Today marks the second anniversary of when I first donned the headset and resigned myself to a life as a contact center agent. It’s been an eventful two years; I’ve seen countless agents, close friends, move on; some to other contact centres, others just unable to take the charade of “pretending” to be polite to even the most demeaning of customers anymore. Me, it’s my 730th day of the same arduous routine, day in, day out.
Don’t get me wrong; there have been days where this can be the most rewarding job. The times you can help and callers are sincerely thankful can give you the most exhilarating emotional experience. In times like these, you smile for an actual while on the phone, and the headset feels like a lopsided halo making you feel like someone’s guardian angel. But those times are rare.
The reality of it is, this is a thankless job.
Sure, I’m paid well. I don’t do much except sound “great” to countless strangers I imagine are my best friends to meet my quality monitoring scores. The truth of it is I’m bored out of my brain! My TL and OM are great people, and I wouldn’t dream of leaving them, but the other contact center is offering more money and fewer calls. So, why am I still here?
They say the contact center agent’s lifespan in a contact center is two years, and I am beginning to believe that statistic, but I find myself hard-pressed to decide to leave. Why do I stay?
Here are 20 reasons (although some are hard to believe):
- I’m paid well – for what I do anyway
- Although inbound call volume is high, it’s not that difficult to handle all of them. Besides, the shopping vouchers I get every month pays for my groceries
- I love the people – you don’t just leave people who’ve been through tears and laughter with you for so long
- I love my cubicle – every scratch and stain on the ‘clean’ desk
- I don’t have to take work home – when I log out, there’s no thinking about cases or calls
- I get to dress casually when I go to work
- I get plenty of time with my Team Leader, who does a great job with the coaching sessions where I’m the focus of his attention
- I have great fixed working hours – as much as I am monitored for everything I do after I log in, I also get to leave on the dot. Everything is measured in seconds you see, and I’m conditioned to watch the time constantly
- It feels terrific to give good service, and customers are happy
- I’ve gained a lot of knowledge
- I love the contests that are held monthly
- I’m dating someone here
- The break room is excellent with all the biscuits and drinks I can consume
- I love watching the TLs and OMs stress out when calls are queued
- I love the people – I think I’ve said this! I do!
- There’s no feeling better than when I walk out of the contact center after my shift
- I’m not pressured to climb the organizational ladder – it’s comfortable where I am
- I get to surf the net all day when there are no calls
- I have so much power – I determine how much a customer gets helped. OR NOT.
- Best of all, JOB SECURITY – I can go to any contact center out there when I leave this one!
So, it looks like there will be more Blogs from me on the contact center after all. So, for tomorrow, I will begin Year 3.
Back in 2021, contact centres were all about navigating the sudden shift to remote work and keeping things running smoothly during a time of global uncertainty. Contact centre training mostly focused on helping agents get comfortable with virtual tools and handling customer concerns during a challenging period. Jump to 2024, and it’s a whole new ballgame. With AI making waves and omnichannel communication becoming the norm, call center management training now highlights skills like making data-driven decisions, building emotional connections with customers, and using advanced tech seamlessly. The focus has shifted from simply responding to issues to anticipating customer needs. Training programs today are designed to not only streamline operations but also empower managers and agents to innovate and deliver standout customer experiences in this ever-evolving industry.
