In the last 12 months my clients have become increasingly vocal in expressing concern for the rapid increase in customers using social media to make negative communications. I am regularly told that understanding how to monitor and respond to ‘chatter’ and complaints efficiently is something that is high on the (Customer Service Directors) agenda and doing this quicker and smarter than the competitors is crucial in protecting brands and maintaining / gaining competitive advantage.

However, a recent survey run by Interactive Intelligence suggests that, despite this being a top priority for Customer Service Directors, it is not being done very well; nearly 50% of those surveyed (> 4,000) who had complained to a company using social media had not received a response from the company, or had waited over 48 hours before receiving a response. In the same survey over 60% of social media users aged 25 said they are influenced by both positive and negative comments about a brand or company. Evidently, this is a real development area within the industry and it will be interesting to see / hear what innovative solutions are developed in the next couple of years and who really starts getting this right.

There was a really interesting article in Call Centre Helper this week regarding a new social media desktop application that has been launched for contact centres. It will enable companies to measure, analyse, understand and react, to what is said about their brand online. Sounds great in theory and I’m looking forward to hearing of the benefits such technologies can deliver in practice over the coming months / years.

Check it out…

http://www.callcentrehelper.com/contact-centres-now-able-to-engage-with-customers-via-social-media-platforms-18319.htm

Ros

Hi,

Apologies it’s been a few weeks since my last blog, unfortunately the bank holidays seem to have taken over. Don’t worry though I’m going to continue from where I left off last time and speak about assessment centers and preparing candidates.

Role Plays and Objection Handling

You can never really tell how agent level staff will react in an interview, they could be overly confident or a nervous wreck; putting candidates in a pressured role play situation never helps! When carrying out role plays myself I will always look for what I want to hear, for example, is there an introduction (it may not be the right one but they are on the right track); is the candidate trying to ask open questions; is the candidate repeating back where necessary; has the candidate picked up on the cross selling opportunity?

I recently had a candidate interviewing for a new role where the client held back on the details of the role play. The candidate had 3 years call centre experience and although they had scored highly in all other areas bar the role play, they were not employed. The candidate was more than qualified for the role but the client had looked in too much detail, at the role play. The candidate was merely nervous and apprehensive as she wasn’t comfortable on a face to face basis speaking and selling.

So how much can you prepare candidates? I am not saying that candidates should be told what to say, simply that they should be reminded to action the things they already do as experienced agents. If they have been told things they need to cover off and then don’t, surely this is someone who won’t follow instructions or call scripts?

When preparing candidates I will always, regardless of the situation, prepare them as much as possible and talk through the boxes which need to be ticked:

  *   Open questions
  *   Spot the sales opportunities
  *   Introduce yourself properly
  *   Build rapport
  *   Stay relaxed
  *   Make sure you are selling the right products

These tips give the candidate the best opportunity for the client to see the candidate perform well.

I have never met a client who has said they want to trick candidates, so why not let them know what to expect?

Next week I will be discussing why it is important to culturally assess candidates and how you can try and improve the candidate experience at assessment centres.

Speak soon

Alex Kelly

This week I am going a bit techie as the Customer Management team has just agreed to become the official recruitment partner for an exciting new website Call Centre Search.

is a social networking platform specifically for the Call Centre and Outsourcing sectors. The site offers many fantastic features such as:

*  Unlimited Free use of the Job Vacancies board to apply for Job Vacancies
*  Free Profile pages for CV and Career history
*  Free Career Options page
*  Free to use Events Calendar
*  Free to use Group discussion board
*  Listing in the business directory for BPO’s and CallCentre’s – with no obligations
*  On-Line data cleansing and improvement service

Call Centre Search originated on Linked In to bring together Contact Centre’s and Outsource providers and now has over 24,000 members. Call Centre Search approached Engage to form a partnership due to our already established presence on Linked In. The Customer Management team was one of the first recruitment organisations to form groups on Linked In and now proudly own and manage three main groups with over 20,000 members world wide.

These groups are:

BPO Executives: (15,000 members world wide)
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=65152

Contact Centre Executives: (4,000 members world wide)
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=65154

Contact Centre Consultants: (2,000 members world wide)
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=65153

These groups offer a valuable forum for the Customer Management and BPO community to share best practice, network and conduct business. If you feel that this could be of interest to you or your organisation; get in touch. Ros, Alex and I are always happy to answer any queries and point you in the right direction.

Have a great Easter weekend.

Darren