In this blog post, I will be taking the most common myths about call centres and exposing the reality of each myth to you. As a recruitment consultant for a call centre, and having previously worked as a customer service agent for 4 years for one, I can give you a realistic insight into this industry.
Myth: Working in a call centre is just outbound sales harassing customers who don’t want to speak to you
Reality: The first thing you need to understand about call centres is that there is a wide range of different job vacancies that are available to you. You could be a sales agent or customer service agent, quality assurance officer, IT, dialler analyst, various levels of management etc - the list is endless with the different opportunities available.
Yes, outbound sales jobs exist. However, it doesn’t mean that all customers aren’t willing to give you the time of day. You’ve called these people with a purpose, to help improve their circumstances by offering to give them a quote and to see if you can save them money on their monthly bills (that doesn’t sound too bad, right?). As in all jobs, whether your customer facing or telephone based, you will encounter customers who are rude and don’t want to give you the time of day. I must stress that is only a small minority, as most people will either politely ask you to call them back or will let you down gently and other people are more than willing to go through the call with you.
Myth: You get set harsh targets and will be sent out the door if you don’t make a sale
Reality: With any job, you will be set targets to work towards, however the targets given to you are very achievable and have been worked out by analysing performance. You certainly won’t be told to leave for not hitting your targets each day. Instead additional coaching and support is offered to agents. The quality compliance team and managers are there to support and guide you through any struggles you face in the job and will invest in you.
Myth: No career progression
Reality: In any company, there are always routes for progression and it’s exactly the same for call centres too, in fact, there are a number of different career paths open to people within this industry. Whether you are an agent that wants to take the first step on the managerial ladder and become a deputy, or you’re an experienced manager looking to progress into a more senior role, the opportunities are available to you. Perhaps you want to change departments from telephony to working within HR, IT or training, they will encourage you and support your choices. Internal progression is essential for call centres, as internal employees are armed with extensive knowledge of the company and have the loyalty and enthusiasm to progress their career within the same organisation. Personal development plans and further training is provided for people who are interested in career progression.
Myth: Working in a call centre isn’t skilled work
Reality: This myth is definitely one I am keen to debunk as there are a lot of skills to acquire when working in a call centre. You are taught sales techniques, soft skills and objection handling skills, to be able to communicate with customers more efficiently. You show that you have the ability to work to targets, can multitask with ease and have an increase in confidence.
Myth: Call centres are a boring place to work
Reality: Call centres and the word boring shouldn’t really be in the same sentence. Working in a call centre was one of the most fun jobs I have had as it is a social environment where you’re very quickly welcomed as one of the team. Incentives are carried out weekly to help add fun to the day - for example they often run competitions where for each sale you get you can win anything from food & drink to retail vouchers to scratch cards and even Ipads!
There are so many positives to working in the call centre industry and I do think that the preconceptions people have of them is starting to disappear. All you need to do is keep an open mind. You can view our available vacancies here and if you are interested in learning more about what life entails working in a call centre, feel free to give us a call and one of the team will be more than happy to have a chat with you.
Written by Nicole Loy
