Rich Design

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Category: General Considerations

Expectations and Anticipation

You are trained to perform your job and on how to extend your knowledge using the resources!  The information will run the gamut of basic company and product knowledge to schematics of installing electronic products.

For how can you be the “expert” without having resources to make you the expert!  This site  provides  expert knowledge about companies, agents, experiences, skills, techniques and a host of more Questions and Answers you have, on working at home as a call center representative!   Applying yourself will help you become an expert in what it takes to be successful as at an at-home agent. 

Can’t have one without the other!  This site is design to help you out with both!  You’ll lean and begin using the effective skills and techniques in customer service, like hold procedures, (7 short sweet steps to help with your customer’s overall satisfaction).  The same basic courtesy rules, still apply and work in this environment too!  How about breaking down language barriers and using true time tested clarification and phonetics verification.   Helpful tips when engraving products, processing financial information, specific delivery location…all to keep the customer, HAPPY!  You’ll never run out of customer service tips and techniques from qualified agents like yourself on this site!  Ask a few questions and provide one of your savvy ways of handling problems yourself (good for 3 points each, per day, maximum of 15 daily)

Now don’t forget, you have two sets of customers, internal and external, your supervisors and your customers, respectfully.  And pleasing are analyzed by different methods, CSAT scores and Evaluation

1. Company Knowledge – this is the who, the hierarchy, structure, how you represent them, what can you say if anything about the client outside of work; 
2. Product Knowledge
1. Understand up front, you will become the “Product Knowledge Expert” and is essential for your stability and growth and continuous employment.  Change happens daily through improvements, additions, modification, and discontinuation.  Some companies divide and disseminate different parts of company transactions to different departments so their knowledge is enhanced with more details and understanding.
2. For example, technical help may not handle any billing transactions; customer service may handle technical up to a certain degree; A supervisor may need to approve a particular transaction   
3. There are actual positions that have an advanced level of knowledge, procedures and customer’s Christmas Wish List.  It is the customer’s desire for any product to do exactly as they wish.  Some products require extensive knowledge or more technical in nature, beyond the scope of the front line’s knowledge.  This would be a time to contact, explain, request to join, merge calls, do proper introductions and resolve the customer’s issues.
3. Continuous Education (Training)
4. Information Resources (huge knowledge base, web pages (intra and internet)
1. Intranet is a secured and private set of knowledge with specifics, details, references, lists, summaries, explanations, addresses, phone numbers not necessarily for the customers knowledge.  It’s your online, internal support system with updated information and references.  Once familiar with the structure, search methods, you will easily navigate to specific information within a short time frame.
2. Internet – believe it or not, the very web page that customers navigate daily is your best resource for guiding and assisting customer;
   
   (Price match – is when the company allows you to match an item’s costs based on it’s current price on a competitor’s site; you’re never to offer, unless in sales, you get the customer; different BPO’s and clients have different policies regarding PRICE MATCHING, so be sure to ask this question in class when reviewing financials.  Quite often, a screen shot must e attached to email for verification; also take note if because you offered a discount, it’s not counted against you.  Check out my article on “What’s Good For the Customer, may not be Good For the Agent’s Metrics”  or “Know When To hold and Know When to Fold”  There’s a fine balance act you’ll learn on optimizing your metric and exceeding your customers expectations.  Learn some advanced customer service techniques that will assist with your success
5.  Location
1. Online, onsite, hands on or simulated, 4-6 weeks to 1 hour updates; group and individual; timed versus completion time frame, All of this varies on the product/service. 
2. Online vs. Onsite with Hands On:  It is a lot easier to learn about cable connections if you have physically performed the actions yourself, while interactive simulated animation online reinforces the activity.  So when they call you the expert, you are, why, because you now know how to provide step by step instructions of an electronic installation to any customer with success because you successfully accomplished the same task yourself.  Key point, read everything, do all task, follow all steps in any given set of instruction the exact way, all the time, because it’s what works and that’s what you’ll be trained on! 
3. One of the very first measurements of your ability is your interest, which is measured by your commitment without excuses to the end of the contract, your signed agreement that begins with training.  For onsite and online adobe connect, skype or other methods, usually within a 6 week period, you’re permitted to only miss a total of two fifteen (15) minutes time period.  Anything else, you’re told not to return.  Nothing personal, it’s all by the numbers that you agreed upon.  You miss the mark, your employ is limited. 

The company needs to know they can depend on YOU!  No one makes you log in so it comes easier not to go, no one calls you, you’re treated as an adult and expected to received adult consequences of your behavior, positive and negative.  I can’t emphasize this point enough.  Your physical presence at the time you signed up to cover is your first and important responsibility.  For it you’re not on the job, you can’t perform.  This is a performance job, not a look around and see who’s the cutest in the office.  YOU are, you’re the only one in it! 

6. Scripts are written instructions to you, the agent to provide specific information even including how to interact.  This is to ensure 100% accuracy of information is share with the customer consistently by each agent.  Everyone must know and speak the same cultural language of the company.   You want to be accurate with your knowledge and confidence in your presentation.  That’s the only way; anybody will care about what you say.  It’s real simple, what you say is what others will hear.  If they didn’t understand it, you weren’t very clear.  You can say that you were clear and the customer didn’t understand, but bottom line, who needs to understand
7. Evaluations – Standard Agreement
8. Policies and Procedures

What, where, When, How

What are the expected behaviors?

Where do I perform the behaviors?

When do I perform these behaviors?

How do I perform these behaviors?

There are more questions and answers,  but be assured, that there will be a compete section with guidelines.

9. Customer service – Soft Skills, Interpersonal Dynamics, Rules of Engagement
10. Technical Equipment and Home Office Set-up
1. Might think this is a small need to know, however, some time is dedicated to having a functional office for maximum productivity;

Pending on the size of the client and volume of products and services, any and all could range from a small, simple  1 day training to an extensive 6 week, onsite interaction with equipment, installations, role playing, computerized test, group cohorts,

It won’t be on every bit of information that a customer will call inquiring about! BUT, it will be on everything you really need to know! For example, the basic foundation of the company, products and services AND more importantly, where and how to FIND the additional information needed to succeed! 

At the initial training sessions you receive a TON of information and are expected to past examinations to prove your knowledge.   At one of my training session, the trainer told us, DO NOT TAKE notes! You will become TOO dependent.   Listen and Perform!  Might want to assess your learning style and make adjustments when and where you can NOW!

If you thought this article was extensive, than try training!  You will be bombarded with a lot of information that you need to have a strong familiarity concerning the technical aspects of their computer system, the product/service, the procedures, methods and expectations  in order to operate as an at home call center representative.  But you can do it, you just need to know what to expect and anticipate any issues so that you can deal with them appropriately in order to succeed.