A well-run call center doesn’t happen by accident. Good people need good planning and execution to result in high-performing and revenue-generating call centers. This article will examine and compare between a good and bad call center.

Let’s look first at bad or poorly planned call center characteristics.

• Create long hold times for customers waiting to get through to the next available agent (and when those customers do reach a call center employee, they’re frequently transferred or put on hold).
• Deals with customer issues that frequently require multiple contacts before they’re resolved. Breeds harried staff members running from crisis to crisis, putting out fires but not getting ahead.
• Lacks understanding of metrics or performance.
• Scores low on customer satisfaction or has no way to measure customer satisfaction at all. Lacks the appetite to improve working conditions to stay competitive and retain employees.
• Generates complaints by corporate executives and senior management about costs or sales and service results. Some executives may talk about outsourcing the operation. Now, let’s take a look at well-planned call center characteristics.
• Focuses on its business goals and answers phone calls and e-mails quickly.
• Has high employee morale.
• Resolves a high percentage of customer inquiries on the first contact.
• Measures customer satisfaction as a service indicator and has high customer satisfaction scores.
• Has an effective process for collecting and presenting data on performance
• Everyone knows where he or she stands monthly, daily, hourly, and even in real-time.
• Works efficiently, Employees need to do a little follow-up on the customer file after the customer has hung up.
• Calls last for a consistent length of time and require a minimum of customer time to achieve resolution.
• Keeps everyone engaged and busy with a purpose, with no one being overly taxed.
• Improves processes continually to make gains in service, efficiency, and revenue generation and enables the corporation to see the call center as a strategic advantage – an ally to the rest of the organization