11 Pieces Of Advice… Expansion Pack 1

Recently I wrote an article titled “11 Life Changing Pieces Of Advice For Those Working In A Call Centre”. In this article I provide some pretty awesome pieces of advice, to help make your life better and to help you be your best in your job. I spent 15+ years working in call centres, so I have a lot of experience to share for your benefit. Isn’t free stuff the best!? A former colleague read the previous article, and suggested that I expand on some of the points further for greater value. So, in this article I’m going to expand on the first three points from the afore mentioned article: Sincerity, manners and knowing your strengths and weaknesses.

Let’s kick this off by talking about sincerity and why it’s so important, not only in your role in a call centre but also in your life. To be a little more specific, sincerity is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as “honesty of mind, freedom from hypocrisy”. In layman’s terms, to have sincerity or to be sincere, is where you speak honestly and from the heart. Sincerity is the difference between sounding like a douchebag, and being someone that people can trust and feel like they can believe in. People feel they can rely on someone that is sincere, and that they speak from a place of genuine caring. Those that speak sincerely find it easier to establish a connection with people, which is always valuable and makes conversing more enjoyable. The bottom line here, in the words of the great Coach Dayne Gingrich, “no bs”.

Manners. Yeah, remember those things that your parents gallantly tried to teach you? Well, it’s time to dig them out and start using them. People appreciate them, no really, they do. Please, thank you, all the good stuff. Obtaining permission to place your customer on hold, before doing it, is fantastic. It’s a great way to strengthen your relationship, and to demonstrate that you’re not afraid to give control to your customer. Telling someone that you appreciate their patience when taking them off hold, also great manners and demonstrates appreciation for their time. When making a suggestion for a product/service/solution, ask the customer what they think. There’s an old saying that goes “telling’s not selling”. In other words, if you’re telling the customer what to do or how to think, you’re not going to reach them and it’s bad manners to assume rather than to ask. As the masterful modern poet Selina Gomez says, “kill ’em with kindness”.

Self awareness is a very powerful tool, a little like Thor’s hammer. If you’re aware of what you’re good at and what you suck at, you’re in a very strong position. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses, means you can focus on using your strengths wherever possible. At the same time, knowing your weaknesses gives you an opportunity to work on them. You should also work with others that are strong in areas that you are weak, as you will compliment each other, achieve better results, and you can learn from each other. The best way to establish your strengths and weaknesses, is to sit in a quiet space and make a list on your own. If you struggle to come up with a list of value, you should enlist someone that you feel will be 100% honest with you. Honesty is what you need here, not someone that will kiss your arse and tell you how amazing you are at everything. That’s fun to hear, but you’ll learn nothing from it.

That’s it for this one folks. Expansion pack 2 will drop in the coming days, and will go deeper around the following topics:
- Every customer matters
- First impressions
- All calls start the day over
As always, I hope this helps even if it’s just a little bit. It isn’t always about getting new idea, but about remembering the fundamentals and to use them. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel welcome to reach out to me in the comments or by email brett@thecrucialteam.com

Thank you.