When I Grow Up I Wanna Be A Telemarketer !

Top Reasons Why You Should Start A Contact Centre Career

A lot of times, people raise an eyebrow when you tell them that you work in a contact centre or worse still you’re a contact centre agent. They feel that it’s just a job for those who can’t have the career that they really want or didn’t do well in school.

Now lets also be honest, who wakes up at 5 years old and storms into mum and dads bedroom and declares…

“When I grow up I wanna be a telemarketer ! “

Trust me, as a father of four this has never happened, I have a son who wants to be a truck, not the truck driver, but the truck itself ! Damn you transformers !!!!

Anyway, There is a common misconception that contact centre agents are the “used car salesman” of the office world and the work they do is not very rewarding. In reality, being a contact centre agent is a great profession where you’ll learn a lot and can have a multi-faceted and fulfilling career.

Read on to know why you should consider starting a career in contact centre.

Great Pay

Yep, you read that right, there are not to many other entry level positions in Australia that provide the level of pay that contact centre agents receive. Most contact centres offer a competitive salary that rivals that of big multinational companies. This is one of the reasons why you can find even certified professionals such as nurses opt to work in a contact centre rather than practice their own profession.

Excellent Incentives & Staff Engagement Programs

What’s great about contact centre incentives is that they’re more than just the usual health cards or discounts, some I have worked in alone offer gym memberships, additional cash incentives for perfect attendance, vouchers, flexible work schedules, work from home opportunities, development programs and career pathways and more.

I have even seen contact centres spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to send high performing (but entry level) contact centre agents on all expenses paid overseas holidays.

World Class Training and Onboarding Processes

For those of us who have worked in contact centres for even a small period, we all know one of the biggest challenges these businesses face is staff attrition. It is not uncommon for many contact centres to have a high turn over rate.

This being said the best contact centres are very much ahead of the curve when it comes to profiling, training and onboarding their newest staff. Since contact centres cater to all manner of buyer personas, customer profiles and languages, it’s imperative that they give world-class onboarding & training to ensure that they only have the most competent and efficient agents and managers. Some contact centres will even go as far as giving out scholarships for further studies.

Working Students Are Readily Accepted

Students who want to work part-time but want to get a decent pay are welcome in contact centres. No matter how old or young you are, or whether you finish university or not, you can still apply get a job as an agent. As long as you’re a hard worker and willing to learn and be trained, you have a place in a contact centre.

Great Learning Experience

Contact centres usually have a very diverse work environment with people coming from different backgrounds. It’s the perfect place to learn proper work ethic, teamwork, and camaraderie. These experiences are what make contact center agents efficient professionals who love what they do and get paid for it. As mentioned earlier, most people do not grow up wanting to be a telemarketer but I have seen countless times the volume of high achieving individuals who have made careers in and out of the contact centre industry who started on the “ground floor” as an agent.

Awesome Work Environment

Since contact centre agents deal with a lot of stress on a day-to-day basis, companies design unconventional workspaces. Some are equipped with prayer rooms, gaming rooms, unlimited kitchen facilities, prizes. These are the things that really help motivate agents to perform well and provide the best customer service and unlikely to be found in your run of the mill corporate office.

Camaraderie

There is no other place like a contact centre The camaraderie that is built in contact centres is something else. And because more often than not they are divided in teams, the team effort they need to put in to reach their business goals often translate into long lasting friendships. Most employees stay in the industry because of the friendships they built in their respective companies.

Being a contact centre agent is not an easy job to do. It requires a lot of patience and genuine passion to provide a great customer experience.

I wanted to be a professional soccer player when I was growing up and have had the good fortune to live (somewhat) that dream. I dont really speak to ex team mates that often anymore but there are people that I have met in the contact centre industry  over the last 10 years I now speak to on a regular basis, it just gets under your skin.