Optimizing Call Centers as Coaches

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW1

Different Types of Call Centers2

Call Center Agents and Customer Satisfaction4

Competencies of Call Center Agents6

Communication Skills6

Listening Skills7

Understanding7

Teamwork8

Analytical and Problem Solving Skills8

Stress Tolerance9

Attentiveness10

Speed10

Coaching of Call Center Agents11

A Changing Coaching Environment13

Optimizing Call Center Coaching16

Obstacles to the Optimization of Call Center Coaching16

Targeted Coaching17

Setting Performance Standards for Call Center Agents20

Proactive Approach20

Understanding Coaching Needs22

Win/Win Situation23

Coaching Strategy23

Strategic Decisions in Coaching25

Summary of Literature Review27

References28

List of Figures

Figure 1: Types of Call Centers3

Figure 2: Call Center System4

Figure 3: Competitiveness of Call Center Agents11

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW

The importance of executive coaching has been increasing in the current era. In the business environment, coaching is gaining much popularity and prominence. In this regard, it is important to comprehend the efficacy of coaching in a business environment. Coaching is a word that defines different efforts to improve the performance of employees. It also results in enhancing the behavior of executives. Coaching, in a business environment, is also helpful for resolving different organizational issues. Therefore, it can be comprehended from these descriptions that there are multiple functions of coaching. Coaching is also followed by evaluations in order to assess the impact of the designed program on employees or participants. The most common approach that is used for the evaluation is 360 type evaluations. In this type of evaluation, the behavior or performance of employees is evaluated by peers, superiors, supervisors, as well as through different reports. The evaluation of employees is done in order to measure different changes associated with the behavior of employees. The purpose of evaluation could also be to identify the strategic impacts of coaching.

In order to understand the role of coaching in improving call centre performance and overall job satisfaction, it is important to comprehend other factors first.

A call centre is an operation in which individuals conduct the business through telephones (Rademeyer, 1995). According to Dawson (1997), call centre is a physical location where call are made or received for the purpose of customer service, technical support, telemarketing, or others. Call centers are based on strong technical foundations. The advent of call centers has increased the flexibility of businesses to meet customer needs. In addition, it has also lowered the cost required for providing effective customer service. Although, customer service through call centers does not involve face-to-face communication yet it is a highly effective way of attracting and retaining customers. In the rapidly changing business environment, call centers offer effective for a gamut of business interactions. The implications of customer service and technical support through call centers are rapidly increasing in the global markets (Prabhaker, Sheehan & Coppett, 1997).

During the last few years, the operations of call centers have experienced rapid growth. According to Houlihan (2001), call centre processes are not limited to technical support and customer service. In fact, call centre operations are also used for other services including recruitment, psychological support, entertainment, legal advice, public sector communication, market research, and others. Call centers have now become very important for the purpose of interaction as well as for acquiring customer-related ...