4+4 call center job tips for sales and customer service

Learning the ropes of call center work can be tough at first. In this blog, we’ll try to ease your way with proven best practices that support both active and aspiring agents to succeed. These 4+4 tips will make your call center career more enjoyable and successful.   

Best practices and KPIs go hand in hand 

The call center business is a highly competitive and fast-paced work environment. Almost everything is measured. If you are an agent starting your career, learning the best practices is a good way to start on the right foot and keep developing.  

Most call center best practices can be tied to improving a key performance indicator (KPI). Mastering the metrics helps you see the bigger picture at call centers. Understanding the connection between KPIs and best practices paves the way for a rewarding career in call center management.  

Metrics are nothing to be afraid of. In fact, metrics usually prove that common sense and empathy go a long way.  

4 call center job tips for sales 

1. Be confident 

Your boss, colleagues and customers alike enjoy working with people who believe in themselves. Make sure that your everyday actions build up your confidence. Confidence stems from selling a product you believe in, being prepared and showing your personality. When you do your research well and learn how to sell the product or service at hand, you can truly be yourself when speaking to customers. This drives sales and revenue. 

Confidence improves this KPI: Sales per agent 

2. Leave routine tasks to automation 

Find a call center that has modern, cloud-based call center software. This way you can concentrate on closing deals and leave repetitive tasks, such as manual dialling and reporting, to automation software or AI. You’ll make more calls and close more deals than by handling everything manually. 

Automation improves this KPI: Calls per hour 

3. Learn/follow the script 

Sales scripts can be monotonous if you use them daily, but they’re used because they work. Following best practices, being punctual and filling in customer information diligently are key elements in successful sales campaigns and building a quality customer database.  

Scripts improve this KPI: Conversion rate 

4. Repeat and recap 

Describing services or products on the phone can be tricky. Customers might mishear or simply misunderstand a key detail. Be as clear as possible about the service and the terms and conditions that apply. Repeating what was agreed on at the end of a call helps you comply with regulation. More than anything, it keeps customers happy as they don’t have to cancel an unwanted order later.     

Recapping improves this KPI: Regulatory compliance 

4 call center job tips for customer service 

1. Be courteous 

Customers should leave a customer service interaction feeling that they were heard and respected. You should strike a balance between a friendly and an official tone. Greet the customers and avoid categorising them to stereotypes. Always listen to the customers speak without interrupting and ask if there’s anything else you can do for them before ending the call. 

Courteousness improves this KPI: Customer satisfaction score 

2. Take notes during calls 

Taking notes during a call is vital for customer service teams. Solving cases is teamwork, which often requires more than one agent solving a case at different times and potentially using a different service channel. The documentation should be clear as day, so your colleagues can help customers as effectively as possible if the case is transferred to them. Customers already dislike when their problems are not solved during the first contact. Having to repeat everything that was said earlier makes things worse. 

Note-taking improves this KPI: Resolutions per team 

3. Know your product 

Customers expect to get their case solved quickly, without excess transfers. Well-prepared, expert agents improve customer satisfaction and reduce transfers. Customer service is teamwork. You should actively participate in spreading knowledge among the whole team, so that every member of the team is able to solve cases independently. 

Preparedness improves this KPI: Transfer rate 

4. Show your resourcefulness  

Any useful customer service software is full of data that helps agents solve cases. Most cases are standard and don’t require going outside your comfort zone. If you don’t know the answer immediately, however, you need to think outside the box and solve the case using all the resources at your disposal. Both your customers and the management will love showing initiative, resourcefulness and going the extra mile. 

Resourcefulness improves this KPI: First call resolution rate 

Modern call centers provide career opportunities 

Modern call centers are great places to learn how sales and customer service work. The customer-oriented approach of the call center world provides insight that you can utilise in call center management or wherever your career takes you next.  

The tips in this blog highlight the fact that call centers are based on teamwork and learning together. Common virtues and a respectful attitude create a strong foundation to build on. When you start to understand the connection between metrics, best practices and teamwork, you’re on your way to building a great career.