Call Center Management Training: How to Make Leaders

One of the most important aspects of a successful call center is the leadership team. Good managers and supervisors are the best at guiding and motivating agents. And call center management training is how you can ensure that your leadership team is up for the task.

Good Managers Aren’t Born. They’re Made.

Many call center managers assume that because an associate did a great job on the phone they’ll be a good supervisor. Big mistake.

Just because you were a great football or basketball player does not guarantee you’d be a great coach. It’s the same thing with your customer service center employees.

However, the opposite can also be true. An ambitious and driven associate who expresses interest in a leadership position and does the work required to get there will be a great asset.

It seems like a gamble. But, it’s not if you have good call center management training protocols in place. It’s the only way to ensure the quality of management.

8 Steps of Call Center Management Training

The goal of call center management training is to prepare supervisors and managers for the everyday challenges of a call center. They should know how the floor runs, how to improve processes, and how to motivate agents.

Usually, a call center management training course will run for 3-6 months. Short enough to keep it interesting, but long enough to cover everything.

The following steps can help instill practical knowledge and leadership skills in call center management training.

1. Build a Call Center Management Hierarchy

Knowing how the managers, supervisors, and trainees work and interact won’t just help run your call center. It can also help you when it comes to training managers.

Leveraging the hierarchy, supervisors can educate trainees regularly. This way, the trainee learns everything they need, and the supervisor has someone to cover for them at lunch or when they’re out sick. 

And the same goes for the relationships between supervisors and managers.

2. Have Weekly Meetings

Assign an hour-long weekly meeting for call center management training. Always be prepared for these meetings. Lesson plans, exercises, and printouts can help guide the training and structure the course.

It’s important to make these meetings enjoyable. Make it something that trainees look forward to each week. Having some snacks and drinks prepared, cracking jokes, and fun exercises go a long way.

3. Teach Management and Leadership Theory 

Call center management training is more than just learning how to schedule agents and complete quality monitoring. It’s about learning how to become leaders.

Make sure you give trainees the tools for the psychological part of management. Teach them how to manage tough reps, how to deal with confrontation, and how to motivate agents.

4. Give Them Practical Skills to Run a Call Center

Agents also need to learn practical skills to make everyday operations smooth. Call center management training needs to include lessons on starting and ending a workday, controlling the first 30 minutes, weekly agent analysis, and career progressions.

5. Include the Legal Side of Call Center Management

One of the most important classes is the legal class. This covers topics from dealing with sexual harassment to company policies. Management trainees need to learn what they can and can’t say to their teams.

With proper legal training, call center middle management can act professionally and prevent any litigation.

6. Let Trainees Get Experience on the Job

It’s useful to tailor the training to the needs of your organization. And one of the best ways to do that is to give trainees a chance to try their newly learned skills in practice.

It’s great to have each trainee spend a week or two in all the companies’ different departments to see how everything works together. They can see when errors happen and how it affects the company when errors happen.

It’s also useful for trainees to sit in on call center coaching sessions. They can see how management talks to reps and learn valuable lessons on motivation and quality assurance.

7. Complete Final Exams

Once you have them trained on all aspects of what it means to be a supervisor in your organization, it’s now time for the final test.

Give reps their own team of 8-10 associates for a week. Monitor, review, and evaluate their performance as a supervisor. You can create your own set of KPIs for this test where you determine what a passing grade means for your organization.

If they fail, it’s useful to re-train them on specific skills they lacked.

8. Celebrate the Training with a Graduation

When they finally succeed, it’s definitely a cause for celebration. It’s graduation time!

At Expivia, we have a small swearing-in ceremony before a shift (normally on a Friday) to mark the occasion. Newly appointed supervisors take an “oath”, get a diploma, and then have balloons and cake. We also present them with a new name badge.

Make it fun.

They put a lot of time in their call center management training, and they deserve a little recognition.

Put Our Call Center Leader to Work for You!

Training the new managers of your call center is crucial for its success. If the training doesn’t cover everything or teaches the wrong lessons, it doesn’t just ruin that trainees chance at success. It also jeopardizes the smooth operation of your contact center.

At Expivia, we know how to provide call center management training that’s fun and educational. Our leadership prides itself on employee engagement and success. We motivate our reps, make sure they hit their KPIs, and look for opportunities to get more sales.

Reach out to us to find out more about our management training program, and how we can help your organization succeed in customer service.