Strict BPO Monitoring
Some BPO experts may say that stringent BPO monitoring is something essential and makes a lot of difference in the performance of the call center. Others would beg to differ. They believe that strict observations make the telemarketing agents conscious of what they are doing and that stops them from performing to the best of their ability. Though there is meat in both these arguments, it would be a nice discussion to dig deep and find out how the two sides of the business process outsourcing coin are equally juxtaposed.
Every call center would like to provide their employees with the right environment to work in. At the same time, the BPO agent has a responsibility to keep track on the resources provided by the client. The database and the use of it in lead generation and other services have to be monitored to prevent misuse. Data theft from call centers in nothing new. There are daily reports of such incidents happening in reputable telemarketing firms. This will obviously put the call center services under a scanner. Resources are expensive. The internet and telecommunication lines also cut deep into the pockets of a business outsourcing firm. Without proper monitoring these resources are vulnerable to waste and misuse.
At times, answering service agents on the floor needs guide on their calls. The inbound call center agents may not be comfortable dealing with the callers that they have on the line. It could be that the person is asking for information that is beyond the reach of the BPO agent answering it. If the calls are monitored, a senior executive can immediately step in and save the call. It’s a better way to do it than transferring the call to another agent who can answer it. Monitoring allows the telemarketing services agents to learn from their mistakes. The recorded calls can be played back at training sessions and the entire team can pick things up and make mental notes on the dos and don’ts. This brings down the levels of making errors on calls.
However, if the BPO bosses go too hard on the agents, it’s likely to cause stress and tension among them. No one likes to feel that each and every move they make is being digitally recorded. That makes the call center agents feel that they are walking on a very sharp line. It makes the agents conscious of their work and that in turn makes them more open to lapses. When you know that your supervisors are watching you, you have this tendency to try and please them with your work. This, though good, often puts unnecessary pressure on the BPO service agents. They may stutter and stammer even on regulation calls just because they are being watched!
The ideal way is to make the call center agents aware that the monitoring is to make their work better. BPO managers must make the monitoring procedure as part of constructive criticism. Agents must not feel that they are being targeted or victimized in the name of monitoring.
