Call Center Management will vary depending on the size and structure of a Call Center. A Call Center with under twelve staff will normally only need a Telemarketing Manager. Any larger than this and Supervisors, Team Leaders and even Room Leaders may be employed.
This means that the role of a Telemarketing Manager will be quite different in differing Call Center Management settings.
In a large Call Center the Manager will be leading the Supervisors and Team leaders, who in turn will be doing most of the work directly with the Telemarketing staff. In a smaller room, the Telemarketing Manager will work with the Telemarketing staff herself. The person in charge of a Call Center’s Management holds a position of great influence.
Their ability to do all aspects of their role well will see a business with happy staff who get great results and satisfied customers who are raving fans of your business. Ultimately, this leads to a more profitable and easier to run business.
For business owners who hire telemarketers, you need to know all about staff motivation and staff retention.
If you have a team of telemarketers and don’t have the time to run that team well yourself, then a good Telemarketing Manager is a must.
This person will become a key part of your business and it is therefore essential that you employ someone who you have absolute confidence and trust in.
To provide high result Call Centre Management they must have the following qualities:
- Strong leadership skills
- Takes accountability for team performance
- Fun, Positive and friendly
- Good communication skills
- Telemarketing Experience
- Understands your industry and Business
- Reliable and trustworthy
- Competent and Intelligent
- Management Experience
- Good at multitasking and prioritizing tasks
- Good telephone techniques
Every business should expect to provide a substantial amount of Management Training to their Telemarketing Manager.
The person in charge of Call Center Management needs to have a deep understanding of the business, of telephone skills and an understanding of sales skills. They need to be a good leader, manager, trainer and they need to be approachable but still command respect.
A Telemarketing Manager will probably be the difference between an average team and a top telemarketing team, so it is vital that you choose well.
Call Center’s pay top dollar for someone who possesses all of these skills, particularly if they have experience in Telemarketing Management.
However, finding the right person to lead a team can be difficult if you have a lower salary budget. Rather than skimp and put the wrong person in the role, I recommend finding someone with the skills that can’t be taught so easily… like reliability, good people skills, trust worthiness, intelligence and great prioritizing skills.
As long as this person has telemarketing experience and these basic skills, they can be taught through Management Training, all of the other skills needed to be a great Leader.
If as the business owner you don’t have the time or the knowledge in this area to train them, get in a consultant to do the training for you. This is a win win for your business and the new Telemarketing manager who is given such a great opportunity for promotion.
Click here for information on Telemarketing Training…
Telemarketing Managers telemarketing
The role of the Telemarketing Manager is a diverse one. I believe that their focus is to get the best result possible from their team and to make sure the call Center is meeting its KPIs.
In my experience, the best Call Center’s have a set up where the telemarketing manager is not on the phone themselves. Many times businesses with small or start up teams will put their manager on the phone. Let me run through the issues I have with this:
- If they are on the phone they are not actively listening to the team. You need quality control, training on an ongoing basis and someone available to answer any questions a telemarketer has either on or when they get off a call.
- A manager should always be available to take any calls that have escalated or where a customer is asking for a supervisor.
- If your manager is on the phone and is out-performed by another telemarketer in the room (which will often happen as she is multi-tasking while on the phone, not just telemarketing), her staff lose respect for her and are not as likely to take her training word as gospel.
I understand that as always there are exceptions to this rule. For instance, if you have a team of only 2 or 3 telemarketers, you may be better off making the most efficient one a supervisor or team leader, rather than a manager. That way they can be on the phone and it is more cost effective for you.
By having the right person in the Call Center Management role you will increase staff retention. The right Telemarketing Manger will provide an environment where staff feel motivated about their work, happy in their job and committed to getting high level results.
