Just over 10 years ago, this was not remotely in my thoughts. I stumbled upon this role by accident. I started a business which I thought would succeed yet, I failed miserably. Second business failed and I lost more money. By the time I reached my third try, a vacant call center with no clients, I was spinning out of control and losing money faster than before. It was the height of the “Great Recession” and jobs were scarce. But I had this empty call center with old computers and phones which I believe were from the 80s. I had to make this work. There was no plan B or C or D.
It was challenging, I made a lot of mistakes but in the process, I learned a lot. Although some were classic business mistakes, the ones I made were valuable to me as gold.
Lesson 1 – Find a trustworthy Co-Pilot
I got lucky in this department. I took a former employee from my first failed business and trained him to manage a different type of people. He possessed people skills but he needed to learn the way of the corporate world. This is a very long journey and having someone on your side to help navigate you through the turbulence of business and help keep you awake other than coffee, this is your best business friend. Your co-pilot is your support to keep you focused on the road ahead and to also remind you of important things such as paying your quarterly taxes on time. A good co-pilot will also need to have similar mindset as you, challenge you and can keep up with your crazy work ethic and have the understanding of what it takes to launch a business and stay the course. Find your Chewbacca.
Lesson 2 – Good call center agents
Delivering good customer service is vital to your company. This will make or break your business. This part of your company must remain outstanding as if you’re opening your doors for the first time. Train them well and help them understand the importance of this dying trend. Agents proficient in conversational English is also crucial to your success. This is one of the keys to help keep your doors open and for your clients to stay with you.
Lesson 3 – Setting goals
This is true from top to bottom. While most decision makers have their own set of goals, it is also important for your staff to have their own set of goals. Set achievable expectations for your staff. Share some of your business goals and show them statistics and metrics and ensure you and your staff are on the same page and they understand what your goals are and what it would take to achieve them. Although showing appreciation is very important, compensation is paramount.
Lesson 4 – Good relationships
This is another key that will keep your doors open. Your relationship with your staff are just as important as your relationship with your clients. Show them your appreciation to keep morale up and with high morale, the turnover is lower and your doors remains open.
Lesson 5 – Have the right technology
This is where I spent a lot of my growing pains. It became overwhelming to me and with so many to choose from, which one is right for my business? I made a lot of costly mistakes and it became daunting to the point that I stayed with my old technology far too long.
After sifting through numerous companies, tools, software apps, incalculable hours of demo and research time, I narrowed down the right tools that would truly help elevate business and turn capital expense to operating cost. Technology has evolved so much in the last 25 years and yet, contact centers have barely progressed in the same speed. In order to remain in the game, we have to change with the times.
A lot of decision makers are far too busy with running the business, it’s hard to add more to our plate such as new technology. Sure, we delegate this part, we pay people to do the leg work but in the end, the buck stops with us and we ultimately have to choose which is truly the right one. There’s a lot of “fluff” out there and understandably so. Salespeople has quotas to make, bills to pay, but that doesn’t help your business. For less than the average price of our monthly coffee habit, I learned there are tools out there that will help streamline our business productivity, lower our operational cost, increase business and help elevate our business to remain competitive.
As my Grandmother said to me once, “Learn from other people’s mistakes to minimize going through the same ones. Someone out there has already made similar mistakes you’re about to make”.
