Call Center Challenges
Telephone Sales Agent Challenges
We Have Too Many Cancers in the Agent Population - Lots of Negativity
The Challenge
Negativity can ruin an otherwise pleasant center. Most of the time, these are veteran agents who start negative conversations about the organization or the job. Perhaps unconsciously they are trying to sabotage the work of others around them so no one else can enjoy themselves. Often, other agents avoid sounding cheerful and working hard with clients for fear of the cancerous agent criticizing them. Some of these cancerous agents even hold the mute button down and swear at clients. “I’m happy to help you with that Mr. Stevens (mute button on) you absolute moron! (mute button off). Can I start by getting your address.” This impacts everyone within earshot, stifling performance and eliminating the fun that could have occurred.
The Core Problem
This is primarily a management problem. Supervisors may have let the problem go way too long without holding agents accountable to basic behavioral standards. Sometimes HR is too employee-friendly. They keep moving bad agents around, from supervisor to supervisor, giving them a dozen “last chances” or more. From a skills perspective, cancerous agents may do just enough to keep themselves from being fired for performance issues. The bottom line is that they need to go or need to change drastically - today.
Solution: Telephone Sales Mastery Can Bring Negative Agents Back from the Dead!
Centers with this problem likely need stronger accountability at the floor management level, which our Call Center Floor Management workshop provides - in a big way. Additionally, our Telephone Sales Mastery program can make a huge improvement in the negativity. TSM provides a core set of skills and a series of behavioral expectations for every part of the call (and for in between calls). Every participant agrees that the skills and standards make more sense than what they are doing today.
Here is the best part. We have seen many negative sales people come back around after TSM. Once they see the potential for making more money and increasing their marketability, they usually jump on board. They refocus their energies on doing smart things instead of doing disruptive things. Finally, for those that want to hang onto their cancerous ways, TSM’s standards will make it easier to hold them accountable and move them out of the company. Either way, you win. Hopefully, they will win, too.
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