbound sales consultant. Whats the pay rate? How hard is your job? Stress levels? Anything you can tell me about this job would be appreciated. Cheers!

Answer: i haven't worked at Telstra, but i have worked in a call centre doing inbound sales in australia before. the majority of call centre employees 'burn out' within about two years, as the work is repetitive, boring (unless you are super competitive) and the stress levels can be enormous, especially if you are required to meet targets. targets can be hard to meet if the centre is understaffed as usually, people are already ticked off cause they've been on hold for ages and they aren't interested in you selling them all sorts of junk they don't need (but you are required to sell that junk to meet your targets). there was always an unspoken threat of 'disciplinary action' if you didn't 'meet your targets' and your time off the phone is measured in minutes. i've been asked to explain myself when i logged in two minutes past my actual start time, EVEN THOUGH i would frequently be on calls past the end of my day. i would never ever work in a call centre again. in my opinion, they are the developed world's equivalent of sweat shops.

Question: What is the best performing call centre in the UK? What is the UK's best performing call centre in terms of time taken to answer calls, and quality?

Answer: You mean they have call centres based in the UK?!!! NO! You are kidding me. I don't believe I have ever spoken to a person in the UK when I have called my bank. They are pretty good though. The worst I've ever called was Hewlett Packard. Insurance companies are dire as well.

Question: what is the minimum expected salary in a call centre. The applicant is 50 years old and retired? What is the minimum salary you can expect for working in a call centre for a start up position. The applicant is 50 years old and retired and looking for an exra income.

Answer: call centre job fetches 12000 to 15000

Question: How can I get through to the manager or techincian if the call centre person cant solve my problem? Many call centre people, especially oriental ones, refuse to put me through to the manager or a tech savvy person whatever I do. I think they are scripted to refuse. My problems remain unsolved and lots of time wasted by the incompetent call centre people.

Answer: They are scripted to refuse, and in some companies they even get penalized for putting you through, because to the idiots running the plcae, it's a way to make it look like the rep couldn't solve the problem. Call, and when you get someone, don't even go into your whole problem. Just demand a supervisor. Tell them that you've talked to 10 customer reps, and that you are insisting on speaking to a supervisor. Keep demanding, no matter what they say. Keep your cool, but keep demanding. Eventually they will have to put you through. They will also tell you the manager is busy, he's not at his desk, it could be half an hour to wait, whatever. Choose to wait. They usually get on in a couple of minutes. And whatever the wait time, it's less time and frustruation than you'll spend on calling back over and over. If things get really ugly, ask the rep for the name of their supervisor, their supervisor's supervisor, and on up the chain. Then tell them you'll be sending a letter to corporate and calling the media. Also, keep good notes, so that when you call you can list the names of each of the customer service people you've spoken to. Good luck!

Question: What are some good questions to ask for call centre interview? I was recently promoted to a Call Centre Supervisor and also have assumed the job of the hiring of employees, I have never interviewed before and would like some tips on questions frequently asked or if anyone else is in this profession, I have a pretty good interview put together but it is always good to get others opinins as well, in case I am forgetting some things.

Answer: Ok, this may seem weird but, Are you a Musician? Basically, call center work is geared toward people early in their career. The people that do best in call center and last the longest without getting bored think of it as their 'day job' which funds what they really like to do, which is Music at night. Also, assuming your call center is medium to large size (over 100 agents) it is best to work with local governments and community colleges to provide a steady stream of candidates. The local governments and colleges can help subsidize your training costs, making your center more competitive. Best of luck.

Question: Should i continue my career as a Sales Manger in a call centre? I'm 26 and I feel like i am at a cross roads career wise. Since deferring an Economics degree, i have worked my way up in a call centre to become Sales Manager, the money is good, the hours are all over the place. The job has its ups and downs, but overall is frustrating and not that rewarding. I really can't see a career in a call centre sustainable and I can't see myself working in an office environment for the rest of my career. What do i do?

Answer: You can do whatever you want to do. Life is not that hard - If you want to make a career change, JUST DO IT, like Nike says!

Question: HI i am looking to open a Call Centre How much money is needed?I am attached with training institution for it. Hi this is krishna i m looking to open a call centre, Suggest me that to whom i should have to contact and exactly what money require here ? Well i need to contact various well known companies or have to search clients ?

Answer: Go to http://www.score.org/template_gallery.html and download the Excel template for estimating start up costs.

Question: How can I assist an employee that has ADHD in a call-centre environment? What suggestions do you have for assisting a 19yo with ADHD in a work (call centre) environment? I need some help with going about resolving the common symptoms of ADHD.. * Yelling at inappropriate times. * Not being able to sit still. * Poor impulse control/lack of attention. * Understanding boundries particularly with regards to showing respect when speaking to management. Thanks in advance! Who said she's a he?

Answer: Oh that sounds really hard. It is nice for you to work with that. I have had some problems with that when working in that kind of enviroment, but I was not mean to management. I did not yell either. I would say my problems was I was distracted by other people chatting about non work subjects and they were not stopped that would have helped me. Putting me in a quiet area to work and really not singling me out, but having the same rules for others too. if you have favorite people working and the chat all shift is is hard for another employee to work. Do not allow them to yell. Tell them it is not alllowed. Give them a warning system. If it is loud talking help them learn to get their noise level down or move them. Teach them about rules with regard to management. Set goals and monitor goals for improvement. Here is your goal we are going to look at it in one week. Then again later. Not sitting still. Allow the employee movement in their individual chair. If they move around and do not sit still it is okay. As long as they are not running around the room. Counsel your employee to go on breaks and to walk or exercise on those breaks. Do you have a gym? Can the employee ride a bike or walk around the bulding? Can you have the employee build some currior type work into the job? Can you have the employee do some walking in the job? If yes do it and make it productive. Not everyone can sit on their butt all day. Have them do shreading for you or do something else that requires some movement. This is not an excuse to talk or goof off. What helped me become productive is I moved to a differnet area where I could block out all the talking of the other staff. I wanted to make things work. I just needed to be able to do it. Here is a site with some info. http://www.nami.org I hope that helps.

Question: How do you get straight through to a call centre? I am trying to get through to a call centre but keep getting fobbed off or lost in a maze of automative responses. Can you jump straight past this to a real person?

Answer: try pressing 0 or 9 repeatedly.....works on loads of systems

Question: Has any one lost his/her IT and call centre job due to offshore outsourcing to India? Did anyone lost his/her IT or call centre job to India due to offshore outsourcing ? If yes, then what you did after loosing the job ?

Answer: I have not, but I work in IT and can tell you.. Offshore outsourcing to India is becoming less and less common. There has been so much outsourcing to India, that the job market for IT has skyrocketed there. It is much more common now to outsource to Mexico. Cheaper wages, NAFTA, and less accents are all turning the tides to Mexican outsourcing.

Question: where do i find a investor who is ready to invest in helping me to start a call centre? i need someone to invest around 5-10 crores INR to get a call centre set up. Once i have the facility and the infrastructure ready, i will get clients/business for international or domestic circle.

Answer: you will need a business plan first before looking for any help, investors or financing