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Educating the Next Generation
While visiting my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, my nephew Sean alerted me to the fact that he was going to be joining the ranks of teleservices professionals. He had recently been hired by one of our member companies and was going to begin selling credit cards by phone. I was thrilled!
Sean is a member of my family through my wife's side of the family. For years, I have been a source of incredible confusion for my relatives. My in-laws could not understand how anyone could choose to be in this business. The fact that a second member of my family would select this profession was “pondersome”. Despite a lack of support, I pulled Sean aside to pass along some lessons about our business.
1. Pay attention during training! Companies spend cumulatively millions of dollars to create effective training. Effective training means that it is designed to help the call center representative to be an effective conduit of information. If Sean pays attention during training, his success is not assured, but the probability of performance improves. Good training exists in most firms and encompasses lifelong skills on communication, overcoming objections, vocal expression, etc.
2. Avoid the stupid mistakes! Be a great employee. "Show up on time, do what you're told, be cheerful, and make a difference." I know this wasn't brilliant advice, but in reality, we have a problem in our country. In many walks of life employers have found the next generation to lack responsibility, a positive attitude and an interest in making a difference. If Sean does what he commits to each and every time, he will be perceived as an asset even if it is only by comparison.
3. Follow the script! One of the worst things that a call center rep can do is to shortcut what they have been taught. These shortcuts remind me of the road to hell because this path is also paved with good intentions. Often, problems arise on the calling room floor as reps, under pressure to perform, start to become script authors. In an effort to boost performance, representatives start to share 'best practices' amongst each other. These practices usually involve making what become increasingly material changes to the script. As I told Sean, not only is this against his new company's policy, but it will be easily detected and stopped through the loss of his job
4. They can't see you! Sean is no different than almost anyone else, which means that he does not want to be embarrassed. Good outbound telemarketing involves a more energetic use of voice, facial expressions, and often body language. Sean did not think that this kind of emotive behavior would look very cool. My point is that if the person on the other end of the phone does not know you, and can't see you. . . then who cares!
5. It is personal! Making phone calls is hard stuff. Sean is going to face a lot of rejection. The nonsense belief that we can convince ourselves that this is a game and that representatives should not take some of this personally is naive. If a representative does not take their job personally on the negative side, it will be difficult to create a sense of enthusiasm for the positive side of the job. Managing the stress is important, but ignoring the stress is foolish.
6. Be unusual . . . listen to your manager! Much like my advice on number 2 above, this is not genius. However, listening to good coaching will make Sean more popular, make him more money, and make him better at what he does.
7. Get into management training! No other industry does as good of a job promoting from within than teleservices. The road from the calling room to the Board Room is fairly straight. It is not easy, but making teleservices a career puts destiny in Sean's hands. "Promotion through performance" is not always a perfect approach, but I have rarely seen failure as the cause for promotion. (Cynics need not use number 7.)
Sean is a 17-year-old, soon to graduate, skateboarding junkie, and otherwise normal kid. So, as expected, he rolled his eyes at me and pretended to pay attention. But over a few minutes, it started to make sense to him and I could feel a kernel of what I might call wisdom was transferred. One down . . . millions to go.
-- Tim Searcy
(Tim Searcy is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Teleservices Association (ATA). The ATA represents the call centers, trainers, consultants, and equipment suppliers that initiate, facilitate, and generate telephone, Internet, and email sales, service, and support. The ATA represents members' interests by advocating on Capitol Hill and in statehouses nationwide, providing advanced professional education opportunities, defending the teleservices industry in the public realm, and acting as the industry's information clearinghouse.) http://www.ataconnect.org/
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