How to be a Call Center Agent?

I started my call center career by setting my mindset to become one. However, never did I thought of how to get there exactly in the first place. It was then I knew that being able to speak English is just a very, very small portion of the overall factors that you should have. Now some of you would be wondering, "Why? What are the other factors? What does it take to become one? I got a grade of 98 in English Language! I know how to speak English language fluently, is that enough?" WAIT! Okay I'll tell you more about being how to be a call center agent.

What you should have in your checklist:
1. Resume
2. Motivation
3. Patience
4.  English Language Skills
     - Communication Skills
     - Listening Skills
     - Comprehending Skills
5. Multitasking and Computer Literacy Skills

Now let's digest each one in the list.

→ Resume

Of course you need this one! Applying for a call center agent should pass the interviews and exams before working and taking calls.

→ Motivation

Working is one thing, but working with motivation is far more higher and a totally different story. When you work in a call center, it isn't enough that you know how to interact and communicate with people over the phone. You will surely get bored 3-6months later. Be motivated! Don't be contented on  where you are right now. Aim higher and do something to have a higher wage and position in the company, not only you will be happy that you achieved the goal that you desired but the respect of the people around you will intensify as well. A person who has a high position in a company is well-respected. And I'm pretty sure that you want to be respected, don't you? Though not all are after the wage and respect but at least have something on your back to keep you motivated! ;)

→ Patience

I want to emphasize on this one. While you're taking calls on your shift, you can't blame the person who's calling. There are a lot of people who will be yelling at you and throwing curses throughout the conversation(yes, those curses like the ones in your mind right now) and you can't fight the customer back or else, UPDATE YOUR RESUME! That's the reason why you really need to have a load of these guys, OR you can just ignore all those curses and move on to the next curses you will hear. :D

→ English Language Skills

I'm basically going to dig in to each of the items that I listed as clear as possible. So here we go:

→ Communication Skills

It's a MUST to have this skill in this field as you are going to be communicating with people of all types of gender and attitudes all of the time. Being able to interact and exchange thoughts with people you knew or you just met without hesitation is a big plus. If you are a shy type of person, then better find another job, but I wanted to extend my admiration to those who are shy but has the skill to communicate to other people in another type of medium such as over the phone. Kudos!

→Listening Skills

Listening is a totally different story. It's quite easy to learn how to speak English but listening a native American over the phone is really, really hard for newbies like me. This skill can be obtained by watching American scripted movies "WITHOUT" subtitles so you can practice and develop your listening skills or you could listen to different music everyday. This way, you will slowly develop your listening skills and you won't even notice how far have you got your skill developed in a month or two.

→ Comprehending Skills

You MUST MUST MUST have this skill as this is so essential in this type of job. Listening is the basic skill that you should have. Once you manage to have developed your listening skill, it is going to be then you need to work on with your comprehension skills. Listening attentively to your customers needs and provide them with what they need is what you are going to work on with almost all of the time throughout your shift. So comprehend, comprehend, and always comprehend your customers needs throughout the entire call so you could provide and accommodate them well.

→ Multitasking and Computer Literacy Skills

Yes, multitasking, working on the computer while listening to the customer's needs altogether, in an orderly manner. This is mostly what you do when taking calls. With the information taken and disclosed, you really have to at least obtain a record of what happened throughout the entire call from start to end. In order for you to have these records in your computer, you must at least have a basic understanding about how to use a computer. Of course you will undergo training on how to use the tools that you will use and how to accommodate the customer correctly.

So that's it for today! I'll be adding more like tips on how to have a decent resume, how to get through the interviews and more! So stay tuned! I hope these information can help those who want to join in the call center industry. However, if you have questions and suggestions and/or corrections, feel free to leave a comment :)

What is a Call Center Agent?

Call center agents, also called Customer Service Representative(CSR), Telephone Sales or Service Representative(TSR), attendant, associate, operator, account executive or team member. What the name may be, all call center agents are there to accommodate customers over the phone.

Living a life of a call center agent is actually strange. Unlike most of the jobs here in Cebu, we start our shift when everybody else is about to sleep. We tend to be awake most of the night until the next day to accommodate our customers through the phone. Though most of the call center agents prefer the morning shift due to the fact that there are less calls and less hassle, some would rather prefer the night shift because they're already used to the lifestyle. Working in the morning shift and weekends off is what we call "normal life" in the world of call center.

Voice is our treasure. Most of us has to drink for more than 20 glasses a day to keep up with the next customer. Speaking for about 8 hours without breaking needs that fuel. Some would fuel up before assisting customers through the phone and some would rather bring a tumbler with them to sip water in-between calls. We basically start off by logging in to our designated computers and ready our tools, wait for calls from customers who needed assistance and hope to end the conversation with a satisfying customer. Though you could possibly have a really big problem with the customer at times, but this is how it really works in the call center industry.

Most of us would be sleeping in our quiet rooms after our shifts and some would rather go out and have fun at their recreational areas to have their minds off from work even just for a while. Though there are also some who would rather sleep in their sleeping lounges during their breaks and lunch to get some sleep.

What is Call Center?

A call centre/call center is an organization situated in a physical place where receiving and transmitting telephone calls from customers in considerably large amounts are entertained.

There are two types of call centers, inbound and outbound. Inbound call centers are designed to accommodate customers with issues regarding account assistance, technical support, billing, subscription management and other inquiries. While outbound call centers, on the other hand, are operated from political donations, solicitation of charitable, telemarketing, market research, and debt collection.

Call Center Agents are called to those who work in extensive open work stations, with a computer that has a headset and a microphone, and is connected to a telecom switch with one or more supervisory stations.