Call Center Training Program
A proper training program is an essential component of a successful call center. Due to high turnover rates, ongoing training classes for new hires are always being held. Seasoned call center veterans attend refresher classes on customer service skills as well as presentations on system enhancements and new lines of business that will be added to their responsibilities. Remedial training classes are sometimes offered to workers who have received poor evaluations.
Trainers are usually promoted from within as they have the necessary skills and experience on the company's systems that are necessary for successful teaching in the particular environment. A degree in education is also helpful, though not a strict requirement. When call center managers do hire trainers from outside the company, they will look for people who worked as agents at other companies.
A typical instructional plan for a new hire class encompasses the following:
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Orientation – company history, salary information (payday, direct deposit forms, benefits explanations, etc.), and tour of facility
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Business Specific Information – introduction to the line of products or services the agents will be working on
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System Introductions & Practice – trainers maneuver through the various computer screens via an LCD projection system and then new hires complete sample exercises through guided practice
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Customer Service Skills – call center etiquette, how to handle hostile calls
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Training Practice Calls – trainees are set up as if they were taking real calls with headest and everything while trainers and other classmates role play customers calling in
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Evaluations – trainers decide what additional instruction is necessary based on trainees performance in practice exercises
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Trainer Supported Live Calls – real calls are routed to the training room by the IT team so trainees can get experience under the watchful eye and helping hand of the trainer
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Feedback – trainers and call center supervisors review recorded calls and give the trainees advice and encouragement to prep them for full time work
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Graduation – trainers hold a small party to celebrate the trainees' new skills and send them off into the general call center population where they are often seated near an experienced agent for help, guidance, and moral support
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