What Are the 8 Most Important Qualities of a Call Center Agent?

A call center may have the latest software and the latest technology, but none of that matters if it doesn’t have the right agents.

A customer experience (CX) with a contact center can often be the determining factor in deciding whether to continue doing business with a company. That’s why hiring quality agents it is so essential to meeting your customers’ needs and exceeding their expectations.

What Are the 8 Most Important Qualities of a Call Center Agent?

1) Creative Problem Solving

A call center agent will face a variety of challenges every day. However, there is not always a one-size-fits-all solution. Therefore, call centers are moving away from word-for-word scripts and adapting to a more flexible model.

By having flexible solutions to handle user inquiries, agents can ensure a positive customer experience that will resolve the issue in an efficient and timely manner.

2) Empathy

Being an agent is difficult. Having to “put up with” dissatisfied and sometimes rude customers can be infuriating. That is why one of the most important characteristics of a call center agent is the ability to empathize. Agents who can develop a strong relationship with a customer and make them feel like someone is listening and understanding their issue will go a long way toward developing strong brand loyalty.

3) Organization

Working in a call center requires excellent organizational skills. One of the qualities of a good agent is that they must be able to handle several tasks at the same time. Whether it’s checking CRM, updating records, or taking notes, agents must complete all of these tasks quickly and accurately.

4) Effective Communication Skills

Effective communication is essential to improve the call center experience. It encompasses all aspects of the job and is a necessary skill to become a successful agent. Agents must use clear language and be able to convey instructions in such a way that customers understand them the first time.

But communication does not end talking. Highly trained communicators must also be active listeners and must be able to digest information and quickly convey a solution.

To foster communication skills in the workplace, role-play scenarios can be used when training or interviewing to see how agents can listen to, respond to, and solve a typical problem in the call center environment.

5) Calm Under Pressure

One of the reasons call centers have such a high turnover rate is burnout. Agents who can’t cope with the daily influx of frustrated calls end up unmotivated and hating their jobs.

One of the skills that a contact center agent must have is to handle pressure when clients vent, as well as to smooth the situation by staying calm when a caller yells at them on the phone.

6) Good Memory

To provide high-quality support, contact center agents must memorize a large amount of information. In the fast-paced environment of a call center, there is not enough time for agents to spend time searching for answers to common questions.

After the training period, quality employees should be able to recall answers to frequently asked questions easily and troubleshoot user problems. Additionally, customers will trust agents more if they can respond confidently and quickly and will be less frustrated if they don’t put them on hold.

7) Optimistic

Dealing with people on a daily basis is never easy. With the large number of annoyed customers calling every day, it is important that employees do not take it personally. Therefore, optimism is one of the most important qualities of a call center agent.

Contact center agents who maintain a positive attitude towards a frustrated customer can contribute to a positive experience by making them feel heard and understood.

8) Team Player

While answering incoming calls is a lonely task, successful contact center agents know how to work as a team, they enjoy it, and they demonstrate qualities such as assertiveness and sociability. These types of agents can help improve the atmosphere in the call center by boosting overall performance and morale.

Since more than 85% of companies with quality customer service outperform their competitors, it is more important to have the right people serving the various channels of a call center.