7 Qualities of a Great Call Center Agent
Whether you want to become the best call center agent you can be, or you want to make a new hire based on the top skills and abilities a great call center agent needs, having the right people on your team saves you time and money. But what are the most important qualities of a great call center agent? As a provider of virtual call center software, we've been helping managers and representatives improve their call center's performance for nearly 20 years.
Today we're diving into some of the top call center agent skills and competencies you need in your team:
- Top qualities of a good call center agent
- Best practices for call center representative training
- Recruiting great call center agents
- Call center agent career paths and upward mobility
Why These Call Center Agent Qualities Matter
If you're a hiring manager, you probably understand how long the process of recruiting, interviewing, hiring and onboarding new employees can be. According to Cornell University, turnover rates can range anywhere from 30%-50% (with outsourced call centers owning the highest turnover rates, typically over 50%).
When you're looking to hire a new call center agent, you need to carefully vet all your candidates and ensure they possess all the qualities your organization is after. According to a LOMA study, the average cost to train a new call center agent is roughly $7,500.
Training employees can take anywhere from 6-10 weeks, depending on the nature of your call center and your new agent's readiness. It's quite a lengthy process, and will cost your business a good deal of money as well. Making sure applicants are a good for the position before hiring is key to saving your business time and money as well as the applicants (their time is just as valuable as yours, after all).
Top Qualities of a Great Call Center Agent
Measuring Your New Call Center Agent Skills
When beginning the recruiting process for a call center, you must first determine what your criteria are for hiring, and how to determine how if a potential hire is a good match. Tests like the DISC assessment or another personality test are a great way to ensure the applicant's values are aligned with the organization's overall values. Additionally, some companies have employees complete a job simulation. This is a more in-depth examination to see if an applicant is really fit for a particular job.
Improving a Call Center Agent's Competencies
When taking the time to train your employees, you can learn a lot about them in the 6-10 week training period. Here are some common methods to ensure you make the most out of your training:
- Cater to individual needs
- Case studies and real-life examples
- Open communication
- Provide the tools for empowerment
- Clear and actionable feedback
Career Options for Great Call Center Agents
There are many different paths you can take to “climb the ladder of success” when working in a call center. Much like any other job, once you get in the swing of things, you may realize there are other things that interest you in addition to the responsibilities of your current job.
If you have the qualities of a great call center agent, moving upward from an agent to a team lead, manager, and eventually an operations manager can be a quick process. Of course, all of this depends on the size of the business and how quickly it is growing. If you find yourself drawn to other departments, such as training, quality control, operations, IT or HR - there will typically be other internal opportunities for you to pursue.
