How important are call center simulation tests?

Just like in any endeavor there is always that testing stage to find out if one is qualified for the next level. If pupils need to pass their final exams first in order to graduate for the next grade level, call center agent-wannabe’s must take simulation tests (and must pass them) before getting an offer.

Interviews can only reveal as much when scrutinizing the ability of a call center applicant to take on the job. The interviewer may not be able to totally dig in to the motivations of the person to be a call center professional. Also there is always that risk that the type of performance that applicant can deliver may not be fully reflected in interview results.

Thus, the need for call center simulation tests. Pre-hire assessment exams are relevant in order to find out how well a person will handle different kinds of customer relation situations. With the advent of technology, call center firms can now tap online exams to test if an applicant will do the right thing when plunged into stressful conditions. It also reveals the manner by which a person deals with a customer. Testing also provides information about the strengths and weaknesses of both agents and team leads. With that kind of useful information, it helps one to determine the suitable training or learning subject that must be taught to the aspiring call center professional.

Call center pre employment tests enables one to make sound decisions in terms of selecting the people that will work in the outsourcing company. Testing results help one single out applicants that are promising, from those who do not meet the prescribed standards. These can be those who do not have a working experience in the call center industry, or those who are simply jumping from one job to another.

A potential call center agent will have test results showing the expected competencies and abilities required for the job. Also because of a simulation exam, it verifies if the best bet is really an A-player or simply among the average guys. The most essential deciding factor is motivation. The candidate that is most likely to be chosen may be found unmotivated once his or her simulation test results are out.

Skills assessment tests show such personal qualities like conscientiousness, reliability, dependability, drive and motivation. One must take note that skill deficiencies may be augmented by training, but motivation is another thing. Motivation is something that is innate in a person. It’s either the right or the wrong motivation. When a person does not have the right motivation, the supervisor cannot expect much in his or her attendance record.

Although simulation tests are relevant, they cannot be all important factor to consider. Just like other measures, it cannot be 100 percent reliable because there are instances that a candidate is not simply at his best (not his lucky day or something like that), when he took the exam. That will surely affect his test results.

The decision to implement pre-assessment and simulation tests is not only a staffing-related matter. It is a sound business decision, as well. Imagine how much the company can save when it is able to get the right people to do the call center job. There will be less time spent on turnovers of tasks and transition periods. One can also save on frequent issuing of employee separation pays. Most importantly, one is more likely to achieve ROI more quickly when one has trained the better group of call center agent candidates.

Build relationships with your customers

There are really only two types of customers: those who know and love you, and those who never heard of you. All businesses spend virtual fortunes trying to get new clients and that will constantly stay important. But don't spend the total fortune on just attracting new clients Spend some of those dollars keeping in touch with existing consumers because you want to keep them.

One of the goals in growing your business should be that the same person you sold to today will still be spending money with you ten years from now. So don't celebrate the close of a sale. Celebrate the beginning of a long relationship. People want to do business with people who appreciate them and look out for them. Which brings me to yet another salient point.

In your part as an unrelenting self-promoter, start off in your own backyard. How many people in your office building know you and what your business is all about? Introduce yourself to people in the hall, in the elevator of your building. Let everyone in the urgent vicinity of your office know who you are and what product or service you offer.
People do business with people they know because they've heard about them from a friend, read about them in a magazine. So your job is to make yourself known to potential customers.

In other words the real sales come after the sale. I have followed his suggestion all these years and became an unabashed, relentless self promoter of my business.
All I ever wanted for my business was an unfair benefit. I'm not talking about lying or cheating. Exactly the opposite. An unfair advantage is doing every tiny little thing better than your competition. In this instance, your competition can be your best teacher.



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Customer Relationship Call Center by Global Response

Technical Call Center and Beyond

Communication technology has been a part of the modern life. From ordinary telephone call up to sophisticated military secured communication system, it is no doubt that this is one of the modern marvels of the 21st century. Together with new technologies that constantly improve our way of life, services like technical support call centers are needed to help customers maximize the usage of the products they purchased. Not to mention a good technical support service can promote recurring sale which is one of the many factors to further develop a certain product.

Technical call center is a good source of data that needs improvement. Even if a company hires a hundred employees to debug a product there will always be errors that will be overlooked. With technical support service, customers can report errors that needs to be fixed immediately especially when security of the customer’s data is concerned. Customer suggestions can also be generated in a call center service. Feedback of the customers is essential in a product, it will help the inventor/developer know what the consumer really needs, by improving the product, it will also improve customer satisfaction.

Now that almost every company either employs or outsources technical call center agents from outsourcing companies, we can expect new technologies will be invented for the technical call center industry and also to feed humanities never ending need for innovations that will make everyone’s life faster and more exciting. With technology continues to advance we can expect new business fields to emerge just like technical call center that generates thousands of opportunities all over the world. And even though we’ve seen too many improvements in the past years, there can never be time to sit back and relax. We are bound to fail, to try again and in the end succeed.

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Technical Call Center by Global Response

Graveyard Not Bad At All

One of the worst things in life is getting stuck with an enduring question that keeps popping in and out of your head while you go out and try to make a living for yourself. A question that goes in and out but you don’t get to answer because you are anxious with an activity called work. What is worst is if that question is directly related to it

We enlisted the help of some alleged "experts" when it comes to doing the graveyard shift and they came up with almost the same answers. Normal answers like hassle free traffic to and from the office stands to be the best reason to do graveyard. Yeah, I think they do have a very good point there. I would rather cross the Avenue knowing that I wouldn’t get to see yuppies, old time employees and newly grads strolling along and making the beeline to the nearest building entrance. Another reason would be the less hassle on your pocket. I can probably say that I can survive one shift with P20.00 in my pocket because I don’t have to worry about any parking fee and other incidentals that come along with doing a morning shift. Yes, it’s less expensive in the evening.

Some of our more trendy "experts" would reason out negligence in dress code as one big factor why graveyard is so cool. Doing the morning shift gives you the feeling of formality. The graveyard shift provides you with an outlet to be whatever you are, just as long as it is within the bounds of the company's rules and regulations. Call Center “owls”, when it comes to fashion, only have one motto, diversity.

Some also consider the non-presence of the sun as one big aspect why they prefer to do graveyard. With all factors considered. I thought long and hard and I came to the conclusion that hey, it’s not all of the above mentioned factors that made me understand that I made a good decision with sticking to graveyard. It’s the vibe, the feel that you are doing something out of the ordinary; something that feels different from the norm. Sure, I'll graduate eventually into a morning shift that comes with a shift in priorities. But as of now, I will enjoy the fact that some time within my so called life, I came to do something different and I enjoyed it, made some money out of it and made some lasting relationships along the way.



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The world’s most prestigious brands trust Global Response Call Center with their single most important asset: their customers. Find Out Why.

Follow up calls to the client? Ineffective

The most normal system of consumer’s fulfillment measurement is the follow-up phone survey, where a person often a survey specialist at a third-party firm calls the customer anywhere from one hour to several days after dealing with the call center and asks the client quite a few questions concerning his or her experience. This method is straightforward trendy and, according to experts… ineffective.
“While issues exist with all customer satisfaction measurement methods,” says Dr. Jodie Monger, president of Customer Relationship Metrics, “this method is the least money-spinning, has many biases allied with the compilation method and results, and provides the largest challenge to reliably linking results to a CSR.”
Some call centers still use mail surveys, which, says Monger, are also not very cost-effective and have even more biases associated with them. Even more awkward is the issue of timeliness when using such surveys; consumers normally don’t receive the survey in the mail until three to five days after the interaction with the call center took place making it nearly impossible for the customer to clearly remember the details of the experience. Consequently, consumers either ignore the assessment or respond as best they can despite the time that has lapsed, which can lead to watered-down ratings or comment that doesn’t perfectly reflect what transpired during the operation.
Timing is the whole thing in consumer’s satisfaction capacity according to analysts at Gartner Group.
Real-time consumer feedback is the pulse by which an enterprise can regulate and modified its designed consumer experience to guarantee that it meets and exceeds, where necessary customers’ expectations. …The most significant aspect of response is timing. Gartner has determined that feedback composed instantly after an event is 40 percent more accurate than response collected 24 hours after the even the affair.

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The world’s most prestigious brands trust Global Response Call Center with their single most important asset: their customers. Find Out Why.