Words From A Contact Center

( 12 minute read )

The Contact Center world is hard, fun, crazy, always changing, and busy. I will not lie; it is hard to work in contact centers. The job is not for the faint of heart. Feelings are hurt, people take things personal, and feel like someone is always yelling. Leadership yelling about metrics and stats. Customers/Clients complaining about something. Peers trying to get ahead of you. BUT…. If you can stick to it. It can be one of the most rewarding careers you can have.

I have seen a lot over the years. I myself started out in a call center doing technical support. We had to handle 20 calls a day minimum. When I first started my average handle time was over 30 minutes. So that’s 10 hours of work in a day to be squeezed into 7 hours. Not happening. I was ranked at the bottom and my supervisor came to me and said “If you don’t get your numbers up in 2 weeks, I am firing you”. Yep, it was that direct…. If you give it time, it will be rewarding. Feeling pride in yourself when you solved a difficult problem, being recognized for your hard work, watching your staff grow and develop to the highest possible levels. There is a sense of accomplishment when you have saved the day. May it being making a customer happy, meeting service levels after a challenging day, watching people you mentored get promoted.

For myself, each day was like entering the battlefield, and coming out the other side.

So how did I go from an entry level technical support agent to being a director? Short version, I worked my back side off… Longer version, I picked up a few things that helped build a career in the contact center universe.

There are a few things that can help you navigate a contact center world. I will share each of them with you and hopefully it will help you and your career. This advice can be used by any level, so read, share, and enjoy…

Attendance
This by far is the biggest issue I see within contact centers. It is the highest involuntary reason for being let go from the job… Attendance is a must. You must remember that the contact center is there to resolving incoming contacts and or to process back-office functions. It is busy and hectic. Companies put a lot of money to bring folks in and train. And if you are not there, they need someone else to handle those issues. We all get sick and or something personal happens, and companies account for that. But when absences get excessive, things on the contact center end back up and they need to hire more staff to handle them. If you are not there, they need someone else. Vacations are needed, you need a break, so take the time that you have accrued. You need that mental break. Contact centers are chaotic, so plan time off carefully. And understand the business trends. Do no take time off during company business times. They need you. Plan outside of times. Example, if you are in e-commerce, do not take time off in November or December.

The Advice: Be there, be on time, leave when your shift ends. Read attendance policies carefully and follow them. When there are issues, have a conversation with your supervisor ahead of the issue, not after. Plan for your vacation time in advance, sometimes 2-3 months ahead if possible. If your just starting, try for 100% attendance the first six months. A lot easier to ask for time off after you have shown that you can be counted on and be there every day.

Flexibility
Contact centers are open for long stretches of hours and days. Most contact centers are open 24 hours a day and every day of the year. Its common to start off working nights and weekends. Embrace that. That goes for leaders as well. They need good leaders to lead the way at those times as well. If they need volunteers to take on tough shifts to fill, be the one that raises your hand. It will go a long way from management to know who they can count on. Many contact centers have different “Pods” or team types. Many times, they need to move staff around based on those needs. Try to work through as many of those “Pods” or teams that you can. Volunteer to move and or bounce between them Yes you will need to learn and will be tough when you first start off, but it will get easier over time.

The Advice: Take on the tough shifts and make a name for yourself. Volunteer to adjust your schedule as needed. Work hard in those tough schedules. It will pay off in the end. Volunteer to bounce between “Pods” or teams. Be the one that they can count on.

Subject Matter Expert (SME)
Contact Centers need experts. How do you become one is the tricky part. Every company is different and has different needs. They more you know they better you are at the job. They are not going to teach you everything during training, so you need to take self-initiative to become knowledgeable about as much as you can. Study the policies, read the company intranets/websites, pick up the manually for the software you are using. Become the Wikipedia of your group. Talk to the top performers (you know who they are) and learn from them. For me it was book marking and reading the tough edge case policies/processes. They helped me solve those tough problems faster and found that my peers came to me to ask how to do it. Learn the software that you are using. May it be the HR software, the Phone/Email/Ticket software, and any other software that you are using. The more you know they easier it is to use, and you will find easier ways to do things. Word, Excel, Presentations; critical to learn at all levels. They are needed to communicate and put information together. The biggest gap I see in contact centers today is Excel. I have not seen a job where it is not used at all levels. (FYI – Google Sheets works just like excel to some degree). If you want to stand out, be the SME for your group.

The Advice: Become a Subject Matter Expert. Study, learn and become a positive know it all. Know the software, know the policies/processes, and learn Word/Excel/PowerPoint or alternative version. One thing on Excel. You need to know more than how to add two cells together. Learn how to make charts, tables, and use of some advance formulas. You can do the same things from Excel inside Google Sheets, so use it. Take that free course and learn what you can. As for the software you are using, go and download from the software websites and or do some research on how to use. Basic search functions will help find that information. Can I say “Learn Excel” one more time……

Project Management
Just because you are in a Contact Center, does not mean you can skip this. You are going to get assigned a project eventually and you should know how to work a project. It may be simple like create documentation. It could be implementation of a new strategy, starting a new “Pod” team, the list will go on and on. So how do you get started. That is the tough question. Projects need to be done quickly in a Contact Center, so you need to be a self-starter and be able to drive and work through a project. But where to start? There are so many project management programs, and certifications out there, so pick one and learn. Six-Sigma, PMP, PMI, etc. The goal is to learn how to manage through a project and deliver results. One thing that I have learned, is the certification talk about long time measurements to go through each of the steps of these projects. In a Contact Center, you do not have that time. So find ways to work through projects fast. But knowing how to do a project and hit all the steps allows the projects you work on to make sure you deliver a strong project. I learned Six-Sigma, and use the steps from DMAIC(R). Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control, and (Report). Even small projects I used it. I just did it faster. Not every project will fit into the Six-Sigma process, most projects are about implementation. So, you need to be on those projects to learn so you can lead them yourself in the future. Volunteer to be on those projects as much as you can to learn, and then volunteer to lead them. Projects will give you a chance to stand out.

The Advice: Learn about and how to execute on Project Management. May it be for solving a problem, and or implementing new processes. Volunteer to be part of projects and execute them well. There will be more projects than you can think of, and being apart of them will help you grow, develop, and stand out amongst your peers. Embrace it…

The Problem Solver
Contact Centers are plagued with problems. They exist in everything that we do, from hiring, to training, to execution of the job. And believe it or not, everyone is trying to solve these problems. I see people just dealing with them with no action, and then I see others trying to fix them but do not have the help that is needed. And with all problems, there are roadblocks in the way to solving them. The roadblocks are what keeps them from being fixed. Not enough resources, no money, leadership does not like the idea, or dealing with change management. You must embrace that there is a problem and embrace that we have roadblocks. But we all need to find a way to make it better. So be the one that steps up to volunteer to fix that problem. Use those previous things we talked about to help you solve it. ((From Above – Attendance, Flexibility, SME, Project Management)). Build ideas and recommendations on how to solve problems. I hear all the time about the problems, but very few ideas on how to fix them. So go to your leaders with what is not working with three to four ideas on how to improve and or fix it. Use a data drive conversation, pros and cons, and how it can be implemented. Be open to feedback and ideas given about your recommendations. Do not take it personal if they don’t accept it. Go back to the drawing board and try again. I feel like my biggest accomplishments where I created recommendations for the same problem a dozen times over the course of a year before they are accepted. Even more so, when I hear leaders using my ideas to fix problems. I may not get the actual credit, but I know that it was my persistence over time that got it fixed.

The Advice: Be a problem solver for your company. When you see a problem, build three or four recommendations on ways to improve/fix it and ways to implement them. Use Data Driven conversations. (Data is the best way to get your idea accepted). If someone else steals your ideas, just chuckle to yourself and start on the next one.

Don’t Take it Personally
My last advice is to not take it personally. People are going to complain to you. Customers, leaders, peers, the works. Its not a personal attack on you. They are frustrated at the process, policy, metrics, and or execution of whatever. If you take it personal, it will affect you. Do not let it. There are a few books you can read on the subject. Read them if it will help. I had to learn this the hard way. Customer calling because their computer was broken and blaming me. I did take it personally and I cried (Yes, I cried). I felt like it was my fault, and in some cases, it was my fault. I gave the wrong instructions, and wrong steps. That is going to happen too. But it is keeping your cool, staying calm, and moving forward. Sometimes we need to take a step back and try a different approach. Or start over from the beginning.

The Advice: I know this is a short section, but really, do not take it personally. Step back and try a different approach. At the end of shift, you are going to go home and not think about it. Use it as a opportunity to learn ways to approach things differently and or react differently.

Well I hope that this little article helps you in your Contact Center Career. The job is not for everyone, and very few make it as long as I have. I love what I do, and hope that I can continue in the Contact Center World for another twenty years. I have seen my staff grow. I have seen people I have coached and mentored become my leader. Its awe inspiring to watch and experience. I have saved companies millions of dollars, and have resolved thousands of tickets, calls, emails. And have led teams that have resolved millions of contacts over the years. I would not have traded the career for another.
Wishing you all the very best of luck…

Mat

Author: Mat Makay