The BPO Management Story
The BPO firm, like all other business firms, needs a cracking management team. The reigns of the company should be in the hands of people who have a vision, a plan to achieve that and most importantly, the faith in that vision. Many call center firms went haywire despite a successful start because they did not have a sound management team. Be it inbound call center services or outbound call center services, the management has to lay down the metrics of performance for every department. The process of planning is not something that can be done in a day or overnight. Haste in such matters generally leaves germs of disaster.
The planning process should ideally start from the time you bag the project. BPO firms have to chalk out the minutest details before the project gets underway. Check up with the various departments who are going to work together. Get them in sync. Make sure they know the project inside out. Once the project gets to the call center floor, it would be a loss of time and resources if your answering service agents are running from one manager to another, looking for answers to customer queries. If you find that the business outsourcing managers are not really in tune with the demands of the project, train them. Build up a solid foundation. You can innovate according to the demands of the project only if you get the basics right.
The next step in the flowchart is the hiring of call center agents. Pick employees who are ready to work in a challenging atmosphere. The seniors of the BPO industry recommend that you put aptitude over skill. If your answering service agent is not skilled enough, you can train the person. But aptitude is something that you cannot inject. Tell them clearly what you expect from them. Transparency here will save you a lot of issues later on. Check up on their backgrounds. Unethical employees will do more harm than good to the reputation and image of your business outsourcing firm. Look for recommendations from others in the call center services market.
Training of these call center agents come next. Train them not just in the project. Train them as complete telemarketing professionals. This is strictly in the interests of your call center. Your projects could later be jeopardized if your agent is not able to deal with the stress. Prevent burnout of your answering service personnel and also keep a strong tab on the attrition rate. Trained employees leave gaping holes in the fabric of the project when they quit midway. In that case, you have to spend time and money to hire and train a fresh talent. That does not mean that you cannot be firm or enforce discipline, if necessary. Your project is your priority and the inefficiency of the workforce could be really damaging.
In this short scope, we can discuss only one more aspect of the management board. That would be flexibility. The BPO wing is mainly populated by the youngsters. It goes without saying that they would have this streak to bend the rules once in a while. As a member of the management, you have to be open to deal with these. While indiscipline cannot be tolerated after a certain degree, to keep a healthy working atmosphere at the call center floor is necessary too!
