Leadership Traits that Call Center Leaders Must Have in a High-Tech Era
Leadership is at the core of Apex Call Center. CEO and founder Mike Monti maintained that his leadership is key to the company's success. He is now an official member of the Forbes Business Council, and his client-centered vision for the company is continuously threading new heights.
As leaders, we can learn from his journey of building APEX as a leading call center to transform the industry by being one of the first to embrace new trends and technologies.
Building state-of-the-art facilities, with one in Fort Lauderdale, is a result of this vision. Let's reflect on how his commitment to client satisfaction led the company to embrace technological advancement and adapt them to bring the best service to every customer.
Embracing the Latest Technological Advancements
Call center leaders must embrace the latest technologies. Today's BPO and Call Center companies are joining the race for AI developments. It is because of how automation reduced risk and helped increase customer engagement.
As leaders in a call center business, it is crucial to know the emerging trends in the market. Follow MIke's example with APEX. The company invested in building high-tech facilities and employing the latest apps and systems with their agent's jobs.
Designing an avant-garde facility is not only for you to make a lasting impression on the clients and business partners.
Innovative facilities in the call centers also enhance your employee's experience. It adds to their convenience and comfort. They will pass that satisfaction to their customers.
Safeguarding your business partners' customers so that they will have a great experience with every call.
With the latest technologies at your company's fingertips, you can delegate effectively and become a better leader who can master the following traits essential for a modern and advanced time.
Hands-Off Monitoring of Productivity
First, let us have this disclaimer. Hands-off vs. hands-on leadership style each has pros and cons.
However, to be an effective leader in a top-ranking call center, you must also learn to let go and get your hands off tasks that your experts can handle.
Being hands-on for less experienced employees is effective. But when we aim for greater heights, some leadership styles that you might embrace before must also take a step back.
Hands-off leadership allows for more productivity for your staff which you hire to have less supervision. This is because you have already invested in well-experienced professionals.
This trait also reflects you as a leader. It only means that you have good decision-making and can let go of tasks that, as a CEO or leader, do not warrant you anymore. It also means you know how to judge people well because you know who you can trust them to fulfill essential tasks, even without your supervision.
Visionary
Let that one word engulf you. Leaders of call center businesses must be visionaries, and leaders must be able to influence their employees and managers.
To be a visionary means that you can lead your organization toward long-term goals and plans.
You cannot just abandon your business when it is not going well or when personal events in life sidetrack you. Being a visionary means having a goal; you can focus better when you can influence your members towards that goal and influence them by how you can focus.
Visionaries also have the distinctive trait of being people-centered. Remember Mike Monti?
He has a clear vision that he wants APEX to be known as a client-centered company.
That vision, though, helped him to see the needs of his own company and the people that he needed to manage. A visit to APEX's newest facilities will let you learn that they have designed the place for their agents' convenience.
Innovative workspaces with room for recreation and entertainment may be a waste of resources for some managers. However, APEX's Fort Lauderdale facilities pride themselves on having well-cared-for agents by giving them space to enhance their well-being. They know that in the long run, their clients can only receive the best service when genuinely happy agents can engage them. Indeed, agent satisfaction is the new customer satisfaction.
Influential
This trait is in connection with being a visionary. Being a visionary would be nothing if you cannot influence your members and they hesitate to believe your visions or core values. Then an organization will not be moving to new heights.
You can be a visionary and acquire clients, but you can remain on the same path and not expand your territories. And it may be because of not having enough influence on your members.
Influence is not an easy trait to acquire. It's backed by credibility. If your organization knows you know what you're doing, they will be behind you. They will tread your paths and climb new summits.
Leaders See Their Employees at Eye Level
Some leaders fall backward by being too far ahead of their employees to the point of not seeing them eye to eye. They cannot be on the same page anymore.
This is crucial for a call center business. It is either you will lose your top agents or, worse, lose your prized clients and business partners. How can you be a visionary and influence if you cannot heed your employees' concerns?
A red flag of leaders having poor leadership style is being only business-centric.
A client-centric vision does not have to go against being employee-centric; they go hand in hand. If you cannot take your employees' feedback, how can you be sure they will also learn to take feedback from customers?
An employee-centric leadership listens to people. It also means it is feedback-oriented. This means you value your team and staff's opinions and insights.
This goes well if you hold back from being hands-on. Invest in technical support for agents to gain new learning and grow in their expertise. As leaders, you can focus on prospecting for your company.
Be willing to learn from their insights. Since you do not do their processes, you can't empathize with the agent who takes daily calls. You are not the one who is behind headphones and chat screens. You are the leader, and part of that role is to engage with your members and see them at eye level. This will help your agents feel valued, and they, in return, put more value on the customers they speak to on the phone.
Transactional and Firm
Finally, leaders are respected when they learn how to be firm.
Leaders do not demand respect; they receive the respect that is due to them.
And if they lose their stance, which is normal for everyone, even leaders, the difference is that they remain firm. They do not play favorites just because someone has brightened up their mood. They are firm, and they play fair.
This means that they are firm with their values, and no matter their frustrations, they do not hold their team accountable for their shortcomings. They are firm, and they believe in themselves.
A real leader who can go through many heights feels more relaxed when their strong employees can make their own decisions and own their jobs. It is a good sign because your team can handle themselves, and you do not have to babysit. Especially since this is the high-tech time we are now in. Anyone can learn anything with the help of technology.
Authentic leaders remain firm when encountering strong and assertive employees but can transact. Thus, you reach the goals and create a win-win situation for both parties. In the long run, you can reward employees based on performance; they will do their best to help you retain your clients and customers.
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