Top 5 difficult things to work in a call center that you should know about

Whenever we face some problems with the products or the services that we use, we call the customer care team, so that they can be at our rescue. There are numerous ways to contact the customer care team, like through email, online chat, etc. However, most people find it easier to communicate with them over the phone as voice communication is the best option for several people, as they can explain their problems with more clarity, over the phone, when compared to other methods. However, if you are working in a call center, it is your responsibility to assist the customer or initiate the steps to assist the customer in all the possible ways. 

Working in a call center can be a great career opportunity, however, there are numerous challenges, just like other sectors, to work in a call center, and solve the problems the customers are facing. It is only with more and more experience, that you can tackle the problems faced by the customers in the most effective way. However, today I will be talking about the five most difficult things all call center executives deal with, no matter, which company they are working in. So if you are planning to work in a call center you should keep yourself prepared to deal with the difficult aspects of working and take the mental preparation accordingly.

So, without any further ado, let’s get started with the top 5 most disadvantages of working in a call center.

Adamant work timing of Call centers

Call center executive works in shifts and most people might consider it to be flexible, however, it is actually not so. The shifts are allotted to the executives well in advance, and there is hardly any chance that you can change the shift in short notice if others are not ready for shift swapping. So, even if you are feeling under the weather on a certain day, you will have to go to work and do your responsibility sincerely. 

One might be urged to work in the same shift for a continuous number of days, and that can eventually affect the circadian rhythm of the executive, and they cannot work efficiently. The inefficiency in working along with additional work pressure and other problems, which I will discuss in the next points eventually adds up making it really difficult for several executives to work in a call center.

Expectations of customers and their behavior

Just imagine, you are facing some serious problems with a gadget that has been purchased by you and you are not getting service even after repeated calls to the customer care a team. It is quite normal for most people to get annoyed and frustrated. As a customer, the whole customer care team is one single entity, and if he is calling repeatedly to get his problems solved he might get angry. So if you are one guy, to whom the call has been routed to after the customer has tried several times, his behavior might be rough. From the customer’s point of view, he is paying, and thus, he wants impeccable service from the company. 

The customer expects, you are the only one holding the magic wand who can solve all the problems of the customer however, in reality, the things are far from that. You can just try your best to solve the problems of the customer and the rest is in the hands of the corporate structure of the company you are working for. So, even if the customer misbehaves, or expects a lot, the customer care executive should explain things very peacefully to the customer. You might get angry by the behavior of the customer, but you cannot express that on the customer’s face, and that’s yet another problematic thing to explain things to customers who are not ready to understand and to behave as calmly as possible at the same time.

Lack of proper infrastructure

You can read this story to have an idea of what a perfect call center looks like and the problem is, not all call centers in the world are perfect, and that’s when one big problem arises among the call center executive. The executives can’t get hands on the most important tools and user information, which hinders them from offering the assistance a particular consumer is looking for. In most cases, just a complaint ID is generated, and the customer will again have to wait for a few more hours before he gets one more call from another executive so that the problem can be sorted. This is mainly because the call center executive does not have the information that he needs to offer assistance to the customer. 

Additionally, at most times, they do not have the appropriate information and history about the user, and the call center executive has to ask a number of relevant questions to gather information about the customer and that’s when the customer can get irritated answering so many questions, and not getting the assistance in return. So, apart from handling the calls with the customers, the call center executive in certain call center companies also have to communicate with the company they are working for and the agents, so that the solution can be delivered to the customers that add up to more responsibilities, which most call center executive cannot cope with.

Extreme work pressure

You might call the customer care team once in a blue moon, but that doesn’t mean the call center executive has to handle a small number of calls every single day. You might already have observed your call on waiting when you call a customer care number, and that is basically because the number of executives, who are attending calls is much less than the number of persons calling. So, once an executive complete one call, another call is waiting to be answered. So, an executive has to answer an excruciatingly high number of calls, and sometimes the executives might not get enough time to have their meals. 

Additionally, there is pressure from the seniors to accept the maximum number of calls and at the same time, they should also solve the problems faced by the customers. So, the executive has to make sure, he is solving the grievances of the customer as quickly and efficiently as possible so that he can take the next call. This repetitive work eventually adds a lot of pressure to the call center executives.

Lack of status associated with the organization

Most call center tasks are outsourced by the companies and the call center executives are in the payroll of the company they are working for. Additionally, there are also certain companies, who have their own call center to communicate with customers. In both cases, the call center executives are mostly looked down upon, when it comes to a rewarding and promotion for their performance. The call center executive plays a vital role in the organizational structure, to address customer issues, and take the customer problems to the next level so that they can be solved. 

However, at the end of the day, it is the other executives in the organization who are praised and that can be a source of frustration for the call center executives. Even though they perform an important activity in the organization, the deserved status is not given to the executives. This might not be something difficult to cope with, but it can demotivate most employees working in a call center, and this demotivation is yet something most call center employees find difficult to deal with.

All types of jobs have their own challenges, and working in a call center isn’t free from challenges either. You should have your own way of dealing with the challenges so that you can progress further, and make your career successful. All the difficult things of working in a call center, which I have discussed here are just a few of the difficulties most call center executives face. Depending upon the individual company you are working in, the organizational structure, the management of the organization, and everything else, there can be more difficulties, or the number of difficulties can be mitigated. However, if you have already made your mind to work in a call center, you should not be motivated by the difficulties of working in a call center. Just accept the difficulties as a challenge and keep working.

So those were the top 5 most difficult things to work in a call center. Do you have any questions? Feel free to comment on the same below.

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