What Does A Call Center Agent Do?

Many people don’t appreciate call center agents, but without them, no contact center could function. They play a key role in managing all sorts of customer communication and are at the front and center in regard to maintaining solid customer satisfaction. 

In the context of a modern contact center, the agents’ responsibilities can vary as they may handle incoming calls, resolve customer complaints or issues, or in the case of an outbound call center, reach out to prospects with the aim of generating new sales opportunities.

Continue reading this article to find out what does a call center agent do and what exactly makes their role so important. 

What is a call center agent?

These professionals go by different names like a call center agent or a customer service/call center representative. While their role can branch out depending on the context, in most cases, they’re the ones who handle customer calls within a certain company or organization.

The distinction between different types of agents varies depending on the nature of the call. Inbound agents handle inbound calls, while outbound agents handle outbound calls, as you may have guessed already. 

Due to cost efficiency or lower volume of calls, an agent may handle both types of calls, in which case, they’ll be referred to as blended agents. 

Why are call center agents so important?

Before delving deeper into what does a call center agent do and the intricacies of the different roles they can fulfill, let’s see why these professionals fulfill such an important role.

Because call center agents are the cornerstone of a customer service team, they’re basically on the frontline of the business. For the majority of prospects and customers, an agent will be the first and only point of contact with the business.

Considering these callers may have questions, difficulties, or concerns with the product, that first impression is essential. The way the agent responds to the caller’s request can have a direct impact on customer loyalty, satisfaction, and ultimately, retention. 

On the outbound side of things, the efficiency and effectiveness of the agent are in direct correlation with the organization’s bottom line. This is understandable as they are in charge of generating new leads and increasing sales through cross-selling opportunities and upselling. 

Common duties of contact center agents

You may have already gotten a gist of what does a call center agent do for their organization, but it doesn’t hurt to go a bit deeper. Sure, in the past, most agents would place or receive customer phone calls, which isn’t always the case in modern call centers. 

Depending on the size of the center, industry, and the type of company, a call center agent may do any of the following:

1. Answering inbound calls

Answering customer calls is generally the responsibility of an entry-level agent in a call center. Though this is often a junior position, make no mistake - handling inbound calls is no walk in the park.

The agent has to act quickly and provide accurate information about the organization’s offerings, answer any queries from prospects or existing customers, manage account inquiries, and in some cases, resolve basic issues.

Depending on the circumstances, an inbound call rep may also process payments and orders, sort out billing issues, manage cancellations, refunds, shipping, returns, and warranties, as well as enter customer data into the CRM after each of their interactions. 

Doing all of these tasks requires an ability to handle large amounts of calls efficiently while also providing an exemplary customer service experience. For instance, the agent must learn how to properly start and end the call, work with call scripts, and transfer calls when they ascertain the issue requires escalation. 

2. Handling customer complaints

Call center agents generally need to have nerves of steel as they’re the ones managing complaints and dealing with unsatisfied or downright angry customers. Along with resiliency, they must also have proper training in solving customer issues quickly, and most importantly, defusing any conflicts before they transform into much more serious trouble for the company. 

For this role, the agent has to possess plenty of soft skills such as active listening, problem-solving, empathy, and the ability to apologize properly. Equally as important, a call center agent needs to have a deep understanding of the subject matter in order to escalate the issue to more experienced support agents. This is done in case the agent doesn’t have the skill set or authority to solve the problem, and the problem in itself can’t be addressed immediately. 

3. Making follow-up calls

For proof that the role of a call center agent has changed, look no further than call center reps working in tech or IT companies. In this role, they tend to troubleshoot and resolve tech support issues the customers are experiencing with the company’s offering. 

They may have to perform diagnostic testing, provide support in setting up the product’s features, or troubleshoot complex software issues. Owing to the technical nature of these difficulties, they’re seldom resolved during first contact, so agents may need to make follow-up calls to update the caller on the progress of the solution. 

4. Making outbound calls

What does a call center agent do in an outbound contact center?

In short, they initiate calls instead of accepting inbound communications. The target could be anyone: a customer, a prospect, or a lead, while the purpose of the call can be cold calling, support for scheduled appointments, conducting market research, or telemarketing, to name a few examples. 

The options are limitless. For example, some agents are in charge of debt collection only, and their main responsibility is contacting customers with overdue payments, collecting debts, resolving financial disputes, and negotiating payment plans. 

5. Cross-selling and upselling

Not all companies try to cross-sell or upsell, but this practice is relatively widespread. Some agents are tasked to encourage customers to update their product or service to a high-end version (upsell) or try to sell an appropriate complementary service, or a product (cross-sell). 

Achieving this goal without seeming intrusive is a rare skill, so agents need to be deeply familiar with the product or service to clearly communicate their benefits to existing customers. 

Where can you find industry-leading call center agents?

There’s a huge problem plaguing the industry, and quality call center agents are hard to come by. Fortunately, you don’t need to hire a call center staff directly, nor do you need to get all the fancy equipment or software.

Aspen Media has been supporting businesses of all kinds with call center services for over thirty years. While there’s a stigma around outsourcing your customer interactions, our agents will learn everything they need to know about your business and your offerings to provide everything you need out of a call center.

From inbound customer support to cold calls, our professional call center agents can do the task at hand. 

Reach out to us now at 800-853-2240 or fill out our contact form and let us know how we can help.