My Experience with Call Centers

This is my experience.

I have worked in a lot of call centers. Some good, some bad. I have gotten used to being very uptight about always being available to take calls as much as possible and to not take long breaks. So in other words, it has helped me to be a more responsible employee and to have a better work ethic.

There is a lot of turnover (people leaving) in call centers. Some would say this is because a lot of the employees tend to be either in their late teens or early twenties, so they may not have as many responsibilities.

While on calls, I hated it when people would demand a supervisor. I guess that is what society trains people to do. I have learned that adults are like children...adults throw tantrums too! Sometimes it would bother me so much that I would say to the customer, “Why don’t I talk to YOUR supervisor!” I learned not to do that, however. :o) I learned over time how to deal with conflict. I prided myself on not letting people get to me.

In my experience, many of my call center supervisors tended to micromanage and would throw their weight around by being rude and bossy. On the other hand, the best call center I ever worked at was laid back. Also, the lower management there were very nice and were not overly ambitious. In fact, they were not afraid to be candid when they felt that they didn't like upper management or when they didn't like something that was going on.

Working in a call center can often be monotonous, which leads to many phone reps becoming jaded and not be as helpful as they could be with customers. It helped me to find ways to improve and to have goals. I appreciated flexibility to be able to do things between calls, such as reading. It is a challenge to remain professional when customers are rude and disrespectful. But I appreciate the skills that I have gained in order to not let it get to me when people are frustrated or angry about their situation. I learned to not take it personally. I enjoy helping people resolve their issues.

As with any job, it can take a few weeks to learn how to do the work. Typically, employers are patient with you when starting out. It is also important to be patient with yourself.

Because of my experience, I am more kind to phone reps that call me and who I call. This also applies to my interactions with salespeople, on and off the phone. More than once, it has helped me to achieve better resolutions by being patient and more reasonable when I am on the customer end of the phone line.