Call Center Trends

The offsite call center is an industry growing at a rate comparable to the self storage industry.  As is the case in every business there is the good, the bad, and the ugly.  We are all familiar with the annoying sales call that has the echo of the boiler room covering up the monotone voice of the phone rep that is reading the script and incorrectly pronouncing most of the words.  The only thing worse is the inbound customer service call center staffed by folks with no command of the language, not enough information to answer your question or solve your problem and no, I repeat, no customer service skills.  These poor folks are not making enough money to encourage them to achieve excellence and the people training them are largely unskilled as well.

I have been employed in call centers where only my 43 years of experience in customer service made it possible for me to actually assist callers.  The attrition rate was staggering as new employees, given 2 or 3 hours of half-hearted training were put on the phones to deal with complex questions and angry callers who became angrier when they discovered that they would not get the service promised.  It was not a pleasant experience.  All of my suggestions for improving customer service went unheeded as the trainers were as poorly paid, trained and motivated as the staff.  Managers were always out of reach and we were on our own if the computer screen did not contain the necessary information.  Needless to say, I approached the prospect of working for PhoneSmart cautiously.

To my delight and comfort not only is the pay scale comfortably above minimum wage but also the opportunities for earning are substantial.  The one-on-one training gives a new representative the tools to start earning commissions on the first day on the phones.  Trainers, supervisors, and co-workers are always ready to help a newbie with complex questions.  The standard for customer service here is very high and monitored by our Quality Assurance evaluators.  It is the standard of customer service that I was taught many years ago, before the customer service department became the lower level stepchild of business.

I am approaching my 3rd anniversary with PhoneSmart.  I still enjoy coming to work every shift because I am allowed to be effective in my job.  I pick my days and hours of availability to work.  I dress comfortably and no longer am required to invest in uncomfortable and over priced business dress.  Training is ongoing and new opportunities are offered often.  I am planning to continue working here even when I begin drawing Social Security. 

There are other call centers that you could choose for your self storage business but none are better than this one in training, performance or spirit.

Written by Kay Johnson, Customer Service Specialist.

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We are PhoneSmart your off site sales force call center in Columbia, Missouri.

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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