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Showing posts from August, 2008

14 Call Center Interview Questions & Answers

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The call center industry is one of the fastest growing in the country these days. As recently as ten years ago, there were only a few call center agents and the word call center was hardly ever used in the country. Today, almost every family has at least one member working in the call center industry. The reason for this boom is partly economics. In the Philippines, low paying jobs are very notorious and while call centers set up shop here because of the low labor costs, Filipinos decide to work for the call center industry because it pays higher than average wages. Consider this: if you are an average worker with an entry level position, you probably are getting paid seven to ten thousand a month; meanwhile, an average employee in the call center industry with an entry level position will get around fifteen thousand pesos a month, plus free dental and health benefits (HMO). Call centers also will pay your SSS (Social Security), PAGIBIG (home building fund), and PhilHealth (health ins...
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Zamboanga city in the eyes of the northerner

You'd be shocked at how unknown Zamboanga city is to most people in Manila. My friend thinks it is in Visayas , near Cebu. Another one thought it to be Zambales and asked me if I could speak Ilocano . Most would not even remember the name Zamboanga , what they would remember is Davao and I have to correct them most of the time that it is Zamboanga and not Davao. There are also only a few people here who seems to know about the unique dialect Chabacano in Zamboanga city. I guess you can't blame them. The only time that they hear about Zamboanga city is when there is a bomb that goes off in the city or there is war in the southernmost tip of the Philippines. Some people even see to think that Zamboanga city is as big as a little barangay . I remember chatting with a person and she said that she heard that a bomb exploded in the city and asked me if I was okay and I was like, why wouldn't I be. I mean the chances of a little bomb affecting many is little. It's...
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I am turning into an American...

The American shopper is easy to persuade. If you know how, you can make him buy what he doesn’t even want or need. That’s what I learned during crash training in sales for my call centre job. The trick is to be confident, and always always recommend. That is the key word. Americans are looking for an expert. They want someone who’s going to tell them that this is what you need and this is what you should want. When Americans go shopping, their minds aren’t usually made up as to what to buy and the American salesman knows this. This is why he would be recommending to the customer what he should buy. The American (if he’s ready to make the purchase) would more likely than not make the purchase. Here is the typical shopping scene in a Filipino shoe store. Customer (After looking around): I want this one at size ____. Sales person: Okay, I’ll check if we have availability. Sales person: Okay, here it is. Customer (after trying the shoes on): Okay, I’ll take this one. Meanwhile, he...
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Dealing with Politics in a Call Center

Before I went to Manila, I researched a lot about call centers. The most prevalent reason why attrition rate in call centers is very high is politics. Like my friend said, where there is money, there is politics. I have come to prove this when I entered the industry upon arriving in Manila. What made things worse is that the account I work for is a sales account and so not only is politics present but the account is mulled by corruption as well. I hear a lot of rumors about the account managers taking money which was supposed to go the agents. And then add to that those occasional power trippers and you have all the ingredients which can make an agent feel so dissatisfied. But of course, what's an office without politics. So for you to be able to better handle these things, here are my suggestions: 1. Friends, friends, and more friends I can't stress enough how important it is not to be a loner in this industry. When the going gets tough and the people starts to bunch...
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The Boat is Sinking II

It started one fine day. Everybody thought it was just gonna be another boring day in their lives. The thermometer read 22.6 C, the rest of the country sleeping and a few agents were engaged in a call. Yes, everyone thought it was gonna be just another boring day in their call center job. Something was not right however. Something very wrong was about to happen. The team leader of the top team on the floor was nowhere to be found. Everybody went on though with their boring work thinking that the entire week was gonna be just another boring week. A week past though, several rumours have emerged and that was the beginning of the end. The account supervisor of the account which I work for was actually the girlfriend of our team leader and this person encountered some problems with her constituents. This resulted to the supervisor's suspension which made the team leader abandon his post (with permission). The top team's morale was really low during those days. A lot of nega...
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