If you could create the perfect call center manager, what would he or she look like? Specifically, what traits or management styles would s/he have? What attitudes or knowledge would s/he bring to the table? While you find some of your perfect traits during the interview process, it is difficult to find all of the attributes of a winning call center manager in one single candidate. Wouldn’t it be great if we could take the best of all the call center managers we’ve seen over the years and build the perfect prototype?
How many times have you heard a friend or colleague describe themselves as a ‘people person’? And how many times have you thought to yourself, “Uh-huh, yeah right.” We know that the best call center managers are those who truly are people-people with gold service wrapped around their hearts. Are you or your manager someone who truly listens to your agents, customers and service representatives while also motivating and inspiring them? Does your staff trust you? Are you creating a team environment? The prototype call center managers can juggle all this and more.
There’s a delicate balance in between being able to navigate the needs of your agents and customers while being cost effective and efficient. While the corporate leaders and stockholders are focused on the bottom line, our prototype manager is mindful of the power that lies within happy, well-cared for agents. Happy and calm agents are better equipped to diffuse unhappy customer vs. escalating the situation. Happy and calm agents tend to stay with a company longer reducing churn over the long haul. And there’s no secret here, a call center manager that’s working hard to make sure those agents stay happy are going to get loyalty from those agents in return. Several years ago while at a long-term client’s call center, three of his managers told me that if he ever left the center, they would leave too. Well, last year, he took the retirement package and within several months of his departure four of his managers left as well (after more than 10 years in the center). The organization and customers have suffered greatly under its new, less prototypical director.
We want someone that is not only creating a good environment for the team, but someone who also knows the business, the roles within the business, inside and out. A good call center manager no doubt wears many hats and is able to fill many shoes. And at the end of the day, where is the call center manager’s moral compass? Is he or she the type to take all the credit and the glory for themselves? No, a great leader knows the wins are only because of the team and the faults they take squarely on the chin.
What sort of call center manager are you? Have we missed anything from our prototype list? What was the best lesson you learned from a call center manager?
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