Your responsibilities as a contact centre agent/advisor all boils down to which sector you work in – and who you work for. That being said, typical duties as a contact centre agent/advisor include:
- Answering calls, emails and web chat enquiries from customers;
- Offering welfare, benefits, careers, legal and other advice;
- Telesales and market research calls to new and existing customers;
- Managing customer orders and payments, enquiries and complaints;
- Guiding customers through technical difficulties;
- Keeping on top of customer records on databases;
- Other general administrative duties.
It’s a real mixed bag – which is what contact centre staff love. You’re constantly busy with a variety of tasks, and never short of people to talk to. After all, 90% of people still prefer to speak to live contact centre agents – and we don’t blame them! Getting put through to a robot who can’t understand your situation is the worst. Anyhow, as a result, alongside excellent customer service skills, you’ll develop a wealth of skills that will benefit both your personal and professional life – it’s a real win-win if you ask us.
Just some of these skills include an incredible attention to detail; a perfected and professional phone manner; the ability to remain calm in stressful situations; the expertise to solve delicate problems – and you’ll be great at working with a team. You’ll likely leave with friends for life too!
With the right experience, there is also plenty of room for learning and development opportunities and rapid career progression as a contact centre agent or advisor. You could be:
- A team leader;
- A member of senior leadership;
- A senior technician;
- A contact centre manager;
- In a Human Resources role;
- Part of the marketing team;
- Responsible for creating training programmes for new and existing staff;
- In a role you’ve created for yourself.
This list is not exhaustive – the possibilities are endless! The best part? It’s entirely up to you and what you are interested in.
In our experience, contact centres also tend to have some of the best employee benefits too. You can’t really say no to that, can you?
What Is a Contact Centre Environment Actually Like?
The job sounds great, right? But what is it actually like to work in a contact centre? What is the environment like? Who are the kind of people you’ll be working with?
Well, there’s a real sense of community, because everyone’s so sociable – it’ll almost feel like a home away from home. There’s a real collaborative team culture, so you’ll never feel alone or without help should you need it.
What if I Want to Work Remote?
If you’re one of the 88% who don’t want to return to the office full-time, or if you’re interested in working remote full-time, do not fear: you’ll still feel supported at home. Work-from-home contact centres are quickly being adopted as a result of the pandemic. Whether you’re at home, in a co-working space, in a cabin in the middle of nowhere – as long as you’ve got a stable WiFi connection, you’re good to go.
“74 per cent of contact centre employees who work from home have a better work-life-balance.”
An added bonus is that being able to work remote opens up more employment and progression opportunities.
Sound Good?
Does this all sound like the ideal role for you? Great! Head over to our job search to find your perfect contact centre agent job. We are dedicated recruitment specialists who match up the best contact centres in Wales with the talent they need to build stronger teams – so you can rest assured that we will match you with the right team.
For more career advice, including how to prepare for and nail that contact centre interview, check out our previous blog posts.
Written by Sarah Hopkins for Jomo People.
