The Call Center Training Handbook provides a complete resource for training in contact centres. Based on detailed research and compiled by a team of international experts, it addresses all the key areas of learning and development including: Recruiting and including new staff Communicating and connecting with the customer Dealing with difficult customers Coaching and mentoring Developing emotional intelligence to handle stress Measuring and evaluating performance Each chapter is supported by international case studies from many business sectors, and examples that illustrate the real-world challenges faced by call centers. Learning and development are essential ingredients that help to ensure the competitiveness and ongoing success of call and contact centers. With many organizations offering very similar products and services, it is the quality of customer care that distinguishes a top-performing company. Achieving this demands excellent training and development for all front-line employee, team leaders, managers and human resource professionals. This book supplies the tools necessary to identify and address these challenges, as well as practical techniques for improving the performance of employees. It simplifies the task of engaging staff and raising standards to ensure effective results. About The Author John P Wilson is a consultant with researcher with more than thirty years? experience in education and training. He was director of the Leonardo Call Cent re Training and Knowledge Transfer project, researching and developing training materials for call centers. At the University of Sheffield he taught Human Resource Management and developed and directed the United Kingdom?s first distance learning Master?s degree for Training Managers. He went on to become Continuing Professional Development manager at the University of Oxford. As a specialist in learning he regularly consults with many organizations from SMEs to large multi-nationals, and has published numerous articles on management, training and learning. Table of Content Introduction The big picture: learning, training and development in contact centres Structuring learning and development Skills and competencies Recruiting inducting and socializing new employees Communicating and connecting with the customer Delivering excellent customer service Coaching and mentoring System skills training Management development in call centres Developing emotional intelligence and managing stress Managing international cross-cultural communications Managing and evaluating performance References Index