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Contact Center Satisfaction Index reported that consumers believe they are getting better customer support. This is the third year the survey was conducted. 2,200 participants were involved in the study commenting on banks, personal computers, retail, government, insurance, hotels, etc.

A 3% gain of overall satisfaction was noted over the previous year. The reason some believe is the over abundant talent pool. The recession has left many highly qualified people out of work and call centers are receiving the benefit of this pool of candidates. And in addition, the rate of  employee turnover has slowed. Giving companies the advantage of keeping their experienced reps. [Read more →]

Companies are realizing that the utilization of social media networks is a good thing for their companies. This communication technology helps companies quickly and inexpensively respond to customer comments and complaints, thus easing the load in many cases on the call center.

As an example, by being connected to either Facebook or Twitter if an unhappy customer writes a complaint about the company’s products or services, a company representative can quickly address and respond to the situation.  This is good for the the company and the customer. Companies need to know what and how customers think if they are to be competitive and thrive. [Read more →]

Below is a list of jobs posted in various places for new call center positions

Firstsource Solutions, a Mumbai-based company that operates two dozen call centers worldwide, hopes to hire an additional 100 – and maybe 150 people in the Colorado Springs credit card call center. Employees can make from $40,000 to $60,000 collecting overdue credit card balances and bank overdraft fees for various banks.  Source: Gazette.com Colorado Springs

ACS (Affiliate Computer Services) plans to hire 200+ call center reps in the Puget Sound, Tumwater and Auburn call centers as well as 200 in the Dallas location.  Source: Puget Sound Business Journal June 16, 2009

APAC Customer Services Inc. will be hiring approximately 300+ customer service reps in their downtown Green Bay WI location.  Source: Greenbay Pressgazette.com

To add to the comments I posted a few days ago regarding the high turnover rate in call centers and some of the reasons cited, there is an interesting article in CRM Buyer referring to call centers as “sweat shops”. The article cites low pay, cramped work areas, stress, constant micro managing and repetitive work as their reference.

In many instances most calls coming into a customer service center are not always positive and if you are only making between $10 and $13 per hour, who needs the stress. It may be time for companies to reanalyze the value the call center adds to the organization. After all, these are the people closest to the customers. Rather than spending the $5,000+ to hire and train a new employee – why not give this money to your current employees.

Anyway, check out the article – “Toiling Away in White-Collar Sweatshops – aka Call Centers.”

NPC, the world’s largest Pizza Hut franchisee, announced plans to locate an inbound call center in Pittsburg, located at 711 E. Washington, the former National Mills location. That call center will represent a multi-million dollar investment for the company and will handle orders for Pizza Hut customers from throughout the Midwest.

Susan Dechant, NPC Chief Accounting Officer and Vice President of Administration, said that NPC utilizes call centers to improve access to their Pizza Hut locations.

The calls come into a central location to the customer service reps who take the orders and then send them to the appropriate Pizza Hut location within the customer’s area. The opening of this call center will create 200 jobs.

Source:The Morning Sun