How to Measure Agent Performance and Capacity

The primary reason why most call center managers and supervisors are the most detested and despised persons in the BPO industry is because they are in- charge of measuring the performance of the agents. It is a constant process that without a strict and stringent procedure, sales could go down, the call center put in jeopardy and the business in danger of losing clients and customers.

The problem with most call centers is that there is a discrepancy about the way they measure individual performance. Most agents feel that when they answer the call quicker, they give better customer service. This is a false notion that needs to be corrected. The truth of the matter is that most call centers include features that are sometimes hard to control especially by the call center agent.

For virtual call center agents, this may also be the case. Employers rate each agent differently. As it should be, because performance differs when type of account (inbound or outbound), call (sales, appointment setting or lead generation) and the channel (landline, chat or email) to which these interactions were made. Each of these should be measured differently and needed to be modeled after the agent’s specific and assigned task.

When trying to measure an agent’s productivity, you must first consider the factors which the agent is able to manage. Like available time, after call work time, adherence to the schedule and talk time. Available time is the allotted time that an agent is available to receive or make a call. For most call centers, this is in the 8 to 9 hour period. After call work time is the time spent by the agent completing task such as making reports after receiving and making calls. Adherence to the scheduled time will also affect the measurement of performance. Talk time refers to the duration of time that the agent is able to talk to a customer regarding their concerns. Why are these included? As a call center, you won’t be able to predict the length of time a customer talks to a specific agent, and the agent won’t have control over it as well.

There are a wide variety of call centers out there and the variation of call types will also affect the agent’s performance. Sales based calls should be measured by the sales percentage made, drop calls and sales closure rates. This is an indication of how effective the agent is in selling a company’s product. Another factor that needs to be considered is the quality of the calls made. While some call centers will be perfectly happy with a large volume of calls coming in, what will make or break a relationship with a client or customer is the quality of the call received and made by the agents. Virtual call centers should be wary of the quality of interactions made by your agents for this is a reflection of the kind of agents a contact center has.

Panoramic View of Virtual Call Centers

There has been an increase in the popularity of virtual call centers, making it the most talked about topic over the internet. And because of this popularity, many things have been written about the business, some are true; some are not which paved the way for wrong notions and ideas. The way you understand the call center industry all depends on which side of the fence you are standing. Whether you are company that is looking for a call center to outsource your services or someone looking for a new job, your perspectives is different. There are only 3 truths when we talk about virtual call centers; one is that it is a multi-million industry, it is growing and expanding and is an advantage both to the company and its workers.

In economics, companies are known to exist to gain profit. And hiring a call center ensures that you do. Virtual call centers are “off-campus” call center that allows you to outsource to home based agents abroad. You won’t need to worry about additional expenses for the construction of a new office or prate about the costs of new equipment. Another advantage is that it allows the company to allocate work like customer service, product sighting and other services to the call center and they could concentrate on expanding their businesses. A company would greatly benefit from an innovative call center, helping them on developing further marketing strategies and to help them reach their goals.

For a call center agent, a virtual call center job is an opportunity to get away from constricting and sometimes demanding call center environment. The virtual call center also gives you the choice of working at home. Another bonus, especially for new job seekers, is an opportunity to make money while sitting down comfortably in your own home. These is the perfect opportunity for many housewives, single and stay at home mothers, those who want to take a career change and is still yet undecided, for those with disabilities and cannot leave home, to find work and fend for themselves. It is not rocket science as well; all you need is a reliable internet connection, a landline and a computer. Of course a good set of communication skills will be beneficial as well.

Marketing your company would be a difficult undertaking because of the stiff competition in the call center industry. The key to building your reputation in a competitive industry like call centers is to raise and maintain your standards, an often disregarded process. Many businesses would hawk and gawk at the competition, that they forget to think of ways to further develop and expand their own companies. It is good to know what the competition is doing but it is even better to surpass them without trying to.

Virtual Call Centers on Holiday This September 5th

Mobile Express Contact Solutions (MECS) one of the leading call and contact Solutions Company is going to have a break this coming September 5, 2011. MECS serving a US based client is going to have some of its employees take the long weekend. Having a long weekend is a good way to start the month of September as there will be a very wide campaign for a MECS client this coming September 18, 2011. The employees can now have their plans of weekend getaways without the worry of returning to work on a Monday.

As a Virtual Call Center, MECS is following what days in the year are the holidays for a certain client. Since some of its employees are serving the east coast of the United States client, a long weekend is entitled to the agents assigned to this client. It is quite normal that the holidays in the Philippines will not match with the clients and as much as the MECS employees would like to work; they are in the mercy of the client’s schedule. It is totally a different scenario if it’s the holiday here in the Philippines. The employees are obliged to come on duty because the clients are not shutting down their operations on Philippines.

But working on holidays here in the Philippines gives some perks on an employee. They are entitled to have a wage that is twice of the normal of what they are expecting. Employees will not have the luxury of rest days during Philippine holidays but with US holidays the situations is reversed. The employees get to enjoy a day off while all part of the Philippines is working. It is give and take situation. This is a normal situation if you are outsourcing some jobs here in the Philippines. But there are times that the holidays are the same in all parts of the world.

A virtual contact center like MECS is taking into consideration the welfare of its employee by giving substantial rest periods for its employee and giving them what is essential like a double pay if the employee is working on a holiday and a rest day if the client has its own holiday.

This would be the perfect time for some of the employees of MECS to pursue some of their hobbies like travelling and if the employees don’t want to spend money they could just stay on their home and enjoy watching TV. After this long weekend the employees will feel energized and ready to take on the new task.

Virtual Call Center: Future of Your Business

The reason why businesses are ever evolving is because they want to stay on top of the pile. Customers are very difficult to please. They are looking for quality service, superiority and excellence, and if they feel that they do not receive the kind of service they feel they deserve, they will most definitely take their business away from you. Virtual call centers are not exempted from this and because of the way the economy has been going up and down, you cannot afford to lose any more clients and customers.

It will be such a shame that your patrons and clientele alike would not allow you to service them again just because you were not able to answer the phone on the first ring or because they got the voicemail instead. The reality is that you as a company have to be available to them every day, every hour. Virtual call centers should adjust their time and schedules to cater the people who made it possible for them to still be able to do business. It might be impossible to achieve but it is necessary. And with this feat comes the challenge of providing the kind of service your customers deserve and the capability of your call center to provide that without exhausting your agents.

There is a pressing need to stay on top of everybody else in the call center industry. You can achieve this by providing your customers the service they deserve, professional and of high excellence. As a virtual call center, you should be able to take calls, inquiries and complaints about the company that hires you. Your company needs to have skilled agents to be able to properly address the concerns of your clientele. Your services will be needed greatly by companies during holidays, after office hours, during weekends and especially during rush hour and hectic days.

Being able to get the messages in a timely and orderly manner is a challenge but not impossible. This is the number one reason why most companies choose to outsource customer service and other related services to virtual call centers because they have the expertise and the equipment to do so. They will also be able to address the different issues accordingly either through telephone conversations, email, fax or through live chat.

Almost all functions of an entire staff can be done by the call center you hire, at a smaller price. You would not have to pay salary and benefits. It would be also a money saver since you will only be paying the services done. It’s an easy and obvious choice, if you want to save on money yet not compromise on the quality of service, hire a virtual call center now.

Making Money At Home Through Virtual Call Center

The virtual call center gives you the opportunity to earn money at home through providing customer service to online clients. Outsourcing has reached new heights when it has tapped to the millions who are stay at home mothers, students and those that are not able to get a regular job. This is also a new opportunity for people with physical disabilities to make money.

The hype that these call centers are creating especially in the market are indeed beneficial to every one of us but with the competition in this particular market so high, the stakes are also as high. This is the reason why there are particular and specific qualifications that needed to be met first. Aside from having the ability to communicate effectively, you also have to have the personality and listening skill for you will be dealing with other people.

Virtual call center jobs are abundant if you want to consider a career in customer service. You will only need a computer and a high speed internet connection to do this job. Most of the interviews are done through phone. The reason why most preliminary interviews are done over the phone is to make sure that you are equipped with the most basic skills, and that is a very good grasp of the English language. It is also an advantage if you can speak more than one foreign language. Make sure that you put on your best voice and personality when talking. This will put positive weight in your application.

There are many companies now that are looking for virtual call centers where they could outsource their businesses. Businesses opt for virtual contact center because it does not need a physical structure to exist. It is like having a virtual office that can really function. The beautiful thing is that all the agents can be from every corner in the world and still work for the company that hired them.

Before accepting any offers for a career as a virtual call center agent, do not hesitate to ask questions. Also ask yourself if this is a good job for you and if the pay is enough to sustain you for the year or maybe for the lifetime if you want to stay longer in this kind of job. And once you do get hired, apply for every position you deem fit to your capabilities. The virtual call centers will be happy to help you grow your career. You should be aware of the choices you have.