Friday, May 30, 2008

What Makes a Good Call-Center Employee?

Empathy, adaptability and acting ability are just three critical traits.

With call-center attrition rates nearing 50 percent per year, identifying the attributes of a good agent is as important for retention as it is when hiring a new employee. Likewise, employees who are interested in call-center work would do well to match their temperament and skills to those who have already succeeded in the field. A worker who is reliable, genuinely interested in people and moderately tech-savvy could be ideal for the increasingly important role of call-center agent.

Lindsay Gibson, director of training at Alexandria, Va.-based VIPdesk.com Inc., prefers the term “brand ambassadors” over "call-center agents." Call-center agents who are familiar with the product or service that they represent can be most helpful to customers and will take a genuine interest in matching their product to customers’ needs. It pays for a call-center agent to be a bit of an actor, said Gibson. Every call is unique, and employees may need to be upbeat one minute and sympathetic or supportive the next. Flexibility counts.

Smashing the Stereotype
Call-center personnel are often thought of as young, inexperienced workers who lack college educations or students who are working temporarily while they complete school. However, a successful call center’s employees are often more mature and highly educated. According to one Canadian study conducted by the Richard Ivey School of Business and the Sauder School of Business, employees who work in self-directed or problem-solving teams tend to be more highly educated and specialized in a particular product or service area; in addition, these workers might have studied business practices or technology. Such employees tend to stay on the job longer, and they have higher job-satisfaction levels. Such employees also tend to learn new processes easily — plus, they have better communication skills and are able to collaborate with co-workers and management effectively.

Tim Gordon, senior vice president of service delivery at VIPdesk.com, finds it helpful to administer a personality-profile test that compares potential employees to those who have excelled. Qualities such as being proactively helpful rather than over-accommodating are highly desirable, according to Gordon. The abilities to listen and respond appropriately are also high on the list. And previous experience in customer-centric jobs is a definite plus.

Generally, the characteristics of a successful call-center agent are:
  • Resourcefulness
  • Prior call-center experience
  • Hospitality training or background
  • Bilingual skills
  • The ability to listen
  • A pleasant voice
  • A self-starter mentality
  • The ability to think and make decisions on the fly
  • An outgoing personality
  • A sense of responsibility
  • Adaptability
  • Discipline
A call-center-agent job requires an employee to uniquely combine reliability with flexibility and mix adherence to a schedule and procedure with adaptability in order to meet customers’ needs. Call-center employees are rewarded for metrics such as customer satisfaction, volume of calls taken and product knowledge, to name a few. A self-starter who wants to succeed and be rewarded for his or her performance will have the greatest success in a call-center environment.

Failure occurs when agents have negative attitudes or employee morale is poor. This usually results in the loss of long-term customers, a failure to acquire new customers, and damage to the service's or product's reputation. Individuals with bad attitudes generally do not last long at call centers.

However, responsible individuals who communicate a positive attitude and understand that they are on the front line of their company’s public image will do very well at a call center indeed.

Source : http://www.insidecrm.com/

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Call Center Project - Platinum Card Telemarketing Campaign

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Projects Details:

Type :
Project

Id : 11705109

Category : Call Center

Title : Platinum Card Telemarketing Campaign

Estimated Budget : 47- 53 USD per Sale

Description :

We are India based looking for call centers for our U.S Platinum Card sales campaign. We need call centers with setup to 25- 50 to dial USA in normal business including weekends and holidays, training material and leads will be provided by us, Our payout is be 47 – 53 USD per sale payment will be on weekly basis by wire transfer. Interested service providers are requested to contact as soon as possible with profiles.

Note: Check attachment file for telemarketing script

Country : India

Status : Closed

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Call Center Tender - BPO/Call Center Services

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Projects Details:

Type : Tender

Id : 98856833

Category : Call Center

Title : BPO/Call Center Services

Estimated Budget : Need Best Proposals

Total Requirement : Minimum 25 Seats

Description :

We are India based organization looking for BPO/ Call Center companies (Only From India) for customer care services. We are looking for 25 to 50 (Or Above) seater call center with 365x24x7 operation facility. Volume of calls is not measured.
Core Services:
  1. To handle enquiries both from prospective customers and franchisees (through multi-lingual formats- English, Hindi and major regional languages.)
  2. Reply to customer queries regarding product, prices, delivery, payment procedure for on line sales and off line sales including catalogue sales.
  3. To do tele marketing.
  4. To transact orders via IVR.
  5. To follow up with us to ensure delivery on time.
  6. To gather customer feed back, analysis and reporting.
  7. Our events/showroom sales – analysis of customer data and reporting.
  8. Query management regarding goods available on our website and troubleshooting during purchase cycles (timings 10 a.m. to 10 P.M., 7 days a week).
  9. Maintaining data base of customers/visitors and keeping them informed on incoming events through SMS/voice calls.
  10. E-catalogue/physical catalogue sales.
We are requesting best proposals from call center providers. Interested providers are requested to send their proposal at given postal address only on or before 5th June, 2008 by 1500 hrs. No E-mails will be entertained. Please refet the attached tender document carefully. EMD (Refundable) of Rs. 5000 only is required.
Note: The provider must have its own BPO/Call Centre set up (minimum 25 seater) at NCR (National Capital Regions, Delhi) location with 365 x 24 x 7 operation facility.

Country : India

Status : Closed

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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Punjab to set up toll free call centre for NRIs

Chandigarh: Punjab government would setup a 24-hour toll free call centre to redress of problems and grievances of the Punjab origin NRIs.

The call centre, a bilingual facility in Punjabi and English, comes as a follow-up to the decisions taken during the NRI Sammelan held in Chandigarh and Jalandhar in January this year. Disclosing this, Harcharan Bains, Media Advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister, said that in addition to the call centre, the NRI-specific official website of the state government would also function as a logistic back-up for increased facilitation of government-to-NRI interaction.

It may be mentioned here that about 70 lakh NRIs of Punjabi Origin are settled in different parts of the world, with Canada U.K., U.S.A, Malaysia, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain and some countries in the middle-east being the favoured destinations. Meanwhile, the Punjab Government today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in the Government of India for putting in place a structured mechanism for the welfare of Punjabis going to or already settled in different countries across the world. The MOU was signed in the presence of the Punajb Chief Minister with Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh and K Mohan Das, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas India Affairs representing the State and the Union governments respectively.

Source : http://sify.com/

Monday, May 26, 2008

Call Center Project - Mortgage Lead Generation

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Projects Details:

Type :
Project

Id : 14426132

Category : Call Center

Title : Mortgage Lead Generation

Estimated Budget : 50 USD Per lead

Description :

We are a US based company looking for a call center for a lead generation. We need centers with a set up 5–10 seats to dial USA customers at normal business working hours for lead generation for mortgage purpose. We will provide leads and training material. Our payout is 50 USD per confirmed lead, by western Union on weekly basis. Interested centers are requested to contact as soon as possible.

Country : United States

Status : Closed

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Sunday, May 25, 2008

Call Center Project - Business Lead Generation Campaign

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Projects Details:

Type :
Project

Id : 15482706

Category : Call Center

Title : Business Lead Generation Campaign

Estimated Budget : 5% of total budget per project

Description :

We are India based company looking for service providers for our lead generation campaign. We need call centers who can call across the globe to various businesses that are looking for support and administration services and collect lead of interested customers. Centers need to manage their own leads and calling data. Our payout will be 5% commission of the total budget per approved project; payment will be on weekly basis by paypal or others. Interested service providers are requested to contact as soon as possible.

Country : India

Status : Closed


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Friday, May 23, 2008

Incentive and Perk really do magic while motivating a team

Is it all about the money?

Yes, reward is about the financial element - but encompasses more than just cash;
Then recognition is about staff knowing that they are doing a good job and feeling valued as a result;

And finally, real-time feedback provides information to agents and teams so that they know how they are performing and what good things will happen to them if they raise their game - right here, right now!

So for an incentive scheme to be successful it needs to address all three factors.

Balancing efficiency and effectiveness

In a sales environment, how do you ensure that the right behaviours are reinforced? It is about having some “stick” as well as “carrot”. For example, be prepared to withdraw the incentive scheme payments from those that don’t achieve the minimum standards you expect. In the run-up to Christmas, one of our retail clients wanted to maximise the efficiency of their call centre at the same time as incentivising agents to sell. The scheme ran cumulatively for a month and each day the ’scores’ for each agent were produced. The whole bonus would be paid at the end of the month, but only if the agent achieved their cumulative thresholds. The results for the centre were astonishing.

Cash, think differently

Commission payments worked well in this situation as the money had meaning because of the time of year, but how do you sustain this type of performance uplift across an entire period? Think of alternatives to just paying cash. There are many incentives and motivation companies that administer different types of scheme where your agents earn ‘points’ which then qualify them for prizes. Members that run a house and raise a family then the ability to use the scheme as gift vouchers for certain stores or even a discount off the weekly shopping bill could be important.

Recognition: hidden weapon

Each month anyone in the company can post on it a personal thank you to another member of staff - the nomination can be for anything, however large or small. At the end of the month a winner is drawn from those people nominated throughout the month. All winners are displayed on the wall next to the board in the rest room, and - yes, you guessed it - they win a box of Cadbury’s Heroes or any other thing which is can fitted into your budget. To make this more fun all agents have a super hero alias and all nominations are delivered under these aliases. To get everyone’s involvement they even had a charity dress down day - or more to the point, dress-up day - all wearing their super hero costumes!

Creating creative buzz

The idea is that every time an order was taken a layer of the parcel could be unwrapped by that specific agent. But the incentive aspect was that the parcel was only available for one hour. No one knew how many layers there were, so would enough sales be made in that period to get to the prize? Worked brilliantly at energising the whole sales team!

Real-time information is key

The incentive programmes make sure that agents know exactly what their performance is. For example: Vcare Call Center, have produced highly creative real-time wallboard displays. Their requirement is to analyse key targets by contract and to create innovative and visual media that drives motivation on the floor. The wallboard application displays real-time data and telephony statistics that allow the manager to performance manage without having to constantly browse through various reports to check agent status, lead totals or agents status, how many agents are on call and how many are on hold or on other status.

The development approach Vcare uses is very much ‘bottom up’ - getting agent ‘buy-in’ through involvement in the design stage as much as possible.

Game On:

The game is used for an appointment-making project. Each time the agent makes a lead, they can roll an electronic dice and move themselves around the board. The wallboard displays mini characters of all the agents. The goal is to reach the finish line and receive a prize. This incentive creates a great sense of interactivity, motivation and participation; all the ingredients that make incentives schemes work.

Author: Paul Weald , callcentrehelper.com

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Call Center Tender - Carers’ Information Service/Helpline

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Projects Details:

Type : Tender

Id : 19990890

Category : Call Center

Title : Carers’ Information Service/Helpline

Estimated Budget :5350000 GBP

Total Requirement : This contract is for an initial period of approximately 42 months with options to extend for a further 36 months thereafter

Description :

We are UK based organization looking for Service Providers for establishing the Carers’ Information Service/Helpline. The service will provide, via a website, a single national telephone number, and hard copy, access to the information and guidance needed by carers. A contractor is sought to establish, maintain and develop the above service. The contractor will be required to work with organization, who will provide the technical elements of the web-based elements of the service, and other stakeholders.

A Service Providers who are from UK or an offshore companies who are having presence in UK are eligible for the Tender Application. The work will be rather specialised and though aspects of the call centre can be based anywhere, we expect much of it will need to be based in the UK.

Please go through the attachment and that will help you for the Tender Application. The Closing Date for the Tender is 6/11/2008.

Interested Service Providers are requested to apply for the Tender before the DEADLINE.

Country : United Kingdom

Status : Closed

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Call Center Project - Webhosting sales Campaign

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Projects Details:

Type :
Project

Id : 43386309

Category : Call Center

Title : Webhosting sales Campaign

Estimated Budget : 15 USD Per Sale

Description :

We are India based looking for sales affiliates for Webhosting Services and Products. We need center with 5 seats, to dial in India in normal business hrs. Center need to manage their own leads, Our payout is 15 USD per sale will be paid by wire transfer on daily basis. Interested service providers are requested to contact with profiles.

Country : India

Status : Closed

Are you interested to work on this project? Post your contact details Now! Click Here

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Call center hiring 7,000 agents

US-BASED Convergys Corp. is hiring 7,000 call center agents over the next 12 to 18 months to support the expansion of its operations in the Philippines.

Andrea Ayers, president of customer management at Convergys, said yesterday the company would expand its Philippine operations by nearly 50 percent with the addition of five new integrated contact centers throughout the country.

‘‘We are constantly evaluating new locations and at this point, based on client demand, we find that the Philippines offers the most advantageous mix of available talent, infrastructure and government support,’’ Ayers said.

She said the expansion would increase the company’s capacity by 77 percent. This would also make the Philippines its second largest operation globally, second only to the United States in terms of number of employees.

After the expansion, Convergys will have a global workforce of 67,000, with about 20,000 in the Philippines.

The Philippines, she said, was the fastest growing operation, and this was where the company was putting up more capacity. It will have 14 contact centers in the country alone after the expansion.

Ayers said the country’s competitiveness lay in its people.

‘‘Filipinos have a high level of proficiency in the English language, strong technical skills and great customer service skills,’’ she said.

Three of the new sites will be in Metro Manila, the fourth in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, and the fifth in Cebu City. These new facilities would bring in 3,995 new seats.

The Cebu facility will have a capacity of 450 seats and will require over 650 employees. Located in the Asiatown IT Park, the facility is set for completion in August.

The UP Science Park call center will have 575 seats and over 850 employees. It will be completed in November.

The Nuvali facility in Sta. Rosa will have 660 seats and would generate over 950 new jobs. It will be completed by the end of the year.

The one in San Lazaro will have 460 seats and generate over 650 new jobs. Located within Manila’s university belt, it will be completed in April next year.

The Glorietta 5 facility in Makati is the largest among the new centers, with 1,850 seats and generating over 1,850 new jobs. It is also set for completion April next year.

Negotiations are under way on these five new facilities, and when those are finalized and completed, Convergys will have nine contact centers in Metro Manila, three in Cebu City, one in Bacolod City, and another in Laguna.

The new contact centers will provide both general support and advanced technical-help desk services to a variety of Convergys clients through traditional voice calling, e-mail and Web chat as well as back-office applications and document processing.

The company is now doing back-office operations, but is still predominantly voice with 95 percent of its workforce still doing voice services.

“We are in a recession-proof business. We present a viable option for companies in the US to lower their costs,” said Ayers, adding their clients generated 15 to 30 percent savings on costs.

Convergys operates 85 contact centers in locations including the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and the Philippines. Convergys agents handle 1.7 million inbound calls every day for clients in a wide variety of industries.

Source : http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/

Monday, May 19, 2008

Call Center Tender - Consumer Helpline Services

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Projects Details:

Type : Tender

Id : 54438834

Category : Call Center

Title : Consumer Helpline Services

Estimated Budget :1300000 EURO

Total Requirement : Contract for 5yrs.

Description :

We are Ireland based organization looking for the Service providers for our Consumer Helpline Services. The service provider will be required to handle telephone calls from consumers of financial products and services for the organization within established parameters; to escalate calls to the Organization where necessary, and to maintain a database of all calls received.

The Consumer Helpline currently handles queries and information requests from individual consumers on a wide range of financial issues relating to the services provided by the types of firms above. Between 29,000 and 31,000 calls are handled per annum.

It will be a requirement of the tender that firms provides premises equipped with the telephone equipment and information technology to support and report on the required service.

The service provider will also be required to have technical/electronic systems which will enable them to accept orders for our personal finance publications generated via our consumer website, and to forward these order details electronically to a separate distribution company for fulfillment.

The contract will be established initially for one year. Subject to satisfactory performance, ongoing review by the Organization, and budgetary requirements, it may be extended annually for up to two additional years. For the avoidance of doubt, the maximum duration of the contract, inclusive of all relevant extensions, is 36 months from the commencement date.

We have attached the document that will guide you for the Tender Application. The Closing Date for this Tender is 06-09-2008 12:00.

Interested Service Providers are requested to apply for the Tender before the DEADLINE.

Country : Ireland

Status : Closed

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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Call Center Project - Domestic Call center Campaign

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Projects Details:

Type :
Project

Id : 89906606

Category : Call Center

Title : Domestic Call center Campaign

Estimated Budget :Discuss with Centers

Description :

We are India based looking for experienced call centers (only for mumbai) to dial in India for our various campaigns like Data validation, Appointment setting etc. We need centers with 100 seats, but center with current setup to upto 30 can apply. Centers must be located in Mumbai. Payout will be per seat basis, depends on the campaign, phone bill will be paid by us too. We will conduct an audit to check infrastructure and related facilities before awarding campaign. Interested service providers are requested to contact with profile and quotations.

Country : India

Status : Closed

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Friday, May 16, 2008

Call centers urged to follow occupational safety guidelines

MANILA, Philippines -- Former labor undersecretary Susan Ople urged the call center industry to follow the guidelines set by the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) of the labor department to promote the health and well-being of thousands of call center agents in the country.

Ople noted that the OSHC has called on different companies to formulate policies that will indicate management’s commitment to a safe and healthful workplace.

Under Department Circular No. 1 which was issued last March, the employer has to formulate and implement an appropriate OSH program in accordance with the government’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards and other health-related issuances by the DoLE. The rule also mandates employers to organize Safety and Health committees in their workplace, pursuant to Rule 1040 of the OSHS.

“The BPO (business process outsourcing) sector is a leading star of the economy and must now illuminate the path towards better safety and health standards in the workplace,” the daughter of the late labor and foreign affairs secretary Blas F. Ople said.

Read More Article...

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Call Center Tender - Inbound and Outbound Call Center

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Projects Details:

Type : Tender

Id : 60044444

Category : Call Center

Title : Inbound and Outbound Call Center

Estimated Budget :Need Best Quotations

Total Requirement : Contract for 5yrs.

Description :

We are United Kingdom based medical organization. We are looking for a call center for our requirement of contact center facility dealing with inbound and outbound services. The call centre facility must be available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year including all Public Holidays. Call volumes vary from day to day but tend to be steady at 21 000 - 26 000 per week. The ability to handle calls from Welsh speaking callers efficiently is mandatory. The estimated call volumes are expected to be between 1000000 and 3000000 a year. The core purpose of outbound calling is to provide information to and collect information.

Payment terms will be negotiated at later stage. Interested providers are requested to send their asked information on or before 13th June, 2008. We have attached the tender document. Please read it carefully before sending response to this notice.

Country : United Kingdom

Status : Closed

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Call Center Project - US Debt Settlement Live Transfer

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Projects Details:

Type :
Project

Id : 20076313

Category : Call Center

Title : US Debt Settlement Live Transfer

Estimated Budget :30 USD Per Transfer

Total Requirement : 10-15 seats

Description :

We are USA based and looking for call centers for US debt settlement Live Transfers Campaign. We need min 5 leads per day in first week and that may increase upto 10 leads per day from second week. We will provide script and operation support with every day feedback, center needs to manage their own lead. Payout\'s is 30 USD per Live transfer, will be paid on monthly basis by paypal or other methods. Interested Service providers are requested to contact us as soon as possible.

Country : United States

Status : Closed

Are you interested to work on this project? Post your contact details Now! Click Here

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

25 Surefire Ways to Train Call-Center Agents

Regardless of the hardware and software your call center has, you need to train your agents how to use it. Training is an inescapable fact of life in a call center, and teaching your agents to use hardware is an important part of that training.

Here are 25 ways to get the most from your technology-training investment:
  1. Make sure your training aligns with your business goals. All of your call-center procedures and metrics should support your business goals, including the training your agents receive. Make sure your trainees understand these goals and how the technology they're learning applies to them.

  2. Focus on the tasks, not the technology. A manual is not a textbook, and trying to present technology straight out of the manual is about the worst possible approach. A manual is about the software or hardware. Training is about the job to be done. Your training should focus on what you want the students to be able to accomplish. It should be based on how to use the technology, not all its bells and whistles.

    Even users’ manuals tend to be built around the structure of the system, which is one of the reasons they're so frustrating. Typically, the user isn't looking for information on, say, file structure. He or she is trying to accomplish something. It is at best time-consuming, and often frustrating trying to relate a category like file structure to the job the user is trying to do.

  3. Give an overview. While you shouldn't try to train from the manual, your students need to understand more than how to do X, Y and Z. They need to see how the parts of the technology fit together and how that applies to their responsibilities. For instance, it's usually a good idea to show the trainees the workflow of the processes they'll be implementing, even the pieces that are far removed from the call center. It helps them get a grip on what they're doing and it allows them to make better decisions.

  4. Make your training practical. Call-center training is about teaching agents to do specific tasks, not just pass a test. Your classroom should give your trainees as much practical experience as possible. Put them on the phones and computers with instructors or other students and have them actually use the procedures you're teaching them.

  5. Focus on outcomes. When a customer calls, your business has a desired outcome. It may be increased sales, or it may be a customer satisfied that his or her problem has been resolved. Whatever that outcome is, it goes well beyond having the call-center agent run through a process or answer a series of questions. When you design a training program, keep that desired outcome in mind. Ask yourself how this module contributes to what you want.

  6. Show trainees where to get answers. Even the most comprehensive training course can't cover every feature of your technology. Your trainees will have to learn some content outside of class, and your training should give them the tools to do that.

    This goes way beyond pointing out that the manual has an index. You need to give your staff an idea of where they can find information for specific categories. For example, if they have a question when they're on Screen X, tell them to look in Place Y. Likewise, you should tell them who can best answer their questions.

    It's also a good idea to warn them about resources they're better off not using. To take an extreme example, Linux comes with a set of documentation called man (for "manual") pages which are sometimes available to people running Linux software. In theory, you can use the man pages to find out what any command does and how it works. This is fine, except for the fact that you need to be a Linux maven to get much out of the man pages. Everyone else should seek answers elsewhere.

  7. Don't give your trainees double messages. Don't tell you call-center staff that customer satisfaction is paramount and then score them on how quickly they can wind up a call. This is tricky because every call center has multiple goals and there's often a tension between them. You need to strike a balance and make sure your training reflects that balance.

  8. Give agents a customer-centric focus. A call center exists to serve customers. Your training, even on technology, should help your agents focus on the customer as the most important component of the job.

  9. Treat your students individually. This includes identifying learning or knowledge gaps and working to correct them. It also means evaluating both the students' abilities and their desire to improve.

  10. Train interactively. Successful training is engaging training. One of the effective tools for engaging students is getting them to interact and participate. Ask questions, solicit suggestions and use other techniques to get the students involved in the process.

  11. Create a rewards system. Make your students feel that their efforts are important, that they are noticed and that outstanding performance will be recognized by using rewards. Of course, that should follow onto the call-center floor, but the place to begin creating that culture is in your training.

  12. Practice makes perfect. Your training should be built around practice. Remember, you're aiming for mastery, which doesn't come without repetition.

  13. Mistakes are OK — in training. Your goal is for the students to be competent when they go on the floor, not when they first try the technology. An early focus on perfection inhibits learning. Let your students know that mistakes in class are fine – as long as they learn from them.

  14. Watch for opportunities to improve the technology. Your trainees are guinea pigs as well as students. If your students consistently have problems with a particular operation or a procedure, try to figure out a way to improve it. For instance, can you modify the screen to group the information more effectively?

  15. Make sure agents understand the underlying business. Give your students the big picture of where the technology fits in the enterprise as a whole.One common problem is that call-center agents will try to neglect the "unimportant" parts of their job. Of course, if the task is really insignificant, the agents shouldn't be doing it. Most of the time what seems to be unimportant to the worker is quite important to someone else.

  16. Monitor progress and provide constant feedback. Call it feedback, call it coaching, but whatever you call it, it's important to teaching to mastery.

  17. Mix it up to keep it interesting. Don't wait to start the practical training. Ideally, students should get directly involved in simple tasks like logging on or greeting customers within the first hour. Mixing short segments of lecture with short segments of practical experience keeps the students' interest and helps most of them learn faster.

  18. Teach ergonomics. Work-related office injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome cost American businesses millions of dollars a year. Much of that can be avoided by teaching your agents proper techniques. That includes everything from how to adjust your office chair to how to use wrist supports.

    Use every opportunity, even technical training, to teach good ergonomic principles. This doesn't have to be elaborate. It can be as simple as making sure the students have good posture and keyboard habits – and that they adjust their chairs properly.

    And ergonomics isn't just a matter of avoiding injuries. A relaxed, comfortable agent is able to do a better job.

  19. Teach relaxation. Similarly, take a minute to teach or reinforce relaxation techniques. Working in a call center, especially a customer-service center, is stressful. Your agents will be more productive and your customers will have a better experience if you train your agents in relaxation techniques.

  20. Cross train when possible. Training agents on more than one job makes them more useful and helps keep them interested. It also helps their understanding of their primary job and the company.

  21. Pay attention to exceptions. Exceptional circumstances will make or break your customers' response to your call center – and your company. In addition to the basic procedures, your training should cover what to do in unusual situations. It also helps to study the records of actual calls to identify the exceptions that turn up.

  22. Provide cheat sheets. Boil down the most important procedures into something the agents can post at their workspace. Don't expect your agents to remember long lists of codes or other information. Write it out for them. Make the sheets short, snappy and to the point. Manuals are fine, but don't expect your agents to thumb through them on the phone to find out how to do something.

  23. Make sure they've got copies of the manual. Cheat sheets aside, all your trainees should get a copy of the user's manual or the equivalent to keep by their side in the call center. They may never need it, but it's better for them to have it and not need it than need it and have to go hunting for it.

  24. Issue highlighters and post-it notes. Trainees are probably going to want to mark things in the handouts and documentation. Encourage this. It helps them remember and find things later.

  25. Training is forever. Don't stop training when the agent goes live on the floor. Training should include regular refresher sessions.
Source : http://www.insidecrm.com/

Monday, May 12, 2008

Call Center Project - Inbound / Outbound Pharmacy sale

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Projects Details:

Type :
Project

Id : 10834976

Category : Call Center

Title : Inbound / Outbound Pharmacy sale

Estimated Budget :60 USD per sale

Total Requirement : 10-15 seats with 25-30 leads per day

Description :

We are USA based looking for a call center that can sell Herbal-Pharma medications/supplements (Completely Legal Products). We need center with 10-15 seats to generate 25-30 leads/per day. Center need to dial USA from Monday to Saturday between 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM. This will be an Inbound and Outbound process. Center need to maintain data of interested customer and needs to send on monthly basis form of name and email ID. Product information will be provided by us and center need to manage leads. Payout will be 60USD per sales, paid on weekly basis by wire transfer. Interested service providers are requested to contact us as soon as possible.

Country : United States

Status : Closed

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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Call Center Project - Lead Generation for Webhosting Services and Products

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Projects Details:

Type :
Project

Id : 13559108

Category : Call Center

Title : Lead Generation for Webhosting Services and Products

Estimated Budget :Commission based

Description :

WWe are UK based looking to outsource our requirement to freelance sales affiliates in order to expand our customer base we want sales affiliates for our webhosting services and products. They will get 15% commission on every payment made by the customers they refer. So for example, if service provider refers a member to our reseller platinum package ($20 per month), they will get 15% every time that customer pays (so $3 per month). Payment will be on monthly basis by paypal or any other mode of payment. Interested service providers are requested to contact us as soon as possible with their proposals.

Country : United Kingdom

Status : Closed

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Thursday, May 8, 2008

Call center firm hiring over 5,000 RP agents

New York-based business process outsourcing company Sutherland Global Services plans to double its workforce in the Philippines to over 10,000 within the year to support its foray into other markets in the region.

Craig Bauwens, country manager and vice president for service delivery, told reporters his company would hire more than 5,000 agents within the year to beef up its current workforce of 5,500.

“We intend to further expand our footprint here. The Philippines accounts for 15 percent of Sutherland’s overall business,” said Bauwens.

He said the company would hire 5,000 new agents from various cities to support plans to open new facilities in the cities of Davao, Tarlac and Iloilo.

The company is also doubling this year’s capital expenditures in line with the expansion plans. Bauwens said Sutherland invests an average of $3,500 per seat.

The official said 80 percent of the company’s market was the United States and Canada and the balance shared by Australia and Europe.

“Despite reports that a number of BPO companies in the Philippines are closing down due to the US recession, we believe the slowdown is actually helping our business,” Bauwens said.

Sutherland has BPO offices in Pampanga, Makati, Naga and Davao.

The company specializes in integrated BPO solutions across customer lifecycle and back-office lifecycle management services. It employs over 21,000 professionals offering “RightSourced” services from its 21 delivery centers in India, US, Philippines, Canada and Mexico.

Bauwens said Sutherland, once it had established a footprint in the country, would position its Philippine-based offices to attract new markets such as Southeast Asia and nearby countries.

“By integrating highly trained people with state-of-the-art technology and proven business methodologies, Sutherland in the countries will be competing head-on with other BPO giants,” Bauwens said. Elaine Ruzul S. Ramos.

Source : http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Call Center Tender - Call Center Support Services (Inbound & Outbound)

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Projects Details:

Type : Tender

Id : 10388383

Category : Call Center

Title : Call Center Support Services (Inbound & Outbound)

Estimated Budget :Need Best Quotations

Total Requirement : Contract for 3yrs.

Description :

We are USA based organization. We are looking for a call center that will provide adequate telephone coverage (12 hours a day, Monday through Friday) while maintaining a superior service level, strong customer service, and accurate, timely reporting. On a regular basis, call center is expected to handle incoming calls and related outgoing follow-up calls, outgoing

customer satisfaction survey calls, e-messaging, and manual fulfillment requests generated by calls and correspondence.
The call center will respond to incoming calls from participants, beneficiaries, and other third parties that concern (but are not limited to):
  1. Account Maintenance
  2. Loan Issuances and Repayments
  3. Withdrawal Information
  4. Service Requests
  5. Withdrawal questions
  6. Loan questions
  7. Account information/status
  8. Investment information.
We will provide all the scripts and training material. The contract will be for 3yrs. The estimated call volume for one year is more than 12,40,000 calls per year.

Other Specifications:
  1. Days of Operations: The call center is open from Monday through Friday.
  2. Hours of Operations: The operation is currently open from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. eastern time.
  3. E-Messaging activities: The call center will also handle e-messaging processing for the program.
  4. Outbound calls: The call center will need to complete outbound calls in association with research, e-messaging, or a special event or unusual situation. We expect outbound call volume to be no greater than 100 per month, and each outbound call will take, on average, five minutes to complete.
  5. Call recording: The provider must have the capability to record 100% of incoming and outbound calls and must safely and securely store copies of all recording media.
We have attached the pricing table for quotation. Interested providers are requested to send their proposals on or before 30th June, 2008 by 4:00PM Local Time at the given address only. For more details have a look on attachments.

Country : United States

Status : Closed

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Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Your Call Center is Web-Enabled, But What About Your Agents?

Your call center is not just about handling phone calls. Today, customers demand the option to mix and match alternate communication channels based on type of contact, situation, and personal preference.

Many companies are making investments to “Web-enable” their call centers, in terms of implementing the latest in technology, but very often they forget to enable the most critical part of the operation – the front-line staff.

As multimedia contact volume grows, your front-line agents must be prepared to handle transactions in whatever media choice the customer selects. But more than just technology will be needed to transform your telephone agents into “net reps” or “cyber agents.” As your contact mix changes, and technology is implemented, it’s critical that you also implement a comprehensive hiring, training, and performance measurement plan to ensure your staff is equipped to meet and exceed your customers’ expectations.

As you migrate your call center operation to respond to Internet contacts, you must find or create the ideal agent to support these Web interactions. And you’ll need to provide an environment that fosters their professional growth as well as one that responds to the evolving needs of your customers.

Read More Article...

Monday, May 5, 2008

Call Center Project - US Power Saver Campaign

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Projects Details:

Type :
Project

Id : 51233923

Category : Call Center

Title : US Power Saver Campaign

Estimated Budget :60 USD Per Sale

Total Requirement : Center with 15-25 seats

Description :

We are India based and looking for a call center that can sell our Power Saver Unit in different parts of USA. We need 15 to 25 seats and payout will be 60 USD Per sale. We will provide the training material but center needs to arrange their own leads. The center will dial USA during Monday to Saturday between 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM and the payment will be made on weekly basis by wire transfer. Interested service providers are requested to contact us as soon as possible. Note- Power Saver is a unit in which the customer has to plug in the meter and this could save up to 40% of Electricity.

Country : India

Status : Closed

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Sunday, May 4, 2008

Editorial: Region must secure its own 211 call center

Since its introduction in 1968 the 911 emergency phone system has always faced a balancing act: Although it's cheaper to run a system shared by a number of communities, the best service is usually local -- from people who know the community, know local conditions, know whom to call.

The same can probably be said for 211. Under the 211 system, individuals can call a single number and get information on a host of services -- where to get food or shelter or more -- from all kinds of sources: churches, state or local agencies, private foundations.

Though the service is little known here, seven out of 10 Michigan residents -- including the entire Upper Peninsula -- already have access to 211. But a turf dispute has blocked creation of a Grand Traverse-based 211 system that could include as many as 20 (or as few as five) counties in northern Lower Michigan, including the Grand Traverse area. Officials say a resolution could be years away.

Read More Article...

Friday, May 2, 2008

Call Center Tender - Mobile Inbound Customer Support Solution Service

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Projects Details:

Type : Tender

Id : 21137253

Category : Call Center

Title : Mobile Inbound Customer Support Solution Service

Estimated Budget : 6,90,000,000 GBP

Description :

A UK based contracting authority is seeking tenders for the provision of customer support for mobile voice and data service to satisfy the basic needs of public sector mobile phone users, including, as a minimum, the ability to make and receive voice calls, to send and receive SMS (short message service), the provision of voicemail services, provision of mobile data, mobile data applications and value added mobile services including, but not limited to:-
  1. Data transmission through GSM (Global System for Mobile);
  2. GPRS (General Packet Radio Service);
  3. UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System);
  4. HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data);
  5. 2.5G, 3G and HSDPSA technologies;
  6. Device agnostic, data applications such as push e-mail, job scheduling; and
  7. Other mobile voice and data services such as lone worker protection, virtual private assistant; and vehicle tracking
The work also includes customer support for wide area paging, including tone, numeric and word paging, bureau services and real time information services and messaging; and Messaging services, including desktop messaging enabled using a GUI web interface or via direct integration into existing systems; messages should be able to be sent by email, SMS, pager and mobile or fixed line telephone.

The contract will be of 3 years which can be extended based on the quality parameters. The closing date to apply for the contract is 6/11/2008 so interested companies are requested to send their proposal before the deadline. For more details do refer to the terms and conditions as specified in the attachment Doc file.

Country : United Kingdom

Status : Closed
Status : Closed
Status : Closed


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Thursday, May 1, 2008

India's call-center workers are getting stress on the line

Outsourcing firms increasingly offer counseling to help employees deal with health and even relationship troubles.

BANGALORE, INDIA -- After two years working nights at a U.S. company's computer call center, Vamsi knew it was time to quit when his 6-year-old son brought home a school portrait he'd drawn of his father, asleep in bed.

"He was asked to draw a picture of his mom and dad, and he drew me sleeping. That's the only way he ever saw me," remembers Vamsi, 31, who like many southern Indians goes by only one name. "He never saw me doing anything else."

Indians may have taken over three-quarters of the world's call-center jobs, but they've also taken on the stresses of those jobs: weight gain, depression, boredom and, often, relationship troubles.

Worse, for the legions in India busy helping Americans reboot their hard drives or refinance their mortgages, the problems are often more severe, both because of cultural differences and because the work, by virtue of time differences with the U.S., largely takes place at night.

"There are a lot of pressures on people. The jobs are very stressful and not very creative," said Karuna Baskar, a director of 1to1help.net, a Bangalore-based counseling service that was contracted by 27 mainly information technology and call-center offices in India to work with troubled employees.

Read More Article....

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