Month: December 2020

You can’t expect to have great customer service if you don’t have the right people for that
job. Your company can have the best tools, data and everything else, but human factor still
plays a major role when talking about success in customer service. Unfortunately, having
even just one wrong team member can have a negative impact on your results. That’s why
you should pay attention when doing a customer service interview. To ensure you find the
best person for your company, we bring you top 10 customer service interview questions.

1. How would you describe customer service?

This question might seem basic to you at first but hearing how a candidate describes
customer service will give you a pretty good insight on how this person will perform. Also,
asking them to describe it in their own words will demonstrate their communication skills. It
can determine in which direction should this customer service interview go.

Answer: The focus should be on the importance of customers and how crucial they are for
company growth. Also, doing the best to ensure customer satisfaction will establish
long-term customer relationship and help them make the most out of the product. Constant
improvement and a desire to learn should also be mentioned as one of the key points.

2. Can you tell us more about success at your previous job?

It actually doesn’t matter if they worked previously in customer service but it’s vital for you to
hear how they see success and how that made an impact on them. Their view on success
will show you if they are more of an individual or team player and what are the goals they
want to achieve.

Answer: Look for clear and focused answers with specific numbers and information. Also,
mentioning only individual success is not good for customer service, so you should look
more for candidates who emphasize team goals.

3. What would be a success for you if you worked in our company?

The answer to this question will also show you if this person is an individual or team player.
Moreover, you will see how well they understand your business and its potential role in this
company.

Answer: Candidates should give a well-reasoned answer to this question. It should show
their sense of company values and where do they see themselves in this company.

4. What failure do you remember from your previous job and why?

Everyone has failures but the way we talk about them is what is important. You will see why
they think they have failed and what should be done differently. This question will show you
how much is a person opened to suggestions and improvement.
Answer: The right answer should reveal a candidate’s sense of personal responsibility and
ability to learn and improve their skills all the time, no matter if they failed or succeeded.

5. What are the things that annoy in the workplace?

This question helps you see how honest the candidate is. By naming things that annoy them,
you will see what they don’t like and see if they fit the bigger picture.

Answer: Look for honesty in the candidate’s answer. Those who are focusing on negativity
instead of positivity might not be the right people for this job. Look for those answers which
reveal proactivity in avoiding any possible problems.

6. How do you deal with angry customers?

Angry customers happen in every company. The right customer service team will know how
to deal with it and solve their problems. This starts by empathy, understanding and, of
course, knowledge. It’s important to have a person who knows how to turn an angry
customer into a satisfied one.
Answer: The best answer would include a personal example of how a candidate
successfully solved a conflict. Candidates should highlight respect they have for angry
customers, understanding of their situation and motivation to help them.

7. What are your personal career goals?

This will show you how much is the candidate driven. Those who have personal goals will be
more motivated and productive in the workplace as they want to achieve their own goals as
well.

Answer: The right candidates should have a vision of themselves. This might not happen
the way they imagined but having a goal is what will show you where they see themselves in
a few years from now.

8. Do you remember any particular customer service case that was difficult to handle?

This is one of the questions that is looking for candidates to be honest. Describing difficult
cases will show how this person handles them and what approach they use when
communicating with customers. Also, empathy and positivity are the two factors you should
be looking for in their answers.

Answer: The right candidates will focus more on how they handled the problem instead of
what the problem actually was. They should show how they empathized with their customers
at that time and found an adequate solution.

9. How do you think this canned response should be rewritten?

Give your candidates an example of a badly written canned response and give them a few
minutes to think of a better way to say it. They can either write their answer down or explain
it to you.

Answer: It’s vital that candidates are focused on suggestions for improvement instead of just
naming weak points of the response. Everything they name as a weak point should be
followed with an idea on how to make it better.

10. Can you give us an example when empathy helped you in your previous roles?

Empathy is key in the customer service world. Knowing that your future customer service
team member understands empathy and knows how to make the most of it will confirm that
you are talking to the right candidate.
Answer: A good answer to this question will be easy to think of and even easier to describe.
In customer service, empathy is something that is being used every day. Pay closer attention
to how your candidate explain how empathy helped them as it will show you their real
understanding of it.

 

Having a job we like allows us so much more than paying bills. If we’re staying motivated at
work, we can grow professionally and personally and be completely satisfied with our lives.
Working hours shouldn’t be something that stops our happiness as we wait for the end of the
working day. Even if you’re not currently satisfied with the job you have, you can still find
something valuable in it. Here are several ideas on how to be better at your job so you can
feel more confident and satisfied with your life.

1. Planning

Planning can help you with efficiency and productivity. You can think about tasks for
tomorrow on your way home. Create a list of priorities with everything that needs your
attention. This will make you feel better as you start crossing things off that list. Also, you will
have that feeling of accomplishment every day and staying motivated at work. Not knowing
what you will do during your working hours can lead to frustration, low self-esteem and
fatigue, and losing motivation for your personal life as well.

2. Write a journal.

Well, it might seem cheesy or over the top, but putting all your thoughts and feelings on the
piece of paper can bring you some great results. You will become more aware of your fears,
wishes and goals so you will know in which direction your career should go. Also, as you
start writing things down, you will have more energy for everyday challenges at work. Giving
your thoughts a channel can help you grow professionally, no matter the job position.

3. Learn to say ‘’no’’.

This is the toughest one in our personal and professional lives. As we naturally don’t want
conflicts in our lives, we tend to do too much for others. This will make you feel like you’re
losing control and being exploited by everyone. Learning how to say ‘’no’’ should be
something you should practice every day. You don’t want to go for a coffee with your team
members after work? Say no. You don’t have time to work on a project that anybody can
work on? Say no. Respecting boundaries is crucial when talking about teamwork and staying
motivated at work.

4. Start thinking about your future.

Professional life can only be satisfying if you have set clear goals ahead of you. It doesn’t
matter what they are as long as they are important to you. However, sometimes we tend to
be so focused on small issues we’re facing every day, we forget to think about our future.
Ask yourself where you would like to be six months or six years from now. It doesn’t mean
you have to change your job. Instead, focus on things you wish to accomplish during that
period.

5. Asking for advice.

Your place of work is probably a competitive place. Asking for someone’s advice can be
considered as a weakness in such places, but that’s not true. Asking for advice shows your
human side and can even lead to connecting with other team members. Don’t forget that
nobody’s perfect and we’re all humans! If you’re unsure of how to handle a certain situation,
ask a coworker for advice. This will also decrease the level of competitiveness you feel when
you enter the office.
Conclusion
So, how will you stay motivated at work? It’s really up to you! Remember, we spend so many
hours in the office every day, and if you can make it better, why not? You will feel more
satisfied with yourself and you will have more energy and will to focus on your personal life.
As much as we try to separate these two, the personal and professional aspects of our lives
are often very connected. Do you best to ensure you enjoy yours!

Interactive Voice Response enables computers to interact with humans by voice usage and
touch-tone telephone keypad inputs. With IVR, you can connect your customers with the
right agents which is one of the biggest benefits of this technology. However, it’s easy to
make mistakes. We bring you 10 things you shouldn’t do with your IVR messages.

1. Overloading the caller with a long introduction.

Your caller shouldn’t waste its time on lengthy pre-queue introductions and listening to things
they should have to hand. If the call center is adequately staffed, your customers will not be
able to retrieve these items before one of your agents picks up the phone.

2. Having less than two on-hold messages.

The number of your on-hold messages should never be less than two. The best would be if
you can have three of them because listening to the same message over and over again will
drive your callers insane. That’s why you should have various messages so you don’t irritate
callers and they lose motivation for this conversation.

3. Having unnecessary menu options.

You shouldn’t have unnecessary menu options as this will annoy your callers as well. If a
few options lead to the same place, you should dispense with them. Having only those
options that are truly important will lead to more satisfied callers who won’t feel like talking to
your company is a waste of time.

4. Not providing an exit route.

You shouldn’t forget to provide your customers with an exit route. It’s very easy to pick the
wrong option or just go through and find out you didn’t choose the one that you actually
needed. When you realize that, it’s already too late and you will probably become frustrated.
That’s why it’s vital to include an exit route for your callers.

5. Choosing bad on-hold music.

If there’s anything that annoys your caller more than being on hold is having to listen to bad
or boring on-hold music. When choosing the music, try to select the one that reflects your
brand image. The best way to test it is if you listen to it for a while just like you are one of
your callers and see how you feel about it.

6. Using various voices and volumes.

When talking about IVR experience, you shouldn’t use different voices and volumes.
Changes in volume, timbre and pitch will only annoy your caller. Treat it as your website.
You wouldn’t want different elements, font, and backgrounds on your website so why should
you do it with your IVR messages?

7. Using industry words.

You should never use industry words or jargon when creating your IVR messages. You
callers are not experts and you should talk as simple, clear and understanding you can. If
your messages are unclear, that means you are doing something wrong. Try to test it with
somebody who doesn’t know your business to see if you managed to create the right
messaging.

8. Making your IVR sound like a person.

Don’t forget that IVR is a machine and your callers are well-aware of that, so you should
never try to make it sound like a person. Understanding that they are talking to a machine
will set the right expectations for this call and your callers won’t be disappointed. Try not to
overuse words like ‘’OK’’ or ‘’Thank you’’ as it might seem too fake.

There’s no doubt about service level being one of the most important KPIs. It measures the
accessibility degree of a call center to customers and can have an enormous impact on
service quality and, consequently, revenue. Each company should constantly measure their
service level and ensure they are implementing the right tactics to improve it. Knowing how
important it is for your business, we bring you some of the ideas on how to increase your call
center service level.

Workforce management optimization

Management of the workforce requires forecasting call volumes, scheduling the adequate
number of agents to work, creating schedules for all the agent and adjusting it when
necessary. Without a doubt, workforce management can get a bit challenging. To optimize
workforce management, you will need to take every detail into consideration. In other words,
you will have to think about historical call volume trends, the number of available agents,
target service level, upcoming campaigns, time spent on calls and other channels, etc. When
you’re scheduling the workforce, don’t forget to leave some room for flexibility if any
unplanned event happen.

Occupancy rates optimization

Occupancy rate shows the percentage of time your agents are performing their work-related
activities compared to the total time that they are logged in. Those activities can be anything
from talking to customers, updating databases after the call, sending emails, to providing
support on other channels. When occupancy rates are high, it means that agents are less
available to field calls, calls are taken immediately and, consequently, service level
increases. Of course, too high occupancy rates indicate an extreme workload for agents. On
the other hand, low occupancy rates show poor workforce management which leads to
increased costs. That’s why it’s crucial to create a balance between optimizing both
occupancy rates and service level.

Schedule adherence increase

Workforce management is vital to ensure the adequate number of agents is scheduled to
field calls but you cannot expect service level to improve if your agents don’t adhere to their
schedules. If your agents are taking longer breaks, going for lunch at an unscheduled time or
spend time at a desk on their private matters, the service level will decline. Managers must
constantly monitor schedule adherence and adjust it when necessary. However, it would be
unrealistic to assume that agents will adhere to their schedule perfectly, so it would be wise
to take that into consideration as well.

Improving call forecasting

It can be challenging to predict the overall volume and the arrival patterns of calls throughout
the day. To do it properly, you will need to think about upcoming campaigns and promotions,
repeated events, market fluctuations and industry trends, product launches, holidays, days
of the week, time of days, and so on. Also, you will need to analyze historical ACD data –
call volume, handle times, arrival patterns, and other factors. The more comple
te your call forecasting, the more accurate your workforce management will become.

Other ideas

There is a lot that you can do increase your call center service level. Besides the ideas
we’ve mentioned above, you can also work on reducing agent attribution which will
significantly enhance your service level. Also, you should consider enabling agent call-backs
which will increase customer satisfaction as well. Don’t forget about enhancing the first call
resolution (FCR) as being routed to the most appropriate agent is key when talking about
customer satisfaction. After all, it’s the ultimate determinate factor of your success.

Outbound predictive dialers are an outbound calling system that automatically dials from
a telephone number list. Similar to other kinds of autodialers, predictive dialers will call
numbers automatically and assist agents in screening for busy signals, no-answers,
disconnected numbers and voicemail.
The difference between outbound predictive dialers and their automatic alternative is in
the ability to use call metrics to predict the moment when an agent will be available to
take the next call. Also, predictive dialers can dial up multiple numbers at the same time
to call the right number of leads at the right time. This way, predictive dealers ensure the
maximum level of agent usage.

 

How do they work?

Outbound predictive dialers will predict the time when an agent will be available the
make the next call and then dial numbers for the agent. It uses algorithms to guess the
exact time when an agent could be finishing up his call and then immediately dials
another number for him. That’s how agents get a steady stream of calls with little or no
downtime significantly increasing their productivity. If you think about the fact that dialling
a number can take up to 30 seconds, imagine how many minutes per day predictive
dialers save.
Predictive dialers are mostly used in telemarketing, market research, customer service
follow up, and debt collection. Moreover, some lead qualification agents use them to
maximize the time they spend on the call with their leads during outbound sales
prospecting.

Outbound predictive dialer benefits

With outbound predictive dialers, it’s easy to assign calls to available agents. You don’t
have to wait for an agent to become available which means there is almost no possibility
for bias. Predictive dialers help to organize and also manage the client database which
leads to efficient maintaining of all your relevant records systematically.
It can also assist in blending calls in a call center which has to deal with outbound sales
and inbound customer service. Moreover, outbound predictive dealers help to improve
the efficiency of each agent in your team by giving them an equal chance to improve. By
utilizing such technology, you will improve the relationship between the administration on
one side and the workforce on the other. Also, these dialers help with the update of your
database and keep it up the date all the time.
Conclusion
Outbound predictive dialers have shown to be very effective with studies revealing up to
200% – 300 % increase in productivity. For those who are still manually dialling, they
should definitely consider implementing predictive dialers as they will save a significant
amount of time, improve efficiency and, consequently, your company’s sales results.
If you’re looking for such solutions right now, make sure you check Telesero services as
we provide companies with some of the best solutions on the market when it comes to
outbound dialers.

 

The concept of a workplace has tremendously changed over the last several years. An office
is no longer the first thing that comes to mind when talking about work. Today’s employees,
led by the Millennials, are completely transforming workplaces as we know them and
evolving them into a more connected, but flexible, collaborative and opened way of working.
This cultural change created a new concept called digital workplace in which everything
happens online and the only certain place of business is online.
Many companies now have employees working from all around the world. Some of them
work from their homes, others work from coffee shops or co-working spaces. The need to
work what they love from the place they feel most comfortable is the main characteristic of
this concept for new generations. So, what can we expect when talking about the future of a
digital workplace? What consequences will this new concept bring to the business world?

 

Transforming the workplace

Today’s employees don’t see their workplace as a static environment, such as an office they
come to Monday through Friday from nine to five. They dislike the idea of going to the same
place over and over again and, more importantly, working during the specific hours.
Nowadays, everything can become a workspace. This led to many companies actually
embracing such concept and employing people based on their set of skills and not on their
location. For instance, remote work allows employers to choose the best candidate who
might not be chosen a few years ago because he is not able to come to the office every day.
A digital workplace is actually full of benefits for both sides. Employers can choose from
candidates all around the world and employees can work for companies that can help them
develop their skills regardless of the country they are living in. Not to mention that by
choosing a concept of digital workplace over traditional one, an employer will have
significantly lower costs than paying for the office space and everything else that comes with
it.

Challenges for the digital workplace

Even though the digital workplace has the word digital in itself, this is so much more than just
a technological revolution. It’s a cultural revolution which completely transformed and is still
transforming our lives. However, it would be unfair to say this concept doesn’t have its
challenges which are still not solved.
For instance, companies need to put more effort into communication so their team members
know exactly what should be done and understand the bigger picture. Due to the employees
living in different locations, some processes might need additional explanation. Also, we
can’t forget that even though it’s called a digital workplace, it still needs to have a certain
organizational structure and each process needs to have certain stages to run a successful
business.

 

The future of the digital workplace

If these challenges are solved efficiently and employees feel like they truly are a part of the
company, we can say that the future of digital workplace will be bright and beneficial for both
sides. But, technologies such as AI, AR and automation are only starting to impact the digital
workplace. Huge potential lies in these technologies as cyber security is yet another
challenge which businesses are facing today, especially those who manage data that need
additional security. Luckily, these technologies are offering the solution to cyber threats and
so much more.
With so many apps and platforms created specifically for a digital workplace, there’s no
doubt that this concept is here to stay. It might change as a result of a new generation and
their characteristics but the static environment is slowly becoming replaced by dynamic and
better-connected businesses, especially in the fields such as IT, design, marketing, and
other creative jobs.

There are many great benefits if you choose the life of a digital nomad or even working from
home. This kind of lifestyle is getting extremely popular as today’s biggest workforce, the
Millennials, are preferring to have jobs outside the office and explore the world. However, it’s
not all dreamy when we’re talking about digital nomads. A lot of people who have chosen
this type of lifestyle are struggling with productivity and balancing their personal and
professional lives.
Let’s face it, it can be really tempting to work on your laptop near a white sand beach on an
exotic destination, right? Well, if you choose to be a digital nomad, you will have to motivate
yourself every day. Working from different locations can truly boost your creativity if you are
disciplined, focused and dedicated to achieving your professional goals.

 

Finding your “office”

Being a digital nomad, your office can be everything and everywhere! You can work from the
nearest coffee shop, your accommodation, bench in the park or any other place that has a
good Internet connection. To rephrase the popular saying: “Office is where the WIFi is!”
Each location you arrive at, you should first find the place where you will feel most
comfortable and focused to work. Changing locations and experiencing new things every
day can truly boost your creativity but you will need to find the place where you will transform
this creativity into work.
Once you’ve found your ‘’office’’, ensure you are able to dedicate enough hours to do your
job properly. For instance, if you work in the coffee shop where your friends stop by
regularly, it will be a lot harder for you to work. Also, inform the people you’re hanging out
with that you need to work as some might assume you are just surfing the web. In other
words, you will need to set boundaries if you wish to fully enjoy the digital nomad lifestyle.

 

New experiences

We already mentioned that new experiences boost your creativity. When you’re visiting new
places, you will probably have a new adventure every day. Such things have proven to
significantly improve the level of your creativity as well as productivity. Meeting new people
and cultures opens your mind and helps you think in ways you have never done before. After
all, this type of lifestyle wouldn’t have a point if you would just be working in different
locations. You have to experience them!
A lot of today’s digital nomads are equally passionate about their travelling as they are about
their jobs. When you choose to do something you love and have the opportunity to do it from
all over the world, it’s much easier to be efficient. Of course, discipline is key when talking
about travelling and working. Always make sure that you are doing plenty of activities in both
aspects.

 

Good planning

To be good at what you do as a digital nomad, you will have to plan carefully all your
activities. Prepare the list of things you wish to visit in the city where you’re currently staying
and plan the time when you will do that. At the same time, add all your work activities in the
schedule. Use one schedule for your leisure and work time. This way, it will be easier for you
to organize your time and see when you have more free time to focus on your work or
exploring new places.

Things to consider

If you’re considering becoming a digital nomad, we bring you things you should keep in mind
before deciding:
1. Having enough money to cover all your travelling expenses.
2. Travelling to places that have a good Internet connection.
3. Booking accommodation with adequate rooms so you have enough sleep and rest.
4. You will need to be very organized and disciplined with your schedule.
5. You have very good communication skills.
6. It would be good for you if you already have some travelling experience.
7. You are comfortable with new cultures, especially food.
8. It is easy for you to adapt and you are not afraid of the unexplored.

 

A successful call center manager is always focused on its team and finding ways to improve
their productivity. Keeping your agents satisfied and motivated while keeping tracks of goals
and deadlines can be challenging sometimes. However, as a call center manager, that is a
skill you need to develop if you want to be great at your job.
It’s not uncommon that managers feel overwhelmed and overlooked when facing so much
pressure every day. To maintain their success, many call center managers are using various
apps and tools which help them by keeping track of everyone’s performance allowing you to
focus on more important matters. In this article, we bring you 5 must have apps for call
center managers which you should already be using.

1. Monday

Sometimes it’s hard even to organize your own activities as there are so many of them, and
memorizing your team’s duties can be really frustrating. To avoid a potential chaos and lack
of quality management, why not use an app that does all of that for you? Monday is being
used in 76 countries by many call center managers due to its simplicity. This solutions
significantly improves communication between your team members and improves their
productivity. Not to mention that by having an app that memorize everything for you, you will
completely eliminate human errors in various processes. If your call center is concerned
about security and privacy, Monday is a great solution for you as it protects all your data
flawlessly.

 

2. Asana

This is another great call center software solution that suits all types of businesses, from the
smallest one to the ones with thousands of employees. Asana allows you as a call center
manager to easily follow your team’s and each member’s progress as it gathers all details in
one place. By choosing this solution, your team will become more efficient in executing their
daily and other activities and ensure they meet their deadlines. Asana has over 100
integrations to choose from and enables companies to bring emails, files tickets and so
much more to this platform.

 

3. Gong

If you’re looking for a conversation intelligence platform that will record, transcribe and
analyze all of your sales calls and interactions, Gong is the right choice for you. It will
significantly increase the effectiveness of your sales conversions. This cloud-based app will
enable your team to collaborate and use call intelligence to become more successful while
interacting with your customers. With Gong, call center managers can easily understand
what questions their best call center agents are asking, what is the average time of
discussing prices and what the ratio of talk-to-listen is. Another beneficial feature for
managers is transcription and indexing of all calls so the agents can easily find any
reference they need.

4. When I Work

This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to schedule, manage attendance and
communicate with your team members from your mobile device or your computer. It’s a
cloud-based solution that helps companies track their employee’s performance by creating
schedules, adding new activities to the calendar, review timesheets and fill shifts. Your team
members will get mobile alerts each time their schedule changes and they can request a
shift change or time off through the app. It’s a great way to avoid schedule conflict and
improve communication between team members.

5. Agile CRM

This call center software solutions will help your team with its highly efficient tools. With Agile
CRM you can, for instance, close tickets much faster and make sure your customers are
utilizing your product the right way. Numerous features with advanced telephony integrations
such as outbound and inbound calls, call routing, tag-based calling, help desk ticketing, call
recordings and reports, and many others will improve your communication process and the
efficiency of your call center.

Conclusion
Being a call center manager is much easier if you can rely on some of the useful solutions
on the market. Having time to focus more on your team and their performance by giving
them guidance instead of tracking everyone’s processes, goals and deadline all the time will
bring numerous benefits to your call center

To be efficient in your business, you will need to use the right tools, apps and everything that
can improve your efficiency and contribute to your business results. It’s vital that you choose
the right tools from the start if you want to grow a successful business. Luckily, there are
over thousands of tools available but sometimes it can be challenging to choose the right
ones for your business. To help you make the right call, we bring you the starter pack for
startups.

1. Square Up

This is the perfect tool that allows you to run your business from any place in the world as
long as you have an Internet connection. Tools include online invoicing and mobile
point-of-sale, next-day deposits, inventory management, and so much more. If you’re unable
to find a good Internet connection at some point, you will be happy to hear that Square Up
also works offline.

2. Google Apps for Business

This is one of the most efficient collections of tools for any business in any industry and it
should be a part of your starter pack. Their plans start from only $5 per user per month and
you get access to numerous powerful tools for your business. With Google Apps, you can
easily centralize your team’s communication, integrate email, storage, video meetings,
forms, calendars, and so much more into one single hub. Also, it has numerous great
plugins to ensure you enjoy using it even more.

3. Basecamp

This is an online project management platform that enables teams to collaborate on all kinds
of jobs. With Basecamp, all team members are organized and on schedule due to very
powerful calendars, to-do lists and various boards. For those who simply want to try it out
first, there is a 60-day free trial. Their plans start at $20 per month after your trial period is
over. Don’t forget to include it in your starter pack!

4. EchoSign

For every startup, contracts are vital to keeping things running smoothly. Just one
misunderstood details can have a negative impact on your business. With a great tool like
EchoSign, you can quickly and easily capture legally-binding signatures on contracts,
purchase your orders, and so much more. Your customers can even sign documents from
their devices at home. Prices for EchoSign start from $15 per month and after purchasing,
you can be sure your documentation will be on track.

5. Aweber

As a startup owner, you will probably need email marketing. With Aweber, you can create
your own email lists and send out regular updates to your clients. Huge potential lies in the
email marketing so why not make the most of it with this amazing tool? Aweber allows you to
try it out for 30 days for free after which you can choose the package that suits your
business best.

 

Conclusion

If you start researching, you will notice hundreds and hundreds of apps for your startup. To
save time, choose the ones that could really bring valuable benefits to your business. You
don’t need all of them for your starter pack. After all, you can always stop using apps when
you’re not satisfied anymore and find the alternative. Just be sure to do your research first!